Lay Trustees

Under civil law, each parish corporation is run by a board of five directors, also known as "trustees", two of whom are lay people chosen from the active parishioners of the parish. These lay trustees always hold the offices of Treasurer and Secretary in the parish corporation, and are thus sometimes referred to as the "Treasurer Trustee" and "Secretary Trustee."

A parish trustee is an active and responsible member of a parish community who assumes responsibility as an advisor and counselor on behalf of the parish. A trustee is a member of the corporate board and serves as a trustworthy advisor to both the pastor and consultative bodies of the parish. The role of trustee is definitely NOT "honorific", but should be filled by serious, competent lay parishioners who clearly understand and accept their role in managing and safeguarding the temporal goods of the parish, and who also understand and embrace an authentically Catholic understanding of the Church and her structure.  They should be familiar with pertinent civil and Church law, especially those areas dealing with the administration of temporal goods.

Responsibilities of the Treasurer Trustee

• The treasurer trustee represents the parish as a member of the parish corporation and assists the pastor and parish in the development and maintenance of accurate and detailed accounts of the parish’s financial undertakings and holdings.
• The treasurer trustee traditionally attends meetings of the parish finance council.
• The treasurer trustee reviews the annual parish budget together with the pastor, secretary trustee, and finance council. In parishes with a two signature policy for checks, the treasurer trustee may be asked to review and sign checks for disbursement of parish funds as needed.
• The treasurer trustee signs the annual financial report to the diocese.
• The treasurer trustee signs corporate documents.

Responsibilities of the Secretary Trustee

• The secretary trustee represents the parish as a member of the parish corporation and assists the pastor and parish in the development and maintenance of accurate and detailed parish corporate records including corporation minutes, documents, notices and correspondence.
• The secretary trustee traditionally attends meetings of the parish pastoral council.
• The secretary trustee attends to corporate notices and correspondence, assures that the proxy documents and all corporate reports are recorded and filed as prescribed by federal, state, local and diocesan authorities.
• The secretary trustee is responsible for the corporate minutes from the annual meeting.
• The secretary trustee works with the pastor and parish leadership to prepare the annual parish and diocesan reports as required.
• The secretary trustee reviews the annual parish budget together with the pastor, treasurer trustee, and finance council.
• The secretary trustee signs the annual financial report to the diocese.
• The secretary trustee signs corporate documents

• Selection of trustees is subject to the approval of the diocesan Bishop.
• The process of selecting lay trustees should be defined in the parish corporation's bylaws.
  (A template for parish corporate bylaws can be found here).
• Trustees must be fully initiated Catholics who are active in the parish.
• Trustees must be 21 years of age or older.
• Trustees are elected by the parish membership by ballot every two years. Generally however, both trustees should not be elected in the same year. The parish should establish an annual election of one trustee.
• The selection of the nominees for trustee should be based on nominations from the parish members at large. If several individuals are nominated for the post of trustee, the pastor may use his discretion to select nominees from those names put forward by the parish members at the time of nomination.
• One trustee serves as treasurer trustee, the other serves as secretary trustee, as spelled out in bylaws of the parish corporation.
• There is no legal limit to the number of terms a trustee may serve. However, parishes may wish to place a limit.

Following the annual election, parishes should submit to the diocesan Office of Vicar General a letter requesting their confirmation and approval by the Bishop.  The request should include a biographical sketch of the proposed trustee(s). (A template for such a letter can be found here).

• Trustees may not hold office on either the pastoral or finance council. (But they should sit on these councils ex officio.)
• Being corporate directors and officers, trustees need to operate with great prudence when dealing with the affairs of the parish. Lay trustees may not initiate or respond to any significant legal matter in the name of the parish without the written agreement of all parish corporate officers and the Bishop of the diocese.
• To avoid conflict of interest, trustees may not be immediate family (spouse, parent, child) of any parish employee, other trustee, or member of the parish finance council.