ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

CLUSTER 63 PASTORAL PLAN ONE PAGE SUMMARY

Delaware County Vicariate

Rev. Michael McCulken, Vicar

Darby-East Lansdowne-Highland Park-Lansdowne-Upper Darby-Yeadon

Approved by Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, November 7, 1997

The Cluster Pastoral Plan includes the following goals:

1)The establishment of a broad-based religious education program for all.

The Cluster can: collaborate on programs such as Pre-Cana, Pre-Jordan, CCD, RCIA; establish communication among parishes, e.g. Cluster bulletin, telephone hot line, to inform parishioners of special programs; select qualified speakers on relevant topics and advertise times and locations of presentations well in advance to attract as many Cluster parishioners as possible; share speaker costs; encourage senior citizen participation; share ministries on an ad hoc basis, e.g., liturgy, music, youth, etc.; make better use of Archdiocesan and national resources and organizations to keep parishioners apprised of what is happening in the Church both locally and nationally.

2)The establishment of a youth ministry -- TO youth and FROM youth.

The Cluster can: share a Youth Minister; establish programs for particular age groups, e.g., 13-18, 19-25, 26-35 years old, which will demonstrate that their Parishes are committed to trying to help solve their problems and address their concerns; recognize youthful enthusiasm -- the sense that "we can do it!"; celebrate a monthly youth Mass that would alternate among the Cluster Parishes, inviting all Cluster youth to attend by vigorously promoting the Mass; establish an annual Cluster retreat with topics focused on youth concerns; input of youth must be actively sought and seriously considered; recognize the impact of "peer pressure"; use of CYO in its broadest sense, not just sports; [promote] Community Service Corps in which high school students learn about and give service to their communities. This program is already in place in the high schools in the Cluster.

3)The establishment of a long-range plan to assure the continued existence of Parish schools.

The Cluster can: develop a marketing plan that demonstrates to parents and prospective students the value of a Catholic education in preparing for a successful future; unite to put pressure on Commonwealth and federal officials to enact legislation designed to helpparents with tuition i.e., the so-called "School Choice" legislation; continue to stress the Catholic identity of our schools; support of schools by entire parish must be encouraged; student scholarships.

During the past year, the parishes of Cluster 63 have engaged in a prayerful and reflective dialogue examining the strengths and needs of the parishes in this area. At the end of the summer, the recommendations contained in a Cluster Pastoral Plan were submitted to Cardinal Bevilacqua for his review and acceptance. Much work and effort was expended by the committee and the parishes and everyone is to be commended for this work. The following is a summary of the plan submitted to Cardinal Bevilacqua for acceptance. Cardinal Bevilacqua accepted this plan on November 7, 1997.

The parish representatives of the above named parishes in Cluster 63 met together in a spirit of open dialogue, prayer, and consensus.... The participants recognized that with the changes taking place in our Church today it cannot be "business as usual" if the message of Jesus Christ is to be handed down intact and unfiltered to the generations of Catholics to come.... This Plan also recognizes the need for an informed and active laity who can assume necessary temporal duties so that available priests and religious will be able to continue to fulfill their task of Pastoral Ministry.

The Cluster Planning Committee recommends the establishment of an Implementation Committee to monitor implementation of the Plan and to suggest changes, if necessary. This committee would be made up of the Pastor of each Parish and one other member from each Parish Pastoral Council appointed by the Pastor. Father Charles Bonner, Pastor of Saint Louis in Yeadon, will be responsible for scheduling at least three (3) meetings per year and coordinating the agenda for each meeting.

With the latest appointments of priests, the number of priests assigned to Cluster 63 was reduced by one (1), bringing the total number of priests to ten (10), the number projected for the year 2000. Presently, three of the Cluster Parishes have only a pastor, two have one parochial vicar, and one, Saint Laurence, which is the largest of the Cluster Parishes and has primary responsibility for Delaware County Hospital, has two parochial vicars. This distribution of Priests is workable at present. If the number of Priests decreases further, it will be the responsibility of the Implementation Committee to reassess the use of the available Priests.

This Plan will be implemented after it has been reviewed and approved by the Cardinal Archbishop.

Looking forward to cooperating together in fulfilling the goals outlined, a word of thanks is extended to the members of the Cluster Pastoral Planning Committee, Parish Pastoral Councils and parishioners for the work accomplished.