St. Lawrence Church in Lawrenceville has undergone a long discernment process to implement the Cleveland guidelines given to each parish by the late Archbishop James Lyke, OFM, in September, 1991. These were the first guidelines received and the parish was excited.

A period of study included viewing video presentations from the archdiocese of Chicago to find further ideas on aspects of the new council. One idea that stood out was the parish council is not a democracy; it never has been and it probably never will be. It is a consultative body that must try to live the mission of Jesus Christ.

As the support staff and members of the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) prayerfully studied and evaluated the effectiveness of St. Lawrence's PPC it became clear that popular election is not the best way to call forth members of the community for service.

On the practical side, experience has taught that it is extremely difficult to get people to run for election. Few people want to place themselves before the entire parish to be rejected.

Also, in a parish the size of St. Lawrence with its 1,400 families, many parishioners are unknown to one another and so cannot make an educated decision.

Father Martin Kopchik, MSFS, pastor of St. Lawrence, began the process for choosing PPC members. He invited parishioners to examine Scripture and the method of selecting early Church leadership. The Acts of the Apostles records the selection of Matthias to replace Judas. After the apostles had prayed, they drew lots and filled the vacancy. When it became evident that the early Church needed assistants because it was growing too large for he apostles to manage affairs alone, the apostles commissioned the community find those who were "deeply spiritual and prudent, and we shall appoint them to this task," St. Luke writes in the Acts of the Apostles.

In discussing the method of selection, the council decided by consensus to return to these biblical images, feeling that it was important to find deeply spiritual and prudent servants. The council felt a more explicitly prayerful approach beyond popular election was desirable.

It was discerned that to be eligible for PPC membership a minimum expectation was that people be trained. To be an effective member of a council that shepherds a church, information is required. The mission of the church is rooted in the teaching of Jesus Christ and in this historical time the vision is set forth in the documents of the Second Vatican Council. One must have an holistic vision of what Jesus left the Church. This takes a commitment to renew oneself for the implementation of the Church's mission toward the year 2000 and beyond. There are also group tasks and maintenance roles to be learned if a parish council is to be successful. The members must find the answers to such questions as how agendas are formed and work completed, what model of consensus guides the council's recommendations to the pastor, what the pastor's role is in consensus and how the group resolves conflicts.

When the early Church had a disagreement about the beliefs of Gentile converts, Acts records they gathered with Peter as their leader to pray and discuss the issue thoroughly. The appropriate response was then discerned.

This is too much to ask of someone without training. It is unfair to the council and unfair to the individual and does not serve the community well. In order to make good use of one's two- or three-year term on the council, the candidate should be willing to dedicate time and effort to be trained early on and attend periodic educational retreats, it was decided.

Discernment is a key phrase describing the tradition of the Church in the selection of shepherds. St. Lawrence chose a three-pronged approach to the process of discernment.

In order to give every parishioner the opportunity to feel called to serve the community, bulletin announcements and announcements before the liturgies encouraged all to come forward to learn more about the new guidelines of the Parish Pastoral Council.

Then a nominating committee was formed made up of PPC members who were leaving the council. The experience of the outgoing council members about the needs and structure of the organization would help them call forth gifts from the community that are needed to shepherd.

Finally the five commissions of the PPC, made up of representatives from every group in the parish that "works in the trenches," nominated those of its members who might be qualified to serve the community as representatives of the commission.

An Information Day was then set up to train each candidate. Father Kopchik, Lex Beal, the current chairperson of the PPC, and Claudette Cuddy, director of religious education, designed and facilitated the day.

Time was spent examining the total mission of the Church, the existence and nature of Councils in the history of the Church, the theology of ministry, the Cleveland guidelines, the new St. Lawrence PPC structure and specific job descriptions.

At the end, each candidate left with literature and time to discern God's call to him or her at this time and place.

On May 2, names for seven positions were brought to the weekend liturgies. A clay vessel holding the names was carried in the entrance procession and placed before the altar. Names for two positions were brought at each of three Masses and names for one position at the fourth Mass. Following the homily the assembly, led by Father Kopchik, asked the Holy Spirit to choose the persons most able at the time to serve. An altar server then drew names and those persons selected were immediately commissioned for the roles before the community. The faith community of St. Lawrence proceeded with hope and enthusiasm for carrying out the mission of the Church.