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My Dear Friends,
This past year has been a full one for our parish community. Last
year Chelsea Wilde from the environs of Detroit joined our staff as our Pastoral
Assistant for Youth Ministry. Chelsea is a ball of energy and has really connected
with our young people (grades 5th through 12th). In August of 2018
we also welcomed Andrea Mendoza as the Pastoral Assistant for Social Outreach
and Advocacy. This was a new ministry for our parish. For many years
we have excelled at responding to the needs of others through Thanksgiving
baskets, the Giving Tree, involvement with Relay for Life, and the St. Vincent
de Paul Society among others. But rarely have we studied and reflected on
the reasons for hunger and homelessness. Andrea, who has worked with
Catholic Community Services for many years has the expertise to help us address
these issues. It’s refreshing to have two thirty-somethings on our staff.
Last December Rose Kinsella, who had been our Pastoral Assistant
for Administration for 22 years, retired. We hired Kathy Wickward from St.
Mary’s parish in the Central District of Seattle to take on this important position.
We are blessed to have such a wise and dedicated person among us.
The Called to Serve as Christ campaign which addresses the priest
pension program and the retirement of religious sisters was begun in our parish
last fall. Our parish pledge was $636,233 (43% of our parish goal). We can
expect $95,435 to come back to us as our parish share in two years.
This past year we also started our Safe Car ministry program which
allows cars and their drivers to be parked here overnight from 9 pm to 8 am.
Several people have been vetted by CCS and have been our nightly guests.
Last year our parish theme was Dare to be a Disciple. Families and
individuals wrote on footprints what they hoped to do in living as followers of
Jesus.
Finally, I’d like to thank you for being the wonderful stewards you
are. You have blessed my life in so many ways. This will be a year of transition
for me as I plan on retiring on July 1st, 2020. I hope to do some travelling
around the country in my Honda Civic Hybrid for a month and a half to two
months. Because I will stay where I am currently living, I hope to help out
here on the weekends or at neighboring parishes. I would also like to mentor
young priests who are becoming pastors. Please pray for me as I will pray for
you.
Love,
Fr. Jim