Parish Councils

The Pastoral Parish Council is a consultative body which makes recommendations to the pastor, supporting the spiritual and pastoral growth of the parish, and enabling full participation of parishioners in the church mission in the world. The Pastoral Council is a tool for him to keep informed and assist him in providing the guidance of the parish. The council consists of the pastor, president, secretary, and chair from each individual council.

Mission

To disseminate information/activities between the various councils. To provide direction/assistance and input to each council. To keep the pastor informed of the parish-wide activities.

How is the council structured? Pastor, President, Secretary.

When do you meet? How often? We meet on the 4th Monday of every month.

How does one get elected to the council? President and Secretary are currently appointed positions. Chairmen of the Individual Councils are automatically members.

Current President: Debbie Spech - Strategic

Current Members:

Kate Bergland - Stewardship
Joan Graham, Secretary - Outreach Pastoral Care
Kevin Johnson - Adult Faith Formation
Brooke Martin - OLMC School
Deanne Miller - Sports
Matt Modleski - High School, Young Adults
Eric Payne - Finance
Erin Sullivan - Liturgy
Jon VanWoerkom - Gospel of Life
Jeanne Wise - Hispanic Apostolate
David Wroblewski - Children's Faith Formation

Adult Faith Formation at Our Lady of Mount Carmel exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ. This task of disciple-making involves creating opportunities for people to encounter Jesus (evangelization), to learn what the Catholic Church teaches (catechesis), to discover how to live the faith in their daily lives (discipleship), and equip them to share the Good News of the Gospel with others (missionary action).

Disciple and discipleship are “churchy” terms that we don’t normally hear or use in the course of our daily lives. Because of this, we recognize that it can be confusing when we hear these terms. It’s great to say we want to make disciples, but what is a disciple?
 
A disciple is someone who has had a personal encounter with Jesus and accepted his invitation to follow him; leaving behind one’s own plans, desires, and dreams to take on the joy of journeying with Jesus in this life and the next.
 
We hope to accomplish our goals through the various ministries and events that we offer as part of Adult Faith Formation at OLMC. Please feel free to contact our office with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at [email protected].

The OLMC Children’s Faith Formation (CFF) program aims to help children preschool through 6th grade - not attending the OLMC School - develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, while fostering a love for the Bible, the Church, and all of God’s creation. We accomplish this through evangelization and catechesis based on the four pillars of the Catechism: Creed (Scripture and Tradition), Liturgy and Sacraments, Catholic morality, and prayer.

For any questions, please contact the Faith Formation Office at (317) 846-3878 or email [email protected].

Nuestra Misión:

“Enlazar e integrar a la comunidad Hispana  a esta parroquia para vivir nuestra fe catolica  en la Liturgia, formacion en la fe, nueva evangelización, con nuestras tradiciones, en congruencia con la Mision apostolica."

“Vayan pues, y hagan mis discipulos a todas las naciones, bautizandolos en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espiritu Santo, enseñenles todo lo que yo les he enseñado”  -Mateo 28:19-20 

The Finance Council is an advisory council to the pastor whose primary purpose is to support the Parish in its mission of bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world through the prudent use of the Parish’s resources.
 
The Finance Council assists the Pastor in the appropriate administration and stewardship of parish personnel, facilities, and finances. It carries out this responsibility by approving and monitoring the annual budget, reviewing monthly financial statements, monitoring capital, and maintenance projects and giving counsel to the Pastor on other administrative and financial issues as they arise.
 
Finance Council members are appointed by the Pastor for three-year terms each and meet on a monthly basis.

The Mission of the Gospel of Life Ministry is to convert the heart of the parish towards understanding, support, and action on social concerns. We will accomplish this through:

• Encouragement of parish efforts by means of...
• Education on social justice that...
• Enlightens the parish to key social concerns and...
• Enlists parish members to advocate...
• Effective social justice change, one heart at a time.

Why We Do What We Do

Here are some points to ponder from the USCCB's A Place at the Table:

"As Catholics, we must come together with a common conviction that we can no longer tolerate the moral scandal of poverty in our land and so much hunger and deprivation in our world.

• "What did you do for the least of these?" Jesus identified himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the imprisoned, and the stranger, insisting that when we serve them we serve him (Mt 25:40).
• In the United States, thirty-four million people live below the official poverty line... If all these people lived in one state, its population would be larger than the combined current populations of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho, Iowa, and Arizona.
• Our Church's commitment to finding a place at the table for all God's children is expressed in every part of our country and in the poorest places on earth... Our faith gives us the strength, identity, and principles we need to sustain this work.
• The table we seek for all rests on these four institutions, or legs: (1) what families and individuals can do, (2) what community and religious institutions can do, (3) what the private sector can do, and (4) what the government can do to work together to overcome poverty.
• This is a time not for "just words or mere talk" but for "active and genuine" commitment by Catholics in the United States to work with others to make a place at the table for all God's children."

The EDGE Core Team is a group of adults spanning all ages. These amazing people love the Lord and His Church and want to help the junior high youth grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. They work hard to provide a fun, healthy, energetic, and faith-filled environment in which the junior high students may flourish. 

Every Our Lady of Mount Carmel parishioner and community member is important. We strive to meet each unique need of every parish family and community member. We support all who are in need emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally and materially. Our Catholic identity is infused in all support groups, services, and prayerful assistance.

The school council provides a service ministry of advisement and support to the pastor and administration of the parish school. The school council is a group of persons having expertise and interest in school-related matters such as the development of a long-range plan for the school, the recommendation of school policies in accord with diocesan policy, and formulation of a development plan to ensure long-range funding of school improvement plans.

Duties of the school council do not include involvement with individual staff members or taking action(s) with respect to personnel issues or issues regarding individual students.

The Our Lady of Mount Carmel sports council is a small group of parishioners that meet once a month to discuss and work on sports-related issues. This group is made up of a variety of lay men and women who show a special interest in athletics at OLMC. The Pastor directly appoints sports council members. New council members can be recommended by the current sports council members or by contacting the Athletic Director. Each council member serves a three-year term. Any board member can be removed at any time by a 2/3 vote of the current council members or at the discretion of the Pastor.

The Strategic Planning Committee works with the pastor to focus on decisions that encompass all of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. These decisions and strategies are not included in any of our other councils, but whose decisions/recommendations might impact all councils. Our goal is to create a plan which looks forward several years and focuses on the desired future state of our parish and our parishioners. The committee is formed of OLMC priests, staff, and parishioners by invitation.