Parish Council Chairs Meet

While delegates began checking in for the 2005 Diocesan Assembly, some 30 parish council chairs met for several hours. The group decided to hold a meeting in New York this November, and set about planning an agenda for that meeting.

Discussed during Thursday's gathering were topics such as best practices (such as suggestions for rental of halls and what expertise the various parish council chairs could offer the other parishes), long-term strategic planning, building stronger communities, and resources from the Diocese they can use in their parishes.

The chairs shared ideas of events and practices that have been successful for them, and vowed to use the Internet to broaden their communication and continue sharing ideas.

"We used to meet just for an hour or just 30 minutes, so this is a great direction to go," said Nishan Paparigian, from the St. George Church of Waukegan, IL. "We've had a lot of good discussions."