ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

CLUSTER 42 PASTORAL PLAN ONE PAGE SUMMARY

Chester County Vicariate

Rev. Msgr. James T. McDonough, Vicar

Coatesville-Parkesburg

Approved by Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, November 7, 1997

The Cluster Pastoral Plan includes the following goals:

1)Provide support for the efforts of parents to teach their children the Catholic faith.

2)Provide support and education for increased Evangelization efforts.

3)Address the Priest Projection report which indicates a decline in the number of priests available for parish work in the cluster.

4)Improve the level of community service, especially for the Hispanic, elderly and needy populations of the cluster.

5)Renew religious education and stewardship programs through the inclusion of new parishioners.

The Cluster Pastoral Planning Committee for Cluster 42 has completed its cluster plan. The pastors and two members of the parish pastoral council of Our Lady of Consolation Parish, Our Lady of the Rosary Parish. St. Cecilia Parish, St. Joseph Parish and St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish met monthly over a ten month period to develop the plan.

Information gathering tasks included a review of the mission statement, pastoral plan and facilities report of each parish. The committee found many areas of strength in the cluster. These areas included a consolidated regional Catholic elementary school, strong CCD programs, parish facilities in good condition, a strong group of volunteers and a tradition of working together for 25 years through the Catholic school.

The committee also evaluated cluster weaknesses and limitations. These included lack of participation by adults in religious programs, parishioners lacking in awareness of their stewardship responsibilities, an imbalance in the geographic location of parish facilities in relation to the areas of population growth, and the distance of the cluster from the Archdiocesan Offices.

At each stage of the process, the committee received feedback from the parish pastoral councils. One issue which permeated the process was the priest projection for the cluster, which projected four priests in parish ministry for the five parishes by the year 2000. The death of Father Cyril Ponisciak, pastor of St. Joseph Parish, brought this possibility to a sudden reality in May, 1997.

The committee then developed a series of goals that represented its vision for the cluster,objectives based on these goals, and action steps to achieve the objectives.