Revised Recommendation -January 28, 2008

Central Deanery on Revised Recommendations to the Diocesan Planning Commission sent in on January 28

GATHERING GOD’S GIFTS
PARISH PLANNING UPDATE
(January 2008)

“We the Catholic Church of South Jersey
 envision growing ever more
 into a dynamic community of faith, hope and love
 wherein we reveal the mind and heart of Jesus
through our actions and worship.”
--Vision for the Future of Our Church

In 2005 and 2006, men and women from every parish in every part of the diocese met face to face with Bishop Joseph Galante at parish “Speak Up” sessions to share with him their concerns and hopes for the Church in South Jersey.  At these meetings, the people of the diocese identified key priorities that needed to be addressed by our Church:  lifelong faith formation, compassionate outreach, vocations, lay ministry, youth and young adults and liturgy.

Wisely our people identified the priorities that when addressed with renewed  understanding and active commitment can give new vibrancy  and energy to revitalize parish life.
 
In order to advance these key priorities and to address the challenges of demographic change, population shifts, Catholics drifting away from their faith, and a declining number of diocesan priests available for ministry, all parishes have been engaged in a process of planning to develop recommendations that will strengthen and revitalize parish life in all areas of the diocese. 

Last year representatives from our parish and other parishes in our deanery developed preliminary recommendations concerning how parishes might best be configured within our deanery.  These preliminary recommendations were evaluated by the Diocesan Planning Commission last summer.  Criteria used in the assessment included the following: distance to and accessability of Sunday Mass, adequacy of worship space; the pastor’s workload, consistency with the number of priests that will  be available for ministry; provision for upgrading ministry outreach through hiring professional staff in key ministerial positions;  demonstration of adequate parish income to support the proposed configuration; and whether the advantages of the proposed reconfigurations  outweighed the disadvantages. Last fall, Bishop Galante and members of the Diocesan Planning Commission met with representatives of our deanery to review the assessment of our plan, to pose questions and to obtain additional information.   At this meeting, the Diocesan Planning Commission indicated that our preliminary planning recommendation was not affirmed.

In order to address the Diocesan Planning Commission assessment of our preliminary proposal, our pastor and three planners from our parish gathered in deanery meetings.  Their goal was to address the assessment issues and develop revised recommendations for the entire deanery.  This was difficult and challenging as change is never easy even when it is necessary. 

The preliminary recommendations have now been revised 1) to address responsibility for the future common good of the Church 2) to strengthen the ability of parish communities to have the necessary human resources available to grow in vitality, 3) to build on a more realistic financial base in order to support the elements of dynamic parishes.  We now have forwarded our revised recommendations to Diocesan Planning Commission.      

These are recommendations developed by our  deanery planners.  Our recommendations are not final decisions. They are recommendations being forwarded for study, for potential endorsement or for further modification by the Diocesan Planning Commission.

 

 REVISED RECOMMENDATION

 

Merger Model:
We have recommended that our parish be merged with Assumption, Atco and St. Anthony, Waterford and have two  priests.

Blessed John XXIII asked to add a footnote to the agreed upon plan that the building fund it has collected through the years not be used for any other purpose other than to someday construct a church somewhere in Winslow Township to address its growing needs.