In November, we received a letter from the Archdiocese of Boston Office of Pastoral Planning regarding the pastoral plan for St. John the Evangelist. This letter affirmed their belief, based on the pastoral, financial, and demographic situation in our community and after consultation with both parishes, that the St. John the Evangelist Parish – St Paul Parish grouping is the proper collaborative, and announced the beginning of Phase One of the process, set to begin in July, 2013 with ten to fifteen collaboratives. We were asked to acknowledge our assent to our grouping and to respond regarding our collaborative’s readiness to enter Phase One.
After consultation with the Parish Pastoral Council, the Finance Council, the Parish Pastoral Planning Group, and the Parish Staff, Fr. Tom responded with a letter to the Office of Pastoral Planning that there was complete consensus on two points:
- the proposed collaborative of St. John the Evangelist and St. Paul is the appropriate one
- St. John is not prepared to enter into Phase One of the implementation process
On January 10, the Archdiocese announced the 12 Phase One collaboratives. The St. John the Evangelist – St. Paul collaborative will be included in a later phase of the implementation process, set to take place over the next five years. We will continue to keep you informed of all developments as they occur – please visit the Pastoral Plan section of our website for current updates and a history of the process. For more information from the Office of Pastoral Planning of the Archdiocese, please visit their website Disciples in Mission.
