Parish Pastoral Assembly

THE PARISH PASTORAL ASSEMBLY

There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit;
there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord. There are many different forms of activity,
but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all.
The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good.
1 Cor 12:4-7

The renewal of the Church through the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s led the Church to evaluate her role in the modern world. The Sacred Council spoke of the Church not primarily as the institution, nor as the hierarchy, or an organization but rather as the ‘People of God’. As People of God, the Church is understood as a community of disciples–priests and people working together and using their gifts to serve the needs of the community and the world. Understanding the Church as “the People of God” challenges us to see and understand who we are in new ways.

The Parish Pastoral Assembly has been established to help foster pastoral action in the parish and is consultative by nature. Pastoral action is essentially about caring: it is how we continue the caring mission of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. It embraces all that we do to care for and nurture people in terms of their physical, spiritual and emotional well-being. The Parish Assembly keeps the needs of the parish at the center of its vision in order to continue the mission of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who came that we might have life and have it to the full. [John 10:10].

The Parish Pastoral Assembly is composed of the parish priest (and his assistant, if any), the members of the Parish Pastoral and Finance Councils, the heads of the different ministries and organizations, representatives from the renewal and youth  groups,  the BECs and religious men and women, the MMGC Community coordinators  and their select members, and volunteers from the general parishioners.

Both parish priest and assembly are called to exercise leadership in the parish. Together they place their gifts at the service of one another and the parish community, doing so as servants of the Gospel.