St Francis of Assisi Parish Council – Constitution
Name
The Parish Council of St Francis, Crosspool, Sheffield.
Objectives
The objectives of the council shall be:
- To further the spiritual and temporal welfare of the parish;
- To assist the parish priest in the administration of the parish;
- To advise the parish priest on the needs of the parish and its parishioners;
- To give such other support to the parish priest as he requires;
- To promote and coordinate parish activities; and
- To encourage participation by the parish in diocesan and ecumenical activities and in such community activities which it considers appropriate.
Membership
The council shall consist of:
- The parish priest;
- A minimum of nine parishioners elected by the parish; and
- Members co-opted by the council
Elected members shall normally serve for three years, three to retire each year.
Retiring members shall be eligible for re-election.
Decisions shall normally be taken by consensus but where a vote is necessary all council members shall be entitled to vote.
Any vacancies may be filled by co-option.
Officers
The officers shall be Chairperson, Vice-chairperson, and Secretary.
The officers shall be chosen by the council at its first meeting following annual elections of new members.
A Finance committee made up of three officers meets separately and presents an annual financial report at the parish council’s AGM.
At least one member (but preferably two members) of the parish council will be responsible for each of the following areas:
- Maintenance & finance;
- Mission, evangelisation & faith formation;
- Pastoral care & community;
- Justice & peace;
- Liturgy, spirituality & sacramental preparation;
- Communication
Meetings
The council shall meet at the discretion of the chairperson and/or the request of the parish priest. There will be a minimum of three meetings in each year open to the whole parish.
The agenda and the minutes of the all meetings will be made available to the whole parish.
One of the open meetings shall be the annual general meeting.
The quorum at any council meeting shall be six.
Sub-Committees
The council may appoint sub-committees.
Changes to the Constitution
The council may change the constitution.
This constitution was adopted by the Parish Council on the 13 April 1986 and reviewed, updated and approved at the parish meeting held on the 1 April 2014. Additional revisions were made and finalised at the Parish Council meeting held on 15 March 2016.