In a letter dated April 6, 1999, sent to Rev. Msgr. John C. Marine, Regional Vicar for Montgomery County, Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia, accepted the Cluster Pastoral Plan for Cluster 73, and commended the pastors and all who served on the Cluster Pastoral Planning Committee.

The eight parishes of Cluster 73 are:

Immaculate Conception Parish
Our Lady Help of Christians Parish
Queen of Peace Parish
Saint Albert the Great Parish
Saint David Parish
Saint Hilary of Poitiers Parish
Saint John of the Cross Parish
Saint Luke the Evangelist Parish

Cluster 73's plan centers on these objectives:

1) Promote evangelization throughout the Cluster. This will be accomplished by the establishment of an evangelization team in every parish. Training will be provided by the Archdiocese on a cluster level.

2) Promote Stewardship throughout the Cluster.
A committee will review school costs, population, etc., to see if future restructuring would be necessary for any of the cluster parish schools.

3) Increase knowledge and appreciation of our Faith through Education and Christian formation. This will be accomplished by the establishment of an education committee to share information in areas such as adult education, youth ministry, religious vocations and Respect Life, etc.

4) Improve the celebration of Sunday Worship. This will be accomplished by a Liturgical Committee in the Cluster. This Committee will coordinate training programs and workshops for liturgical ministers in conjunction with the Office of Worship in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

5) Effectively use the 13 priests in the Cluster. Currently there are 15 priests in Cluster 73. The number of priests will need to be reduced in the parishes of Immaculate Conception and Our Lady Help of Christians. Each of these parishes will have one less priest but this will not happen before June 2000. The Regional Vicar will convene the priests of the cluster to properly distribute pastoral care of Abington Memorial Hospital.