Two Seattle parishes will merge, another will close
May 30, 2022
Local
SEATTLE – St. Mary Parish will merge into St. Therese Parish, while Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish will close, both effective July 1, 2022, Archbishop Paul D. Etienne has announced.
The changes are part of the archdiocese’s most recent strategic planning process, which began in 2020 in Tacoma, Everett and Seattle.
“My goal with these strategic planning efforts is to ensure we are a mission-oriented Church that continually draws people closer to Christ,” Archbishop Etienne said in a May 30 news release. “By bringing together communities and resources, we are better able to provide vibrant pastoral care for all of God’s people.”
Part of the planning efforts include examining “finite resources” such as clergy, lay leaders, finances and ministry, “so that we may be the best stewards of the gifts we have and balance them across the archdiocese,” Archbishop Etienne added.
On May 2, the archbishop announced that Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishes in Everett will become one parish named Our Lady of Hope; on May 9, he announced that three Tacoma parishes are merging into the new St. John XXIII Parish.
In the South Seattle deanery, encompassing 16 parishes, some parishes are within walking distance of each other — unlike other areas of the archdiocese where people have to travel more than 45 minutes to reach the closest parish, according to the news release. Although Seattle is growing, many Seattle parishes are seeing fewer people attending Mass, receiving the sacraments and engaging in stewardship, faith formation and other parish life activities, according to the release.
The changes at St. Mary and Our Lady of Mount Virgin were determined through a process led by the archdiocese’s Strategic Planning Committee in partnership with parish leaders and parish representatives. Multiple listening sessions gave parishioners a chance to ask questions, share feedback and voice their desires for the future.
“This is a very challenging and emotional process for everyone since it involves changing their own faith community, which is so central to many people’s lives,” said Leigh Stringfellow, the archdiocese’s strategic planning director. “Everyone goes through the grief process differently and we try to support them along the way, while encouraging them to help plan for the evolution of their community.”
Similar focus on social justice, outreach
When looking for a nearby parish for St. Mary’s to merge with, “I believe people recognized the similar emphasis on faith life, outreach and social justice,” Archbishop Etienne said in a May 27 letter to St. Therese parishioners.
Founded in 1925, St. Therese has a diverse faith community committed to social justice; its parish school serves students from many ethnic, racial and socio-economic backgrounds. St. Mary, established in 1889, is a bilingual community known for its dedication to social justice, outreach to immigrants and its robust food bank.
“These are tangible ways you are living out the Gospel and I encourage each of you to continue celebrating your faith to the full in your community at St. Therese,” the archbishop said in a May 27 letter to St. Mary parishioners.
In the decree to merge St. Mary into St. Therese, the archbishop noted:
- a general downward trend in reception of the sacraments at St. Mary’s.
- few registered parishioners living within St. Mary’s geographical boundaries, instead traveling from a distance to attend liturgies and parish meetings.
- a continuing reduction in income from regular collections, with a reliance on rental income to cover expenses.
The merger will help revitalize St. Therese Parish and its school, while continuing the work of St. Mary’s Food Bank, according to the release. Father Woody McCallister will remain pastor of St. Therese.
Our Lady of Mount Virgin: Originally Italian
Our Lady of Mount Virgin was established in 1911 as a “personal parish” to serve the Italian community in Seattle. In recent decades, members of the Italian community have joined parishes around the archdiocese and the parish no longer serves its goal of celebrating Mass in Italian for Italian-speaking parishioners, according to the decree signed by Archbishop Etienne.
Other factors in the decision to close the parish include declining Mass attendance, lack of engagement in the sacraments and faith formation, and a low level of ministry outreach, the archbishop said in a May 20 letter to St. Mary parishioners.
Today, Our Lady of Mount Virgin is home to Anglos, Vietnamese, Chinese and Lao communities. Working with the Strategic Planning Committee to find parishes where they can be served in their primary languages, the Vietnamese community will join St. Paul Parish, while the Chinese community will move to an Eastside parish (currently being determined); the Lao community may move to St. Paul Parish, according to the archdiocese.
The decrees don’t mean the work is done, Archbishop Etienne said.
“We are here to support the parish communities as they complete the merging process and begin to take action to revitalize parish life,” he said. “I am so grateful to everyone who has been a part of this challenging, yet hopeful journey.”
Read Archbishop Etienne’s decrees:
Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish decree
Read Archbishop Etienne’s letters to the parishes: