ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

CLUSTER 67 PASTORAL PLAN ACCEPTED
Cluster 67 Pastoral Planning Committee
Delaware County Vicariate
January 2000

Cardinal Bevilacqua, in his letter to Reverend Thomas J. Smith, Vicar for Delaware County, dated January 19, 2000, stated that he "finds all four goals of the Cluster's Pastoral Plan acceptable and encourages their implementation." He made special note of the Plan's goals to evangelize, to educate parishioners concerning stewardship, and to assist the youth in their relations with Jesus Christ and their parish communities. He also commended the parishes of this cluster for seeing in their diversity a gift from the Holy Spirit and for seeing in their work as a cluster of parishes a future that is bright with hope. This Pastoral Plan is aimed at helping the Catholics in Cluster 67 to live as better witnesses of the Risen Lord Jesus by renewing and strengthening each of the parishes.

On November 17, 1998, Cluster 67's Pastoral Planning Committee met for the first time at Blessed Katharine Drexel Church. Encouraged by Father Smith to be visionaries in building the Church for the future and to seek to move beyond where we are now, we began work on developing a Cluster Pastoral Plan to guide our parishes for the next five years.

Now, one year later after many meetings, hours of deliberation, and soul-searching, we recognize that there are many ways to extend our reach beyond the parish so that we may fully realize our fundamental mission to spread the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to all persons. Building on our common strengths and our united commitment toward renewal, we accept the premise that our individual parishes can be made stronger through cluster planning, and we welcome the opportunity to work together to overcome our limitations while responding effectively to the forces which challenge us.

The Goals of the Cluster 67 Pastoral Plan are:

Goal 1 - Pastoral Services: Continue to provide pastoral services which will satisfy and fulfill the needs of the people in light of the reduction of priests assigned to our cluster.
Goal 2 - Evangelization: Proclaim Jesus Christ and His call to discipleship for all people in the cluster.
Goal 3 - Stewardship Development: Call Catholics to greater discipleship to make better use of their gifts of time, talent, and treasure.
Goal 4 - Youth and Young Adults: Nurture the faith of our youth and young adults to assist them in deepening their commitment to Jesus.

The full report shows how and why these goals were conceived. It also shows how they can be achieved, given due consideration of the external strengths and limitations of the cluster as well as the external opportunities and challenges facing the cluster. In order to achieve the objectives associated with these goals, it will be necessary to establish a network of teams, groups, and councils who will work at the parish and cluster levels to set up the framework and the personnel to institutionalize the changes we have visualized for the cluster.

We recommend the establishment of an Implementation Team which will be charged with creating the necessary teams, groups, and councils that will undertake the actions set forth in the Cluster Plan. The Implementation Team will implement the Cluster Plan recommendations as well as oversee and monitor the various teams, groups, and councils. The Implementation Team will be a small group consisting of one pastor and one lay member from each parish. The pastors of the cluster parishes will be encouraged to attend the meetings to review progress, voice concerns, provide support, and motivate the members.

The pastor position will rotate every 18-24 months among the cluster pastors. The lay members will rotate every 24-30 months. Lay members will be appointed by their pastor.

LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD! To celebrate the acceptance of the Cluster 67 Pastoral Plan and to pray for its successful implementation, all parishioners from our five parishes are cordially invited to join together for a public celebration.

Our celebration will take place at Saint John Chrysostom's Church on March 7, 2000, starting with Mass at 7:00 p.m. followed by a social with refreshments. Saint John Chrysostom's Church is located at 617 South Providence Road, Wallingford.