In just six years as a priest and three years leading St. Michael Parish in Snohomish, Father Michael Dion has learned a lot about being stretched thin trying to meet the pastoral needs of his parishioners.

“I’m worried about our finances. I’m worried about our maintenance. I’m worried about finding resources and finding leaders,” Father Dion said.

Recently, his pastoral assistant for administration took a new job, leaving Father Dion with more operational responsibilities at the 900-household parish. During just two days in December, he checked out a cracked window at the parish school, did a walk-through for a potential classroom restructuring project, helped move furniture to allow maintenance work and was told the refrigerator in the parish kitchen needed attention because ice was building up.

It keeps him from having quality time with his people.

“There’s such a thirst and such a hunger for God in people’s lives, and so often, I am not able to … spend time with them in the way that I want,” Father Dion said. “That’s one of my biggest problems as a pastor — there’s so much to do and not enough people to do it, and sometimes not enough money or resources to do it,” he said.

Father Michael Dion looks for a potential water leak in a maintenance room at his Snohomish parish. (Stephen Brashear)

Father Dion isn’t alone. It’s a challenge many priests in the archdiocese are facing as the number of priests declines, along with the number of active parishioners.

The archdiocese has 80 diocesan pastors for 174 locations, but projects just 66 diocesan pastors by 2036. On top of that, the long-term trend of fewer people coming to Masses, receiving the sacraments and actively participating in their parishes and ministries continues. Finances are challenging at many parishes, and parish buildings around the archdiocese need costly maintenance.

“With all of the changes that we’re facing today — globally, culturally and within the Church — it’s very clear the status quo is no longer an option,” Archbishop Paul D. Etienne said in announcing Partners in the Gospel, the next step in archdiocesan-wide strategic pastoral planning.

“Partners in the Gospel is a plan for how we embrace these realities … to make our parishes more vibrant, and to allow people to live our Catholic faith at deeper and deeper levels,” the archbishop said.

The core structure: Parish families 

Partners in the Gospel, announced at parishes Jan. 21-22, is focused on revitalizing parish communities and reigniting the faith of Catholics throughout Western Washington, helping them live out the mission of Christ and bring the Gospel to others.

Partners in the Gospel will bring two or more parishes together to form one new “parish family” that can benefit from the combined gifts, talents and financial resources of its leadership and parishioners.

One goal of this restructuring is to “allow our pastors to be more pastoral, to be more present to the faithful, rather than focusing on administrative tasks and worrying about the resources and the facilities and all of the other aspects of parish life,” said Caitlin Moulding, chief operating officer for the archdiocese.

“Our pastors want to be shepherds,” she said. “They want to be fathers for their communities.”

But Partners in the Gospel is about more than creating faith families, Archbishop Etienne said. “It’s about inviting every member of the Church to do their part to be more fully conformed to Christ and to manifest Christ to others,” he said. “We want to walk with you. We want you to find your place in this present moment.”

Father Dion said Partners in the Gospel is also an opportunity to create a team of priests who will minister to a parish family, with the hope that each priest can serve in his area of strength — whether that’s working with youth, sacramental ministry or visiting the homebound and hospitalized.

The draft plan outlining the proposed parish families will be shared with parishioners this fall, after months of study, prayer, discernment and input involving several archdiocesan consultative groups, including priests, the archdiocese’s presbyteral council, parish staff and school leaders.

Parishioners around Western Washington will be invited to give input before Archbishop Etienne announces the final parish families in early 2024. Pastors will be named later in 2024, with parish families under one pastor taking effect in July 2024. That begins a three-year process for parish families to journey together to become one parish in 2027.

Although the archdiocese will designate each parish family and its pastor, the parish family will be responsible for discerning its future. That means the pastor, parish leadership and parishioners will decide things like what ministries to offer and how to manage their finances, use their collective buildings and provide outreach that helps them live their faith and share the Gospel with others.

Facing change, keeping focused on Christ’s mission

Archdiocesan leaders, priests and parishioners acknowledge Partners in the Gospel will mean many changes and challenges.

“Change with a reason, with a focus, with a specific target in mind, is to me, the right thing to do,” said Jesús Gómez Sánchez, a parishioner at St. Joseph Parish in Vancouver and a member of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council. “Partners in the Gospel will help us adapt to times to make a stronger, more vivid, energized, positive, inclusive, next-generation Catholic Church,” he added.

A challenge as Partners in the Gospel begins is the healthy attachment people have to their parish “because there’s something beautiful that was given to them and continues to be given to them,” said Father Colin Parrish, pastor of St. Anne Parish in Seattle.

Parishioners should know “the good thing that you have experienced is actually going to be increased, but it’s going to be increased in a way that you may not have expected,” Father Parrish added.

Partners in the Gospel will help parishioners live their responsibility to be missionary disciples, especially in one of the most unchurched areas of the country, said Father Scott Connolly, pastor of four South Seattle parishes — St. Edward, St. George, St. Paul and St. Peter.

“People are in need of hearing the good news of the Gospel. We as Catholics need to reach out to them,” Father Connolly said. “Our ability to be missionary disciples and to go out and to share the good news is really the mission of the Church and the mission of Christ in the world.”

Through Partners in the Gospel, Archbishop Etienne said he hopes to see more people attending Mass, receiving the sacraments and advancing the faith “to build the Kingdom of God here in the Archdiocese of Seattle.”

He asks Catholics around the archdiocese to engage in Partners in the Gospel in the coming months.

“Our prayer, our discernment, our process and your participation are going to define what the outcome will be,” Archbishop Etienne said. “Let’s keep praying. Let’s keep hoping and trusting. The Lord is with us and leading us to a bright and hopeful future.”


ALSO: Read about the historic Jan. 18 convocation that launched Partners in the Gospel.


Northwest Catholic — February/March 2023