In a letter dated July 20, 1999, sent to Reverend James D. Beisel, Regional Vicar for Bucks County, Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia,accepted the Cluster Pastoral Plan for Cluster 30, and commended the pastors and all who served on the Cluster Pastoral Planning Committee.

The seven parishes of Cluster 30 are:

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish
St. Martin of Tours Parish
St. Cyril of Jerusalem Parish
St. Vincent de Paul Parish
Nativity of Our Lord Parish
St. Joseph Parish
St. Robert Bellarmine Parish

Cluster 30's plan centers on these objectives:

1) Establish a new parish in the Buckingham area. A feasibility study has already begun. Cluster 30 has seen tremendous growth in Catholic households and population since 1990. While the area experienced a 24 percent increase in overall population between 1990 and 1997, registered Catholic households increased by 34 percent. There were 14,671 registered Catholic households with 46,751 individuals in Cluster 30 in 1997.

2) Strengthen the opportunity for Catholic school education. Parishes will foster cooperation so that every child within the Cluster seeking a Catholic school education is able to receive that education.

3) Improve and coordinate youth and young adult ministry. The Cluster will investigate programs to nourish the faith life of youth and young adults. The Cluster will also assess the possibility of a coordinator to work with youth and young adults and seek the views and opinions of young people.

4) Provide pastoral lay leadership training opportunities. The Cluster will ask for guidance from Archdiocesan offices and St. Charles Seminary in an effort to offer local programs. Professionals within the Cluster will be utilized to provide training.

5) Provide Cluster adult religious education programs. The Cluster will investigate successful programs in other Clusters and establish a Cluster curriculum planning committee. The Cluster will pursue relationships with other faith communities to promote interfaith and ecumenical programs.

6) Provide family ministry and encourage religious vocations. The Cluster will ask the Archdiocesan Family Life Office to provide programs on topics such as parenting, marriage enrichment and family prayer. A vocation awareness program will be coordinated with the assistance of the Archdiocesan Office of the Vicar for Religious.

7) Support parish evangelization efforts. Parish evangelization programs will be developed to reinvigorate active and inactive Catholics and to reach the unchurched.

Contact
Donna Crilley
Communications Assistant
215-587-3747