Parish Council
A Parish Council is the administrative body of a Church community elected by its stewards for the purpose of working together with the Parish Priest or Proistamenos in fulfilling the mission and goals of that particular parish community.
The most important responsibility of the Parish Council is to assist the Parish Priest in the administration of the ministries of the Parish. Some of the principal roles employed by effective Parish Councils include, but are not limited to, planning, developing, organizing, and implementing stewardship programs and various educational ministries of the Church; reporting and communicating to the parishioners the work and ministries of the Church at the Metropolis and Archdiocesan levels; and recruiting and training others for further service. The Parish Council must also abide by Local, State, and Federal statutes applicable to the Parish and by the GOAA (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America) Regulations.
In all things, Council members should imitate our Lord Jesus Christ, who “came not to be served but to serve” (Matthew 20:28). The entire focus of the Parish Council must be to serve the needs of the faithful and to spread the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
According to St. Paul, the Church is the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians. 12:27), the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25- 27), and the pillar and foundation of the Truth (1 Timothy 3:15). Without this basic understanding, the Parish can easily be reduced to little more than an organizational center or administrative structure, a kind of religious business enterprise, instead of being a Holy and Divine Eucharistic community, called to be in the world, but ultimately not of the world, a community that is set apart from all other organizations and bodies in our secularized society.
The Orthodox Church is governed by procedures in which both clergy and laity have a voice in determining policies and programs. On the Metropolitan level, a Clergy-Laity Assembly comprised of clergy and lay delegates from all parishes in a given Metropolis, convenes at least once biennially for the purpose of developing programs and policies of common concern for the Metropolis (GOAA Regulations 11:1). On the Archdiocesan level, the Clergy-Laity Congress is the highest administrative and legislative body of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese which is also convened biennially. The Congress is concerned with all matters outside of dogmatic and canonical issues which affect the life, mission, growth, and unity of the Archdiocese (GOAA Regulations 4:1).
Decisions of the Clergy-Laity Congress, upon approval by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, are implemented by the Archdiocese.
The Archdiocese Functions on Four Administrative Levels: Please watch the Enthronement of His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew. Please watch the Enthronement of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios. |