Dear Parishioners,

You may wonder what is the role of a parish council in the Catholic Church? The answer begins with active parishioners who assist the pastor in his leadership role of planning, organizing, initiating, promoting, coordinating, and reviewing the evangelization, worship, religious education, formation, and service activities within the parish.

A parish council is an important part of parish life. It gives the people of the parish a real voice in the decisions that affect their faith lives.

When I arrived at IHM there was a parish council that had six members who faithfully fulfilled their roles in assisting me. These members have remained as a parish council until this past spring, 2024.

Their decision to end their roles as a parish council was to invite me to establish a new and fresh parish council. I am grateful to them for all their service over the years and will now investigate establishing a new parish pastoral council with new members.

Our Cleveland diocese has an office that will assist a pastor in the important formation of a parish pastoral council. I will be working with that office during this fall and winter season to establish a new parish pastoral council.

Many blessings,
Father Jim