By David W. Martin

The final meeting of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council for the current year was held at the Cathedral of Christ the King on Saturday, April 26. This meeting, which will be the last for those parish delegates whose three-year terms are expiring in May, was devoted to a number of year-end reports and to the election of new officers for the 1975-76 season.

The council first heard status reports from its standing committees, which have become over the past year, vehicles for the involvement of many members of the council. The Committee on Religious Education had, earlier in the year, formulated a broad set of recommendations in the area of youth ministry. The whole council formally adopted the latter at its February meeting. The committee has one begun to work toward a similar set of comprehensive recommendations in the area of adult education.

The Committee on Personal Spiritual Renewal had also formulated a number of recommendations that were formally adopted by the council in February. Plans are moving ahead for a second Archdiocesan Renewal Conference in the fall, which will also serve as an opening event for the Archdiocesan Bicentennial Celebration.

The Committee on Communications presented a recommendation that parishes consider the appointment of a parish publicity coordinator and requested the aid of the delegates in surveying the interest in the parishes in the further development of this concept.

The council next heard reports from a number of the archdiocesan boards and commissions. All such groups had been requested, at the beginning of the year, to provide the council with brief statements of their current goals and they were now asked to report on their progress towards these goals during the year. There were extensive oral reports from several groups, including the Religious Unity Commission, ACCW, the Board of Education, the Atlanta Conference of Sisters, Catholic Social Services, Inc. and the Bicentennial Committee. There were, in addition, two special presentations: one on the Georgia Catholic Conference by Mr. Cheatham Hodges of Augusta, who is its executive secretary, and one on the diaconate program by Monsignor Beltran.

New officers elected by the council for the coming year are: president, Mr. Gayle Peters (Blessed Sacrament); vice-president, Mr. William Bonner (Holy Spirit); treasurer, Mr. Bob McGraw (Our Lady of the Assumption); and secretary, Mrs. Elsie Dennon (Immaculate Heart of Mary). Outgoing president, Mrs. Pennie Edmonds, made a brief address of thanks to all who had contributed their efforts, their support and their prayers to the work of the council. The new president, Mr. Peters, affirmed his enthusiasm for the new directions the council has taken and pledged a continuing effort towards the growth of the council into a truly significant "Voice of the Church" in North Georgia.

In the open forum portion of the meeting, there was an exchange of information on the varied programs which have arisen in several of the parishes to assist parishioners who are out of work in the current recession. It was agreed that there was a need to coordinate information on these programs. An ad hoc committee was set up to assemble information on all such programs and to see that it is made available to pastors and to those involved in the separate parish programs.

Before the meeting was concluded, Archbishop Donnellan offered his observations and reflections on the work of the council and of its place in the larger mission of the Church to give witness to the whole community. He spoke of the maturity of the recommendations which have come out of the council, of his confidence that there has been real progress and that there is every reason to hope for continued growth in the future. The archbishop spoke of several moral issues that are of great current concern on both the local and national scenes and of the great need for the Church to find ways to be heard more effectively in our society.

The meeting concluded with a Liturgy concelebrated by Archbishop Donnellan and several of the priests who were in attendance.