The Parish of Christ the King Pastoral Council

2011 ~ 2012

The Pastoral Council of the Parish of Christ the King, consisting of sixteen members, is the primary advisory and consultative body to Msgr. Hoye.  As a group, the members represent the parish and plan, advise, and collaborate with him on matters of pastoral concern.  They work on long-range planning and advise, evaluate and support activites of the parish.
The council meets four times a year unless it is necessary to meet more often.  

The members of the 2011-2012 Council are:

The prayer for Pastoral Councils is said at the beginning of the meetings.

October 25, 2011 Meeting

The meeting opened with an introduction of our new Parish Council members.  The present council members are a good mix of parish members who have been in the parish since it was established, parishioners who've been members for many years and members fairly new to the parish.

Parish Council members were asked to break into small discussion groups.  Msgr. Hoye asked each group to  identify two or three things our parish does well and then two or three things our parish could improve on.  Each group was then asked to have someone report back to the entire group for further discussion.   

The strengths of our parish are many.  Members shared one of our strongest strengths is how welcoming our parish is as a whole.  Many of the council members shared how people have shared with them how welcome they feel in our parish.  Our parish has many activities.  We have a variety that offers a balance of spiritual, social, philosophical and educational opportunities.  Other strengths mentioned were the celebration of our liturgies and quality of the homilies delivered at both weekend and daily masses.  The final strength discussed was the work within our parish by our Youth Ministry. 

One of the weaknesses discussed was that many are not aware of the many ministries offered within our parish.  Another issue discussed was our need to reach out to our younger families.  We do have a need to evangelize more.  Council members discussed various ways to help get our message out.     

Several council members discussed how our younger members are using computer programs, I-Pads and I-Phones.  Their communication is immediate.  It was the general consensus for council members to explore other mediums to get information out concerning the parish. 

Msgr. Hoye adjourned the meeting at 8:00 PM and mentioned he would review the points of our discussion.

Past Accomplishments by the Pastoral Council

During the past three years the Pastoral Council has worked on strategic goals that were identified by Msgr. Hoye.  One of the ongoing outcomes from the work is a process for welcoming new parishioners through various ways such as displaying welcome posters, sending out packets and welcoming letters, encouraging new parishioners to become involved, and having receptions for new parishioners.

Another strategic goal, reaching out to non-practicing Catholics, was achieved by presenting the program, Catholics Returning Home, three times.  This is a five-week program that has been very successful. The next offering is scheduled for May 2011.

Another goal that was identified by Msgr. Hoye and the council members was getting more youth involved.  The Youth Ministry activities were enhanced when Kathy Laird was hired as a part-time ministry director.  She has created and supported a number of very successful fund raising and spiritual events.

The minutes of the January 2012 meeting will be available after they have been accepted at our next meeting on April 10, 2012.  Parishioners are invited to contact Msgr. Hoye with any item they would like brought up for discussion at the the next meeting.