Listen to this note instead: https://morefrmoore.podbean.com/e/november-12-2026-pastors-note/
October Mass Counts
Each May and October, we count all of the people at each of our weekend Masses so that we can tell whether our congregations are growing or shrinking.
You can view our October Mass counts, and how they compare to our Mass counts since May 2025, at https://www.whatcomcatholic.org/reports/2026/11/11/october-2026-mass-counts
I find two facts interesting:
- Our best weekend saw 3,188 people at Mass across our seven churches, while our worst weekend saw 2,940, a difference of 248. Some might note that low count was Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, but if you take the next worse weekend the difference is still 193. That suggests to me that somewhere around 200 of our parishioners are iffy on whether they attend Mass on Sunday – maybe depending on sleep schedules, work schedules, or other events coming up. In fact, we might double that number to 400, given that a population whose Mass attendance is a coin flip will not all be absent in the same weekend. This shows us one focus of pastoral concern – how can we make the Mass so compelling – both by teaching and by presentation – that no one would consider missing it, even for one weekend?
- We had a 6% increase in Mass attendance between May and October 2025 and have plateaued since then. I have spoken to a few new faces in our pews who have cited the assassination of Charlie Kirk (Sept. 10, 2025) as a wake-up call for them to start actively practicing the Christian faith. I am not sure if that event can fully explain the spike in Mass attendance, but I am curious if it might explain some of it.
If you see any trends that are interesting in our numbers, please let me know.
CDN Abortion Irony
In April 2026, the Planned Parenthood affiliates in Bellingham, Mt. Vernon, and Friday Harbor merged with “Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho”, which runs most of the Planned Parenthoods east of the Cascades. The CEO of that grouping subsequently moved to Bellingham and, earlier this week, Cascadia Daily News ran a profile on him (link). I have no objection to CDN running that story, as the best journalists try to provide all perspectives fairly.
Providentially, later that day on the same homepage, CDN ran a story with the headline “3 people arrested in plot to force-feed victim abortion pills while she was asleep: Bellingham woman and her fetus are healthy; suspects facing attempted manslaughter, assault charges”.
Hard to know if the irony was lost on the newspaper staff, but it wasn’t lost on me. Why is one a crime and another isn’t? Why do we care that the fetus is healthy in one case, and celebrate greater access to fetal death in another?
The answer is choice. Modern American society defines “good” and “evil” by the choice of the pregnant mother. If she wants her child to live, then anything that threatens that child is evil. But if she wants that child to die, then anything that threatens such a death is “anti-woman” or “far-right”. The “pro-choice” movement is aptly named, since its entire metric of morality is choice (though, in reality, many women who go through abortion feel immense pressure from family, friends, and society, and do not have a truly free choice).
As Christians, we believe that “good” and “evil” are defined by the Lord, and that all human life belongs to Him. I like to think that the Lord allowed those two stories to be published together, as a way to prick consciences and point out how monstrous the work of abortionists should appear to all of us.
Dear Father Moore,
Is it possible that some Whatcom Catholic parishioners are in Canada, or on one of the San Juan Islands on a Sunday and to Mass in where they are instead of going to their home church in Whatcom Catholic Parish? Is it possible to ask “Do you attend Mass every weekend somewhere, whether in your home parish or elsewhere?”
I am replying (at your suggestion) because I do not think that our Mass celebrations are insufficiently compelling; I would be distressed to think that they need to be made more so to entice parishioners to attend. But perhaps the obligation to attend Mass is not taught directly to parishioners often enough. I have experienced it being addressed in a joking manner which obscures how serious a matter this is, e.g. “I know you’d all rather be enjoying the sunshine we’re finally getting, ho ho“.
John and I have travelled coast to coast and up and down in the U.S.; we have attended Mass everywhere we were, arranging our travels so that we were always able to do so. Some of the time the lectors, the music, the homily, and the teaching was extremely edifying. Sometimes, we just thanked God that we were able to worship God and receive communion. We go because we want to and need to.
Father, there’s no need to respond! Go with God, Elisabeth