Category Archives: SJSP Collaborative

The 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  

The 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  

The 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 6.) Please discuss the process which will be used for selecting a Pastor for our Collaborative, and the role of the local Parish communities in that process.

Since we have now been selected as a Phase III Collaborative, Father Rafferty and Father Powers will send their letters of resignation in October 2014 to Cardinal Sean, to become effective in June 2015. St. John’s and St. Paul’s will be listed as “open” in the Officials section of The Pilot and any priest who wants to apply for the position of Pastor may do so. The Regional Bishop, the Vicar Forane, the Director of Clergy Personnel, and possibly a member of the Clergy Personnel Board, will come to a joint meeting of our Council and Staff members, to get their input regarding Pastor selection. The Clergy Personnel Board will then discuss the candidates and develop a list of names for Cardinal Sean’s consideration. Cardinal Sean will make his appointment, probably by mid-January of 2015.

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  

The St. John and St. Paul parishes will, in the near future, be joined in a Collaborative under a plan developed by the Archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Planning. The St. John and St. Paul Parish Councils, along with Father Powers and Father Rafferty, have requested that our Collaborative be included in the upcoming Phase III of the Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese of Boston. The Archdiocese is scheduled to announce the parishes that will be included in Phase III before the fall of 2014, and the Collaboratives for those parishes will be formally launched in mid-2015.

Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION5) Once the St. John and St. Paul Collaborative is underway, how will the Collaborative be managed?

The Office of Pastoral Planning for the Archdiocese of Boston has designed the following leadership model to implement the Pastoral Plan:

More Frequently Asked Questions can be found on the St. John’s web site:  ST. JOHN-ST. PAUL COLLABORATIVE NEWS  In addition, the Archdiocese regularly updates a detailed website: www.disciplesinmission.com.

We welcome your comments and feedback.  Please email your questions or comments about Parish Collaboratives to – stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com.

The St. John and St. Paul parishes will, in the near future, be joined in a Collaborative under a plan developed by the Archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Planning. The St. John and St. Paul Parish Councils, along with Father Powers and Father Rafferty, have requested that our Collaborative be included in the upcoming Phase III of the Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese of Boston. The Archdiocese is scheduled to announce the parishes that will be included in Phase III before the fall of 2014, and the Collaboratives for those parishes will be formally launched in mid-2015.

Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION 4:  Both St. John’s and St. Paul’s have schools. How will our Parish schools be impacted by the Collaborative? 

Parish schools will remain Parish schools. St. John’s School will remain St. John’s School and St. Paul’s School will remain St. Paul’s School. The principals of both schools will be members of our Collaborative’s Leadership Team*. Both School Boards will take part in training programs and members of both school communities will be represented in our Local Pastoral Plan.

*The Collaborative’s Leadership Team will be comprised of the following individuals: the Pastor, Parochial Vicar(s), Deacon(s), Finance & Operations Manager, Pastoral Associate, Director of Ministries, and School Principals.

More Frequently Asked Questions can be found on the St. John’s web site:  ST. JOHN-ST. PAUL COLLABORATIVE NEWS  In addition, the Archdiocese regularly updates a detailed website: www.disciplesinmission.com.

We welcome your comments and feedback.  Please email your questions or comments about Parish Collaboratives to – stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com.

The St. John and St. Paul parishes will, in the near future, be joined in a Collaborative under a plan developed by the Archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Planning. The St. John and St. Paul Parish Councils, along with Father Powers and Father Rafferty, have requested that our Collaborative be included in the upcoming Phase III of the Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese of Boston. The Archdiocese is scheduled to announce the parishes that will be included in Phase III before the fall of 2014, and the Collaboratives for those parishes will be formally launched in mid-2015.

Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

Question 3:  If St. John’s and St. Paul’s are forming a Collaborative, does this mean that one of the churches in Wellesley will be closing?

No! Both St. John’s and St. Paul’s will remain open, which is a key benefit of the new Pastoral Collaborative program. It is helpful to think of our two-parish Collaborative as an “affiliation of parishes” – not a new parish. St. John’s and St. Paul’s will each maintain its own identity – each with its own name, buildings,
canonical rights, bank accounts, books, financial assets, and financial obligations.

More Frequently Asked Questions can be found on the St. John’s web site:  ST. JOHN-ST. PAUL COLLABORATIVE NEWS  In addition, the Archdiocese regularly updates a detailed website: www.disciplesinmission.com.

We welcome your comments and feedback.  Please email your questions or comments about Parish Collaboratives to – stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com.

The St. John and St. Paul parishes will, in the near future, be joined in a Collaborative under a plan developed by the Archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Planning. The St. John and St. Paul Parish Councils, along with Father Powers and Father Rafferty, have requested that our Collaborative be included in the upcoming Phase III of the Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese of Boston. The Archdiocese is scheduled to announce the parishes that will be included in Phase III before the fall of 2014, and the Collaboratives for those parishes will be formally launched in mid-2015.

Following is a recently asked question and answer about the new Collaborative:

QUESTION 2: What can the St. John and St. Paul communities do now to prepare for the formal launch of the Collaborative? 

Preparations are already underway. Over a year ago, an Inter-Parish Committee comprised of parishioners from St. John and St. Paul was formed. This group has been meeting monthly to plan for the upcoming Collaborative, and is in communication with the Office of Pastoral Planning in the Archdiocese. Information regarding the Collaborative gets printed in both parishes’ weekly bulletins, and is always available on both websites under a Collaborative News tab. Members of the St. John’s and the St. Paul’s Parish Councils have attended and actively participated in one another’s Parish Council meetings. Additionally, many St. John’s and St. Paul’s parishioners have increasingly enjoyed the array of social, educational, and religious events at one another’s churches. Going forward, we will continue to provide up-to-date information on the
Collaborative in the bulletins and on the web sites as it becomes available. Additionally, we will host open meetings to provide timely, accurate information when our Collaborative is formally announced.

More Frequently Asked Questions can be found on the St. John’s web site – click ST. JOHN-ST. PAUL COLLABORATIVE NEWS under “Quick Links.”  In addition, the Archdiocese regularly updates a detailed website: www.disciplesinmission.com.

We welcome your comments and feedback.  Please email your questions or comments about Parish Collaboratives to – stjohn.stpaul@gmail.com.