Parish Laity Council

The Laity Council is charged by the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity (Apostolicam Actuositatem) with the goal of intensifying the apostolic activity of the laity by promoting the apostolate and coordinating lay initiatives. While Parish Laity Councils, deanery groups and organizations are responsible for organizing and directing their own activities, the Parish Laity Council is charged with promoting solidarity and mutual assistance amongst lay organizations in their tasks of coordinating and promoting lay apostolic zeal amongst Catholics, lay organisations and groups in the Parish.

The Parish Laity Council is set up for Promotional and Coordinating roles, It consists of representatives of Organisations, Associations and Societies in the Parish. It serves as a bridge between the Parish Pastoral Council and the Lay Faithful

To promote solidarity and provide mutual assistance amongst parishes and organizations in the deanery by carrying out promotional and coordinating roles as itemized below:

Promotional

  1. Provide assistance to societies and organizations in their tasks of promoting existing and new lay apostolate initiatives, with the goal of educating parishioners and getting them more involved in the apostolate.
  2. Research the needs of the Parish and propose the introduction of new lay initiatives to the Parish Priest.
  3. Encourage and support societies and organizations to run programmes that help the laity discover their spiritual gifts and talents thereby empowering them for apostolic work.
  4. Support in their evaluations of proposals for new apostolic initiatives and making recommendations on their proper pastoral classification and fit.
  5. Promote lay apostolate formation activities such as instruction in theology, ethics and philosophy, culture, good human relations – human values, living fraternally with others, cooperating with others, striking up friendly conversation with others and leadership skills.

Coordination

  1. Carry out researches and studies on the apostolate and on specific lay and human problems such as departures from the ethical and religious order in all spheres of life that pose a danger to Christian life.
  2. Discern the particular and common needs of lay groups with similar areas of apostolate for the purposes of advising and providing resources for the formation of individuals and leaders for intensified apostolic activities.
  3. Deal with unexpected crisis, obstacles or interruptions and efficiently getting things back on track and preventing further crises.
  4. Assess the apostolic developmental needs of the deanery and fill the needs.
  5. Develop and implement an annual calendar of leadership, management and social skills development programmes for equipping the parish organization executives to be effective leaders.

 

Core Areas for Paris Laity Council Operations

  1. Coordinating inter – group evaluations with the view to incentivising growth in the effectiveness of member groups.
  2. Supporting Parish Organizations in their execution of relevant programmes aimed at equipping and strengthening the apostolic capacity of members.
  3. Supporting Parish Organizations in the effective execution of an annual or bi–annual programme aimed at promoting existing and new lay apostolic initiatives as needed in the parish.
  4. Supporting Parish Organizations in the effective and timely resolution of conflicts amongst lay initiatives.
  5. Encouraging and evaluating growth in the parishes and organizations assisted to find and live their callings through effective talents spiritual gifts discovery and development programmes.
  6. Evaluating the outcomes of annual parish and organizational engagement surveys to determine model organizations

Parish Associations, Ministries, Organizations and Societies

The activities of the associations, ministries, organizations and societies achieve their full expression at the parish level. But each of these organizations
will be represented at the by three (3) members only, who will constitute the association, ministry, organization and society, as the case may be, at the Parish level.

The Composition of Parish Pastoral Committees

The following associations, ministries, organizations and societies are listed to assist in the classification into relevant pastoral committees. Their existence in parishes, deaneries and the archdiocese are based on discerned needs and approvals from relevant authorities.

Faith Formation and Education Committee

It coordinates the planning, implementation and evaluation of deanery faith formation and education including family life education for all age groups and families. The Committee consists of lay groups directly assisting the Dean in his pastoral ministry and those other lay groups whose main charism involves assisting individuals to grow in their catholic faith, character, discipleship and apostleship.

Liturgical Committee

It is responsible for coordinating the planning, implementation and evaluation of deanery liturgies, under the direction of the dean. The ministry oversees all activities associated with public worship (liturgies). Members of the committee are two designated officers of: a. Altar Servers b. Lectors c. The Choir d. The Church Wardens e. Altar Decorators f. Sacristan g. Etc

Devotional Committee

It coordinates the planning, implementation and evaluation of the activities of the societies, associations and groups whose primary charism is prayerful devotions.

