Being a member of the Parish Council is a task that must be served by an individual who is first and foremost committed to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The calling of a Parish Council member is a holy and spiritual one; they assist the Priest with the administrative responsibilities of the parish. Being a member of the Parish Council should not be for social reasons or status in the community, but rather, an act of humility and conviction to Christ our Lord. If you are a member in good standing of St. Mary Orthodox Church (as determined by the Pastor), and are interested in serving on the Parish Council, please contact Fr. Mousa (fr.mousa@gmail.com).

The following is an excerpt of an address given by His Grace, Archbishop Joseph (of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West), at a Parish Council Workshop:

“The letters of St. Ignatius are very clear that the community of the faithful gather around the Bishop, who acts as the shepherd in the place of Jesus Christ. The priests, in turn, are deputized to act on behalf of their hierarch. Just as the Bishop is the head of his Diocese, so the priests are the heads of their parishes. In the parish, the people are called to obey the priest, and so it should go without saying that Parish Councils are directly answerable to the priest. The priest is not an employee of the parish, and such thinking is totally unorthodox. Rather, the Parish Council supports the priest’s pastoral ministry by handling tasks that would otherwise overburden him.

Therefore, if the Parish Council is an extension of the priest’s pastoral ministry, it should share in the spirituality of the priesthood. Spirituality, that sense of connectedness to God, must be present in each parish council. For it is out of the council’s relationship with God that it acts, and the closer it is to God, the more good things one will be able to do. So, you may now think that qualifying for Parish Council elections has merely to do with one’s membership, but I will tell you that only a committed spiritual person is qualified to be on any Church council, and it is left to the Bishop to approve such people who do abide in the peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I urge all of you who are involved in the ministry of the Parish Council to remember your love for one another in our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Parish Council is not a secular job; it is a vision-driven ministry to the community. If you do not have Christian love, if you have no long-term vision of evangelization and education, if you cannot see your parish’s calling to minister to the spiritually sick and suffering, then you will be slaves to petty arguments and pride. The Parish Councils are responsible not only for the upkeep of facilities, but ensuring the proper support of all the ministries of the parish. When I say a long-term vision, I mean 10 and 20 year plans, not just the next fiscal year.

Squabbling not only drains Parish Councils of energy, but it drives away the youth. Who wants to be on a parish council full of people who fight all the time? Young people want a sense of love and security from their parish communities, not constant dissention and rancor. If we are committed to our Lord, Jesus Christ, then we should be willing to set aside our differences and focus on our common goals. What should these goals be?

-Our own spiritual growth;

-Spreading the message of the Church out into our communities;

-Increasing our budgetary resources by teaching people to tithe;

-Acquiring land and resources to start schools in every parish;

-Providing for the material support of Diocesan ministries, such as summer camping programs and deanery youth directors.”