In a letter dated April 29, 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 66, and commended the pastors and all who served on the Cluster Pastoral Planning Committee.

The six parishes of Cluster 66 are:

Holy Saviour Parish
Immaculate Conception Parish
Saint Francis De Sales Parish
Saint John Fisher Parish
Saint Joseph Parish
Saint Thomas The Apostle Parish

Cluster 66's plan centers on these objectives:

1) To reinvigorate Catholic faith in Cluster 66 and its parishes through programs aimed at children, teens and young adults. This will be accomplished by forming a Cluster Youth Council to identify the concerns and issues of this age group. This will also be accomplished by developing a program for young adults to encourage them to become more active in church affairs.

3) To develop and implement an evangelization program to reinvigorate Catholics (active and inactive) in the parishes in the Cluster. This will be accomplished by establishing a Cluster Evangelization Committee. This committee will develop a program to bring back inactive Catholics to the Church as active parishioners.

4) To encourage and educate parishioners to use their gifts for the betterment of their church in both liturgical and pastoral ministries. This will be accomplished by developing a network of volunteers who are willing to share their particular expertise in assisting our pastors in their liturgical and pastoral ministries. This will also be accomplished by compiling a database of current and prospective leaders within each parish.

4) To encourage and seek to increase the number of children in the Cluster attending parish schools. To find ways to reach and convince those Catholic children not presently parochial school students and their parents of the value of Catholic schools. This will be accomplished by establishing a marketing group and by establishing a scholarship annuity fund for tuition aid.

5) To provide continuing education opportunities for the adults of Cluster 66. This will be accomplished by forming an Adult Education Team to compile and publish a list of programs offered by each parish in the Cluster. There will also be a "Cluster Corner" column published in the parish bulletins. This column will include Mass schedules of each of the cluster parishes.

6) To provide a Christian service program for Cluster 66. This will be accomplished by the formation of a Cluster Service Team. The Team will implement service projects addressing areas of economic justice, homelessness and poverty.

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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