Columbia River Catholic: Parish Family 46 | Partners in the Gospel Phase 1 Report

Sep 4

September 6, 2026

Partners in the Gospel

Through Partners in the Gospel, we have begun a strategic planning process to re-envision parish life in Western Washington. As we respond to real and changing conditions in our Archdiocese, especially the continued and worsening shortage of priests who can serve as pastors, our Archbishop has asked us to examine how our Parish Family of three communities can most effectively combine into a single parish.

This process will involve a three-step movement: beginning with (1) a consideration of the people, ministries, gifts, opportunities, and challenges that describe who we are today, then (2) imagining who we want to become within the mission of the Church, before (3) determining the resources and initiatives needed to get there. A final step will focus on what our new parish should be called. Each step will necessarily include opportunities to solicit feedback from the Parish Family, via surveys or listening sessions. This will ensure the process is collaborative and benefits from the creativity and commitment of parishioners from across our Parish Family.

The Wider Community

Parish Family 46, Columbia River Catholic, sits within a fast-growing corridor of SW Washington State, encompassing the existing parish boundaries of Holy Redeemer, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Our Lady Star of the Sea (see the map on the next page). The region has expanded rapidly over the past generation, growing from roughly 94,000 residents in 2000 to just over 154,000 today, and is on pace to approach 165,000 by the early 2030s. Growth has slowed markedly from the near-30-percent surge of the 2000s to a steadier, single-digit pace looking ahead.

The population remains predominantly White (a little under 80 percent), with a growing Hispanic/Latino community (approaching 8 percent) and smaller but expanding Asian and multiracial populations. English is spoken at home by the large majority of residents, with Spanish a distant yet meaningful second language.

Religiously, the region is diverse and largely unaffiliated on paper: only about six percent of residents identify as Catholic, and more than three-quarters report no known religious affiliation. Notably, the area's age profile shows both a large cohort of young children and a substantial population nearing or in retirement. Households are largely family-centered, with married couples heading roughly four in five family households, and the community is comfortably middle- to upper-middle income, with median family earnings around $107,000. Homeownership is the norm, at roughly seven in ten occupied units.

These statistics, which paint such an optimistic economic picture for the majority in our area, nevertheless obscure a growing number of area residents who are experiencing food and housing insecurity. The number of requests for assistance from St. Vincent de Paul, for example, remains at a high level.

Who Are We?

Like most parishes, our Parish Family reveals an interesting paradox of very engaged parishioners alongside relatively disengaged parishioners. Brief summaries like this one acknowledge the rich diversity of experiences within our current Parish Family.

Based on feedback from parishioners, we are Roman Catholics praying and serving together in three highly-compatible communities along the Columbia River, forming the southeast border of the Archdiocese of Seattle. With approximately 1,500 registered households (and over 2,800 total affiliated households), we tend to be engaged members of our respective congregations: large (Holy Redeemer Parish), medium (St. Thomas Aquinas Parish), and small (Our Lady Star of the Sea Mission). We value reverent liturgies and a rich sacramental and devotional life. We are blessed with active volunteers, who give diverse expressions through a wide range of ministries at the two suburban parishes and an impressive self-reliance at the smaller rural community at the eastern edge of our Parish Family. We have been generous stewards; all three communities are in the black, carry no debt, meet Annual Catholic Appeal goals, have savings, and are poised to invest in new infrastructure to support continued growth.

Our facility space at any one site is insufficient for our current scope of faith formation, events, and staff. Use of neighboring residential properties has been a stopgap measure at Holy Redeemer but is inadequate to the present let alone future need. Active planning for the eventual expansion of our preschool and kindergarten into a parochial school will also require additional facilities. But we recognize that this is a good problem to have. This hope for the future is also related to the commitments made by several young people of our parish family to embrace religious vocations. We are blessed by the nine men and women in religious life and another six in formation from our Parish Family.

Holy Redeemer, a relatively new parish with a much larger church (built in 2007) has seen tremendous growth, and its dynamism is the engine driving our Parish Family forward, along with related challenges and opportunities.

St. Thomas Aquinas, established over 140 years ago, recently celebrated 75 years at its third and present location in Camas. This history of adaptability has become a hopeful example for our present challenge to create flexible new options for our future consolidated parish.

Our Lady Star of the Sea Mission began in 1915, with the current church being built in 1995 on its second site. As a relatively remote mission, its parishioners have always been self-reliant and remarkably hospitable. Generally speaking, they welcome the support and leadership of belonging to the larger Parish Family.

‍In order to sketch a more complete summary of the people, gifts, ministries, opportunities, and challenges present

in our Parish Family today, the following two summary sections are provided:

(1) Feedback from parishioner listening sessions

(2) Summary of baseline metrics

A Synthesis of Feedback from Listening Sessions

From hundreds of responses gathered at listening sessions at Holy Redeemer, Our Lady Star of the Sea, and St. Thomas Aquinas, parishioners describe communities built on relationship. Community, belonging, and hospitality were the most frequently cited strengths across every question and every parish, ahead even of prayer and sacramental life. As one St. Thomas Aquinas parishioner explained, "The intimate size of the parish creates a close-knit environment where parishioners feel known and valued." That same sense of being known runs through all three campuses, from Holy Redeemer's broad menu of ministries to Our Lady Star of the Sea's close-knit fellowship.

Sacramental and devotional life is the second consistent thread. Respondents across all three parishes point to Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, confession, and personal prayer as the primary ways they draw closer to God. "Adoration has been the single most important contribution to growing in faith," one Our Lady Star of the Sea respondent wrote, while a St. Thomas Aquinas parishioner noted that "reverent celebration of the Mass has strengthened parishioners' relationship with God." Reverence, not novelty, is what people return to.

