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Parish Council and Committees

Parish Council

The Parish Council is the policy forming body for the parish and the pastor’s primary advisory group. Among its areas of responsibility and accountability are the spiritual, financial and educational concerns of St. Matthias Parish. The Council consists of 12 members elected from the parish at large and other ex-officio members. The latter includes the priests, pastoral associate and two trustees.

Evangelization Committee

To this end, our Evangelization Committee reaches out to inactive Catholics as well as those who have no faith tradition or who are not participating in any church at this time. The committee also helps our own parishioners come to a better understanding of how we all need to be involved in the work of evangelization; how we all need to be good models of the faith, how we need to invite and welcome others to the Catholic Church.

Ultimately, we must evangelize because our Lord Jesus commanded us "To go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always until the end of time." (Matthew 28:18-20) 

Spiritual Life and Worship Committee

The Spiritual Life and Worship Committee oversees the liturgical and spiritual life of the parish. The committee is comprised of representatives of all liturgical ministries and the parish as a whole. These members of the parish commit themselves to studying the Church’s official Liturgical Documents and the Church’s liturgical history in order to ensure that the worship and prayer life of St. Matthias Parish fosters the full, active and conscious participation of all parishioners as we gather to worship our God. Meetings are held monthly. Any adult member of the parish interested in becoming a member of the Spiritual Life and Worship Committee should contact the parish office.

Human Concerns Committee

"We cannot be called truly ‘Catholic’ unless we hear and heed the Church’s call to serve those in need and work for justice and peace. We cannot call ourselves followers Jesus unless we take up his mission of bringing ‘good news to the poor, liberty to captives, and sight to the blind’ (cf. Lk. 4:18)." This quotation taken from a recent publication from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (Nov. 17, 1993) entitled Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish, reaffirms the belief that the pursuit of justice and peace is not a peripheral but rather an "essential part" of what makes a parish Catholic. Because our community of faith is measured by how we serve "the least" in our parish and beyond our boundaries—the hungry, the homeless, the sick, those in prison, the stranger (cf. Mt. 25:31), the Human Concerns Committee has been established. The Committee discerns human needs, identifies resources to meet these needs, and enlists the active participation of each parish member in various projects relating to justice and peace on local, national and international levels. The Committee also works collaboratively with other community groups and other parishes to meet immediate needs, as well as discern and act upon the root-causes of social problems.

Finance Committee

Primary responsibilities of this committee are the development of our annual budget, monthly review of budget revenues and expenses and any extraordinary monetary needs, monitoring of parish investments and development of policies for the parish in areas of finance, personnel and administration.

Christian Formation Commission

The role of this Commission is to develop within the parish an awareness that the parish community is responsible for promoting the Christian formation of the church's mission. Christian formation is a lifelong process aimed at personal conversion and growth in faith. This Commission is a standing committee of the Parish Council and recommends Christian formation policies for consideration and approval by the Parish Council. It has three working committees: Children and Family Committee, Youth Committee, and Adult Enrichment Committee. The committees work with parish staff members to design, implement and evaluate Christian formation programs in our parish.

Children and Family Committee

This committee assists the Director of Christian Formation in focusing, guiding, and evaluating Christian Formation programs. Members represent a variety of interests in Christian Formation. A primary focus is working in collaboration with parents.

Youth Committee

This committee is responsible for focusing, guiding, and evaluating the programs for grades 7 through 12 plus youth ministry.

Committee Reporting

• Format for Committee Report *
• Committee Report Template *

* The above is a Microsoft Word document. To save it just right-click on the name and choose Save Target As...