Parish Pastoral Council & Parish Finance Council

 The St. Joseph Parish Pastoral Council

The St. Joseph’s Parish Pastoral Council (PPC), together with the participation of our Pastor and Executive Director, is a decision-making body responsible for sustaining St. Joseph’s Parish within the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate’s charism of welcoming and solidarity with the poor. The PPC is responsible for establishing policies, approving annual budgets, reporting to parishioners on the management of the parish, and ensuring that the vitality of the parish continues to thrive. Under the new governance structure, the PPC is made up of representation from five ministry clusters, a Treasurer, the Pastor, and the PPC Chairperson.

The Parish Pastoral Council meets monthly on the second Tuesday of each month. To contact the PPC Chairperson, please email ppc@st-josephs.ca


St. Joseph’s Parish Finance Council

The Parish Finance Council is a permanent advisory body to the Pastor and the St. Joseph’s Parish Pastoral Council. It is responsible for ensuring they are well-informed in all their decision-making with respect to financial matters.

The Finance Council functions in the spirit of collaborative leadership and shares in the pastoral mission and activities of St. Joseph’s Parish. It does so by ensuring the applicable directives of the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall governing parish finance councils are observed. It also carries out its mandate with guidance from the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, OMI Lacombe Canada.

The Finance Council is responsible for:

• Reviewing draft annual operating and capital budgets prepared by the Executive Director and other staff for consideration by the Pastor and the Pastoral Council;

• Tracking variances from budget forecasts, and alerting the Pastor and the Pastoral Council in a timely manner of any significant deviations from the budgets that would impact the Parish’s financial status;

• Drafting policies related to the financial management of the Parish, including policies related to:
– contracting;
– expenditure controls, including the receipt and payment of invoices;
– monetary investments;
– the Parish reserve and the use of funds in the reserve; and
– the use of one-time contributions to the parish (such as bequests).

• Assessing and providing independent advice to the Pastor and the Pastoral Council on fundraising proposals or other proposals requiring funding, and the risks, if any, to the financial health of the Parish associated with such projects or decisions; and

• Carrying out any special reviews or analyses requested by the Pastor, the Pastoral Council or the Executive Director.
The Finance Council consists of no less than five voting members and also includes the following non-voting ex officio members:

• Pastor;

• Executive Director.

Voting members serve for 2-year renewable terms and are to be selected from among the parishioners, based on their experience in financial management to the extent possible. Accounting credentials and experience on boards of corporate bodies or associations or management teams where financial issues are considered as part of management’s deliberations are assets.

The Council may seek potential voting members on an individual basis or through a broader call for potential members. The process by which the Council seeks and recommends potential members must be open and transparent.

Voting members are to be recommended by the Council and appointed by the Pastor in consultation with the Pastoral Council.

Additional details about the responsibilities of Council members may be found in its Terms of Reference.

An inclusive community of faith