Discernment Process for Selecting New Members of the Parish Pastoral Council Manual for PPC Facilitators These instructions are written for facilitators who assist pastors, existing council members, and parishes in the implementation of a Discernment Process for Selecting New Members to the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC). Initial Contact All parishes within a given cycle of Parish Pastoral Council development will be contacted informing them of the PPC facilitator that is assigned to them. It is your responsibility, as a PPC Facilitator to contact the pastor to arrange a meeting with him and the Steering Committee for Pastoral Planning or the existing Parish Council. You or the pastor may wish to meet initially before the full meeting. This is advisable. Information regarding the parish will be made available to you when you are assigned a parish. You should confirm this information with the pastor when you contact him. The most pertinent information you will need to gather is : Does the parish have an existing parish pastoral council or a steering committee? How long has the parish council been in existence? What has the parish council been working on over the past year? Much of this information will be given to you before contacting the pastor, but should be confirmed Consultation The nature of the consultation will differ depending on the situation in the local parish. The following describes the typical nature of a consultation for the two primary situations Parishes with existing parish councils and Parishes with a Steering Committee for Pastoral Planning. Parishes with Steering Committees for Pastoral Planning The purpose of the consultation is to: Listen to the needs of the parish Introduce the Pastoral Planning Process using the Powerpoint presentation Recommend methods to select council members and offer services to assist the Steering Committee in arranging the selection process Review the discernment process 1
The following is a sample outline of a consultation meeting with a Steering Committee. 10 min. Introductions and Opening Prayer 20 min. Explain purpose of the meeting and invite initial questions to be addressed in the presentation. 35 min. Presentation for Steering Committees 20 min. Questions 30 min. Conversation regarding Selection process for new members (if needed) 10 min. Agreement between PPC Facilitator and Steering Committee regarding tasks to be accomplished in selection process. 5 min. Setting calendar for future appointments (including Information Night for nominees and Discernment Evening) 5 min. Closing Prayer These meetings have two parts. The first is to explain, through conversation and presentation, the Parish Pastoral Planning Model and the background of Parish Pastoral Councils. The second is to assist the Steering Committee in deciding upon a selection process for new Parish Pastoral Council members. This packet includes a presentation for Steering Committees which will serve as an introduction to Pastoral Planning. Steering Committee members are encouraged to ask questions before and after the presentation. The second part is to set up a selection process for new members of the Parish Pastoral Council. The Pastoral Planning Office is recommending the use of the following discernment process to select new members. This process involves two more meetings following the initial consultation. Steering Committee members may wish to altar this process or to use another process. If they choose to do so, you may still offer to give a presentation to a group of selected nominees. It is important to listen to the needs that the pastor and Steering Committee is expressing regarding the council. There is a great deal of flexibility in terms of the number of members to be elected. Some parishes will need an entirely new council. Others may only need a few members. The pastor can choose whether he is going to allow all council members to be selected through 2
the process or if he would like to appoint any members. The council is normally comprised of 9 members. 6 members are selected using an election or discernment process. 3 members can be selected by the pastor. This excludes ex-officio members who are on the council by virtue of their office. It would be wise to review the guidelines for parish pastoral councils included with this manual. The discernment process has several parts. Some parts are conducted by the Steering Committee and some are conducted by the PPC facilitator. It is important to review all of these parts with the pastor and be sure that he is aware of the division of labor. Parts of the Process Each part will be reviewed in detail, but this is a brief overview. 1. Publicity - Bulletin and pulpit announcement or other means of advertising should be employed by the pastor or the existing council to make the parish aware of the process and their role in it. 2. Nomination - Nominations should be made at a Sunday liturgy. All parishioners are encouraged to submit names. 3. Invitations - Invitations are sent to all nominees inviting them to attend the Night of Information on a no obligation basis to learn more about Parish Pastoral Councils 4. Night of Information - This is conducted by the facilitator usually using the enclosed power point presentation. This session is usually 1 ½ hours and includes the presentation and a time for questions. This night ends by encouraging nominees to consider and pray over what they have heard and if they still feel called to come the following week to the Discernment Night 5. Discernment - This is a facilitated prayerful listening and consensus session. The nominees enter into this process by answering a series of questions and listening to everyone else as they offer their answers to the same questions. The night ends by the participants naming those they wish to be on council. The facilitator is responsible for facilitating the process and the consensus process. 6. Commissioning of New Members - This is conducted by the pastor at the following Sunday liturgy. This commissioning could also be a time to recognize those who are leaving council. Timeline for Implementation The following is a time line for implementation. The entire process normally takes 6-8 weeks. Weeks 1-3 Publicity for the Discernment Process using bulletin announcements, homily, 3
posters, which pray flyers, etc. This could also include prayer cards and general intercessions for the success of the process. Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Continue Publicity Prepare forms for identifying potential candidates Continue Publicity Continue Prayer Finalize details of process Distribute Identification/Nomination forms Encourage parishioners to fill out forms during announcement time Ushers collect forms in a fashion similar to a second collection Send invitations or call all those who have been suggested inviting them to the Night of Information Night of Information Night of Discernment Commissioning of new members during liturgy Division of Labor The role of the Steering Committee is: Publicity and Prayer Distributing and collecting Nomination Forms Sending Invitations Providing space for Night of Information Providing Space for Discernment Conducting Commissioning Service The role of the PPC facilitator is: 4
Initial Consult with pastor Conducting Night of Information Session Facilitating Night of Discernment Providing materials to pastor: sample nomination forms, sample bulletin announcements, handouts for Night of Information, Prayer Aids for Discernment Night, sample commissioning services During the consultation, please leave the Steering Committee with all sample materials. Nomination and Invitations The facilitator is not responsible for the nomination or invitation process. This is conducted by the pastor and the Steering Committee. A sample nomination form is include with this manual and should be given the pastor at the consultation. The nomination form includes the qualities that we are looking for in a Parish Pastoral Council Member and this list of qualities should be used in the publicity and communicated to the parish to assist them in the nomination process. Invitations and/or phone calls should be sent out to nominees as soon as possible after the nominations have been collected. The invitations should include the date and time of the Information session as well as a note of congratulations for being nominated. A nomination signifies that someone in the parish felt that this person has the gifts of leadership and they should be noticed for that acclamation. Night of Information The Night of Information is held at the parish. The session usually lasts 1 hour to 1 ½ hours. Begin by welcoming everyone and congratulating them on being nominated. Introduce yourself. Explain the parts of this process including what has already happened, what will happen tonight, and what will happen next week. Also explain clearly how many council members will be discerned through the process. (Be sure that you have talked with the pastor about this first) The session begins with a short prayer and faith-sharing opportunity using the provided worship aid. The prayer focuses on Luke 4 as the mission of Jesus Christ. Time should be given to 5
nominees to break open the reading and share with a neighbor for a few minutes. The presentation is included on the accompanying disk and can be used as a power point presentation. At this point there is no way to provide a power point projector, so accommodations may have to be made. I have included color transparencies of the slides so that you could use an overhead as well. The talk can also be done without the help of a visual aid, but it is more difficult. The script for the presentation is included with this manual. You may adjust what ever you wish, so long as it follows the spirit of the presentation. Feel free to use personal stories or examples. This is an overview of councils and pastoral planning and not meant to be an in-depth presentation. The idea is to help nominees understand what pastoral councils are, what they do, and how they serve the parish. The focus of the presentation is the mission of the parish and how that is lived out. The evening ends with a time for questions. Usually these questions are very specific and detail oriented. It is wise to become familiar with the guidelines for Parish Pastoral Councils, which is also included in this manual. The guidelines should answer most of the questions. There may also be questions which are best answered by the pastor. You should point those questions to him, ex. Number of meetings, time and dates of meetings, etc. Thank everyone for coming. Encourage them to reflect on what they have heard, to pray about it, and if they still feel called then they should attend the Night of Discernment. Night of Discernment The Night of Discernment is held exactly one week after the Night of Information. That is to say it is held on the same night of the week. Because this process seeks to narrow the number of nominees, those who were not able to attend the Night of Information are usually not allowed to attend the Night of Discernment. There may be extenuating circumstances and I encourage you to use