Parish of French Village

 

Councils & Committees

 

January 2020

 

COUNCILS

 

PARISH COUNCIL

 

Mandate: 

Parish council is the governing body that orders the life of the congregations forming the parish.

Parish council shall:

(a) exercise general oversight over the life, worship and governance of the parish including responsibility for all guilds, societies and organizations of the parish;

(b) regularly evaluate the overall life of the parish and recommend ideas for effective ministries;

(c) carry out such duties as are imposed on it by law, including the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese and the by-laws of the parish.  By-laws and their changes must be approved by the parish and the Bishop.

 

Structure:

A parish council consists of:

a)  the rector or incumbent serving the parish

b)  any other clergy canonically appointed to serve the parish

c)  two wardens elected by an annual meeting of the parish; the senior warden will act as the chair.

d)  the secretary of the parish council elected by an annual meeting of the parish or appointed by the other members of the parish council;

e)  the treasurer of the parish, elected by an annual meeting of the parish;

f)  two representatives from each church appointed by their church council and affirmed by an annual meeting;

g) the musical director

g)  one representative for each parish organization, affirmed by an annual meeting of the parish. The parish organizations represented shall be reviewed annually, but currently constitute the following:

-     Spiritual Development Committee

-     Rectory Committee

-     Let’s Grow Committee

-     Finance Committee; represented by the junior warden

-     Mothers’ Union

h)  each person who is, pursuant to the constitution of the Diocese elected as a lay representative or a youth delegate from the parish to the Synod of the Diocese.

 

A quorum consists of a majority of the elected and affirmed members of Parish Council. There must be at least one member from each church in the parish.

 

Only one vote per member is allowed regardless of the number of affiliations they represent.  The chair will only vote in the case of a tie.

 

Proxy votes are not permitted, however an alternate representative may be appointed in writing to the parish secretary by a member who is not able to attend and they will be allowed to vote.

 

Church Councils

 

Mandate:

A church council is the ordering body of the church for which the council is established.

It shall:

(a) regularly evaluate the overall life of the church for which it is established and recommend and implement effective ministries;

(b) carry out such duties as are imposed on it by law, including the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese and any by-law that applies to it;

(c) manage and care for church property;

(d) provide for a regular inspection of all church buildings and grounds, including the cemetery;

(e) provide operational and janitorial services; and

(f) assume its portion of the parish operational funds.

 

Structure:

A church council consists of:

- the rector or incumbent of the parish of which the church for which the council was established is a part;

- two wardens elected by an annual meeting of the church;

- the Treasurer of the church elected or appointed by an annual meeting of the church;

- a Secretary elected or appointed by an annual meeting of the church;

- no less than three and no more than twelve of the parishioners that constitute the church, elected at an annual meeting of the church;

- each member of the church who is, by reason of being a lay representative to Synod, a member of the parish council established for the parish of which the church forms a part.

 

A quorum consists of a majority of elected council members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMMITTEES

 

FINANCE COMMITTEE

 

Mandate:

 

Managing financial matters, including supervising all matters relating to the finances of the parish and each church that forms a part of the parish and for carrying out the duties and obligations imposed on it by the Canons of the Diocese and which shall make recommendations to the parish council established for the parish respecting:

(i) the supervision of the finances of the parish including a regular review of the work of the Treasurer of the parish,

(ii) adequate insurance coverage on all properties of the parish corporation of the parish,

(iii) the preparation of a budget of estimated receipts and expenditures for the ensuing year for the parish for approval by the parish council established for the parish and presentation to the annual meeting of the parish.

(iv) the implementation of bequests.

 

Structure:

           

Junior Parish Warden

Parish Treasurer

Parish Secretary

One Warden and the Treasurer from each Church Council

Rector (ex-officio)

 

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

 

Mandate:

 

Spiritual development, by furthering the growth and development of the parish by continually exploring the meaningfulness of prayer and worship in the lives of the people, including

(i) promoting lay participation in the act of worship,

(ii) provision of the requirement for worship,

(iii) selecting persons to greet and assist the worshiper,

(iv) nurturing the spiritual development of people through special services, retreats, quiet periods, missions, ecumenical outreach, prayer and study groups,

(v) assisting the wardens of the parish where necessary, in providing worship services during the vacation or absence of the rector of the parish from duty,

(vi) providing leadership, materials and equipment for the church school and Christian education programs,

(vii) promoting the development of music in worship;

(viii) overseeing the management of the Scholarship Fund.

Structure:

 

Rector

Lay Reader/Server Representative

Congregational Representatives

Musical Director

Parish PWRDF Coordinator

Men's Group Representative

Youth Group Representative

 

RECTORY COMMITTEE

 

Mandate:

 

(i) providing for a regular inspection of the rectory and grounds every six months.

(ii) investigating and recommending to the parish council a continuing maintenance program and providing estimates of costs and supervision of approved work.

(iii) inspecting the rectory owned by the parish, before the appointment of an incumbent, by a committee together with the wardens of the parish and the regional dean for the region in which the territory or district allotted to the parish is located.

(iv) carefully and periodically examining the rectory to establish the best means for the conservation of energy keeping current with environmental initiatives and government incentives.

 

Structure:

Elected Committee Chair(s)   

Other Parish Members           

 

LET'S GROW COMMITTEE

 

Mandate: 

The focus of the Let’s Grow Committee is to grow and enrich our parish through fellowship and communication.

-  Provide a conduit of communication within the parish, and to the general public regarding Parish matters by use of our website and other public media.

-  Promote the social environment of parish life to strengthen fellowship and unity among the members of our parish.

-  Present a visible and welcoming presence to the outside community to encourage and attract new parishioners.

-  Foster a more cohesive relationship among our four churches and the varied groups and organizations within the parish.

- Maintain and update the parish list.

- Coordinate regular mailouts to parishioners.

- Provide for the preparation of the monthly calendar handout.

 

Structure:

Elected Committee chair

Web master

Other parish members

 

PASTORAL CARE COMMITTEE

 

For purposes of discussion this document includes this section from the canon.

 

(i) providing leadership for the understanding and development of family living,

(ii) providing leadership in helping the parish to be aware of the social needs of their community and assisting in planning to meet those needs,

(iii) nurturing leadership in providing for hospital visits, visits to the sick or shut-ins or both, crisis supports, in-home communions and newcomer welcoming,

(iv) helping the parish to identify and address themselves to social, political and economic forces that affect the people in the community and beyond,

(v) nurturing leadership to provide for the social ministries of the community such as food and clothing banks, disaster relief, shelters,

soup kitchens, meals on wheels and senior drop-in activities,

(vi) assisting and promoting an awareness and response of the parish to helping the worldwide community through agencies such as the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund and the Bible Society.