Two Big Things
Over the next six months, I will be emphasizing two major themes. The first is Partners in the Gospel, our Archdiocesan initiative to combine parishes in order to use our resources more effectively for the preaching of the Gospel. The second is the Eucharistic Revival called for by the U.S. Bishops.
Partners in the Gospel
Creating the Families
From now until January 2024 (when they will be finalized and published), the major work of Partners in the Gospel is to determine how to appropriately group our parishes together. In January 2023 the Archdiocese was given a draft of parish families from our consulting firm, Partners Edge. Since then, the Presbyteral Council (the Archbishops Senate, made up of elected and appointed priests) has been modifying this draft based on successive rounds of feedback. Most recently, the priests of the Archdiocese provided feedback while at Priest Days in June. After their feedback is integrated, parish staffs will provide feedback in August and then all parishioners in the Archdiocese will provide feedback in late September.
Collecting your Feedback
Two weeks ago, I asked our Pastoral Council how we ought to present the September draft to our parishioners. In that discussion, we determined that we would present the immediate information (i.e. what the groupings in Whatcom County are) after the Masses that weekend. Then we would schedule three meetings, facilitated by our Pastoral Council, for people to gather with their fellow parishioners to talk out their feelings, hopes, worries, and other reactions, all with the goal of determining if this is the grouping that works best for us or if there is an alternate grouping that we could recommend to the Archdiocese. Parishioners are invited to attend one or all of these meetings. Pease put them in your calendars now.
Specific Timeline
- Now – late September: Bulletin articles, drawn from the Current Reality Report, about why this process is necessary and what it hopes to achieve.
- Mid-August: Parish and School Staff provide feedback on August draft of families.
- Sept. 23/24: Draft Parish Families announced at weekend Masses.
- Tue., Sept. 26, 6:15pm: Discussion Night #1
- Sat., Sept. 30, 6:30pm: Discussion Night #2
- Sun., Oct. 01, 2:00pm: Spanish Discussion
- Tue., Oct. 03, 6:15pm: Discussion Night #3
Eucharistic Revival
I had basically given up on doing anything for the Eucharistic Revival. Before the USCCB announced their initiative, Archbishop Etienne had the Archdiocese of Seattle undertake a Year of the Eucharist (starting on Corpus Christi 2020), so we had already done some of the work at our parish. Plus, we have so much to focus on with Partners in the Gospel. However, a parishioner recently met with me about this and convinced me that I could at least offer some enrichment classes on the Eucharist. Our parish should be offering adult education opportunities anyway, and years ago I had already mentally reserved the time after the Tuesday Mass for such classes. She also nicely agreed to put together a draft curriculum. We will start with classes on Aug. 22, Aug. 29, Sept. 05, and Sept. 19, all at 6:15pm in the church. My October is a little chaotic, so we will solidify further dates later in the year.
Fr. Moore 