Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Pastoral Council Constitution

ARTICLE I

Name

Section 1. The organization shall be known as the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Pastoral Council, Berlin, New Jersey.

Section 2. The principal address of the Council shall be the address of the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 178 W. White Horse Pike, Berlin, New Jersey, 08009.

ARTICLE II

Objective

Section 1. The purpose of the Pastoral Council is to advise the Pastor to ensure the implementation of the Parish Mission and to invite the People of God to embrace and live the Good News. The role of the Council, therefore, is consultative or advisory to the Pastor (Code of Canon Law: article 536:2). A consultative body is a group of advisers who make recommendations after careful deliberations. As a consultative body, the Pastoral Council's recommendations bear considerable weight. The Council is not a decision-making group, although it has an important role in the decision-making process. In a parish, the Pastor has the central leadership role and is the final decision maker. The Pastor carries out this role, however, in consultation with others. He gathers information, seeks advice and counsel, and gives serious consideration to what he hears before he makes a decision. The Pastor, accordingly, should listen and give substantial consideration to the Council's recommendations in making decisions that affect the Parish Community.

Section 2. The Council's purpose is founded upon the faith enunciated in the Code of Canon Law as well as the Diocesan Guidelines. The Council is a consultative body and derives its purpose from the Pastor. Consistent with Lumen Gentium solemnly promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI, the laity is given the opportunity, according to their abilities and the needs of the time, to participate zealously in the saving work of the Church through our Parish Community. Subject to Article XII, however, nothing stated herein shall be deemed to detract from or conflict with the absolute authority and discretion of the Pastor, who is the spiritual and administrative leader of the Parish (Code of Canon Law: article 532).

Section 3. The Council's goal is to ensure that the Vision Statement of the Diocese of Camden and the Mission Statement of the Parish Community are carried throughout each Ministry and committee by pastoral planning, coordinating, and promoting.

ARTICLE III

Function

Section 1. Pastoral Planning: The Pastoral Council is an envisioning and planning body. In collaboration with the Pastor, the Council seeks to discern what God is calling our Parish Community to be and helps determine how our parish as a community can make progress fulfilling our specific mission.

Section 2. Coordinating: The Pastoral Council seeks to work together with members within our Parish Community, inviting the participation of all members and incorporating their gifts and other goods of the community so that they complement and support implementation of our pastoral plans.

Section 3. Promoting: The Pastoral Council seeks to assure that parishioners' individual and collective efforts help our parish become the community that it has been called to be. The Council should enable the ministries of the community to be implemented faithfully, and should evaluate the progress of the pastoral plans and make adjustments where needed.

ARTICLE IV

Structure of the Pastoral Council

Section 1. The following members are ex officio:

• Pastor /All Clergy
• School Principal Rep
• Parish Staff Rep
• Liturgical Rep
• Religious Education Rep
• Trustee Rep
• Finance Council Rep
• Youth Rep
• Athletic Association Rep

There shall be an equal number of voting ex officio members and at-large members. The at-large members shall be selected from the parish community and from the at-large membership the Council shall elect its President, Vice President, and Recording Secretary.

Section 2. All members of the parish, Catholic or Noncatholic, in good standing as adjudged by the Pastor, a parishioner for at least one year, regularly attending Mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, and complying with these articles, shall be eligible for membership.

ARTICLE V

Officers

Section 1. The Pastor of the parish shall be Moderator of the Council. He shall be chief adviser to the Council in all matters at all meetings. He shall exercise no vote, except in the case of a tie vote.

Section 2. The President shall be the Presiding Officer of the Council and shall conduct all meetings expeditiously yet fairly. The President shall prepare the agenda for the regular and special meetings after consultation with the Pastor, the Vice President, and the Recording Secretary. All agenda items must be submitted to the President at least 10 days prior to the scheduled meeting. Unless the Council shall specify otherwise, the President also shall execute all written instruments on behalf of the Council and shall be responsible for reporting the Council's actions to the Pastor when the Pastor may not be present at a meeting.

Section 3. The Vice President shall assist the President in the execution of duties and perform such duties as the President may assign. In the absence of the President, the Vice President shall perform the duties of the President. If the office of the President becomes vacant for any reason, the Vice President shall assume that office for the unexpired term.

