Parish Leadership
Parish Pastoral Council
The Church recognizes that every parish will function at its best when it uses all of the talents available to it. With this in mind, the Church mandates that every parish form a Parish Pastoral Council. The Parish Pastoral Council is an advisory group to the Pastor. The Pastoral Council provides a way for the people to communicate with the pastor and the pastor to communicate with them.
The Pastoral Council represents an important tool through which the pastor can come to a greater appreciation of the parishioners, their expectations, hopes, wishes, concerns, and complaints. The Pastoral Council also becomes an additional agent through which the pastor can explain his decisions and actions.
Qualifications for a candidate for the Parish Pastoral Council is that she/he be registered in the parish, celebrate the Eucharist weekly in their parish, and are active to some degree in some of the activities and/or groups of the parish.
Parish Financial Council
Parish Financial Council
The Church recognizes that every parish will function at its best when it uses the talents available to it. With this in mind, the Church mandates that every parish establish a Parish Finance Council. The financial environment of today’s society is complex, fluid and demanding. Every parish must be prepared to operate in this environment and can only do so with the aid of parishioners familiar with this world. The Parish Finance Council is an advisory group to the Pastor; they are offer wise direction and counsel to the Pastor in the everyday financial decisions of the parish; in the planning for the future and in the disciplined formations of that parish’s financial priorities & strategy. As with members of the Parish Pastoral Council, members of the Parish Financial Counsel should be drawn from registered parishioners who lives are grounded in the weekly celebration of the Eucharist and participate in various parish activities and groups. Because of the confidentiality nature of the Parish Finance Council’s work, their meetings are closed to the public. However, a annual report on the finances of the Parish is issued to the parishioners by the Parish Finance Council. For the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Official Guidelines for Parish Finance Councils. Refer to the attached document.
Current Members of St. Lawrence Parish Finance Council!
· Fr. Walter J. Benn
· Rex Helfant
· Mary Holmgaard
· Joseph Keeney
· Bob Schwartz
· Tom Senior
