After hearing from the priests and the deanery gatherings, the Presbyteral Council and, by extension, the College of Consultors, has been restructured effective February 1, 2026. According to Bishop Scott Bullock, the motive for restructuring was to reduce the size of the council with regard to the overall size of the Presbyterate. 

“I have spoken to Archbishop Bernard Hebda, describing the reasons for such a restructuring of the Presbyteral Council, and he has offered his support of my decision,” said Bishop Bullock in an email to the priests of the diocese. “Once the new Presbyteral Council is constituted (through elections and appointments of Vicars Forane and the representative from the reservations), I will select from its number six to serve as the College of Consultors (as required by c. 502), which will fulfill the specific requirements of the ‘Code of Canon Law.’”  

The Presbyteral Council represents the priests of the diocese and serves as a “senate to the bishop” to assist him in governance of the diocese according to the norms of law and to promote the pastoral good of the people of God of the diocese. The bishop, in consultation with the elected members of the council, determines what the council considers. 

The council consists of:

• the Vicar General serves ex officio.
• three (3) Vicars forane, serving ex officio.
• four (4) Members elected by the presbyterate — two from the older clergy (from oldest 50 percentiles of the presbyterate) and two younger clergy
• one (1) Vicar General as an ex officio member (this appointment also serves as a tie breaker) — neither an appointed nor elected member (canon 497, 2º)
• one (1) member who serves on one of the reservations dedicated to the ministry of the Society of Jesus or Sacred Heart Fathers, appointed by the bishop.

In addition to the restructuring of the Presbyteral Council, a deanery re-alignment, now called Vicariates Forane, has occurred to reduce the number of deaneries from five to three. Former deaneries 1 & 2 are now Vicariate A; deaneries 3 & 4 are Vicariate B; and the current deanery 5 is Vicariate C. Priests serving on reservations will join the geographical deanery in which they minister. 

The purpose of grouping the parishes is, “to foster pastoral care through common action, several neighboring parishes can be joined into special groups, such as vicariates forane.” (Canon 374 paragraph 2)

In the Diocese of Rapid City, these parish groupings serve a three-fold purpose: 

• to serve as a regular occasion where the bishop can seek feedback from the priests on a wide variety of pastoral issues; 
• to serve as an occasion where issues can be raised for consideration by the Presbyteral Council; 
• to serve as an occasion for priestly fraternity. 

Each Vicariate has a Vicar Forane who serves on the Presbyteral Council and serves as the bridge between the clergy and the laity for the joint pastoral activity within the Vicariate. He is also responsible to and collaborates most closely with the bishop in offering guidance and support to his brother priests.