Members of the Pastoral Council Committee 

Meetings Our Members Pastoral Council Committee Guidelines Our Meetings We meet Bi Monthly in the Rectory. Our Members Rev. Thomas Hayes    gutiguy@nycap.rr.com Tom Patregnani  tpatregn@nycap.rr.com Kara Matthews kmatthe2@nycap.rr.com M. Carol Ambuhl  karolina1948@aol.com Al Pezzi apezok@aol.com Tim Mack TimothyMack@aol.com William Hall wchone@hotmail.com Maria Hamm mhamm1@nycap.rr.com Kathy Spychalski Espycha139@aol.com   Monica Kurzejeski mkurzejeski@firstcolumbia.com  Pastoral Council Committee Guidelines: 1. Purpose / Mission The primary responsibility of the Pastoral Council Committee is to focus on the overall direction of the Parish. This committee envisions, evaluates and prioritizes the needs and goals of the parish community in light of Jesus' teachings and the mission of the local and larger Church. * Generally the committee is not involved with the daily business of the parish, as these matters are handled by the parish staff and the finance committee.   However, major issues are discussed by Pastoral Council Committee meetings.   The Pastoral Council Committee is also involved with the approval of the parish annual budget, as described below. Other responsibilities of the committee are to provide feedback to the Pastor on matters relating to the parish and to be aware of the activities of the various committees. 2.  Membership The committee membership should represent a wide cross section of the parish.  Although not a prerequisite, members should be currently or previously involved in other parish ministries. Nominations for vacant seats on the committee will be received by the pastor from current committee members, chairpersons of the other committees, or directly from members of the parish.  Perspective members will be provided information on the role of the committee and will be invited to meet with the Pastor to discuss membership further.  Upon learning of the roles and responsibilities of the committee, the perspective member will be given the opportunity to give prayerful thought to whether they would like to join the committee. The term for a committee member is 2 or 3 years, but the pastor may choose to extend the term when necessary to provide continuity to the committee during periods of transition or when major decision are being considered. The committee consists of 8 to 10 members, including the Pastor and one Parish Trustee.  Committee membership is diverse, reflecting the diverse nature of the Parish.  A range of age groups should be represented on the committee, including members under 25, parents of young children, middle age and retirement age. 3.  Meetings The Committee meets monthly in the Parish Center.  The meetings begin with a scripture reading followed by a period of prayerful reflection and then discussion. The focus of the meeting then turns to the business at hand, with the agenda determined by the Pastor.  The meetings are coordinated and facilitated by a member appointed by the Pastor. 4.  Relationship between Pastoral Council Committee and the Finance Committee The Pastoral Council and Finance Committees will work together closely and at least one person should hold simultaneous membership on both committees.  Although the committees are separate, their missions are directly related.  The Pastoral Council Committee establishes the parish vision and the Finance Committee allocates resources to fulfill this vision. The parish vision reflects the available resources while the allocation of resources reflects our vision. The Finance Committee will prepare the Parish's annual budget with input from the Pastoral Council Committee and will submit the final budget proposal to the Pastoral Council Committee for final review. 5.  Relationship between Pastoral Council Committee and other parish committees. The various committees at Saint Mary's are grouped into five clusters: Faith Formation, Prayer and Worship, Community Building, Christian Service, and Church Administration.  Each cluster will be assigned a liaison from the Pastoral Council Committee.  This member, who ideally should serve on one of the committees in the cluster that he is assigned to, will pass information between the cluster committees and the Pastoral Council Committee. ____________ *Adopted from "Called to Lead: Guidelines for Councils and Planning".   Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.   Send comments or suggestions to St. Mary's Catholic Church of Crescent at St Mary's Parish This page was last updated on 08/21/08