ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Cluster 64 Implementation Committee Update

The Cluster 64 Implementation Committee, and its related sub-committees, have met numerous times since the last update of their activities was published in the spring of 1999. As you will remember, cluster planning is a process involving people from a group of neighboring parishes in an effort to address the needs of the Catholic Church in their area. The hope is that by working together the group of parishes can offer programs, activities, and forms of Christian witness that they would be unable to provide individually. If the cluster as a whole became a more cohesive community, all the member parishes would benefit from the pooling of resources, ideas, and energies.

The Cluster 64 pastoral plan, which has previously been developed by priests and lay people from all the parishes, has three goals. The development of additional, effective lay leadership is one goal. The planning of interesting, religious adult education is another. Finally, the promotion of the Catholic religion to our neighbors and to the society in which we live is also a goal. A sub-committee has been formed to pursue each goal and there is an implementation committee to oversee the sub-committees.

The sub-committee addressing lay leadership concerns has been very active in the past year and has been dealing with the possibility that a cluster-wide approach to training new leaders could be more productive than a parish-by-parish approach. Many parishes may not have the resources to provide such development programs or may not have the numbers of participants to justify such a program. The sub-committee considered a number of options and decided that the most attractive option for us would be to work through Neumann College. Officials of Neumann College have expressed enthusiasm at the prospect of working with us and have offered to tailor training to meet our needs. Working through Neumann College will help keep costs down and maximize the relevance and convenience of the training offered.

The lay leadership sub-committee feels that training concerning volunteer management would be a tremendous asset. Burnout among parish volunteers is a universal problem and parish volunteers often receive little preparatory training. Training people in volunteer management would provide skills to help parish volunteers do their jobs more efficiently and would also teach how to reach out to solicit additional volunteer help. Serious consideration is also being given to a training forum for members of parish councils. Members of these councils often receive little or no meaningful training concerning their position. Neumann College could help train members of parish councils so as to clarify the duties involved and skills needed. The implementation committee has endorsed these exploratory proposals and has asked that a concrete plan including cost, time, and possible dates be developed. 

The adult education sub-committee has put great effort into determining their direction. The sub-committee decided that a possible cluster-wide newsletter would be the best tool to further ongoing adult education. This would be distributed at Mass and material would be supplied by members of our own cluster. After preparing a model newsletter, the sub-committee held a meeting with pastors from the cluster parishes to obtain responses concerning this project. Some clergy felt that such a newsletter would be valuable and should be published, while others thought that such a publication was not needed or that parishioners already receive enough to read. As a result, the sub-committee is reevaluating the newsletter. This idea may be redeveloped or an alternative project may be undertaken. There is agreement that as adults and Catholics we should be continually educating ourselves in our faith, and there is agreement that the sub-committee on adult education can be a valuable part of achieving this goal in the churches of Cluster 64. 

The sub-committee for promoting Catholicism has spent the last year brainstorming and evaluating options. Publicizing Catholic events on cable TV or advertising in the newspapers were two of the multiple options considered. The sub-committee finally decided to develop a brochure which would advertise all the parishes of Cluster 64 and would stress the Catholic presence in southeast Delaware County. This brochure would be appealing to look at with attractive artwork, would be informative, and would be inexpensive when produced in bulk so it could be used in large numbers. The initial plan had been to target new arrivals in our area. This is now being reconsidered and the sub-committee is investigating the cost of sending it to everyone in the area as a mass mailing or as a Valuepack insertion. The implementation committee was enthusiastic after seeing a possible version of the brochure and is waiting for exact details concerning the cost of publishing and mailing it. Questions were raised concerning the best means of delivery and whether sending it to everyone would offend non-Catholics in any way.  The implementation committee of Cluster 64 will meet next on May 30, 2000. If you have any questions or comments about what you have read, please call your Pastor or the Vicar's Office at 610-543-6759.