In planning content for a workshop on "Improving Parish Councils we asked a variety of experienced and, in our opinion, effective priests from various corners of the OCA to reflect upon and share their thoughts about parish councils.

Their advice provides important practices and principles. A few excerpts have been included below:

• "The most important thing I've told parish councils is that we (meaning the Council and the priest) are on the same team. No us vs. him."
• "Parish Councils need to take seriously the fact that they are actually co-ministers of the Gospel with the clergy and everyone who serves the Church. They do not have any role which is in opposition to the clergy, nor that is not the clergy's interest, or which is reserved uniquely to them.
• "Everyone in the parish is there to love God and love neighbor, and the Parish Council is as responsible as the clergy and all the laity to make that happen." 

• Councils need to take seriously that they are co-ministers of the gospel with the priest.

•  "I  treat the council as though their baptism makes them ordained."

• "We clergy need to fully work with and respect the work of the parish council. Not every decision as parish or a parish council has to make requires a seminary degree.  But every decision is spiritual in every sense of the word.  The business of the parish - paying bills, maintaining the building, dealing with mundane issues - is all spiritual because the parish is the Body of Christ."

• Council's need a new structure. Persons elected at large without specific job fall into the habit of becoming disinterested critics -as opposed to workers in Christ's vineyard. I'm convinced that ministry driven Councils are the only way to go. Every member of the Council needs to have an important job/ministry role.  

• "Anyone sitting in on PC meetings should have a sense that the meeting reveals the Kingdom of God -- as the Liturgy is supposed to.  The work of the people of God in the liturgy is not separate from the work of the council."

• "Councils should think and talk about how even their council meetings and the annual parish meetings are to be icons and signs of the Kingdom of God!  Understand it is your responsibility, not just God's or the clergy, to make that happen."

• "We have a permanent line item on the agenda called 'pastoral matters'. It implicitly reminds the council that they have a pastoral role without having to harp on it. It usually takes the form of a review of new members or inquirers who might need more attention from council members, whom I gently encourage to think in terms of having a duty to these people as council members;

• "Meetings need a good chair that is willing to be firm about refocusing tangential discussions."

• "All agenda items, including "New Business," need to be added before the meeting (i.e. no, "Just one more thing..."). This helps avoid meetings morphing into free-for-alls."

• "Parish Councils need to know what is their responsibility and what is the responsibility of other ministries/people in the parish. A 20 minute discussion about why the youth group kids don't know how to cross themselves properly belongs elsewhere. This relates to good stewardship of the time and talents of council members and the specific tasks these folks have been elected to fulfill."
• "Parish communities have seen so many clergy come and go over the years, they are hesitant to empower them with any matters not spiritually related. The belief is, 'I was here before you got here and I will be here long after you leave, for another parish. So, this is mine/ours; bug off.'  It's the ownership syndrome, and ultimately about control."