New Councils Handbook

Dear Pastor and Parish Council Member,

I am pleased to provide you with this comprehensive, updated resource to assist you in leading and caring for your parish. The Parish, Vicariate and Archdiocesan Councils Handbook reflects much of our own local experiences from the past twenty years and the best practices in use today in other American dioceses. Building upon the previous work of the 1991 Parish Pastoral Council Guidelines and Handbook, this edition represents a major revision with the introduction of the Evangelization Committee and the Parish Finance Council. The publication of this resource replaces all previous directives on Parish Pastoral Councils and Parish Finance Councils.

I believe this new resource will provide valuable insights and helpful ways to respond to the challenging and changing needs of Archdiocesan, Vicariate and Parish life, a resource that I am pleased to endorse. I am also convinced that with your leadership, these documents and the organizational structures that flow out of them will assist you in providing for the necessary accountability and transparency for their governance.

In conjunction with the release of this full document, I have issued a decree regarding the new Parish Finance Council Statutes, which became particular law for the Archdiocese of Detroit on January 21, 2011. It is my desire and expectation that these statutes, along with the Parish Pastoral Council guidelines, be fully implemented in every parish.

ncluded with the printed copy of this resource is a CD containing an electronic version of the documents and a training DVD. The DVD was taped "live" with leadership of various parishes, representing parish pastoral and finance council membership. A companion study guide is also provided with the DVD to assist you in prayerful reflection with your own parish pastoral and finance council members on the significant changes and updates. The Department of Parish Life and Services, through its Office of Pastoral Planning and Leadership Services, will also continue to be a resource for you and your councils.

I ask that you join with me in welcoming these new resources as we gather in our meetings, asking for the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit as we set a course to share Christ in and through the Church.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Allen H. VigneronArchbishop of Detroit