PARISH PLANNING
UPDATE
Last week, Monsignor
Martin, Father Durkin and all of the priests of the Diocese of Camden met with
the Director of the Office of Pastoral Planning, S. Marilyn Vollmer, to receive
Part I of the Merger Manual that deals with the Ministry of the PRIEST CONVENER and the CORE TEAM.
Each PRIEST CONVENER will work with a CORE
TEAM, a small number of members from each of the merging parishes, to prepare
all that is necessary to establish the new parish. Their primary function is
to:
1. prepare
the present parish communities to
become one parish
2. set up the administrative and pastoral
structures for the merged parish
3. provide
for worship , ministries, and other
services
necessary for the new parish to
function
The
CORE TEAM is not meant to be a representative body of the parish, as is the
Parish Pastoral Council. Rather the CORE TEAM assists the PRIEST CONVENER with
their expertise and leadership skills in building one parish community,
developing the administration, ensuring smooth transitions, and staffing the
parish.
The
CORE TEAM includes the PRIEST CONVENER who is designated by the Bishop and an
equal number of members appointed from each of the parishes that are merging.
Since our merger group includes three parishes, there will be 3 members from each
of the poarishes on the CORE TEAM.
There
is a nomination process for the potential CORE TEAM members that involves
nomination by the current pastors of the merging parishes and the PRIEST
CONVENER. The current pastor and PRIEST CONVENER will collaborate in this
process. The current pastors will nominate 6 people none of whom employed by the parish or the Diocese.
The diocese provided criteria for the nominees who will be chosen by the
PRIEST CONVENER. The nominees will use an assessment tool to become aware of
their own attitudes toward change and will be interviewed by the PRIEST
CONVENER before the selection is finalized. We will keep you informed as new information becomes available.