Saint John Vianney Parish Ministry Together

At the request of Fr. Francisco, and with the support of the SJV Parish Council, a new leadership structure is being implemented at St. John Vianney Parish. Called Parish Ministry Together, this new structure keeps all the great committees and groups we currently have in the parish but provides a monthly Leadership Night that will greatly aid in communication and leadership development. Starting last Fall, a small group of parishioners selected by Fr. Francisco has been studying a book, Keeping The Covenant by Fr. Thomas Sweets, SJ, to learn how to develop a collaborative leadership at the parish level. Fr. Francisco had taken part in a similar process at a former parish and believes this structure will be very useful at St. John Vianney.

Parish Ministry Together functions with five Commissions representing the five basic areas of parish life: Worship, Outreach, Formation, Community, and Administration. Each Commission would have nine parishioners serving as Commissioners for three-year terms, plus one staff member who serves as a resource and liaison. The members of a Commission elect two members from the group to serve as Co-chairs for a one year period. (Note: These are co-chairs, sharing equal responsibility, not a chair and vice-chair!) The Commissions would select two other members to represent that Commission on the Pastoral Council for a two year period. Co-chairs cannot serve as Council members as that would put too much responsibility on a person.

To start this process, Commission members will be selected in a less than perfect way, but future members will be selected as described in the SJV Covenant Booklet which you can read by clicking on the link below. The first members of our Commissions will be selected from the current Parish Council and the Parish Ministry Together (PMT) team, with additional members selected from the nominations made at the May 6th meeting. This decision was made as a way to provide the largest number of Commissioners who understand the new system, so we can get off to a good start. This initial set of Commissioners will serve for varying terms until we get to the regular terms of three years on a Commission. Some of the initial members will serve for one year, others for two years, until we get to the point where all will serve for the standard three year term. The members of the Pastoral Council serve for two years, but they will also phase into that schedule.

All Commissioners are expected to attend the monthly Leadership Night scheduled for the first Thursday of each month. All parishioners are invited to attend also. The meetings will run from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM following the agenda/schedule you will find in the SJV Covenant Booklet. Click below to read the SJV Parish Covenant Booklet for details about this new leadership organization.

Q.	Parish Ministry Together: What is it?
A.	At the request of Fr. Francisco, a group of parishioners and staff have been meeting for many months to investigate a new way of organizing the parish: Parish Ministry Together. We have been using a book, Keeping the Covenant by Thomas Sweetser, SJ, to guide us through the process. Fr. Francisco was at St. Maria Goretti Parish when they made the change to this type of organization and he wants to have St. John Vianney organized in a similar fashion. Basically, parish organizations continue to operate as they currently do, but a monthly leadership night will bring all the leaders together so everyone will have a chance to learn what other groups are doing. Since communication has often been listed as the biggest issue in the parish, this new way should really prove useful to the entire parish. The SJV Parish Ministry Together team has spent some time looking at areas of parish life that are important to any parish. We have settled on five specific areas of concern: Liturgy Faith Formation Administration Outreach Community Life All five of these areas require strong leadership in order to have a strong parish. SJV already has strong leadership in these areas. Parish Ministry Together will allow these five areas to communicate better so the parish will function smoothly while encouraging more parishioners to take active leadership roles. We will create a Commission (or committee) around each of these five areas.

Q.	Parish Ministry Together: What are Commissions?
A.	There will be five Commissions created as part of the Parish Ministry Together process. The commissions are Liturgy, Faith Formation, Outreach, Community Life, and Administration. There may be overlap among the commissions, but that is normal. For example, Sim Bangabi touches the Liturgy Commission because it involves a series of masses, but it touches on Community Life because it involves dinners. The same is true for Children’s Liturgy of the Word, which could be considered a part of Liturgy or a part of Faith Formation. The Liturgy Commission covers all liturgical ministries including music, lectors, ushers, altar servers, and the committee that currently plans all our liturgical celebrations, including Sunday mass, weekday mass, funerals, quinceaneras, weddings, First Communion celebrations, processions, Posada, Sim Bangabi, and such. Faith Formation covers the RCIA program, our children’s faith formation program, Youth Ministry, Hispanic Youth Ministry, parish missions or retreats, adult education, and the JustFaith program. Outreach includes St. Vincent de Paul, Community Ministry, and Faith In Action, as well as special events such as the Giving Tree or Thanksgiving baskets. Community Life covers the Fiesta, potluck dinners, the Argentine dinner, Sim Bangabi, Posadas, pancake breakfasts, Christmas boutique and other events that encourage parishioners to share fellowship. Administration covers the parish finance committee, facility maintenance, communication team including email and Sunday bulletin, as well as the Stewardship committee.

Q.	Parish Ministry Together: How will it work?
A.	Each of the five Commissions, (Community Life, Outreach, Liturgy, Faith Formation, and Administration) will have nine commissioners who will serve for three years (staggered terms) on that particular Commission. Each Commission will also elect two members to serve on the Pastoral Council for two years. All the Commissions will meet together on the first Thursday of each month. The first part of the meeting will be prayer and then very short reports from each Commission. After the reports, the Commissions will meet separately. Each Commission will have a staff member assigned to serve as liaison. After the business meeting of the Commissions, there will be a break with refreshments. Then the Pastoral Council will meet. The meetings will end at 9:00 PM, having started at 7:00 PM.