Bishop Mark Brennan Reinstates Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston Pastoral Council
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WHEELING -- The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston wants its members to have a voice in its present and future. To do that, the Most Rev. Mark Brennan, Diocesan bishop, has reestablished a group that will give laypeople that opportunity.
The Diocesan Pastoral Council is back and will hold its first meeting in nearly 15 years this month. Diocese spokesman Tim Bishop said the faithful deserve the chance to help move the church forward.
"You can't go wrong involving the laypeople," he said. "It's their church, too. This is all of our church. The church belongs to all of the faithful, so getting them involved and seeking their help and running ideas by them is a great thing."
The council will help Brennan outline and develop priorities, initiatives and plans to fulfill the Church's mission. It had originally been established by Bishop Joseph Hodges in 1968 and remained intact until 2006.
Ex-bishop Michael Bransfield had scheduled a council meeting in March 2006, but that was its last meeting until this year. Bransfield retired in 2018, and shortly thereafter became the focus of numerous investigations into how he spent millions in diocesan funds on personal luxuries and travel, his interactions with young male seminarians and his reported alcohol and pill abuse, all of which was outlined in the Bransfield report.
Bringing back the council was among the earliest ideas Brennan and Monsignor Eugene Ostrowski, Vicar General and council chair, had after Brennan's installation, Bishop said. Next came updating the charter and deciding on the election process.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and that put the brakes on those plans, Bishop said, noting it is important for every parishioner's voice to be heard. With churches closed and not all members attending due to COVID, it became a waiting game to establish the council.
The council is formed as such: Each parish elects two laypeople to form a Vicariate Council with those elected from other parishes. That Vicariate Council elects three people from its membership to serve on the Diocesan Pastoral Council.
There are six Vicariates -- Beckley, Charleston, Clarksburg, Martinsburg, Parkersburg and Wheeling. Kevin Britt, Jerod Buck and Denis Wilson will represent the Wheeling Vicariate on the pastoral council.
Brennan will add more members soon, including a Deacon of the Diocese, a person from one of the religious communities serving in the diocese -- like the Pallottine Sisters or Marist Brothers -- and two young adults.
"I look forward to having a Diocesan Pastoral Council that can bring to my attention concerns and ideas to enhance the spiritual and apostolic life and work of the Diocese and react to plans and issues I may bring up," Brennan said.
The group will meet three times a year, with its first meeting scheduled for Feb. 19-20.