Section 4. The Recording Secretary shall be responsible for making a record of all proceedings of each meeting and faithfully shall record the same in the Minutes of the Meeting. The Recording Secretary shall maintain the finally approved Minutes, which shall be the Council's official Minutes. He or she shall receive all correspondence and distribute same to the proper officers and Ministry Moderators. He or she will be responsible for all out-going correspondence, including notice of meetings. The President and the Recording Secretary shall coordinate notification of meetings and circulation of meeting agenda items. The Recording Secretary shall respond in writing to any member of the parish who has written a proposal for Council consideration.

Section 5. Elected officers of the Pastoral Council shall hold their office for three years.

Section 6. If any other office becomes vacant for any reason, the President, with the advice and consent of the rest of the Council, shall appoint a qualified member of the Pastoral Council to fill said vacancy for the unexpired term for which the former incumbent had been elected. When a vacancy occurs in the at-large membership of the Council, the successor to such vacancy shall be that person who was a candidate in the previous membership election, if any, who polled the highest number of votes of the unelected candidates. In the event that such a person declines, succession to the vacancy shall be in the order of the descending vote totals from the remaining unsuccessful candidates. If there are no remaining unsuccessful candidates, the Pastor shall fill the vacancy by appointment after consultation with the Council.

Section 7. No officer may serve for more than two successive three-year terms. No one member may hold more than one of the above offices at a time.

ARTICLE VI

Subcommittees

Section 1. The President is empowered to form subcommittees necessary to carry out the mission reflected in said subcommittee's policy statement.

Section 2. Each subcommittee shall be responsible to and shall direct all requests for approval to that body, Moderator, or Chairperson, and any subcommittee proposal is subject to review and approval by the Pastoral Council.

Section 3. A subcommittee shall be dissolved by Council resolution once it has fulfilled the mission for which it was created.

Section 4. There shall be a standing Finance Committee consisting of the Finance Council Representatives. The Chairperson of the Finance Committee shall report the financial condition of the Parish to the Pastoral Council no less frequently than quarterly at the May, August, November, and February meetings. By majority vote of the at-large members, the Chairperson of the Finance Committee may be required to report to the Council more frequently. The Pastor and the President shall decide whether such report shall be in an executive session or open to the Parish Community.

ARTICLE VII

Meetings

Section 1. The Pastoral Council shall meet once a month on the first Tuesday of every month or as the Council otherwise may agree.

Section 2. The President of the Pastoral Council shall notify all members of the agenda for all regular meetings at least five days prior to the meeting. Special meetings shall be called by the President on notification to each member.

Section 3. Every Council member except the Pastor and Clergy, which shall include the Parochial Vicar and the Deacons, shall be entitled to vote on all Pastoral Council matters; provided, however, that only one vote from each of the following representatives may be cast in Pastoral Council matters: Trustee Representatives, Finance Council Representatives, School Principal Representatives, Religious Education Representatives, Youth Representatives, Liturgical Representatives, Parish Staff Representatives, and Athletic Association Representatives. Each group of representatives shall decide which member is entitled to vote before the votes are cast. Consistent with Article V, Section 1, the Pastor shall not exercise a vote except in the case of a tie vote of those eligible to vote.

Section 4. Anyone who wishes to present material for Council consideration without being in attendance shall present it in writing to any member of the Council. As soon as possible, said Council member shall refer it to the appropriate ministry or committee for deliberation and determination whether the matter should be presented to the President.

Section 5. At all meetings, regular or special, the vote of the majority of those members present and entitled to vote as set forth in Section 3 above shall constitute approval of the recommended action.

Section 6. The action taken at any meeting shall become the official action of the Council and shall be submitted in writing to the President for consideration and recommendation to the Pastor. When practicable, the action shall be memorialized by resolution; however, in the absence of a formal resolution, the minutes of a meeting shall suffice for confirmation of the President's writing requirement.

Section 7. The order of business shall be:

• Call to order and opening prayer
• Role call
• Reading, correction, and approval of minutes
• Communications
• Committee reports
• Unfinished business
• New business
• Future business and agendas
• Open discussion
• Adjournment and closing prayer

Section 8. Regularly scheduled monthly Pastoral Council meetings shall be open to members of the Parish Community in good standing as adjudged by the Pastor; provided, however, that the Pastor, the President, or a majority vote of the Pastoral Council may determine certain matters to be of a sufficiently sensitive nature that they may be discussed only in executive session and closed to the remainder of the Parish Community.

