The Incredible Parish, Pt. 1
Part One of Two
January 8, 2023
Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~
At the time covid shut us down in March of 2020, our average weekend Mass attendance was nearly 1600, it’s close to 1300 now. That means that nearly 20% of pre-covid practicing Catholics at Holy Redeemer have not returned. I don’t know what the national average is, or even the average for the Archdiocese of Seattle, the Archbishop is yet to release the numbers which is telling. With that in mind, given the news I share with you below, it is easy to draw the conclusion that the people who have not returned to Mass were for the most part, not very committed in the first place. I say that because the people who are attending Mass at Holy Redeemer now are, as a whole, more committed stewards of the faith than about any parish our size in the nation.
I meet monthly with a small priest support group in the Puget Sound area. Over the years, we share our life, ministry, up’s and down’s, and friendship. A dynamic that I have had to deal with for years is not sharing all the good news of Holy Redeemer Parish; it can simply make them feel like a failure, or that the successes of their parish ministries are insignificant in comparison. Of course, that’s not my intention at all. It’s important to share good news, it’s literally what the word ‘gospel’ means in Greek. Its’ just that our good news is exceptional and for most of my brother parish priests, it can sound like bragging, or worse, rubbing it in. Let’s be cleared eyed about the state of the Church.
In the Middle Ages, 99% of Western Europe was Catholic; every church was Catholic, every government was Catholic, every village was Catholic, every business was Catholic, every school was Catholic, every hospital was Catholic. God’s rightful place in the family and society was as ubiquitous as marriage and children, simply everywhere. That’s not the world we live in today.
Of the 71,000 people who live in Holy Redeemer’s parish boundaries, no more than 1300, or less than 2%, attend Mass on any given weekend. This represents America at large. The world today is as godless in its focus and practice as it was before Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago, profoundly tragic. That will change for the better, just ask Noah and his family after they got off the ark. In the meantime, I, the staff, and many of you do our best to make Holy Redeemer Parish a light in the darkness, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden, a place of Truth and Life, a refuge for world weary souls who seek to live in the “City of God”.
The good news that I share with you is not meant to be triumphalistic, remember, more than 98% of the people who live in our boundaries do not attend Mass on a given weekend. Rather the good news that I share with you is meant to encourage you, in-spite of being such a small minority, to persevere in your Catholic faith, to see the good it is doing, and provide some hope for all of us the faithful remnant.
Here are a few reasons I feel our parish is so special:
Our young parish already has one priest from our pews, and five other former parishioners in formation to be a priest or solemnly professed religious. We could realistically see two to three more leave for a convent or monastery this year. This is extraordinary given the vocations crises in America. Fostering vocations is something we all need to do-keep up the great work and keep praying for vocations!
We just concluded our annual Stewardship drive and over 60% (close to 2/3rds) of you filled out a stewardship commitment brochure. Typical parishes average between 20-30%. For a parish our size, that is simply the best commitment rate of any parish that I am aware of in Western Washington. We are probably one of only a handful out of tens of thousands of parishes across the country with that level of participation!
Total things being volunteered for – 4943*, many of them by the same people. From this number come the following numbers:
Liturgical volunteers excluding Adoration and Hospitality – 346 (this includes 53 altar boys).
Family Promise and Winter Hospitality Overflow – 239. There is a lot of overlap here, so probably 180 unique volunteers.
Faith Formation participants and volunteers – 549.
Trail Life and American Heritage Girls – 145.
Birthright, St. Vincent DePaul, and Prepares – 282.
Prayer Warriors – 56.
Choir – 75 plus – this number includes children.
Homebound Ministry-41
Parish Pilgrim Lady-104
Lenten Small Faith Sharing Groups-181
Divine Mercy 125
Pray Rosary Before Mass-433
Attend Daily Mass-175
Empty nesters-149
Giving tree 204
* Note that the numbers above are specific to each ministry so someone that is involved in a lot of ministries will be counted as 1 for each ministry they are active in.
** For context: we have 909 registered families and 2389 members, currently about 1300 (46%) attend Mass in person on any given weekend-we are not sure how many are watching online each weekend but it is a significant number probably between 25-50.
In addition to the commitment of time and talent by so many of you, there is still the commitment of treasure. For the first five months of this fiscal year (July thru November), you donated $95,000 more than we budgeted, and 30% more than we received during the same five months last year! Our ordinary income is greater now that it has ever been, even with fewer parishioners than three years ago. This means that we are driving down our debt far faster than anticipated. We initially hoped to be debt free by 2025 now it looks like we will be debt free this year! Praise Be to God and our faithful parishioners!!!
All this begs the question: WHY? Why is Holy Redeemer so special? Many of you can list some of your own reasons. While I was listing and explaining mine here, I realized it was going to go well over my two page limit. So tune in next week for This Incredible Parish: Part Two for what I think are the seven things that combine to make Holy Redeemer Parish so special.
In the Love of the Newborn King,
Fr. Thomas Nathe
