Overview
Canon Law provides for the formation of Parish Pastoral Councils in Canon 536#1.
“In every parish of the diocese, a Pastoral Council shall be established, if the diocesan Bishop, after consulting with the Council of Presbyters, so decides. The pastor presides over the Pastoral Council. The Pastoral Council is composed of members of the congregation together with those of the parish staff who have pastoral care by reason of their office. The Pastoral Council assists in promoting pastoral actions in the parish.”
Aims and Objectives
The Parish Pastoral Council is a consultative body, pastoral in nature, because it strives to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit among God’s people in the parish. A Parish Pastoral Council gives its help to the Pastor in fostering pastoral activity; it investigates, under the authority of the Pastor, all those things which pertain to pastoral works to ponder them, and to propose practical conclusions about them. It is essential that Council meetings occur in the context of prayer and openness to the Holy Spirit, so that at all times the common good will prevail.
Specifically, the Parish Pastoral Council’s purpose is to enhance the process of:
- Pastoral planning
- Developing pastoral programmes
- Improving pastoral services
- Evaluating the pastoral effectiveness of various programmes and services
Although the Council is not a body which makes binding decisions, the recommendations of the Pastoral Council are to be taken seriously when grounded in prayer, discernment and communal wisdom.
The Pastor presides over the Parish Pastoral Council. The Pastor is responsible for the final approval of the Council recommendations concerning pastoral planning, programmes, and services for the parish, as well as for their implementation.
Parish pastoral planning involves considering the unique characteristics of the parish, the specific pastoral needs of its parishioners, its human and temporal resources in order to plan and recommend ways to accomplish the mission of Christ.
In 2015, the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos published new guidelines regulating the composition, functions and activities of the Parish Pastoral and Laity Councils. The guidelines recognized five [5] specific Committees that will oversees the implementation of specific areas of the Parish Pastoral plan while individual parish organisations will be assigned distinct and specific goals derived from the Parish Pastoral plan for implementation on the basis of their distinct purposes and roles within the parish community.
The Parish Pastoral Committees include:
- Liturgical
- Devotional
- Faith Formation and Education
- Community Building; and
- Welfare and Social Action.
Recent Accomplishments
- Setting of a formidable Marriage Counseling and Teaching Unit adjudged to be one of the best in the Archdiocese of Lagos.
- Increase in the number of worshipers and functioning Church Societies and Groups
- Purchase of land for the building of a Catholic Church in Oniru [St. Patrick’s Church, Oniru Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos]
- Renovation of the Church hall and Altar
- Refurbishment of the Parish floor; concrete stamp/floor drain to prevent flood.
- Remedial work on the Church roof to prevent leakage.
- Beautification of the Parish compound.
- Introduction of a full Mass for Children of the Parish.
- Introduction of monthly Adoration on first Fridays of the month.
- Introduction of Weekly Bible and Doctrinal Class
- Building and commissioning of a Parish Chapel.
- Paving of the central car park.
- Building of a Rectory and a new kitchen to serve the Rectory
- Building of a new service quarters with state–of–the–art–facilities.
- Setting up of the Parish Website
- Uniform central lighting system for the Parish
- Ultra-modern power house, change-over system and total overhaul of power supply system.
- Building of a new generator house.
- Commissioning of a new generating system with a new transformer solely dedicated to the Parish.
Leadership Team of the Parish Pastoral Council
Rev. Fr. Michael Omughele – Parish Priest
Sir Augustine Amachaghi – [1st Vice Chairman]
Barr. [Mrs.] Boma Alabi – [2nd Vice Chairman]
Bisola Ojo – [Secretary]
