Category Archives: SJSP Collaborative Planning – FAQ

The FAQs from the Collaborative Committee

St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  For the past year, we have been answering Frequently Asked Questions about the new Collaborative in our parish bulletins and here on our website.
Where can I find any questions that I’ve missed?

All of the questions that have been published over the past year can be found here on the St. John the Evangelist Parish website – just click ST. JOHN-ST. PAUL COLLABORATIVE NEWS on the “Quick Links” menu. There you will find all the questions and answers that have been published so far, as well as important background and historical information about the Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan, the Collaborative process, and the proposed St. John-St. Paul Collaborative. In addition, The Office of Pastoral Planning of the Archdiocese of Boston maintains a detailed website called “Disciples in Mission” (www.disciplesinmission.com), which contains extensive information on the Pastoral Plan as well as updates on the process and resources for parishes.

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com  

Collaborative Question: Who Will Become Pastor?

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION: Why hasn’t it been announced that Father Powers will retire next year and Father Rafferty will become the Pastor?

It is not yet known who will be the Pastor of our Collaborative. Among the parishes which started their Collaboratives in Phase I and II, about 50% have Pastors which were selected from one of the parishes in that Collaborative. It is not known whether or not Father Rafferty will be selected to be the Pastor of our Collaborative. This will be decided ultimately by Cardinal Sean O’Malley. What we do know is that Father Powers will retire sometime in 2015. This was announced in the St. John’s and St. Paul’s bulletins on May 11 and May 18 over the signatures of Fathers Rafferty and Powers.

More information can be found on the St. John’s web site  (St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News) and on the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website (www.disciplesinmission.com)

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com  

Collaborative Question: What Does the Future Hold in Terms of Priests?

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION: 2s) What really does the future hold in terms of priests? I have not seen any projections for several years, but I strongly suspect the Archdiocese is heading toward a very serious crisis within the next decade, with not enough priests to respond to even the current level of demand for the sacraments.

Your concern for the future, in terms of the number of priests, is a major factor for the formation of Collaboratives in the Archdiocese of Boston. We are fast approaching the time when we will have too few priests to adequately cover all the churches in the Archdiocese, prompting the change to one Pastor per Collaborative. In Phase 1, as many as 4 churches were joined into 1 Collaborative having only 1 Pastor. The new Pastors of the Collaboratives will devote more of their time to ecclesiastical matters and less of their time to administrative duties which can be performed more efficiently by properly trained lay people. This transition will require more participation from the lay ministries in the daily operation of the church.

More information can be found on the St. John’s web site  (St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News) and on the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website (www.disciplesinmission.com)

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com  

Collaborative Question: What Exactly is a “Pastoral Team”?

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION: What exactly is a pastoral team and what does this mean for our Collaborative? Will our Collaborative get more than one priest? Will we get more than one Pastor?

The “Team within a Team” concept is an organizational structure that is going to be implemented in every Collaborative in the Archdiocese. The “team” will be composed of priests selected from all over the Archdiocese and the lay people will come from within the parishes of a given Collaborative. It is certain that
there will only be one Pastor for each Collaborative, including the St. John/St. Paul Collaborative. There may, however, be more than one Deacon, or Pastoral Associate. As for local governance, there will be one Parish Pastoral Council and two Finance Councils. The exact number of parishioners on each Council will be
determined by the new Pastor, with strong input from the newly formed Pastoral Council of the Collaborative. Formation of our new Collaborative will be a prime time for parishioners, from both St. John’s and St. Paul’s, to join a lay ministry and help plan and implement the future of our churches.

More information can be found on the St. John’s web site  (St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News) and on the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website (www.disciplesinmission.com)

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com  

Collaborative Question 11: What Does it Mean to be an Evangelizing Parish?

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION 11: If evangelization is a critical component of the Parish Collaborative Process, what does it mean to be an
evangelizing parish?

Evangelization (reaching out to our brothers and sisters and drawing them more fully to Jesus Christ) is a component of the parish Collaborative Process because evangelization and collaboration are two ways to enable the mission of Christ and the Catholic Church to grow stronger. To make our Catholic community stronger, we need to find ways to welcome our brothers and sisters back to active practice of the faith. Evangelizing parishes exercise what is called “radical hospitality.” They are always mindful of the lost. They pay careful attention to what they look like to people coming through the door for the first time. They make excellent and bold use of social media. They are committed to forming disciples, who in turn form other disciples. They have a strong focus on adult religious experiences, and adult faith formation, especially in small groups. We all know Catholics in Wellesley and elsewhere who have drifted away from the Catholic Church. To make our Catholic community stronger, we need to find ways to welcome our brothers and sisters back to active practice of the faith.

