 How Do We Discern Cluster Partners?
Discernment is based upon an understanding of the mission of the Church as
participation in the mission and activity of God. From the time of the early
Church, Christians have gathered to pray, to share wisdom, to reflect and to
make choices. Discernment demands prayer, insight, listening and surrender to
God's will. (VPL-Phase I Self-study materials)
This phase of Vibrant Parish Life is about discerning cluster partners and
then working together in clusters of parishes to plan for the future staffing
and configuring of our parishes for the next 5-10 years. But this raises some
questions. How do we choose cluster partners? Based on what criteria?
What do we
mean by discernment?
First of all, this is a process of discernment. Discernment is the
disciplined and honest attempt to discover what God is doing in our lives and
what God's will is for us in these times. We need to center our deliberations in
a process of prayer, making ourselves open to what God is asking of us in this
time. Our reflection needs to address our capacity to better serve the pastoral
needs of our area and wider community through forming a long term relationship
with other parishes as the Body of Christ.
What basic steps will be taken?
A process of consultation and prayerful discernment will be used based on an
8-step process given to parish leaders.
STEP 1: Form an ad-hoc Parish Subcommittee to Discern
Proposals for Cluster Partners.
STEP 2: Review overall work of the ad-hoc Parish
Subcommittee: process of prayer and discernment; purpose of a cluster of
parishes, criteria to consider, steps, timeline.
STEP 3: Review
background information about other parishes (map of district parishes,
demographic and sacramental trends, parish self-studies from Phase 1).
STEP 4: Propose possible cluster partners and related
configurations and rationale.
STEP 5: Discern and rank preference for 2-3 configurations
of cluster partners to recommend with rationales based on the criteria provided.
Consult with parish leaders and groups.
STEP 6: Fill out and
submit "Proposal of Cluster Partners Form" by October 1.
STEP 7: Receive first draft overall plan of cluster
configurations from diocesan team and provide feedback to diocese.
STEP 8: Finalize configuration of cluster partners with
approval by Bishop.
To assist parishes, the Vibrant Parish Life - Phase II Committee has produced
a list of possible criteria that are intended as points of consideration and not
absolute standards, based on the experiences of other dioceses. Some of these
criteria are more objective, or quantifiable; others are more subjective, or
relational. Different criteria will be more or less relevant in different areas.
Objective Criteria:
Size of a parish cluster in households:
- Typically 2-6 parishes, minimum of about 2000
households.
Manageable geography for ministers and people:
- Drive times in minutes between parishes - Urban:
10-15 Suburban: 10-20 Rural: 20-30.
- Availability of public transportation options where
appropriate.
Sacramental needs (especially funerals, weddings, Baptisms):
- One example: Minimum of (# Baptisms) + (# Funerals) + (
# Weddings) = 100 or more for a cluster.
Workload:
- Ideally, no priest will be expected to regularly say
more than three Masses of Sunday obligation, including Saturday Vigil Masses,
each weekend (based on Code of Canon Law). • No
pastor/administrator/parish life coordinator will typically be assigned to more
than 2 parishes.
Current Guidelines for the assignment of priests in our diocese that affect
clustering:
- 2800 households to qualify for an associate
pastor.
- 500 households to qualify for a full-time pastor.
Subjective Criteria:
Shared Mission/ Workable Fit
- Do the cluster parishes share a sense of common mission
and resonance that can embrace differences, share complimentary gifts and
effectively address unique needs (language/ethnicity needs, culture).
Geography:
- Do the parishes share a common geographic area as
defined by a city, neighborhood, roadway corridor, school district, or other
contiguous area? (including crossing district/other boundaries)
Neighborhood
Needs:
- Does the cluster enhance the capacity of parishes to
serve wider community needs in the surrounding neighborhoods? What is the wider
community asking of parishes in working together to better serve the common
good?
Existing Relationship:
- Do the parishes have a relationship of continuing
collaboration to build upon? (including Church in the City partnerships, past or
present shared ministries...)
Common History:
- Is there a `mother - daughter' parish relationship or a
past/continuing relationship with a particular religious order?
Capacity for Cluster Work
- Can the parishes in the proposed cluster effectively do
what a cluster does for the long term - the next 5-10 years? (see list of
possible areas for planning and pastoral care by a cluster)
Going Deeper:
- Given the list of objective and subjective criteria a
parish might use in discerning cluster partners, which criteria would be most
important for our parish to consider and why?
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