In a letter dated April 6, 1999, sent to Reverend Thomas J. Smith, Regional Vicar for Delaware County, Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia, accepted the Cluster Pastoral Plan for Cluster 62, and commended the pastors and all who served on the Cluster Pastoral Planning Committee.

The seven parishes of Cluster 62 are:

Saint Andrew Parish
Saint Bernadette Parish
Saint Charles Borromeo Parish
Saint Dorothy Parish
Holy Cross Parish
Saint Kevin Parish
Saint Francis of Assisi Parish

Cluster 62's plan centers on these objectives:

1) Evangelize inactive, marginal and disenchanted Catholics. This will be accomplished through parish "Landings" committees. "Landings" committees are meant to assist people with their return to the Church. This will also be accomplished with bible study groups and seminars on Catholic faith and morals.

2) Develop a ministry to youth, young adults and young married. This will be accomplished by establishing an ad hoc committee that will assist parishes with liturgy and social outreach committees as well as marriage, family life and spiritual growth programs.

3) Develop adult education and training programs that include lay ministry and family ministry. This will be accomplished by identifying existing programs for lay ministers and providing workshops where training does not currently exist. Adult education opportunities will be identified, developed and publicized.

4) Strengthen commitment to Catholic education. This will be accomplished by the creation of a Cluster marketing committee to promote parish schools. Opportunities will be identified for improvement of Parish Religious Education Programs (PREP) and a plan will be devised to provide religious education for children with special needs.

5) Promote vocations to the priesthood and the religious life; develop a deeper understanding of vocations within the Christian community. This will be accomplished with each parish utilizing the resources of Diocesan and religious vocations offices to promote a positive attitude of acceptance and commitment regarding religious vocations. Each parish will also include a prayer for vocations at Sunday liturgies.

6) Develop a social outreach in the Cluster to welcome and assimilate new populations into the community and to assist special needs groups. This will be accomplished with the establishment of a Social Justice and Human Relations Committee. This committee will identify various populations in the Cluster and will identify special needs of these populations.

7) Design a method of Cluster coordination that would: a) assist parishes in sharing resources, space and facilities; and b) develop a means for ongoing Cluster communication. This will be accomplished by the establishment of a Cluster Coordinating Committee. This committee will gather information about various programs and coordinate activities among parishes.

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Editor's Note: Media inquiries should be directed to Rev. Thomas J. Smith at 610-543-6759.

Contact
Donna Crilley
Communications Assistant
215-587-3747