Second
pastoral council to be elected
The
second Blanchardstown parish pastoral council will be elected at a special
open assembly in Scoil Bríde school hall on 12th May. The aim
of the council will be to build on the solid foundations established
by the first council which was set up in June 2005.
Parish pastoral councils are leadership structures that enable priests
and people to work together to build up Christian communities that are
characterised by prayer and hospitality. As well as planning the development
of the parish, the council acts as an important vehicle for cooperation
between the priests and the laity.
The present guidelines state that there are a number of ex-officio members
of the council – including priests, pastoral workers and a financial
controller – working together with eight elected members of the
laity. With each council sitting for three years, it is now time to
elect members to the new council, although naturally some members of
the first will remain.
“There is a tendency in the parish – in every parish –
to sit back and go with the flow,” says Fr. John Jones, Blanchardstown
P.P. and president of the pastoral council. “We believe there
is a lot of untapped energy out there, a dynamic force that can help
to shape and mould this parish into a strong and vibrant community,
and we extend a warm invitation to all parishioners to come along to
the assembly on May 12th and find out what being a council member is
all about.
“Obviously we would like to get a good balance of volunteers to
make the council as representative as possible, men, women, young and
old. Parishes are getting busier by the day and this is a good vehicle
for providing new and exciting ways of promoting Christ’s message
within the parish.”
Declining priest numbers have meant that the laity has had to take a
much more active role in the parish to free up priests to fulfil their
ministering role. Over the last three years the council met once a month
resulting in, amongst other things, the publication of an updated Parish
Guide, the development of a parish website, www.stbrigidsrcblanch.com,
the development of a youth group and a liturgy group. Other significant
activities have involved the adoption of Child Protection Guidelines
with Ms. Mary Kelly taking on the role of Child Protection Representative
within the parish.
“I have found my three years on the council to be a most rewarding
experience,” says Dermot Gannon, parishioner and council member.
“In particular I have developed friendships in the group and it
has been very fulfilling to work with others to develop some lay initiatives
such as the liturgy group.
“In other years, there was a tendency to leave everything up to
the priest but nowadays people need to play an active role in the parish
to prevent it falling into inertia.”
At the 12th May meeting, feedback will be given on the questionnaire
distributed at Mass recently, as well as the business of electing five
new members of the parish pastoral council. The meeting begins at 8p.m.
and all parishioners – including those in the new territories
of Ashtown and Pelletstown – are warmly invited to attend.
Community Voice, Media
House, Church Avenue, Blanchardstown,
Dublin 15
Phone +353 1 822 1432 - Fax +353 1 640 4444
info@communityvoice.ie
All
content and images are © Perceptions[Publicity and Event Management]
Limited. All rights reserved
Site developed by Vincent Cahill