Community Building Committee

It consists of the structured efforts to promote the spirit of community in the parish through Small Christian Communities and in communities based on residence, gender, age and profession who come together to solve their common problems in and outside the parish or to contribute their professional expertise to be more effective witnesses of Christ in their corners of the world. This includes consistent and planned efforts to strengthen relationships among parishioners thereby fostering a truly hospitable Christian atmosphere. They are also to reach out to new and inactive members, and involve them in their communities.

Welfare and Social Action Committee

coordinates all organizations involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the social justice ministry of the parish, reaching out to the needy, the poor and marginalised within and without the parish/deanery community.

Evangelization Committee

receives it general mandate from the Archdiocesan Evangelization Commission, and promotes and coordinates all parish/deanery evangelization activities and initiatives.

Parish Pastoral Committees

Each Parish level association, ministry, organization and society will send One (1) representatives to the Parish Pastoral Committee to which it properly belongs, that is, Liturgical, Faith Formation & Education, Devotional, Community Building, Welfare & Social Action, and Evangelization, as the case may be.

Memebership

The Parish Laity Council is an assembly of the chairpersons and secretaries of all Parish Organisations and one representative from each of the Parish Pastoral Committees, representing all the societies, associations and/or organizations in them.                                                                                                                                             

Tenure

The tenure of PLC executives is a four (4) year, non-renewable term ( not renewable under any guise – the existing executives cannot be re-elected for another office until another four year tenure has elapsed ).

Frequency of Meetings

It is recommended that the Parish organizations and groups meet quarterly prior to the quarterly Parish Laity Council Meetings.                                                                      

Areas for Formation and Development of Laity

  • Good Meeting Principles and Skills
  • Consensual Decision Making Process
  • Christian Ethics
  • Principles of Christian Conflict Management
  • Managing Oneself
  • Developing Interpersonal Skills
  • Leading the Team
  • Leading Change
  • Discernment and Decision - Making
  • Relevant Topics in Theology
  • Relevant Topics in Philosophy
  • Conversational Skills
  • Social Skills
  • Problem Solving
  • Action Planning

Relationships

The PLC works collaboratively with the Parish Preist and all deanery bodies and organizations.

The PLC takes its general mandate from the Chaplain of the deanery Laity but must report to, and take its specific goals from the needs of the Parish  organizations that it serves.


The PLC exists to provide support and coordination for solidarity and mutual assistance among the parish groups and organizations.

The PLC needs to be aware of all parish organization and group activities; however, it is not within the purview of the PLC to direct their activities.

The PLC provides advisory and supportive services to the PLCs and parish groups.

The PLC funds relevant activities and projects only through fees for valuable services provided to the Parish Laity Councils and parish level organizations and groups.

Leadership and Social Education Committee – responsible for annual programme calendar development, organizing and delivering relevant development programmes based on needs. Membership shall be drawn from then council and additional support recruited from the membership of parish level organizations, as needed. The Coordinator is nominated/selected from the membership.

 

Evaluation Committee – responsible for the annual evaluations of parish engagement and other evaluations as needed in the parish and for preparing reports to be sent to the DPC through the PLC chair. Membership shall be drawn from the council and additional support recruited from the membership of parish level organizations, as needed. The Coordinator is nominated/selected
from the membership.

 

Discernment Committee – responsible for recruiting and delivering Living Your Strengths and Spiritual Gifts programmes in order to advise them on their best fit in and outside of the parish. Membership shall be drawn from the council and additional support recruited from the membership of parish level organizations, as needed. The Coordinator is nominated/selected from the membership.

 

Publicity Committee – handles events targeted at promoting old and new group opportunities for engaging with the parish. Membership shall be drawn from the council and additional support recruited from the membership of parish level organizations, as needed. The Coordinator is nominated/selected from the membership.

 

Finance and Administration Committee – supports parish organizations and PLCs to adhere to the Archdiocesan Guidelines on Finance and Administration.

Click here to download the Laity Council Archdiocesan guideline

Councilors

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