A Snapshot of Parish Life
January 19, 2025
Greetings Columbia River Catholic Community,
I am blessed to be your Parish Manager, assisting Fr. Nathe, our wonderful staff, and so many volunteers with the leadership of our amazing parish family, Columbia River Catholic Community. I have been in this role now for 18 months and am still learning so much all the time. By the time I retire, I might have it figured out 😊. I worked in business for forty years, and the differences between working in that world and the world of the Church are dramatic. In many ways, I’m relearning so many things, especially priorities, such as how much the Lord and you matter.
I am writing to thank you for your support and participation in our annual Stewardship Campaign this past Fall. Your positive response was an indicator of how special our combined parish family continues to be. When most “parish families” saw stagnation or decline in their annual stewardship drives, we improved upon last year’s in all three communities—a testament to how special this parish family is.
Holy Redeemer’s parish mission statement is to “Glorify God and Sanctify Souls,” yet it applies to all of us because it is simply the mission of the Church. While it may be difficult to measure our performance against such a spiritual goal, we can measure participation and involvement in our parish family, both key indicators that we are moving in the right direction.
Here are some signs of our spiritual health across all three communities:
· Over 50% of Holy Redeemer households completed a stewardship commitment form. This figure places Holy Redeemer in the top 1% of parishes nationwide for a parish that size or larger. Both St. Thomas Aquinas and Star of the Sea, had almost a 40% participation rate, placing St. Thomas in the top 20% nationally, and Star of the Sea in the mean for a community of their size.
· More importantly, participation increased across all three of our communities. Household commitments increased at Holy Redeemer from 501 last year to 550 this year, a 9.7% increase. St. Thomas Aquinas increased participation from 178 last year to 201 this year, a 11.5% increase. While Our Lady, Star of the Sea increased its participation from 25 last year to 36 this year, a 30.5% increase!
· Holy Redeemer has 2,688 ministry commitments this year, up from 2,183 last year, a 23% increase. The number of ministry commitments for St. Thomas and Star of the Sea are up too based on increased commitment rates, although I don’t have the raw numbers other than the participation rates.
· Vocational status is a big sign of the spiritual health of a community.
· Holy Redeemer Parish is blessed with six vocations in formation for the priesthood, diaconate, or consecrated religious life, and two more actively discerning (that we are aware of).
· St. Thomas Aquinas is blessed with one actively discerning (that we are aware of).
· Eleven former parishioners of our three communities have become priests, deacons, or consecrated religious, included in that number is Fr. Nathe from Our Lady, Star of the Sea in Stevenson.
As we continue in the coming years with Partners in Gospel, know that whatever comes of it, Our Lord will continue to bless us as we strive to remain faithful to Him, living out or mission of glorifying God and sanctifying souls. I am blessed to be your Parish Manager. Thank you for that privilege.
Our Lord’s Peace,
Don Anderson,
Parish Manager, Columbia River Catholic