Section 9. The Pastoral Council may fix for itself the rules of procedure that will govern its meetings, but in the absence of such rules, Roberts' Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern to the extent they are not inconsistent with this Constitution.

ARTICLE VIII

Expectation of Members

Section 1. Preparation: For the Council to function effectively as a leadership body, each member shall come prepared to discuss, openly and respectfully, any and all agenda items and shall review materials provided sufficiently in advance of the meeting.

Section 2. Participation: For the Council to function effectively as a leadership body, each member shall participate in discussions and the decision-making process during the meetings. All members should strive to add their vision and creativity to the discussion so that all points of view are reflected.

Section 3. Attendance: For the Council to function effectively as a leadership body, each member is expected to attend meetings regularly. At the same time, it is also recognized that members have numerous other commitments and that members may be absent from regular meetings as a result of such commitments. Every reasonable effort shall be made to avoid missing more than three consecutive meetings in a calendar year.

Section 4. Confidentiality: To the extent indicated in this Constitution or at any meeting matters discussed should be held in confidence, and members should use discretion in discussing such matters with others.

ARTICLE IX

Amendments

Section 1. Proposed amendments to the Constitution may be presented by any member of the Pastoral Council.

Section 2. Amendments to the Constitution shall be submitted in writing at any regular meeting of the Pastoral Council. They shall be placed on the agenda and voted upon not later than the next regular meeting after having been presented to all members at the meeting. An affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the total Council membership entitled to vote shall be required for adoption of an amendment.

Section 3. No Amendment to the Constitution may be adopted without the Council's passage of a formal, written resolution attached to which shall be the Amendment the Council approved.

ARTICLE X

Election Procedure

Officers

• Section 1. The Pastoral Council shall hold election of officers every three years in April.

• Section 2. At the Pastoral Council meeting in May, those members of the Council eligible to vote will elect a President, a Vice President, and Recording Secretary.

• Section 3. The newly elected officers shall be inducted at a meeting to be held in June and shall be installed during Mass in September of the same year.

Council Members

• Section 1. Each member of the Pastoral Council shall hold his or her position for three years. No at-large member may serve on the Pastoral Council for more than two successive three-year terms.

• Section 2. The at-large members shall be nominated from the Parish Community. The President shall appoint a Selection Committee whose responsibility shall be to establish a workable procedure for replacing at-large members whose terms are about to expire as well as keeping a record of nominations and elections, if any, to enable a vacancy to be filled in accordance with Article V, Section 6. Such procedure may include an election by the Parish Community if the number of nominations so warrants.

• Section 3. The President shall appoint a Selection Committee no later than one year prior to the expiration of an at-large member's term of office.

• Section 4. The provisions of Section One of this subpart notwithstanding, the Selection Committee shall establish a formula to stagger terms of the at-large members beginning in the year 2009.

ARTICLE XI

Conflict Resolution and Appeal Procedure

Section 1. Any parishioner whose proposal is rejected at a scheduled meeting of a standing ministry by a majority vote of that ministry's members present, following open discussion and a formal motion, shall be entitled to file a written appeal within 10 days of the rejection directly to the Parish Council, provided a copy is sent to that specific ministry's moderator.

Section 2. The ministry's moderator against whom an appeal is taken shall submit a written response directly to the Parish Council within 10 days of receiving a copy of the appeal, explaining the reasons for that ministry's action.

Section 3. The Pastoral Council shall decide the appeal by a majority of the members entitled to vote and present at its next scheduled meeting following receipt of the appeal. The Pastoral Council shall notify both parties of its binding decision within 10 days of deciding the appeal.

Section 4. The Pastoral Council may state the reasons for its decision if it so chooses.

ARTICLE XII

Dissolution

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution to the contrary, the organization known as the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Pastoral Council, Berlin, New Jersey, shall cease to exist only upon an affirmative vote of 75% of the total Council membership entitled to vote and the passage of a formal, written resolution of the Council to that effect.