In an increasingly post-Christian era, St. Matthew’s Parish is striving to be a beacon of hope. We are the third largest Catholic community in British Columbia, with 3 flourishing schools, over 30 active ministries, and a newly built Parish Centre.
With the population of Fleetwood expected to skyrocket over the next decade, we are preparing for growth. The time is ripe for us to re-group and focus on the spiritual goals of our community.
We are forming a NEW Pastoral Council who will set achievable pastoral goals for our community and oversee their implementation.
Member Recommendation
All parishioners are invited to recommend any number of members of the community who they consider would be suitable to serve as members of the Pastoral Council. Please note that this is not a “nomination” because there is no requirement to ask the person recommended for their acceptance. The opportunity to accept or decline will be provided at a later stage.
Recommendations close July 17, 2022.
The preparation group will plan and direct the process of establishing the Pastoral Council. The selection of members of the Pastoral Council will dissolve the preparation group.
- Fr. Tien Tran, Pastor
- Fr. Raffaele Salvino, Assistant Pastor
- Deacon Steve Potusek, Parish Deacon
- Tim McKinnon, Chair
- Matthew Furtado
- Katrina Amurao
- Mira Pajak
- Roy Siojo
The Pastoral Council’s role is to promote the Church’s mission to live and communicate the love and values of Christ in our world.
A Pastoral Council seeks to:
- enrich the quality of parish life
- provide opportunities for parishioners
- to grow in holiness
- to discover and live out their personal and community call to mission to live as Catholics who effectively transform society.
In order to fulfil its role, the Pastoral Council will:
- search out and respond to the hopes, dreams, needs and concerns of parishioners
- grow in knowledge and awareness of what is already happening in the parish
- encourage and support the good work of existing groups within the parish
- evaluate carefully information gathered in order to contribute towards the making of decisions that reflect the values of the gospel and the teachings of the Church
- set long-term and short-term pastoral goals for the parish
- provide opportunities for parishioners to grow in their relationship with God and with each other
- develop, implement and improve parish initiatives that assist parishioners in their continuing efforts to live as effective Christians in society.
- May 2022 - Preparation group was formed
- June 18/19 - Announcement to parish
- June 25/26 - Recommendations begin
- July 16/17 - Last weekend to recommend
- August - Information meeting
- September 24/25 - Pastoral Council begins
The following are draft guidelines of St. Matthew’s Pastoral Council, which will be adopted upon the first council meeting.
ROLE
Our Pastoral Council’s role is to participate in God’s mission to live and communicate the love and values of Christ in the world around us.
Our Pastoral Council shares in the responsibility for the ongoing life and development of our parish community, working together with parishioners to provide support for their efforts to live as followers of Christ.
Our Parish Pastoral Council seeks to:
- Listen and respond to the hopes, ideas, needs and concerns of parishioners.
- Generate responses to these identified issues.
- Encourage and support the continuing good work of existing groups within our parish.
- Provide opportunities for parishioners
- to grow in their relationship with God and with each other
- to support and encourage them in their continuing efforts to be a Christian influence in
- the wider community.
- Set realistic and achievable short-term and long-term pastoral goals for our parish community within the framework of diocesan priorities.
- Oversee the implementation of these goals.
- Contribute towards making parish decisions that reflect the values of the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.
- Provide support for our Pastor, working collaboratively with him and with each other.
MEMBERSHIP
There will be ten members consisting of our Pastor, and nine members chosen by parishioners. In addition, ex-officio members may include the Principal of the Parish School and a member of the Finance Committee.
The Council will have as broad a membership as possible, with a diversity of age, gender and ethnic origin. Each Pastoral Councillor is a representative of the whole parish community and not a representative of a specific parish group only.
There will be a session of formation for all Council members prior to the first meeting of the newly chosen Council and after each changeover of membership.
TERM OF MEMBERSHIP
The term of membership is two years. To facilitate continuity, it is anticipated that approximately half the Pastoral Council members will choose to continue for a second term. Anyone who serves two terms consecutively will then stand down for at least one term.
NEW MEMBERS
All parishioners will be asked to recommend other parish members for possible membership of the Council. Each person recommended will be invited either to a combined Information Meeting or to an individual meeting with a Pastoral Councillor, to receive current information about Pastoral Councils. At the conclusion of this meeting, participants will be asked to indicate whether they wish to accept or decline possible membership.
If the number of acceptances of possible membership is more than required, the membership will be finalised by either negotiation or a prayerful selection process.
CASUAL VACANCIES
The Council may fill any casual vacancy by invitation. Prior to joining the Council, the proposed candidates will receive a short briefing on responsibilities and expectations as a member. After completing the remainder of the current term of membership for this casual vacancy, the new member will be eligible for recommendation for a second term.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERS
In a spirit of prayerfulness each member of the Parish Pastoral Council will:
- Attend the regular meetings of the Parish Pastoral Council.
- Provide input to deliberations of the Council.
- Develop a spirit of enquiry and the ability to listen and understand the issues affecting the lives of parishioners.
- Provide prayerful support and encouragement for other members of the Parish Pastoral Council.
- Actively participate in the implementation of finalised plans of action.
- Embrace opportunities for personal faith development and for gaining skills to assist with effective participation in the Council’s operations.
- Represent the Parish Pastoral Council when required eg other Parish meetings, deanery or diocesan meetings.
OFFICE BEARERS
The Parish Priest plus office-bearers will form the executive of the Pastoral Council. The office-bearers, chosen by the members, will be chairperson, deputy chairperson and secretary.
The role of the executive is to:
- Reflect on the effectiveness of each previous Council meeting. What went well? What can we do better?
- Organise the agenda for each meeting, incorporating input from all pastoral councillors.
- Arrange distribution of the agenda, minutes and all relevant material one week in advance of that meeting.
- Coordinate the business of the Council between meetings.
- Arrange additional formation opportunities outside the regular meetings.
MEETINGS
There will be a minimum of ten monthly meetings of the Pastoral Council each year.
TASK GROUPS
Task groups may be set up under the auspices of the Pastoral Council for specific purposes for a definite duration and will report regularly to the Pastoral Council. These groups may include members of the Pastoral Council.
CONSENSUS
The consensus approach will be used in the process of contributing towards the making of parish decisions, with each member offering input towards the final outcome. Majority voting, lobbying, competition and domination are to be avoided.
COMMUNICATION WITH THE PARISH
The Pastoral Council will report to the parish community regularly. It will seek the input of parishioners through various means, e.g. parish consultations, focus meetings, conversations.
REVIEW OF GUIDELINES
These Pastoral Council Guidelines will be reviewed at the end of each Pastoral Council’s term, or more frequently if the need arises. Consultation with the Parish community will occur regarding any changes to these Guidelines.
- All parishioners are invited to recommend any number of members who they consider suitable.
- The preparation groups contacts all persons recommended and invites them to an information meeting.
- After the information meeting, everyone present will have the opportunity to accept or decline possible membership.
- Fr. Tran with the help of the preparation group will select the final members.
The existing Parish Council is made up of delegates from each ministry at St. Matthew’s Parish. Each delegate is given an opportunity to share their ministry’s update and be consulted by the Pastor.
Rather than focussing on a specific perspective, the Pastoral Council operates from a broad overview, promoting a sharing of responsibility for the development of a more vital Christian community. Its underlying aim is to encourage and support all members of the community in their efforts to respond to their baptismal call to participate in the mission of the Church. This goes beyond the maintenance of existing services in the community.