STRUCTURE NATTERS

...He had two major advisory bodies, the Fresbyterai Ipriests'] Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council, Often he found himself going from one of these bodies to the other to mediate conflicting advice he was receiving, or at least to inform one council of the other's deliberations...

...After four months of studying the matter separately, the two considered possible alternative models in joint session at an all-day meeting in November 1986, and then created a joint task force with four members from each council The task force met monthly for almost a year...

...Structure alone, however carefully designed, does not guarantee results...

...Some have questioned the canonical probity of combining the Presbyteral Council and the lay Pastoral Council, True, canon law reserves certain issues for discussion by the Prebyteral Council...

...October 201 took note of a 25-percent decline, over the period between 1984 and 1995, in the ntimber of US* dioceses and archdioceses with active diocesan pastoral councils, despite their approval by the Bishops* Committee on the Laity and the revised Code of Canon Law, Why the decline...

...it has eight elected members and two appointed members, the vicar general and the chancellor* The lay membership of DPAC is made up of two eight-member groups, one of professional ministers in the church, mostly lay but usually including one deacon and one woman religious, and the other of lay Catholics* Nominations to all the positions are conducted in a diocesan-wide search amply publicised in the diocesan newspaper, The North Texas Catholic...

...Robert w> wilson Robert W. Wilson, a priest of the diocese, is chancellor and moderator of the curia in Fort Worth, Texas...

...With careful planning and prudent use of human and monetary resources, a consultative body in the diocese can improve communications, uncover and deal with problems, strengthen lay-clergy relationships, and foster a deeper sense of the diocese as a community of Christians with a shared mission...

...An answer based on empirical data would call for a gifted sociologist with a generous grant and plenty of free time...

...Anyone can nominate but pastors are particularly encouraged to do so...

...The appointments are for five years, a lengthy term, but members are given the option of resigning after three years* The most significant difference between the old regime and the new, apart from the fact that clergy, laity, and religious began meeting together, was the establishment of a new format for meetings...

...priests must be absent from their parishes at the busiest time of their week* These provisions lend the deliberations a seriousness and discipline that other formats cannot match...

...When the nominations are in, DPACs agenda committee and the director of pastoral planning appoint several subcommittees to interview the nominees in terms of criteria established by the council and to offer their judgments and extensive written comments to the bishop: "Highly Recommended/' "Recommended with Reservations/' and "Not Recommended/' The bishop, with his immediate advisers, usually curial officials and the director of pastoral planning, makes the final appointments, taking care to bring about an even distribution of members in terms of geography, ethnicity, gender, and age...

...What emerged might be described as a merger thafs not quite a merger...

...accordingly, these are handled in special sessions at the quarterly meetings of the larger council Also, from time to time Bishop Delaney may choose to consult with his Presbyteral Council alone about matters pertaining primarily to priests...

...Lacking these prerequisites, I can only hazard a guess, but one based on some experience...

...Nobody wants to gather in frustration, to have meetings for the sake of having meetings...

...She and an assistant prepare for the meetings well ahead of time, in consultation with the bishop and an agenda committee...

...The Presybteral Council could not be dissolved since it is mandated by canon law, but eventually its constitution was rewritten to conform to the new structure and new procedures that the joint task force recommended...

...Instead of meeting monthly for two hours on a Sunday afternoon, DPAC members gather four times a year for two-day meetings* They come ort Thursday night to a retreat center and deliberate with the bishop all day Friday and a half-day Saturday* Lay members have to sacrifice a vacation day...

...When Bishop Joseph P. Delaney became ordinary of the Diocese of Fort Worth in late 1981, he inherited an active diocesan pastoral council from the founding bishop, John J. Cassata, Both the former bishop and his successor regarded the council as moderately effective, but, as he became more settled in his diocese, Bishop Delaney found a growing tension in the consultation process...

...Bishop Delaney explained his concern to each council...

...However leisurely that may seem, the time was well-spent...

...The new entity, formally established in October 1987, was named the Diocesan Pastoral Advisory Council (familiarly, DPAC), so called to distinguish it from the previous Diocesan Pastoral Council...

...An interested person may nominate himself or herself...

...Working on contract, Management Design Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, has provided training in techniques of consensus decision making and the understanding of personality differences* * In practice, a major difficulty with the new model has been the pace of decision making...

...On the whole, however, it is commonly agreed in the diocese that the new model works...

...By the terms of its new constitution, the Presybteral Council continues to be elected by the priests of the diocese...

...the new model recommended by the task force has served the diocese well for nearly a decade By way of preparing for the creation of a new advisory body, the Diocesan Pastoral Council voted to dissolve itself...

...On his appointment to Fort Worth, Bishop Delaney created the position of planning director, a full-time position currently held by a skilled lay woman...

...I think most bishops would find value in regular consultations with a pastoral council, but only for clearly stated purpos* es and with a workable structure...

...a key to the success of DPAC to date has been attention to detail and to 'Clergy, laity & religious meet together9 "facilitation...

...Whereas certain advisory boards such as the Diocesan Finance Council can usually resolve a major problem within the space of a two-hour meeting, DPAC has been known to struggle over a given issue for several meetings before a long-range plan is finally put into effect-for instance, a liquor policy in the diocese, the establishment of a renewal process, or proclaiming a "Year of the Eucharist/' All these have come to pass, but slow* ly...

...These provisions satisfy the requirements of canon law...