St Brigid’s Parish Pastoral Council consists of members of the Parish Team together with members of our local community. The current council members are:

Presiding:      Fr Arthur O'Neill
Chairperson:  Greg Clarke

Members:

Fr Arthur O’Neill, Greg Clarke, Fr Conor Ward, Irene Fitzpatrick, Laurence Harnett, Aine Tennyson, Liam Ryder, Diarmuid Leen, Michael Holland, Mary Hickey, Siobhan Seligman, Pablo Angulo, Jim Flavin, Graham Woods, Louise Callaghan

What is the Parish Pastoral Council?

The  Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) is a partnership of clergy and laity consulting and working together to enable the parish community to fulfill it's vision.  For many  years now lay people and clergy have been working together in the parish helping to sustain what is a vibrant and caring community.  A Parish Pastoral Council will place this ‘leadership through partnership’ on a more secure and enduring footing.

How was the Parish Pastoral Council Formed?

The PPC was formed in November 2004. The Parish Priest, Parish Curate, Parish Pastoral Worker and a Director of the Family Life Centre are permanent ex-officio members of the Council. The other members of the Council were selected in order to achieve a balance between gender, age, giftedness and experience, taking into account criteria such as:

• Ability to work well in a team and open to different viewpoints
• In touch with life in our community and care about others
• Committed to the importance of our faith

The Role of the Parish Pastoral Council

The PPC will be guided at all times by the Parish Vision Statement and making this Vision a reality for our faith community.It will identify priorities and needs to be addressed in order to achieve its goals and devise a strategy to ensure their delivery.

It is the main policy making body in the Parish where decisions are made by consensus.

The PPC will ensure ongoing good communication between all members of the faith community, the Council and the parish groups. It aims to expand and enrich the sense of ownership and participation across the whole faith community and extend welcome and outreach to new parishioners as the community expands.

What are the Council’s key challenges?

• Truly understanding and prioritising the many issues of the faith community
• Making a visible and tangible impact on the faith community and on peoples lives
• Anticipating the external social and economic forces which will change the faith community over the next 3/5 years(e.g. new developments in Cherrywood, Glenamuck Road, etc)
• Carefully integrating the PPC into the existing structures and parish groups (avoiding duplication)
• Reaching out and connecting with the faith community, building ownership and support for our objectives and plans

Term of Office

The membership period is 3 years.  The Parish Pastoral Council will decide on a system of rotation so that membership change is gradual.  Members may serve a further term only after a step down of one year.  It may co-opt a person for a further year in particular circumstances e.g. for reasons of continuity, completion of a task, etc.

Meetings

The Parish Pastoral Council meets every 3 weeks.  While meetings are very focused on planning and reviewing the task in hand – prayer and reflection are a central part. All matters discussed are confidential unless unanimously agreed otherwise.

Key Initatives to date:

Share Your Talent Recruitment Drive

A Share Your Talent campaign organised by the PPC resulted in over 200 extra volunteers coming forward to join the various groups in the parish.

Website and Communications

Much work has been done with more to do. Our website has been updated and the ongoing development of our occasional newsletter 'Contact' is a priority.

In recent months a survey of our means of communication has been carried out in the parish and the result of this survey will be published soon. Ultimately it is our intention to launch a communications strategy and to consult our parishioners before doing so.

Introduction of a Child Protection Policy

Training of key personnel in this area is well advanced and arrangements are in train to launch our policy. A document containing our policy statement and supporting documentation will be published shortly, including on our website.

Cluster Group and Bray Deanery

We are part of a cluster group of 4 parishes, including Cabinteely, Foxrock, Johnstown and Kill o’ the Grange as well as the wider grouping which is the Bray Deanery. This gives us the opportunity to share our experiences and work with other parishes in the area and to learn from them.