January 29, 2026 – Pastor’s Note

Demographic Survey

This and next weekend, we will be taking the demographic survey that allows us to move to the next phase of Partners in the Gospel. A few notes:

1. This next phase is data-driven. In addition to the demographic survey, the PFAC is also preparing a report on the state of our parish finances and buildings. These three things together help us better understand what we need to be planning for. If we have a bunch of buildings that are about to fail and we do not have the money to fix them, that requires planning. If our survey tells us that 40% of our parishioners are aged 70-80, that required planning. There are few things that we can know about the future, but knowing about the practical, present realities of our churches at least gives us a starting point for future discussion.
2. I am particularly excited about the demographic survey because it allows us to check our assumptions. Some churches feel particularly young or old. Some of our churches feel like most members are from the immediate neighborhood or like many people are driving in. Some of our churches feel like we have more or fewer households that previously. I am ready to get beyond what we feel about our churches or what we have been telling ourselves about our churches. I am ready to know! And then we can start responding to the realities of the present moment.
3. It is really important that each household take this survey. (Not each individual, please.) Data is only as good as its collection, so if a significant number of our Mass-goers do not take the survey, then the decisions we make based on this data will be flawed.

Tentative Ash Wednesday Schedule

This is a tentative schedule. There are still a few i’s to dot and t’s to cross, so this is subject to change. But we are so close to the day that I figure I need to publish the draft. As always, the official schedule should be checked closer to the day at https://www.whatcomcatholic.org/mass.

Please note that Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation. As such, attending a Word & Ashes service is perfectly appropriate, and even then is more than required. And, because it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, priests are restricted to only two Masses that day, per Canon 905. I tried to make sure each of our churches had one Mass, and to add Word & Ashes services at our three churches with multiple Masses each Sunday.

Bellingham

• 7:15 am, Mass, Sacred Heart – Fr. Tyler
• 10:00 am, Word & Ashes, Assumption – Dcn. Larry
• 12:30 pm, (School) Mass, Assumption – Fr. Moore
• 5:00 pm, Mass, WWU Campus – Fr. Tyler
  • Held in the Multipurpose Room in the Viking Union Building, but open to parishioners
• 5:30 pm, Word & Ashes, Assumption – Dcn. Larry

Northwest Corner

• 7:15 am, Mass, Ferndale – Fr. Stephan
• 12:30 pm, Mass, Blaine – Fr. Albie
• 5:00 pm, Mass, Lummi – Fr. Moore
• 6:00 pm, (Spanish) Mass, Ferndale – Fr. Manuel

North / East County

• 8:00 am, Mass, Lynden – Fr. Albie
• 5:30 pm, Mass, Deming – Fr. Stephan
• 5:30 pm, Word & Ashes, Lynden – Dcn. Dale

Easter Vigil Changes

I have made a decision that I know is going to be controversial, so please allow me to explain my reasoning.

The Decision

Here is the decision I made, after multiple consultative meetings with regional staff:

• The Easter Vigil at Assumption (Fr. Gerardo) will only be in Spanish.
• The adult baptisms in English will occur at the Vigils at St. Joseph, Ferndale (Fr. Moore) and Sacred Heart (Fr. Tyler).
• The Easter Vigil in Lynden (Fr. Stephan) will not have any adult baptisms.

Bilingual vs. Monolingual

This decision was primarily driven by my desire to have one Spanish-only Vigil rather than two bilingual Vigils. And this for two reasons:

• The Easter Vigil is incredibly complex, and trying to navigate it in two languages just adds to the complexity. Having two bilingual Vigils seems like an unnecessary stumbling block when it is possible to have all our Vigils be in only one language.
• We have been pushing very hard for our Spanish-speaking community to think and act as one united community, rather than two communities split between Assumption and St. Joseph, Lynden. A significant part of this push is fueled by the (increasingly certain) long-term presence of the Claritian priests in Whatcom County. Because I am fostering a model of having one of our priests serve as a Spanish ministry specialist, I need to be deliberate in having common Spanish-speaking liturgies, including this most important liturgy of the year.

Location Decisions

At our last count, we are baptizing 46 people at our combined Easter Vigils this year (praise God!); 17 are Spanish-speaking and 29 are English-speaking. Dividing these up between Vigils was not easy. Here is the reasoning:

• Our Hispanic parishioners seem to bring more people with them to Vigil baptisms. A standard English-speaking adult might have 10 people (spouse, a few siblings, a few friends) come to witness their baptism. That same person from a Spanish-speaking family might have 20. As such, I think we need to use our largest church to house the Spanish language Vigil.
• Of the 9 people seeking baptism at St. Joseph, Lynden, 8 of them are Spanish-speaking. The addition of adult baptisms at a Vigil adds significant complexity to the ritual, so it did not make sense to me to have that one person be baptized in Lynden. Hence the Vigil with no baptisms.

Final Notes

First, this does not affect Holy Thursday or Good Friday, which should be the same as they have been in previous years.

Second, a sadness – this change most directly affects our liturgical and faith formation ministers, many of whom are very used to and blessed by their different roles during Holy Week. The English-speaking ministers at Assumption and the Spanish-speaking ministers in Lynden may feel homeless during this change and I am really sorry for that. I had to make a growth-oriented decision, but I wish I had a better way to help these folks feel integrated into the other Vigils.

Finally, this is a big change with a lot of assumptions. As I am sure all of you know by now, I do not shy from change or experimentation (in practicalities, never in doctrine!), because I think it is necessary to give God space to help us grown. That said, I will want all of us to watch closely how this goes to see if this is a worthwhile approach to our Easter Vigils, or if maybe my assumptions were wrong and we need to go back to a different system.

Thank you for your openness to what the Lord is doing in Whatcom County (either through or in spite of these changes).