Planning for the Parish Assembly
The Parish Pastoral Council divides into five groups. Each group will play a vital role in the assembly process. The groups should be evenly split in terms of members. The groups are as follows:
Publicity Group
Responsibilities include:
- Coordinating pulpit talks by council members, advertising the assembly, and educating the parish about areas of parish life (pulpit talks are explained below)
- Bulletin announcements
- Invitations to assembly
- Other publicity – be as creative as possible!
- Coordinating “Youth Vision Project” with DRE or youth minister
History Group
Responsibilities include:
- Preparing history display for assembly
- Telling of parish story (the history group is encouraged to select an elder from the parish and assist them in telling a brief history of the parish at the assembly)
- If the parish has already compiled a history, you may consider using that presentation for the assembly
Data Collection Group
Responsibilities include:
- Gather parish statistics
- Review demographics provided by Pastoral Planning Office
- Prepare information from the basic parish census (if conducted)
- Prepare information from parish spiritual reports
- Prepare and deliver presentation on demographic info for assembly
Prayer and Process Group
Responsibilities include:
- Establish agenda and schedule for assembly
- Plan prayer and faith-sharing for assembly
- Designate leader for assembly
- Prepare all materials for assembly
Hospitality Group
Responsibilities include:
- Assist with set up of assembly space (prayer space, microphones, overhead / powerpoint for demographics presentation, etc.)
- Set up room with tables for discussion
- Arrange for refreshments
- Recruit “runners” to assist with process (runners will be used to distribute and collect written responses from the tables at the assembly. Often times, teenagers can be asked to fill this role)