SEATTLE – Four parishes in Tacoma will merge under the first phase of renewed strategic planning in geographic deaneries around the archdiocese, with the goal of strengthening the church in Western Washington.
“Strategic planning is about responding to the pope’s call for us to ‘read the signs of the times,’ while adapting both to the needs of the faithful and to historical changes,” said Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg, who leads the archdiocese’s Strategic Planning Committee.
The process underway is examining the needs of Catholics and will determine “how to provide for them so that we can all work together to accomplish the mission Jesus entrusted to us,” Bishop Mueggenborg said.
The goal is vibrant, sustainable Catholic communities that carry out the mission of the church.
The Strategic Planning Committee is reviewing recommendations from deaneries and is supporting the planning efforts in the Pierce Deanery, where Holy Rosary, Visitation, St. Rita and St. Ann parishes will become one parish, associated with the mission of St. John of the Woods. The work in the Pierce Deanery began after it was determined Holy Rosary Parish was no longer viable.
The planning process “relies heavily on the input of the parishioners,” said Leigh Stringfellow, the archdiocese’s director of strategic planning. “We are here to accompany these parishes, acknowledging how challenging this is for many parishioners. Many times, we do not have a clear answer for parishioner questions,” she said, “since the process calls on them to work together and assist in making the decisions that will shape the new parish.”
The four parish communities have each hosted parish-wide meetings to share the archbishop’s vision and collect parishioner questions and concerns. The feedback is shared with the stakeholder group, composed of six to seven members from each parish. They are working together to create a vision for the new parish and to discuss how to merge these communities over the next several months.
In addition, the stakeholder group will launch joint subcommittees for specific ministries that have been identified by parishioners as important for their new parish. Stakeholders will discuss the timing and other recommendations for the final merger, which will be shared with the archbishop and the new pastor.
Other deaneries in the archdiocese are at different stages of the strategic planning process. The Strategic Planning Committee is working with each deanery, but its next focus will be the South Seattle and South King deaneries, where several parishes are located in relatively small geographic areas.
“We need to face today’s reality and recognize that the way our archdiocese was structured historically is less effective now than in the past,” Bishop Mueggenborg said. “We must have the courage to enact real changes so we can provide excellent pastoral care and effectively serve the mission of Jesus Christ.”