FIANANCE/GOVERNANCE

Pastoral Plan

Basic Policies [1]

Pastor:   (Canon #519) The Pastor is the proper shepherd of the parish entrusted to him, exercising pastoral care in the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan bishop in whose ministry of Christ he has been called to share; in accord with the norm of law he carries out for his community the duties of teaching, sanctifying and governing, with the cooperation of other presbyters and deacons and the assistance of lay members of the Christian faithful.

General Notes

• The Pastor is accountable to the Archbishop as both Shepherd of the Local Church and Chair of the Corporate Board.
• The Pastor, who is corporate vice-president, is accountable to the Corporate Board.
• The Pastor is responsible for all matters of faith and morals, law, personnel, property and finances in the parish community.
• The Pastor must act according to the norms of the Code of Canon Law, the Particular Law of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and Civil Law.
• The Pastor's authority is shared with parish leadership groups. [2]   The role of these leadership groups and their relationship to the Pastor is described below.

The Corporate Board: [3]   Minnesota Statutes, Section 315.15, governs the formation of a parish corporation. The Archbishop associates himself with his Vicar General, the Pastor of the parish, and two lay members designated by the Archbishop, the Vicar general, and the Pastor, or a majority of them, to form the corporation by signing and filing a Certificate of Incorporation (Articles of Incorporation) with the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota, and recording a copy thereof with the County Recorder of the county of its location. These five persons constitute the corporation and, according to the Certificate of Incorporation, have power to transact all business of the corporation.

General Notes

• The two lay members of the corporation serve for two year terms and their successors are selected by the Archbishop, the Vicar General and the Pastor, or by a majority of them.
• The Archbishop, by reason of his office, is President, and the Pastor of the parish, by reason of his office, is Vice-President of the corporation. The Secretary and Treasurer of the corporation are chosen from the parishioner members of the corporation and are usually the two lay members of the corporation.
• The Certificate of Incorporation and the Bylaws adopted by the parish corporation provide for the five members of the corporation to constitute the board of directors.

Specific Notes

• The Corporate Board must approve:
  a. Sale, purchase, mortgage or gifts of real estate.
  b. Granting of easements.
  c. Lease or rental agreements.
  d. Stock transfers or sales.
  e. Major capital improvements or renovations.
  f. New construction.
  g. Major service contracts for more than $15,000.
  h. Borrowing of money.

Pastoral Council: (Canon #536) "... a pastoral council is to be established in each parish; the pastor presides over it, and through it the Christian faithful along with those who share in the pastoral care of the parish in view of their office, give their help in fostering pastoral activity.

This pastoral council possesses a consultative vote only and is governed by the norms determined by the diocesan bishop.

General Notes

• The Pastoral Council is a consultative body responsible for advising the pastor regarding the focus, guidance, and monitoring of all parish ministries.
• The Pastoral Council is subject to the "Guidelines for Parish Pastoral Councils" of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
• The Pastoral Council
  ... participates in the responsibility for pastoral ministry and not just the administration of the parish. Its purpose and goals are extensive. It should research the needs, the ideas, the hopes, the life and activity of the people of God, so that the whole parish community can effectively carry out the mission of the parish and fully participate in the ongoing conversion that is central to its life. The Parish Pastoral Council should constantly evaluate the parish in its conformity to the Gospel and those constitutive elements of the Gospel which call for understanding the implications of justice.   In this sense, the Parish Pastoral Council shares in the decision making process which assists the pastor in carrying out the leadership role that is his within the parish.
  "Guidelines for Parish Pastoral Councils"

Specific Notes

• The Pastoral Council is the oversight body for all parish planning.
• The Council is responsible for advising the pastor on any matters which he brings before it, including matters regarding law, property, finances, and personnel. [4]
• The Pastoral Council, and any individual within it, is free to raise issues and concerns to the pastor for his and/or the Council's review.
• Parishioners generally are free to raise issues and concerns to the Pastoral Council, by letter or personally, for the Council's review.
• The Pastoral Council must make a recommendation regarding:
  a. Sale, purchase, or mortgage or real estate; or acceptance of gifts of real estate.
  b. Granting of easements.
  c. The general terms of the lease or rental of property.
  d. Major capital improvements or renovations.
  e. New construction.
  f. Major service contracts for more than $15,000.
  g. Borrowing of money.
  h. The yearly budget.
  i. The major policies regarding the focus, guidance, and monitoring of each and all parish ministries.
  j. The long-range plan for the parish.
  k. The long-range plans of each ministry in the parish.
  l. The creation of a new ministry position.
  m. The Pastor's yearly goals and periodic ministry review.

Administrative Council: (Canon #537)   Each parish is to have a finance council which is regulated by universal law as well as by norms issued by the diocesan bishop; in this council the Christian faithful, selected according to the same norms, aid the pastor in administration of parish goods...

