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and evaluate the vitality of the Church in the reality of a cluster of parishes.
The product of the Cluster Pastoral Planning is the recommendation to the
Regional Vicar, for presentation to the Archbishop, of a five-year pastoral
plan for the parishes in the cluster. The plan would include organizing and
coordinating ministerial activities within the cluster for a more effective
expression of Church in the parishes of that cluster. It would be developed
within the spirit of the Archdiocesan Renewal and according to the themes
of the Archdiocesan Mission Statement.
Cluster Pastoral Planning is an integral part of the
ongoing
renewal
of
parishes, since it enables a group of parishes to find the ways
and
means to
be better Church communities in our Archdiocese within the
present
realities and in the most authentic and effective manner
possible.
Cluster
Pastoral Planning allows parishes to learn from the pastoral
plans of
neighboring
parishes, to blend with and support one another's plans and,
when
advisable,
to combine these efforts with other parishes in certain
common
activities.
Through
Cluster Pastoral Planning, a
Regional Vicar gathers representatives
from
a group of parishes to reflect
prayerfully and to dialogue about the
vitality
of the Church in that area. The
Regional Vicar leads the group in a
collaborative
process to evaluate whether
the parishes, programs, buildings and
organizational
structures in a given cluster
are of the necessary number, type and
variety
in light of the Parish
Pastoral Plans
of that cluster. In the spirit of ongoing
conversion,
some change can always
be anticipated in Cluster Pastoral Planning. In
some instances, given the
realities in a particular cluster, a parish
may
need to be founded there, or
altered or even closed. The same could be
said of schools, programs and
other parish organizations as the
situation
warrants.
Within
each parish, the Parish
Pastoral
Council
is the key structure which
facilitates the ongoing
renewal of parishes
by fostering the full participation of the
entire
parish
(clergy, religious and laity) in
the devising of a plan for the
pastoral
mission of the parish. Members of the
Parish Pastoral Council
participate
in
ongoing Pastoral Planning on a parish level and some members
participate
as well in Pastoral Planning on the cluster level. The adoption
of a Parish
Mission
Statement and the formulation of a
Parish Pastoral Plan at
the
completion of the Parish Self-Study are fundamental prerequisites
for
successful Cluster Pastoral Planning.
The Holy Spirit calls the Church to an ongoing renewal
in
greater fidelity
to
her vocation (cf. CCC #821). Parish Self-Study, then, will be
repeated
periodically to allow for further reflection on and adjustment of
the
Parish
Pastoral Plan. Results and insights from the Parish Self-Study
are then
brought to the pastoral planning activity on the Cluster level.