Volunteer-led ministry is a third pillar. Parishioners take visible pride in being served by their own members rather than paid staff, and describe faith formation, small groups, Bible studies, and service projects (e.g., funeral hospitality, Thanksgiving meals, youth programs) as central to how discipleship is lived out day to day. "Not true in other parishes," one Holy Redeemer respondent noted. "They typically hire people to lead the activities. Here the volunteers lead the ministries." These numerous activities round out a picture of discipleship as something lived, not merely attended.

All three campuses expressed gratitude for accessible clergy alongside uncertainty about how priestly time will be shared across three campuses. One homebound Holy Redeemer senior wrote appreciatively of "the Eucharistic ministry to the homebound," while asking for more support, such as rides to appointments, and other respondents noted an awareness of a growing number of neighbors who need more assistance.

As the Partners in the Gospel consolidation moves forward, parishioners are broadly supportive of collaboration, but real concern surfaces around the potential loss of local identity. This concern runs strongest at the two smaller communities, St. Thomas Aquinas and Our Lady Star of the Sea, where parishioners worry that a larger Holy Redeemer could become the default identity of the combined parish family, diminishing local voice, familiar traditions, and a sense of ownership built over decades. Holy Redeemer parishioners raised a related but distinct concern about communication, wanting clearer explanation when significant decisions affecting long-standing parish activities are made.

Underneath these concerns is a shared desire to be heard. Taken together, the responses point toward a strategy of preservation and multiplication — protecting each parish's identity and traditions while expanding access to the ministries, formation, and service that already make each campus a beloved spiritual home.

For a detailed report of the feedback from parishioner listening sessions held at all three campuses in November 2025, visit our Partners in the Gospel webpage at www.columbiarivercatholic.org/events/partners.

Summary of Baseline Metrics

The Archdiocese has asked for detailed metrics covering the following five areas to help describe each Parish Family’s current state and its ability to sustain its operations into the future. Here is a summary:

1. Evangelization

Evangelization is a clear priority at Columbia River Catholic. The total number of baptisms (78, +41%), first communions (95, +25%), and confirmations (111, +13%) celebrated in our Parish Family has risen over the past three years. Likewise, the total number engaged in faith formation activities is increasing; last year, over 1000 parishioners participated, including over 360 youth. This includes a popular and effective OCIA program which in recent years has guided approximately 40 adults and 20 children into the Catholic Faith each Easter.

2. Church & Priest Utilization

Six Sunday Masses, with approximately 2000 total worshipers, are celebrated in our Parish Family each weekend. Our current Sunday Mass schedule can be covered by two priests with a sustainable three Sunday Masses per priest. Our Mass attendance meets the archdiocesan goals for effective “utilization” at all three campuses, where attendees fill between 50-80% of church capacity. This metric guides parishes in optimizing the number of Sunday Masses being offered with the priests available. Based on the current number of priests, people attending Mass, and seating capacity in our three church buildings, we do not need to add or subtract Masses at this time.

3. Staff

The staff of our Parish Family has been combined into one team since the summer of 2025. There are 22 full and part-time staff supporting the pastor and parochial vicar, in addition to another six at our Preschool & Kindergarten. The parish staff is financed through the ordinary income of the Parish Family and is organized into the following three major areas of responsibility. (School staff is funded by the school.)

· Engagement: parish life, volunteers, calendaring, liturgy, communications, Partners in the Gospel;

· Evangelization: vocations, sacramental preparation, spiritual and devotional programming, catechesis, virtue formation, schools;

· Resources: finance, human resources, property and facilities, information technology, campus planning.

4. Capability to maintain buildings

Our Lady Star of the Sea has one building, including the church, social hall, and breakout rooms, with a total insured value of $2.4M. There are currently no critical facility needs requiring attention.

St. Thomas Aquinas has five buildings with a total insured value of $11.6M. The 75-year-old parish office (former rectory) presents the greatest facility challenge within our Parish Family. As a converted residential building, it suffers from a lack of ADA accessibility, narrow hallways, absence of a fire sprinkler system, and multiple systems that have reached end-of-life. Longstanding foundation issues, which led to settling and leaning at the rear of the building, have been stabilized. The church also has ADA accessibility limitations and aging systems. The school building is a great asset as it is the only one for the whole Parish Family.

Holy Redeemer has three buildings with a total insured value of $15.2M, plus another three residential buildings adjacent to the parish campus. The church roof has been scheduled for needed repairs. Due to consistent operating surpluses, Holy Redeemer is able to budget for major expenses and expects to have more than $300,000 in a capital reserve fund by the end of the current fiscal year. Holy Redeemer’s greatest challenge is a lack of a multipurpose building that could host offices and a school, as well as a social hall that could accommodate the number of people that attend engagement events. Fortunately, there is enough land on the campus for both at some point in the future. Future capital campaigns are anticipated to build them.

5. Financial viability

Our parish family is in a strong financial position. For FY 2025, total parish income was $3.4M, with ordinary income at $2.6M (78% of total income). Total expenses for FY 2025 were $2.5M. None of the parishes carry any debt, and all maintain substantial reserves totaling $3.4M. Despite the impact of Partners in the Gospel, finances improved in FY 2026, with total parish income of $3.6M and ordinary income $2.7M. These results demonstrate continued financial strength, growing revenue, strong reserves, and the capacity to address both ongoing operational needs and future capital investments.