Office for Worship and Spiritual Life

BYLAWS OF THE LITURGICAL COMMISSION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON

ARTICLE I

NAME and PURPOSE

SECTION 1: The name of this organization shall be the Liturgical Commission of the Archdiocese of the Boston (hereinafter referred to as the “Commission”).

SECTION 2:  The Second Vatican Council in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy article 45 called for the establishment of Liturgical Commissions in each diocese for promotion of it’s liturgical life.  “Every diocese is to have a commission on the liturgy under the direction of the Bishop, for promoting the liturgical apostolate.” 

A primary responsibility of the Archbishop as the chief liturgist is to ensure a well-formed liturgical life for the people of God.  This well-formed liturgical life is achieved only when the full, active and conscious participation of the people of God comes to fruition.  To accomplish this goal, it must be acknowledged that the Commission must also serve the needs of those who participate in promoting the liturgical apostolate such as pastors, parochial vicars, deacons, lay-liturgical ministers, RCIA directors, and the other faithful who participate in the liturgy.

The Commission’s role then is to support the Archbishop in his role as chief liturgist of the Archdiocese of Boston and promoter of the Church’s liturgical life. 

The Commission shall act as a consultative body to the Archbishop in all of the liturgical matters that he requests.  The Commission in conjunction with the Office for Worship will formulate policies and programs that will affect the liturgical life of the Archdiocese and recommend these policies and programs, in written form, to the Archbishop.  The Archbishop or the Director of the Office for Worship (hereinafter referred to as the “Director”) may make requests of the Commission, asking the Commission to study and/or make recommendations on liturgical issues.

Therefore, the Commission also shall work with the Director to assess the liturgical needs of the Archdiocese. From that assessment, the Commission will help in the formulation of a vision, a mission and goals in order to assist the Director in providing programs, guidelines, and other liturgical materials.  All of which must remain consistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as enunciated by the Holy Father and the Bishops in communion with him as found in the liturgical books and other Church documents pertaining to the liturgy and sacraments. 

ARTICLE II

MEMBERSHIP

SECTION 1: The Commission shall be comprised of between nine (9) and fifteen (15) members, in addition to the Archbishop or his delegate, the Director, the liturgy professor at Saint John’s Seminary, and the Archdiocesan Secretary for Pastoral Services who serve as ex-officio members.

SECTION 2:

1. The membership of the Commission shall reflect the diversity within the faithful of the Archdiocese of Boston.
2. There should be members on the committee with a familiarity with liturgical theology and law, and/or liturgical art, environment, architecture, or music.  Members should also be familiar with pastoral issues in parishes that have a liturgical significance. 
3. Members shall be chosen at large from the Archdiocese, if possible maintaining representation from each of the Archdiocesan regions.

SECTION 3: The members of the Commission, upon the recommendation of the Archdiocesan Secretary for Pastoral Services and the Director, shall be approved by and appointed by the Archbishop.  Initial appointments shall be for terms of one (1), two (2), and three (3) years, with subsequent appointments being for terms of three (3) years each, thereby providing for staggered membership terms. Each member shall be eligible for reappointment, upon re-approval and invitation to such, provided, however, that no member would serve for more than six (6) consecutive years, with the possibility of reappointment after a year off of the Commission. Members of the Commission shall serve at the pleasure of the Archbishop and may be removed by the Archbishop at any time, with or without cause, after consultation with the Archdiocesan Secretary for Pastoral Services and the Director.

ARTICLE III

OFFICERS

SECTION 1: The officers of the Commission shall be a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and a Secretary. 

SECTION 2: The officers shall be selected annually at the first meeting of the year (September) by the members of the Commission.  Their term of office can be renewed only once.

SECTION 3: The Chairperson shall develop the agenda of the meeting with the other members of the executive committee, and preside at all meetings of the Commission. The Vice-Chairperson presides at the meeting in the absence of the chairperson.  In the event that neither the Chairperson nor Vice-Chairperson is able to attend the meeting the Director will act as the chairperson.  The Secretary shall be responsible for maintaining a list of all members of the Commission, their terms of appointment, and their current addresses and other contact information. The Secretary shall be responsible for sending appropriate notices of all meetings and maintaining a record of all meetings of the Commission. The official records of the Commission shall be sent to and stored by the Office for Worship.

ARTICLE IV

MEETINGS

SECTION 1: The Commission shall meet at least five (5) times each year and at such other times as may be called by the Chairperson or Director.  The scheduled months will be September, November, January, March, and May.

SECTION 2: A quorum of the Commission at any meeting shall be present when more than fifty (50) percent of the members of the Commission are present. Any recommendation by a majority of a quorum of present members at any Commission meeting shall be the recommendation of the Commission.

SECTION 3: The Commission shall consider matters determined by the agenda set by the Executive Committee and any issues that the Director needs to have discussed. The Commission may also submit to the Director a list of recommended concerns or priorities for the Director to consider.

SECTION 4: Members of the committees may be invited to the Commission meeting to address issues concerning their areas of expertise.

SECTION 5: Non-members who are experts on particular liturgical issues may be invited to speak at meetings to give their advice or to present pertinent information.

ARTICLE V

COMMITTEES

SECTION 1: There will be five standing committees:

1. The Executive Committee shall be comprised of the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Commission, and the Director of the Office for Worship.  This committee shall set the agenda for the Commission meetings.  It makes any necessary decisions between meetings such as the need to call a meeting.
2. Liturgical Music Committee
3. Art and Environment Committee
4. RCIA Committee
5. Liturgy and Sacraments

SECTION 2: A member of the Commission will be the chair of each committee.  The committees’ membership will be appointed by the Director in consultation with the Commission and the approval of the Archdiocesan Secretary for Pastoral Services. The Archbishop, the Director, the Chairperson of the Commission and the Archdiocesan Secretary for Pastoral Services serve as ex-officio members of all committees and may attend any meeting of those committees.

SECTION 3: Each committee member shall serve for one year and the appointment is renewable.

SECTION 4: All recommendations by the committees must be submitted to the Commission for its recommendation to the Archbishop or Director.

SECTION 5: These standing committees will meet at least four times a year and as needed to address the issues presented to them by the Commission.  They shall be called by the Chair of the Committee or at the discretion of the Director.

SECTION 6: In conjunction with these committees either subcommittees, ad-hoc committees, or task forces may be formed as the need may arise.  The same rules for these bodies apply as found in Section 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Article IV.

ARTICLE VI

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL LITURGICAL ORIGANIZATIONS

SECTION 1: The Commission shall maintain an active membership in such organizations as the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions (FDLC), and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM).

SECTION 2: The Commission shall direct concerns of the Archdiocese to these organizations

SECTION 3: The Commission shall communicate information from these organizations to the appropriate constituents within the Archdiocese.

SECTION 4: The Director and the Chairperson of the Commission shall serve as official voting representatives of any national or regional liturgical organizations to which the Archdiocese is affiliated.  Other members of the Commission or staff members may be designated to act as representatives in their place if necessary.

ARTICLE VII

AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS

The Bylaws of the Commission may be amended only by the Archbishop having heard the Commission and Director.

These by laws become effective on 1 April 2005.

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