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In the earlier slides it states that board members cannot be paid. How is that possible if the Pastor is being paid?
The Pastor is paid to be the Pastor. He is not paid for being a Board member. He gets no extra pay for being a Board member. Non-profit corporations may pay for services received, and that is why the parishes will be able to pay their Pastors for the services the Pastors will render to the corporation by serving the parishioners.
With reference to the question of member and non-member corporations, there is a concern that there is no direct parishioner input into the Board. What is the accountability of the Board to the parishioners?
Parishioners have the same input to the Pastor and the Board of Directors after incorporation as they have before incorporation. The accountability of the Pastor and the Board of Directors to the parishioners will not change just because the parish is incorporated. The moral obligations of the Pastor as imposed by Canon Law remain the same, and since the Board is to help the Pastor deal with the assets of the parish in the civil arena, those moral obligations spill over to the Board as well. The primary avenues for parishioner input continue to be the Pastoral Council and the Finance Council. However, parishioners may also direct their questions and concerns to the Board.
When making decisions how will parishioners be informed of what is going on?
We expect that the Board meetings will be open to all the parishioners; likewise, we expect that minutes of Board meetings will be made available to all parishioners once they have been prepared and signed. It is highly recommended that Parish Boards be open and transparent and communicate with parishioners.
How often are reports to the parishioners to be made?
We expect that reports to the parishioners will be made as soon as Board decisions are made on anything. If the minutes of the Board meetings are made available to the parishioners, they will be informed of decisions that have been made. Likewise, if the parishioners attend the Board meetings, they will have instantaneous information of the decisions of the Board. Currently Diocesan policy requires an annual financial report to parishioners. Parish Boards should communicate frequently by way of Board minutes and other methods of communications.
Will the subject of the meeting be published and open to the parishioners?
We expect that the agendas for the Board meetings will be made public in each parish (bulletins or bulletin Boards), and that all Board meetings will be open to all parishioners. This is highly recommended for each Board.