More information can be found on the St. John’s web site  (St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News) and on the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website (www.disciplesinmission.com)

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com  

Collaborative Question 10: How is Evangelization Part of the Plan ?

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION 10: How is evangelization part of the Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese of Boston?

Evangelization is the work of reaching out to our brothers and sisters and drawing them more fully to Christ. Cardinal Sean, echoing the teaching of Blessed Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, has repeatedly emphasized that the Church will only be strengthened to the extent that every practicing Catholic embraces the “New Evangelization,” the work of reaching out to Catholics who are not currently active in the Church. Evangelization is a component of the Parish Collaborative Process because Evangelization and Collaboration are two critical ways which will enable the mission of Christ and the Catholic Church to grow stronger. We all know Catholics in Wellesley and elsewhere who have drifted away from the Catholic Church. To make our Catholic community stronger, we need to find ways to welcome our brothers and sisters back to active practice of the faith.

More information can be found on the St. John’s web site  (St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News) and on the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website (www.disciplesinmission.com)

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com  

Collaborative Question 9: How Will Our Pastoral and Finance Councils Change?

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION 9: How will our Parish Councils and Finance Councils change once the St. John and St. Paul Collaborative is launched?

There will be one Pastoral Council for both Parishes, to advise the one Pastor and to oversee the implementation of the one Local Pastoral Plan. However, each Parish will have its own Finance Council, to oversee the financial accounts, assets, and obligations of each individual Parish. The two Finance Councils
will come together regularly and hold joint meetings.

More information can be found on the St. John’s web site  (St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News) and on the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website (www.disciplesinmission.com)

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com  

Collaborative Question 8: Is there anything we should do or not do before the formal launch?

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION 8: Is there anything that St. John and St. Paul parishes should avoid doing in the lead-up to the formal launch of our Collaborative?

The Office of Pastoral Planning has recommended that we should not invest money on meeting or residential space, without first having done a Collaborative space study. Additionally, we must not neglect to inform new hires of the details of the Collaborative process and the role they may play in the new Collaborative.

More information can be found on the St. John’s web site  (St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News) and on the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website (www.disciplesinmission.com)

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com  

Collaborative Question 7: What Has Been Learned from Phases I and II?

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION 7: Can you share some of the difficulties that the Phase I and II Parishes have experienced as they have entered into the formal Collaborative process? And what lessons has the Archdiocese learned from the experiences of the Phase I and Phase II Parishes?

In the Parishes where there was little or no advance preparation, or negative advance preparation—the formation and development of the Collaborative has been greatly impeded. Forming new Pastoral Teams is a complex process. Choosing the right team for the mission is a necessity. Collaborative Pastors have enormous responsibilities and need to have a strong support team in place in order to accomplish their objectives. The Archdiocese has learned that forming Collaboratives is a slow process that takes time and planning to get right. As a result, the process has been elongated, to allow more time for advance preparation.  It is important to choose a good leadership team, very early. The Pastor needs an excellent Executive Assistant, Finance and Operations Manager, and Director of Ministries. The Pastor must delegate as much as possible. It is critical to have as many people as possible participate fully and actively in the training program. As with most endeavors, it helps to be creative.

More information can be found on the St. John’s web site  (St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News) and on the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website (www.disciplesinmission.com)

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com  

Collaborative Question 6a: Is Any Consideration Being Given to Merging Schools?

SJSP Collaborative Logo_SmallThe St. John and St. Paul Collaborative will be formally launched in the summer of 2015.  Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION 6a.) I am a parishioner at St. Paul whose children have attended both St. Paul’s and St. John’s schools. My question is: given the declining enrollments of both St. John’s and St. Paul’s schools, is any consideration being given to merging the schools?

Beginning with the formal launch of our collaborative a pastoral service team will be established, and a pastoral plan will be developed for the 2 parishes in the collaborative. This plan will cover all aspects of the parishes, including the schools, so any merger or collaboration between the 2 schools could be part of that plan as it evolves over time, and the parish and school communities will have input on all aspects of the plan, including the parts of the plan dealing with the schools. In addition, the Archdiocese is very supportive of parish schools and the Catholic Schools Office of the Archdiocese will be involved in any decisions made with respect to the schools.

More information can be found on the St. John’s web site  (St. John – St. Paul Collaborative News) and on the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website (www.disciplesinmission.com)

The Inter Parish Collaborative Team welcomes your comments and feedback. Please email your questions or comments to: stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com