St. John Neumann
Catholic Church

My dear brothers and sisters,

I hope that you will take the time to read and digest this information about the Pastoral Council and the Commissions.  It is very important to the health of our parish as we build the kingdom of God.  The Commissions are the working arm of the Pastoral Council.  As I wrote to you last week , we will be implementing a new Pastoral Council in this next year.  The four commissions currently at St. John Neumann are:  Faith Formation, Human Concerns, Parish Life and Spiritual Life.  As we re-focus on our Commissions we will be re-evaluating their names and scope as well as adding a fifth one.  The fifth Commission will be Stewardship.  While each Commission has a specific focus; both evangelization and formation are important and ongoing roles of all them.

The purpose of the Commission is to:

• Identify what is working in the Commission and what more needs to be done in their respective focus area.
• Set one or two annual objectives that respond to the parish mission and goals.
• Establish teams, if not already in place, to implement the objectives, e.g. Parish Mission Team, Parish Festival Team, etc.
• Provide support and be a resource for existing parish ministries and organizations.
• Collaborate with the Pastoral Council, parish organizations and other Commissions.
• Participate in ongoing formation by studying the Vatican II documents and pastorals, and by attending various programs.

The Commission members are to be a prayer filled group who must be open to ongoing formation themselves.  If the Commission members are to be effective evangelizers and help in meeting the spiritual and pastoral needs of our parishioners, then they must spend time studying the Vatican II documents and pastorals, and participate in programs that are both formational and educational.  It is only through ongoing formation and study that a Commission can envision the possibilities for living out our parish mission and vision.

The work of the Commission members directly helps us fulfill our parish vision’s belief that St. John Neumann embraces a shared ministry approach and is lay-driven.  Our parish community needs all of the gifts to be used that God has so graciously bestowed on us through each other.  Next week I will highlight the Commission Membership and how we will continue to move forward in our journey of faith.   

In Christ,

Monsignor Frank Giusta

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