Join Your Xavier Community this Sunday at 7pm via Zoom: Help Select New Members for the Pastoral Council
This Sunday (May 2) and two Sundays from now (May 16), all registered Xavier parishioners are warmly encouraged to participate in the holy, community-wide process of selecting three new members for the Xavier Pastoral Council. Serving as a leadership body with the pastor, the Council collaborates with the Xavier community to set parish goals and develop objectives; empowers parishioners to implement pastoral plans; and oversees and evaluates them in light of fulfillment of the parish mission.
The selection process unfolds over two meetings, both to be held at 7 pm. This year, both of these meetings will be held via Zoom. Attendance at both meetings is required for all participants, whether they are selecting the new members or seeking to join the Council.
You—yes, you!—are needed to help at this key juncture by attending these two meetings, getting to know our sisters and brothers who plan to offer their gifts as potential Council members—our Xavier tradition is to call these people discerners—and participating in the selection process. Selection of new Council members is always a special, sacred moment for the Xavier community. It’s even more so when as many parishioners participate as possible.
The first meeting (this Sunday May 2 at 7 pm at the link found below) features information about the role of the Pastoral Council and the commitment asked of servant leaders selected for the Council. The discerners briefly introduce themselves to all assembled. Discerners are given four questions about their call to service upon which they will pray with for the next two weeks.
ZOOM LINK 1ST SESSION:
https://sfxavierparish.zoom.us/j/98671571348?pwd=VU9mWENzQnlTZkowNTRKS0tPTUxIUT09
Meeting ID: 986 7157 1348
Passcode: 527354
Phone: 646-558-8656
At the second meeting (two Sundays from now, May 16 at 7 pm), discerners provide their responses to the four questions. The personal, prayerful, and heartfelt nature of these responses transform them into sacred testimony. After those assembled have heard from all discerners, selection of Council members proceeds through a process where parishioners anonymously indicate whose gifts are best suited for service on the Council at this time.
ZOOM LINK 2ND SESSION:
https://sfxavierparish.zoom.us/j/98722161249?pwd=bmtNdFV6U1NQSVlJRkZJVGlka0Q4dz09
Meeting ID: 987 2216 1249
Passcode: 840850
Phone: 646-558-8656
Finally: if you think you may be called to offer your gifts as a discerner yourself, come to our meeting this Sunday. Learn more about what it means to be a member of the Council, and allow yourself to dwell with the Holy Spirit in asking whether now is the time to take up this role as a servant leader.
Additional information about service on the Council and the selection process is available in the Pastoral Council’s Guidelines for Leadership found at https://sfxavier.org/pastoral-council/. Questions may be directed to any Council member or to pastoralcouncil@sfxavier.org.