A New Family This weekend we are finding out who will be in our new Parish Family. This re-organization, taking place across the Archdiocese of Seattle, is meant to re-invigorate and renew our local Catholic Church. Fewer priests and lay ecclesial ministers, rising costs of running a parish, and changing practices among some of our Catholics show us that the status quo is no longer an option. After significant research and discussion with other dioceses, our Archdiocese selected the parish family model for restructuring, which combines two or more parishes under the leadership of one pastor and one or more parochial vicars (assistant priests). The archdiocese spent most of the last year in consultation with priests, deacons, parish and school staffs, lay leaders and parishioners. This feed back resulted in some changes, including our originally proposed parish family. We held a second round of listening sessions regarding the change that was proposed. I want to thank all our parishioners who shared their insights and concerns. The parish families will go into effect July 1 of this year. Over the next three years, the parish families discern on the local level how best to become one canonical parish. This does not necessarily mean having only one site or campus. Prayer, creativity, and sensitivity will help us look at ways of being a vibrant faith community, faithful to the command of Christ to bring the Gospel to all people. For more information, go to archseattle.org/partners/
A New Family
This weekend we are finding out who will be in our new Parish Family. This re-organization, taking place across the Archdiocese of Seattle, is meant to re-invigorate and renew our local Catholic Church. Fewer priests and lay ecclesial ministers, rising costs of running a parish, and changing practices among some of our Catholics show us that the status quo is no longer an option.
After significant research and discussion with other dioceses, our Archdiocese selected the parish family model for restructuring, which combines two or more parishes under the leadership of one pastor and one or more parochial vicars (assistant priests). The archdiocese spent most of the last year in consultation with priests, deacons, parish and school staffs, lay leaders and parishioners. This feed back resulted in some changes, including our originally proposed parish family. We held a second round of listening sessions regarding the change that was proposed. I want to thank all our parishioners who shared their insights and concerns.
The parish families will go into effect July 1 of this year. Over the next three years, the parish families discern on the local level how best to become one canonical parish. This does not necessarily mean having only one site or campus. Prayer, creativity, and sensitivity will help us look at ways of being a vibrant faith community, faithful to the command of Christ to bring the Gospel to all people.
For more information, go to archseattle.org/partners/