Boston Pastoral Planning

Pastoral planning is an ongoing prayerful and participative process by which the Church reflects on its life and work as the Body of Christ in the world today. The Office of Pastoral Planning initiates and coordinates a planning process under the direction of the Archbishop of Boston.

On December 5, Cardinal Seán O’Malley and the Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning Commission (APPC) met with priests of the Archdiocese of Boston and with those serving in archdiocesan parishes to begin the consultation process regarding the next phase of Pastoral Planning in the archdiocese.

A proposal describing a new structure called the Pastoral Service Team (PST) can be viewed here. Proposed groupings for PST’s for local parishes in the West Region are:

• St. Julia, Weston/Lincoln and Good Shepherd, Wayland/Natick
• Holy Family, Concord and St. Irene, Carlisle
• St. Michael, Bedford and St. Malachy, Burlington and St. Margaret, Burlington
• St. Brigid, Lexington and Sacred Heart, Lexington
• St. Mary, Waltham and Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted, Waltham
• St. Charles, Waltham and Sacred Heart, Waltham and St. Jude, Waltham/Watertown
• Corpus Christi-St. Bernard, Newton and Mary Immaculate of Lourdes, Newton/Needham
• St. John, Wellesley/Newton and St. Paul, Wellesley

St. Julia Parish held a parishwide meeting on Sunday evening, April 22, following the 5 PM Mass, for parishioners to engage in discussion and response concerning this proposal. See here for background information for this meeting.

More information can be found on the Archdiocesan website www.planning2012.com.