The Good News of Columbia River Catholic
July 13, 2025
Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~
The past year has been very challenging for many parishioners, especially our staff. Partners in the Gospel is a real stretch for many of us for different reasons. It could be the kind of thing Satan uses to stoke people’s pride and grievances, and then use that to separate them from Christ and His Church. But I’m not seeing that at Columbia River Catholic. While I, the staff, and many volunteers have had to make many difficult adjustments over the past year, we have managed them with skill and grace. So have many of you. Even the most difficult change so far, Fr. Martin’s retirement and the new Mass schedule, has been handled by the vast majority of us with understanding and charity. For that, I am so grateful to Almighty God who is so loving and glorious, and you for cooperating with his grace. I’m even seeing some growth in our numbers in the past year, certainly in holiness by many of you.
I want to thank the many hundreds of you throughout Columbia River Catholic (Holy Redeemer, St. Thomas, and Star of the Sea) for making a pledge to this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA). We have hit all our goals, exceeding my own expectations and setting an example of faith for the whole Archdiocese. Here are some numbers that shed some light on where our three communities stand in relation to the other 160 parishes and missions in the Archdiocese. These numbers are meaningless in themselves, but when they represent the faith of the people behind them, they tell the tale of a very special faith filled community.
Holy Redeemer’s participation rate is 55% while the Archdiocesan average is 20%. This is #1 in the Archdiocese excluding parishes of under 200 families (Holy Redeemer has 1085 families).
Holy Redeemer is the fourth highest contributor in the Archdiocese. The three parishes that give more are all double Holy Redeemer’s size.
Holy Redeemer Parish is set to have a rebate of $125,449. This is 1.5 times larger than the next largest rebate in the Archdiocese. This rebate will enable Holy Redeemer to redo our north parking lot, installing a catch basin under it so that we can eliminate the two bioswales on the north side of the parish center. This in turn will enable us to significantly increase the size of the future parish center when the time comes for that project. It will also significantly improve the north parking lot, enabling us to install full-size parking spaces and potentially creating a drop-off lane there.
St. Thomas’ participation stands at 39% while the Archdiocesan average is 20%. Participants went up from 163 to 213 – a 30% increase in participation from last year!
St. Thomas is the #2 donor in the Archdiocese for parishes between 101-800 families (St. Thomas has 541 families). St. Thomas is set to receive a $35,000 rebate. That money will go toward subsidizing our Columbia River Catholic preschool and kindergarten.
Star of the Sea’s participation stands at 47% while the Archdiocesan average is 20%. Participants went up this year from 21 to 32 – a 52% increase in participation from last year!
Star of the Sea is the #3 donor in the Archdiocese, for communities under 100 families. Star of the Sea is set to receive a $10,000 rebate that will go toward a much overdue siding project on the church. A project that will cost us almost $100,000.
If you still haven’t made a pledge to the Annual Catholic Appeal, you still can by replying to my letter sent out this week to the holdouts or by contacting the office. Every penny of what you pledge at this point will come back to the parishes for the projects mentioned above.
I love you all.
May Almighty God Bless You,
Father Thomas Nathe