General Notes

• The Administrative Council is a consultative body responsible for advising the pastor regarding the focus, guidance, and monitoring of parish administrative ministries.
• The Administrative Council assumes extensive responsibilities in advising the pastor regarding the areas of personnel, property, and finances, including budget, endowment, stewardship and other forms of giving.

Specific Notes

• The Administrative Council is the focusing, guiding, and monitoring body for parish properties and monies.
• The Administrative Council makes recommendations to the pastor on any matters that he brings before it, including matters regarding law and personnel.
• The Administrative Council, and any individual within it, is free to raise issues and concerns to the pastor for his and/or the Council's review.
• Parishioners generally are free to raise issues and concerns to the Administrative Council, by letter or personally, for the Council's review.
• The Administrative Council must make a recommendation to the Pastoral Council regarding:
  a. Sale, purchase, or mortgage or real estate; or acceptance of gifts of real estate.
  b. Granting of easements.
  c. Lease or rental agreements.
  d. Major capital improvements or renovation.
  e. New construction.
  f. Major service contracts for more than $15,000.
  g. Borrowing of money.
  h. The yearly budget.
  i. The creation of a new ministry position.
  j. The major policies regarding the focus, guidance, and monitoring of the parish administration ministries.

Ministry Staff:   The parish ministry staff comprises Pastoral Staff, Administrative Staff and Teaching Staff.

Pastoral Staff

General Notes

• The Pastoral Staff are those ministers who have oversight of a ministry in the parish, supervise other ministers, and set and monitor a budget area.

Specific Notes

• The Pastoral Staff works in a close collaborative relationship with the pastor and the rest of the Pastoral Staff.   They share, with the Pastor, the pastoring ministry of the parish community.
• The Pastoral Staff must make a recommendation regarding:
  a. The major policies regarding the focus, guidance, andmonitoring of the ministry for which he/she is responsible.
  b. The yearly budget in his/her own ministry area.
  c. The creation of a new ministry position for the parish.

Administrative Staff and Teaching Staff

General Notes

• The Administrative Staff consists of the ministers collaborating together to support the major ministries of the parish: secretary, administrative assistant, maintenance supervisor and staff, Coordinators for Extended Day and Kitchen Service, etc.   The Teaching staff consists of those ministers employed to teach in the school ministry.  
• The Administrative Staff and Teaching Staff consist of exempt and non-exempt staff.

Specific Notes

• The Administrative and Teaching Staff members work in a close collaborative relationship with the Pastoral Staff member in the ministry areas of the parish each area.
• The Administrative Staff and Teaching Staff members are consulted in personnel and finance matters directly affecting their status or their ministry.

Parish Leadership Groups: The leadership groups comprise all commissions advisory to a particular parish ministry and its staff and their committees and subcommittees.

General Notes

• The purpose of parish leadership groups is to focus guide, and monitor a particular ministry area among the parish ministries.
• All parish leadership groups are, by their nature, advisory to the Pastor and a particular Pastoral Staff member in a given ministry area.

Specific Notes

• All leadership groups need to be governed by a document descriptive of their purpose and parameters.
• All groups come to decision by consensus.[5]
• All persons in all leadership groups must respect confidentiality with regard to matters of personnel, finances, property and law.
• All monies which a parish leadership groups oversees must be held in parish accounts with the pastor as signatory.[6]

[1] The basic policies describe the specific limits placed on the freedom of decision of those who make policy on behalf of the parish community. This structure of decision-making is part of the very nature of parish in general, as well as Our Lady of Peace Parish in particular.

[2] It is part of the authority and responsibility structure of the Latin Rite of the Western Dispensation off the Roman Catholic Church that all parish leadership groups and staff are advisory to the pastor.

[3] The following material, including the General Notes, is taken from the Clergy Bulletin of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, p. 333.

[4] When matters of personnel, property, finances, or law are raised by the pastor, they are raised in executive session. That is, they are considered confidential matters in all parish governance groups. In addition, any person within any parish governance group may invoke executive session at any time for the purpose of confidentiality.

[5] Consensus means, ideally, unanimous agreement. However, consensus is meant to signify at least that all members of the group agree that they are able to live with and support the decision made by the whole group. If a group is unable to reach consensus on a particular matter, it is the role of the staff member who works with the group to provide the necessary resources so that the group will enter into a prayer and discernment process which will result group consensus. The fundamental focus question for consensus is: "What does God want of us?"

[6] All parish organizations and groups enjoy tax exempt status because they are part of the Minnesota corporation "Church of the Our Lady of Peace." Persons other than the pastor who hold and are signatory on parish accounts are tax liable for the funds in these accounts by the Internal Revenue Service.