September 24th, 2023

Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~

On July 1, 2024, the following parishes will henceforth share the same pastor: Holy Redeemer, Vancouver; St. Thomas, Camas; Star of the Sea, Stevenson. Then at some point between 2024 and 2027, they will merge into one parish, name change and all.

Throughout the western world the Church has unfortunately been in decline for decades. To deal with this, many dioceses have had to restructure and the Church in Western Washington is no exception.

Beginning last year, the Archdiocese of Seattle (the Church in Western Washington) began to process the greatest reorganization of parishes and missions in our history through a process the Archdiocese calls Partners in the Gospel. Over the past year, there has been nearly endless communication from the Archdiocese, our website and bulletin, and three previous pastor’s columns, so I hope this isn’t the first time you’ve heard about Partners.

Over the past 60 years the trend line for religious practice in this country has been going down. People attending religious services or even identifying with a religion has fallen dramatically during that time. In 2019, the last year we have statistics for this kind of thing, 1500 Protestant churches closed – and that was before the pandemic! In the early 1960’s at least 67% of Catholics attended Mass on any given Sunday. That number is less than 10% today. We all have Catholic family members who no longer attend Mass, in most families the majority of Catholics don’t attend Mass. Every category of religious practice has seen steep decline, Mass attendance, baptisms, confessions, confirmations, marriages in the Church, ordinations to the priesthood, etc., have seen huge declines. Here’s a shocker: 67% of parishes and missions in Western Washington aren’t meeting their budget through ordinary income. Yet the Church in Western Washington is still structured and largely functioning as if its’ still the early 1960’s; with roughly the same number of parishes and missions today as then, with less than half as many incardinated, assigned parish priests. For over 50 years, the status quo has been failing the Church in Washington and it must change and it will begin to change in the summer of 2024.

Instead of the present state of things, imagine parishes growing in holiness and eventually in numbers. Imagine Mass attendance increasing in our parishes, the number of volunteers in our parishes increasing, the number of vocations from our parishes increasing, the number of marriages in the Church increasing, the number of children in our faith formation programs increasing, imagine parishes being able to keep up with their maintenance needs, imagine parishes being able to pay their bills, imagine priests not living alone and going it alone but serving with another priest no matter where they serve. To have any chance of meeting these shared desires, we need to change the status quo and the Archbishop and his priests are committed to trying. The Archbishop has come up with a plan, a plan that involves sacrifice for sure, but a plan that journey’s with us along the way to a more manageable and hopefully fruitful future. So here’s the plan in a nutshell.

Currently there are 163 parishes and missions in the Archdiocese of Seattle (the Catholic Church in Western Washington). As of July 1, 2024, those 163 parishes and missions will be grouped together under 61 regional pastors into clusters of communities called “families.” Then between 2024 and 2027 two really big things will happen: those 163 parishes and missions will be consolidated into 61 parishes, new names and all; and Mass sites in the 61 new parishes will be consolidated from the current 163 to far fewer sites depending upon multiple factors such as seating capacity, drive times, and available priests. Throughout this whole process the communities within these families will discern together, with the aid of a delegate from the Archdiocese, the most effective means of being one parish. I’m excited about all this and anxious too, here’s some of why I’m excited.

One of the features of these new parish families that I’m excited about is serving with another priest. At this time, almost all parish priests serve alone in a parish or parishes, and that is not healthy for priests or parishes. As of July 1, 2024, all parish families will have at least two priests! That’s music to my ears.

Related to this, is finding a priest to cover for priests when they are sick or away. Under the current circumstances, it can be very hard to find a priest that can cover for another when they know they will be gone, and almost impossible when they are sick. Once implemented, this new configuration will make finding a priest to cover Masses much more sane.

Another feature of these new parish families I’m excited about is consolidating Masses over the coming years. The Sunday Mass going experience is much better for everyone when a church is more full than empty, with enough lay volunteers to make Masses function well.

One big aspect of this that has been hard for me is doubt about my future. I don’t know if I will remain pastor of Holy Redeemer in this new parish family going forward. I have asked Archbishop Etienne to keep me here as the pastor, or place me somewhere else as a parochial vicar (assistant to a pastor), but I won’t know until January or later if I’m staying or going. I have been praying and doing penance, if it be God’s will, to stay on here as pastor. If you want the same and are willing, then perhaps you would be willing to pray and do penance for this outcome too. Please note: do not write the Archbishop; that would be counter-productive.

Listening sessions. We will be having listening sessions that will last about 90 minutes each. If you want more information or to be heard from, and we want to hear from you, then come to one of these sessions. You can sign up for a listening session by going to our website’s homepage and click on the Partners button and then click the Listening Session button. There are ten to choose from.

On our website, you can see a draft of all 61 parish families, ours is number #46; a video from the Archbishop; frequently asked questions; and my pastor’s columns. You can go to the Archdiocesan website’s homepage and check out their Partners in the Gospel information which is at www.archseattle.org/partners, but my pastor’s column and our listening sessions are not on there. Our webpage will be the best place to find current information on Partners going forward. Over the next three years there will be regular communication and dialogue every step of the way between the Archdiocese, your pastor, and you about Partners in the Gospel. Please keep all of this in prayer.

May Almighty God Bless You,