your own judgment, but this is the common practice. The room is very purposefully arranged. Chairs are set in a circle and participants are asked to sit in the circle. Extra chairs can be removed once everyone is there. The facilitator also sits in the circle. A small table sits in the center with a cloth that reflects the current liturgical season. The table contains a candle, a Bible, a crucifix or other symbols. This is important so that those who may be more reserved have a point of concentration when speaking. It also helps to create a space of prayer. The night follows the prayer in the worship aid. The reading is done by one of the nominees. The opening prayer is conducted by yourself or the pastor and should include a prayer invoking the Holy Spirit to be with us. The faith-sharing question is done in the large group. After stating the question and encouraging others to share their ideas there will be a time of silence. It is normal and someone will speak first eventually. Not everyone needs to speak, but leave enough time so that those who wish to speak have had an opportunity. 6
You are now entering the heart of the discernment. The first question is simple and straightforward. This question should be asked by going around the circle. As people answer, take note of their name. After each person speaks, pray for that person using their name and encourage the response. Everyone is prayed for. Everyone answers the question including the pastor. (If the discernment group is large, more than 20 people, you may shorten the evening by praying once for everyone at the end of the introduction. If you choose to do this include everyone s name in the prayer) The second and third questions are asked, but it is not necessary to go around the circle for these questions. People are encouraged to answer when they wish. All others are encouraged to listen. (Again, to shorten the evening, you may be more direct as a facilitator and ask that people do answer in the order they are sitting) Keep note of who has spoken and who has not. If there is a long pause and some have not spoken it is alright to prompt them by asking them if they wish to speak. The night should be done in a prayerful pace, but it must also keep moving. The third question is multiple choice. People are encouraged to only answer one of the three questions and to let people know which question they are answering. It is possible to take a short stretch break after the first question and after the second if necessary. Once everyone has finished answering the questions, this is the time when you really go to work. You will need a blackboard or newsprint for the consensus process. First, ask if there is anyone who would not like to continue in the process. Those who do not want to be considered for selection should make themselves known. They may still participate in the selection though by naming others. Go around the circle and ask each person to name three people who they feel should be on the council and why. Encourage them to give a short reason explaining why they are choosing those individuals. The names are written on the newsprint and tallied. After the first round, ask if there are any names that are emerging as a consensus. If there are names, those names should be circled. These people have been selected. The rest of the names should be erased and a new round begins. Go around the circle again and repeat the process by asking people to name three others. They may name anyone in the circle except those who have already been selected.. Again, check for consensus. If more people seem to be emerging in the consensus then there are slots on the council, encourage those individuals whose names are emerging to move with you to another room away 7
from the group. For instance, if there are 4 spots left to fill and 6 people seem to be emerging, those six go with you to another room. This becomes the final caucus. This step is not necessary if the appropriate number is selected. Those in the circle are encouraged to remain in a prayerful space while the others leave. Those in the caucus will choose from among themselves who the new members will be. Their task is to make the selection. They are encouraged to discuss the gifts they saw in one another and who would best serve the council. I usually do not stay in the room. I make sure they understand their task and stay outside the room. I let them know that I am available if they need assistance. This process usually takes 10-15 minutes. If it becomes a very long time, go in and ask them how they are doing. Once the council is selected, announce the names and make sure that someone has a list. The final prayer is included in the worship aid. The sign of peace ends the evening. Thank everyone for their participation. Commissioning Service for New Members Sample commissioning services are included with this manual. Please provide the pastor with a copy of sample commissioning services for his use. List of Attachments Included with this manual is: Guidelines for Parish Pastoral Councils Sample Bulletin Inserts Sample Nomination Form Worship Aids for Night of Information and Night of Discernment Outline of Presentation (with suggested script) Copy of Power point Slides for Night of Information Transparencies of Power point Slides Sample Commissioning Service 8
CD-Rom includes: Power point presentation for Night of Information Power point presentation in Spanish Extra power point slides for special circumstances Sample Nomination Form Worship Aids (MS Publisher) Sample Commissioning Services Guidelines for Parish Pastoral Councils 9