St. Johns Would Share Pastor Under Plan [POLL]
The single pastor would lead a pastoral team among Swampscott, Nahant and Marblehead churches, a plan intended to improve services and cut costs.
The Archdiocese of Boston is readying a recommendation in response to a shortage of priests and funds.
The plan calls for multiple churches, in some cases, to be served by a single pastor who leads a pastoral team, says Archdiocese Spokesman Terry Donilon.
One such group would form among St. Thomas Aquinas in Nahant, St. Johns in Swampscott and Our Lady Star of the Sea in Marblehead. There would be 27 collaboratives among parishes in the North Region of the Boston Archdiocese.
Church officials say the plan does not call for closing churches or merging them.
Rather it calls for a team approach to improve pastoral service and meet the stark realities of the day.
Those realities are spelled out by the Boston Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning Commission in its reasons for the new structures.
"The present way in which pastoral services are structured in the Archdiocese of Boston is not healthy and it cannot be sustained much longer. Priests are being stretched too thinly; pastoral associates and religious educators are not being replaced in sufficient numbers; permanent deacons are unevenly deployed; and we face a growing number of parishes (40%) unable to pay their bills, even as the cost for services in our parishes continues to climb.
By improving pastoral services and reducing the costs for providing these services, every parish can better use its resources and talents for the sake of living and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ," the Archdiocese said.
Since early December the planning commission has consulted with priests of the Boston Archdiocese and parish priests.
"Eventually the APPC will prepare a final recommendation to Cardinal Seán for his decision," Donilon said. "This will take time and will require an extensive consultation that gathers the input of our priests, deacons, religious and laity."
He said no "decisions have been made or will be made until the consultation process is concluded and a recommendation is given to the Cardinal."
For more information, please visit www.2012Planning.org.
