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What is a Parish Pastoral Council?

Your parish may be one of a number of parishes around the diocese have recently had, or are about to have their “Parish Pastoral Council Elections”. So, who are the people who are on your Parish Pastoral Council (PPC), what does the PPC do, and why do we need one?

The PPC is a group of parishioners who work with the Parish Priest to reflect on the life of the parish and draw from their reflections, recommendations as to how the pastoral situation may be best served. Normally the PPC shares the leadership function of the Parish with the Parish Priest, the Finance Council and Parish Manager. The use of the word “pastoral” emphasizes that the focus of the PPC is people and not administrative, managerial or financial.

Whilst quite often, members of the PPC are also involved with other parish groups, (e.g. liturgical, bereavement, finance, etc.), and rightly so, the role of the PPC itself is not to run everything. The tasks of the PPC are to:-

listen, search and respond to the hopes, ideas, needs and concerns of parishioners.
grow in knowledge and awareness of what is already happening in the Parish.
evaluate carefully information gathered in order to make decisions that reflect the values of the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.
develop, implement and improve Parish initiatives that assist parishioners in their continuing efforts to live as effective Christians in society.

In essence, a key function of the PPC is pastoral planning. Council members believe that God's Spirit is present in their community, and their aim is to help parishioners become more aware of their baptismal call, and to make the activity of the parish ever more closely confirm to the gospel.

Do you know who your PPC members are? Have you spoken to them lately, to express your hopes and dreams for the parish?