In accordance with universal Church law embodied in the Code of Canon Law and particular legislation of the Diocese of La Crosse, the parish has two BODIES OF CONSULTATION, the parish Pastoral Council and the Parish Finance Council, each with its various working groups or standing committees.  As Christians – members of Christ’s Body, the Church – we are called to worship God, to know Him and share this knowledge with others, and to serve Him in the Church and in the world by our service to one another.  Under this aspect of service is a consultation to be understood.  Consultation is the service the faithful give to their Pastors in the Church to assist them in carrying out their responsibilities to God and those entrusted to their care.  In his Pastoral Letter On Consultation in the Parish and Deanery (May 1, 1985), then-Bishop John J. Paul explained that “consultation is nothing more and nothing less than the familial conversation between Pastors and their people in striving to live the life of Christ more fully in the parish” (p. 5).  For more than50 years the term “shared responsibility” or “co-responsibility” has been employed to express the “interdependence and necessary collaboration of Pastors and their people in living the Christian life, in carrying out our Christian mission.  Responsibility in the Church is shared by all in virtue of our common Baptism; it is shared in a distinct manner by each member of the Church according to his or her state of life, personal gifts, and office in the Church” (p. 5).
 
In order to have a proper understanding of the nature of consultation, it is helpful to distinguish three kinds of responsibility exercised in the Church.  First, the responsibility of pastoral authority is the responsibility of the one sent to act in the person of Christ as Pastor or head of the Christian community and so is connected to the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  Second, there is policy formation, the responsibility of those whom the Pastor calls together for consultation in order to assure effective pastoral leadership in the particular Christian community.  The choice of the term “policy formation” instead of “policy-making” is deliberate insofar as the “Pastor must accept the responsibility of making or legislating pastoral policies after they have been formed through the consultative process” (p. 6).  Third, the administration is the “responsibility of those, employed and volunteer, who carry out in practice or implement the pastoral policies and programs of the parish” (p. 6).
 
In light of the nature of consultation in the Church, meeting for consultation has specific qualities that distinguish it from other types of meetings.  “At meetings called for the purpose of consultation, the end in view is not a vote by which the majority can rule the minority, but rather a mutual exchange by which true understanding is achieved.  True understanding will lead to solidarity in working for the Church.  Many times, the process of consultation requires education or the deepening of knowledge about some aspect or aspects of Church life.  The hard work of obtaining a more profound knowledge of a pastoral issue or a financial issue with pastoral implications enriches the Christian life of the person giving consultation and makes possible mutual agreement about what direction Church life should take in a given area” (p. 7).
 
According to universal Church discipline (Code of Canon Law, canons 536-537) the parish has two bodies of consultation, the parish Pastoral Council and the parish Finance Council. The work of both of these consultative bodies is informed and inspired by the vision of the Church itself, especially as set forth in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).  The Pastoral Council and the Finance Council are closely related to one another, yet are distinct bodies “by virtue of their distinct purposes, their distinct responsibilities, and the distinct qualifications for membership on each” (p. 21).