290 parishes and 125 pastors

The past week has been chock full.  A number of things weigh on my mind but especially a pastoral planning initiative the archdiocese is presenting to parochial staffs and the people of our parishes.  You can read about the plan here. 

In a nutshell, the 290 parishes of the archdiocese will, within a couple years' time, be served by 125 Pastoral Service Teams:

A New Structure for Mission:  The Pastoral Service Team
The proposal is to create a new structure called a Pastoral Service Team (PST) to provide pastoral services to our parishes.  The Pastoral Service Team is a group of priests, deacons, pastoral associates, lay ecclesial ministers, parish pastoral and finance councils who provide pastoral services to multiple parishes, which partner with one another to exercise more fully the mission of Evangelization.  As opposed to a plan for merging parishes and closing church buildings, this plan adopts an approach that strengthens and enlivens our current parishes.  By creating these teams, improved pastoral services can be provided to parishes without altering the parishes themselves.  The members of each PST work together under the leadership of one pastor, serving and ministering to multiple parishes in a particular area.  The PSTs have two primary goals:

1)  meeting the specific pastoral and spiritual needs of Catholics in each parish that the PST serves in order to strengthen their communion in Christ, and

2) drawing these parishes into a tighter and more effective bond for the work of the New Evangelization and the realization of the Archdiocese’s pastoral plan.

This proposed new structure does not involve changing the parishes themselves.  Rather, it  focuses on the means by which pastoral services are provided in and to our parishes.

I fully understand the situation that has led to this plan and I see much of value in what it offers.  Still, anyone familiar with parish life and ministry can see that the years ahead are not going to be easy and that new and greater demands will be made on both the people of God and those who minister to them.

So, that's what's been on my mind and I admit to being somewhat preoccupied with all of this.  Perhaps you've noticed that it has taken a toll on my time and creativity and that posting here has been light.  I have some important parish assignments to complete over the next 10 days so please be patient with me and I hope I'll be back to regular posting after that.

And, if you would, please keep the people and pastoral ministers of the Archdiocese of Boston in your prayer!


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