Pastoral Planning
“Today, members of the church… need to be called by their [bishops] into a “culture of planning,” one permeated by a spirit of trust, unity and hope, and one intended to breathe new life into our archdiocese. Despite the fears and anxieties that any change engenders, this planning effort can be undertaken confidently, because God makes equips and readies us to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and strengthening of the Church … As workers with the Lord in the vineyard, we can then also share in the joy of discovering a new way of “being Church,” of living and serving in the Church. As those who have gone before us have done for us, now is the time to ensure the viability, vision and vitality of the People of God in Boston for future generations. Now is the time to pray for a new Pentecost, the rebirth of the Church…, that we trust will come through God’s grace and with the help of this planning initiative.” - May 2007, RCAB Pastoral Planning Report
Pastoral Planning at Sacred Heart- Update
From the Pastor’s Desk…
On December 6, 2011, I joined hundreds of priests, our Cardinal and Central Services personnel and members of the Archdiocesan Planning Commission in the first formal discussion of a new plan to strengthen the parishes of the Archdiocese.
The new model is geared to strengthen parishes so that they will be able to accomplish the works of the “New Evangelization”- that is bringing people to know Jesus Christ and His call to all of us to live and proclaim the Gospel.
A key concept of this new model is the “Pastoral Service Team” (PST). This team “is a group of priests, deacons, pastoral associates, lay ecclesial ministers, parish pastoral and finance councils who provide pastoral services to multiple parishes which partner with one another to exercise more fully the mission of Evangelization”. It is proposed that about 125 of these teams be formed from the current 290 parishes of the Archdiocese.
In listening to the presentations I became aware that we are already “on the way” to living this concept by our being partnered with the faith community of St. Rose. Most likely, if this plan is eventually accepted by the Cardinal and implemented it would seem that the parish of St. Martha and Mary would become a part of this Pastoral Service Team.
There will be many more meetings with various groups involved in parish staffs and also opportunities for area-wide consultations in the next several months.
We ask your prayers for this important process and invite you to review the planning materials at www.2012Planning.org
Interesting Pastoral Planning Links and Documents
- Archdiocesan Planning Webpage
- Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning Report
- Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation
Watch this space for more to come!!!
