“And their eyes were opened and they recognized him…”
— Luke 24:31
Cardinal Sean O’Malley has called us to develop a “culture of planning” in the Archdiocese of Boston, so that we can become more effective evangelizers of God’s Good News. Pastoral Planning is the process we use to make preparations to carry out the work of sharing the Good News. It is a critical tool in helping us understand how best to work together and manage the resources available, to meet the needs of the people of God.
The Archdiocesan pastoral plan is called “Disciples in Mission”. The plan, announced by Cardinal Seán in November of 2012, was developed from a long process of consultation and deliberation, involving many thousands of people throughout the Archdiocese. Disciples in Mission calls every parish of the Archdiocese of Boston to become a strong, stable, intentional, and effective center of the New Evangelization. Each Collaborative in the Archdiocese creates its own local pastoral plan that will tie into the Archdiocesan plan. Learn more about Disciples in Mission HERE.
On Pentecost Sunday 2021, Fr. Rock commissioned the Pastoral Planning team for the Reading Catholic Collaborative. The mission of the team was to write the 3-year Pastoral Plan for the Collaborative. The Reading Catholic Pastoral Planning Team is: Fr. Steve Rock, Pastor, Janet Davidson-Dee, Plan Writing Coordinator, Parishioners: Christine Ambrose, Tom Cappuccio, Rosemarie Delacy, Mike DiClemente, Jane Fiore, Stephen Goldner, Bill Lucey, Nancy MacAllister, Dan Oliphant, Tom O'Rourke, Lisa Prato, Staff members: Paula Colpitts, Deacon Bill Reidy, Gerry Sullivan.
The team spent over one year in prayerful discernment and discussion to envision what our Reading Catholic Collaborative could be. We considered your feedback from last year’s Parish Survey, and how to build back from the decline in attendance and parish life participation following the pandemic.
We called on the Holy Spirit to guide our efforts, and we identified these four goal areas for our first three-year plan:
Each Goal has a specific plan, with milestones, timelines to monitor progress, and a method for evaluating our success in achieving each of these goals. View the plan and the working documents:
PASTORAL PLAN
GOAL WORKSHEETS
Under the sponsorship of the Archdiocese of Boston, each Collaborative has the opportunity to participate in a professionally-developed survey. The survey, designed by the Catholic Leadership Institute, is called "The Disciple-Maker Index". The purpose of the survey is to:
Allow parishioners to reflect upon their spiritual growth and discipleship;
Identify the ways in which the parish effectively supports that growth and look at opportunities to support that growth more in the future;
Provide valuable input to help pastors and parish leaders make decisions and plan effectively;
Help pastors and parish leaders have a sense of where to focus their evangelization efforts.
From September 25th through October 11, 2021, parishioners had the opportunity to take the survey at weekend Masses or online through the survey link provided via email and available on the Reading Catholic website. The survey drew 575 parishioner responses.
PASTORAL PLAN SURVEY
"Shared discernment and planning, rooted in prayer, marks the beginning of a fruitful effort at evangelization."
— Living as Missionary Disciples, USCCB
The Planning Team can be reached at: PastoralPlanning@readingcatholic.org