Parish Council
All things that happen in the church, happen as God works through His people. Parishes must have a structure that organizes the People of God and gives its members a voice to discern the direction of the parish and to ensure that the faith community carries out the mission of the parish. Included in this structure are the Pastor, Parish Trustees, Parish Staff and the Parish Council.
Each year St. Paul the Apostle calls upon its members to serve as leaders for the parish for a term of three years. Men, women and youth are invited to serve as consultants to the Pastor on the spiritual and temporal affairs of the parish. They develop parish policies, promote parish planning, and oversee the work of their committees.
The first characteristic of a parish council is that it be a prayerful group. To many people the concept of a prayer group is the rather narrow view that the parish council must simply be a group of people who pray together. The concept is much broader than that and includes the idea that as a prayerful group, its function is to discern the will of God for the parish community. This is an awesome and humbling responsibility!
Five factors help to develop the spiritual leadership of the parish council:
- Developing the habit of praying together
- Learning more about the culture of the community
- Learning more about the mission of the Church
- Developing leadership and group skills
- Being part of carrying out the mission of the parish.
Our current Parish Council members are:
John Ellgas
Ellen Huck
Rick Peltier
Susan Boland
David Leifheit
Jim Moe
Barbie Boehme-Dechant
John Haigh
John Merrill
Ex-Officio Members are:
Fr. Bill Dietzler
Don Dettor - Trustee Treasurer
Paul Ritter - Trustee Secretary
