The City Council, during last Monday’s regular session, approved on third and final reading a proposed ordinance institutionalizing every last week of October as Pastoral Appreciation Week in the city, creating a committee for the purpose, and appropriating funds for the same.
The ordinance declared that every last week of October is Pastoral Appreciation Week in the city and shall be included as a regular activity of the city government.
Further, the Week of Appreciation intends to highlight the impact of the acts of pastoral caring by all religious leaders like priests, reverends, pastors, ministers, evangelists, imams, and all other church heads based in the city.
The ordinance stipulated that institutionalizing the Pastoral Appreciation Week will allow the city government to spearhead programs and activities purposely to express profound gratitude and appreciation to the commendable contributions and good services of the religious sector through spiritual care promoting spiritual well-being among the city’s constituents.
The committee to spearhead the activities for the said week will be composed of the City Administrator as Chairman; Chairperson of the City Council on Tourism, Special Events, Parks and Playgrounds as Vice Chair; representatives of the religious groups in the city as co-vice chairpersons and representatives from the Baguio city Character Council, representative from the City Budget Office, 10 representatives from various faith-based groups based in the city and representative from the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC) as members.
This committee is mandated to identify other members and representatives from other offices and departments subject to approval by the whole council.
The amount of P100,000 shall be appropriated for the said purpose to be included in the annual budget of the City Administrator’s Office subject to the regular accounting rules and government auditing system.
The programs and activities for the week-long celebration shall include thanksgiving program, health fair, free legal assistance, cultural education, presentations on effective churches management and effective leadership, and such other activities and programs as may be determined by the committee.
While various church groups observe and celebrate Pastoral Care Week on their own, the ordinance claimed that it is about time that the city government spearhead a harmonized program purposely for the same objective of graciously thanking and appreciating the commendable contributions and spiritual services of all religious leaders like priests, reverends, pastors, ministers, evangelists, imams, and all other church heads based in the city.
The ordinance added that doing so is a sterling expression of sincere gratitude to those dependable partners who have modestly helped the city in achieving its standing vision which centers on steadfast leaders who are God-loving with responsible and peace-loving citizenry.
The ordinance revealed that every last week of October has been traditionally designated as Pastoral Care Week or Spiritual Care Week purposely to recognize spiritual caregivers and their ministry.
