Category Archives: Archdiocese of Boston

Recently, St. John the Evangelist and St. Paul parishes held a joint meeting.  Attending the meeting were Father Powers, Father Fitzgerald and several of their Parish Council members. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the formation of an inter-parish, bridge-building team.  In observance with the Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese of Boston, the team will have as its long term objective, the preparation for the Integration of St. John and St. Paul into a new Pastoral Collaborative. As its short term objectives the inter parish team will work:

1. to raise awareness about the St. John/St. Paul collaborative
2. to build trust and confidence between our two parish communities
3. to effectively communicate our progress to all our parishioners
4. to encourage both church’s parishioners to join together at social and religious events

If you would like more information about the progress of Phase One Collaboratives, which includes 28 parishes being combined into 12 collaboratives, go to Disciples in Mission, the website of the Office of Pastoral Planning of the Archdiocese of Boston.

As you may remember, this past Spring our Parish was asked to provide feedback to the Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning Commission (APPC) on the proposal to align St. John’s with St. Paul’s Parish in one of over 100 pastoral collaborative units the Archdiocese is proposing to create. More background information about the proposal, as well as our Parish’s Report to the  Archdiocese on the proposal, can be found on St. John’s website under the “Proposed Pastoral Collaborative” link on the home page.  All parishes in the Archdiocese were asked to provide such reports as feedback, and the APPC and others in the Archdiocese have spent the Summer reviewing these and assessing the proposals in light of this feedback. Continue reading →

The St. John the Evangelist Parish Report to the Archdiocese on the Pastoral Planning Commission’s Proposal was submitted to the Archdiocese on May 1, 2012.  A draft of this report was reviewed by the Parish’s Pastoral Council, Finance Council, Staff Council and Planning Group at a meeting held for that purpose, and the report was modified based on feedback received at that meeting. Much of the input reflected in this report was received at consultation meetings held following each of the liturgies on the weekend of March 24-25, with an additional meeting held Monday, March 26 to accommodate those who were unable to be present at one of the weekend sessions. An online survey option was also provided for those unable to attend a meeting, and both email and paper responses were solicited as well. Approximately 180-200 members of the parish community participated in the consultations (meetings and online responses), which provided a much needed opportunity for parishioners to share their thoughts, concerns, and hopes and in some instances their frustrations.

The report’s conclusion appears below;  the entire report is available under the Links and Downloads menu on the Proposed Pastoral Collaborative page.

Conclusion

Collaboration will bring many opportunities to revitalize and strengthen the parishes of the Archdiocese.  It will be important to continue to stress the positive aspects of the new model as parishes become bogged down in the difficult decisions that are inevitable.  In some instances, the Archdiocese might consider providing professional facilitators to assist parishes in sorting through difficult issues.

Careful planning for the transition will be critical to the successful implementation of the new structure.  At this point it is difficult to see how we will get from our current structure to the proposed collaborative model. Development of any plan needs to be done in stages, starting from the grass roots level in the parish.  Parishioners see the need for, and want to be engaged in, strategic planning, particularly with regard to the Pastoral Service Team and mechanisms in place to ensure that parishes share equally in decision-making.  This information will help people to understand and plan for the transition ahead.

Mutual respect and trust will be critical to the success of any collaboration. While these will develop organically, some recommendations might be offered on how to promote these qualities.  We will learn a great deal as we work through the process, and there are opportunities to learn from each other.

Communication as we begin this transition will be important, as will documentation of the process at the Archdiocesan and local parish level.

Thank you again to those of you who were able to attend the town meetings scheduled to respond to the proposed draft of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan on the last weekend in March.  Summary reports of each session have been prepared and are included in this week’s bulletin (and are available on the Proposed Pastoral Collaborative page on the parish website). Please note that these summaries are condensed versions of the many good questions and comments that were made. The final report to the Archdiocese will include these summaries in addition to expanded remarks and comments that were made on the Pastoral Planning Group website and/or to members of the PPG. While we have high hopes that our input will make a difference, we know this transition is an enormous task with many voices registering their concerns. This very useful input from the parish will help us lay a foundation that will need further development. The project is far from complete, but we have made a very good start, and there is an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and guide as we proceed with this important work. Your input is critical to our parish’s response, and every contribution is valuable. It is not too late to register further responses. Please visit the St. John’s website or contact any member of the PPG.

Current members of the PPG: Carolyn Anderson, John Calcio, Rose Mary Donahue, Svea Fraser, Gerald J. Kehoe (Chair), Dan Kenslea, Mike Nilles, Sister Evelyn Ronan and Fr. Tom Powers.

Please take a few moments to complete this brief online survey to provide much-needed input regarding the proposed Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan for our parishes:  Pastoral Planning Survey.  The Archdiocesan proposal, which focuses on “Strengthening our Parishes as Primary Communities of Faith,” creates a new structure called a Pastoral Service Team (PST) comprised of both laity and clergy who will provide pastoral services to multiple parishes, which partner with one another to exercise the mission of evangelization.  This plan hopes to provide pastoral services to parishes without altering the parishes themselves. It is hoped that PST’s will enable each parish to determine how best to use their resources through a culture of partnering and collaboration. Each grouping will be known as a Pastoral Collaborative.  We have been paired with St. Paul’s Parish, based on four general principles and specific criteria (please click here for more information.)

A summary of your input will be given to the Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning Commission (APPC) by May 1, 2012. After all the parishes in the archdiocese have responded, the APPC will prepare a final recommendation for the Cardinal.

For more detailed information on the proposed Pastoral Collaborative and Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning, please visit our parish website as well as the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Planning website.

The Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning Commission (APPC) has begun a series of 20 vicariate consultations with parish pastoral and finance council members to discuss proposals to strengthen parishes for the mission of evangelization in the Archdiocese. We ask parishioners to join the Commission’s work by prayer and by visiting the planning website for important information on the proposal and the Commission’s work to date at www.planning2012.com.  The APPC is asking pastors and their councils to conduct Town Hall meetings or other sessions over the next several weeks to discuss pastoral planning efforts in the Archdiocese. Parishioners who wish to take a web survey on pastoral planning can find it at the www.planning2012.com website.