CLUSTER 18 PASTORAL PLAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Cluster 18 is located in Northwest Philadelphia (Mt. Airy and Germantown). It is composed of nine parishes with a Catholic population of 10,500. Seven of the parishes are staffed by diocesan priests, while two parishes are staffed by the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians). Five parishes have their own schools: St. Athanasius, St. Benedict, Holy Cross, St. Raymond of Penafort and St. Therese of the Child Jesus. St. Vincent De Paul, St. Madeleine Sophie and St. Francis of Assisi Parishes send their students to a consolidated school called, St. Martin de Porres Interparochial School. Immaculate Conception students attend St. Athanasius-Immaculate Conception School.
Before Cluster Planning began, it should be noted that both the Pastors and laity were meeting monthly for almost ten years to address the pastoral, educational and social needs of the Cluster. This Cluster has some of the poorest population of the City, in the Germantown area, while parishes in Mt. Airy are generally middle to upper middle class economically and well integrated culturally and racially.
As you will see in the Cluster Plan, the Committee members place a high value on maintaining the presence of the Catholic Church in all nine parishes. The first goal highlights five key areas that the Cluster feels need to be given special attention and resources if the Catholic Church in the Northwest will remain vibrant and strong in the next century. The Plan addresses the need to establish a cluster-wide Evangelization Committee. The Plan addresses the need for identifying, cultivating and training lay leaders in their Parishes, with a special emphasis on the Parish Pastoral Councils. The Cluster Committee felt strongly about the role of the youth in their parishes. They intend to form a Youth Committee for the Cluster and evaluate ways to include the youth in leadership positions in their parishes.
The Cluster will be reduced from seven diocesan priests to five diocesan priests in the year 2000. The Cluster Plan recommends that St. Madeleine Sophie and Holy Cross Parishes be twinned in the year 2000 and that St. Francis of Assisi Parish be staffed by the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian Community). This will be the third parish in Cluster 18 that the Vincentians will staff. The Archdiocese is very grateful to them.
The second key goal that the Cluster Plan addresses is the viability of quality Catholicschools in the Cluster. The plan calls for the establishment of a Cluster-wide Development Office, establish partnerships with local business and universities, promote a cluster-wide marketing and public relations strategy and support a voucher program for the schools. There is a strong interest from LaSalle University to work with the Cluster in various ways during the implementation of their Cluster Plan. The facilitator during the Cluster Planning Process was Mr. Gregory Bruce, who is the Dean of the Business School at LaSalle University.
Finally, the Plan emphasizes the continued interest on the part of the Cluster to remain committed to the poor and those at risk in their neighborhoods. They are committed to working with the Secretariat for Catholic Human Services, as well as neighborhood organizations, such as the Northwest Interfaith Ministries (NIM). They believe that the Catholic Church has a credible presence and a Gospel mandate to be involved in the transformation of society, as they work to make the world a better place.