Columbia River Catholic
September 29, 2024
Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~
As most of you know, the Archdiocese of Seattle, to which we belong, has embarked upon the greatest reorganization in our 147-year history. That reorganization is called Partners in the Gospel, or Partners. Last July parishes and missions throughout Western Washington were organized into regional clusters under a single pastor, called parish families. There are sixty of these in the Archdiocese of Seattle and our number is #46. Our Parish Family includes Holy Redeemer Parish, Vancouver, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Camas, and Our Lady Star of the Sea Mission, Stevenson. Again, many or most of you reading this already know this. What almost no one knows is that we are called Parish Family #46 or PF 46. That’s a challenging title to remember and certainly not one that engenders a sense of identity or community.
Identity and community are important for the Church because they are important to God. God calls each of us by name to be a member of His Mystical Body, the Church, and sets us on mission. Practically speaking, we need something to collectively call ourselves and PF 46 doesn’t cut it.
By the summer of 2027, all three of our communities in our parish family will be canonically suppressed and reconstituted as one canonical parish, with one name and three different campuses (Vancouver, Camas, Stevenson). What shall we call ourselves until then? While we do not have permission now to come up with a new name for our one future parish, we do have permission to call ourselves something other than Parish Family 46.
To that end, I have asked our staff and two of our pastoral councils for ideas and one jumped out – Columbia River Catholic. The Columbia River is something that all three communities share in common, and it sounds much more natural than Parish Family 46 or PF 46. You will be hearing Columbia River Catholic often in the coming few years until we get our permanent name change. Our staff are already making the change from a particular parish to a regional parish, from Holy Redeemer or St. Thomas to staff of Columbia River Catholic. I am asking you to start remembering this title and using it when referring to all three communities in our “family” of communities.
Shifting gears a bit. We are in phase one of Partners and will enter phase two shortly. Phase one was about starting our parish families. Phase two is essentially about ascertaining and communicating our shared identity and mission. There is a lot to this, layers of deliberation and consultation over the next year or two. Practically speaking, each pastoral council within Columbia River Catholic (CRC), as well as a regional pastoral council (yet to be formed), and the staff, discern together with the Archdiocese who we are, what we want to become, and our priorities [Catholic, Holy, and what naturally follows]. There is a massive, time-consuming process that we have to follow. If you love endless processing then this would excite you. Unfortunately for me, my time is already tapped out and I’m more of a “see the hill, take the hill” kind of guy, so I need lots of prayers. I hope we can still find time for the Gospel of Jesus Christ amidst all this processing. You’ll be kept abreast as things get rolled out. Please keep reading these pastor’s columns to stay informed.
In Christ, I Love You,
Fr. Thomas Nathe
