In southeast Seattle, members of four parishes are working together to build their faith, create community and expand outreach efforts.

“I just kind of have this philosophy that together we’re stronger,” said Father Scott Connolly, pastor since 2019 of the four-parish cluster of St. Edward, St. George, St. Paul and St. Peter.

The first three parishes have been in a cluster relationship since 1997, and  St. Peter was added in 2016, so sharing resources among the parishes isn’t a  new concept.

But the collaboration efforts stepped up after Father Connolly arrived and when parish programs restarted after the pandemic pause. It was an opportunity to think about things in a new way, Father Connolly said. The resulting collaborations include:

  • Combining the four parishes’ programs for faith formation and preparation for baptism, first reconciliation, first Communion, confirmation and marriage, resulting in the benefit of larger classes rather than a handful of participants at each parish. In addition, a new, combined Whole Family Faith Formation program is helping families with children in grades K-6 learn and grow in their faith as a community.
  • Creating a shared life, justice and peace commission, which recently hosted its second annual day of service, in partnership with Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in West Seattle. Members of all four cluster parishes participated.
  • Reducing/adjusting liturgy times — after gathering input from parishioners — to take into account just one pastor and one parochial vicar (Father Armando Perez) serving four parishes that had multiple weekend Masses.
  • Promoting events hosted by individual parishes, such as Oktoberfest at St. George School, at all four parishes, and expanding some traditional gatherings into all-parishes events.
  • Establishing a single pastoral council, with representatives from all four parishes, to advise Father Connolly on issues involving every parish. “All of us work on everything,” he said.

In their collaborative efforts, “each parish has their own gifts or charism they bring forward,” said Jennifer Ibach, who joined the cluster as pastoral associate last year.

Expanding outreach

The southeast Seattle parishes are still rebuilding attendance and participation after the pandemic, and change can be difficult. But the new efforts are having some positive results. The life, justice and peace commission has found success in spotlighting the outreach efforts at the four parishes and St. George School, giving parishioners more opportunities to live their faith by helping others. The commission has also created new opportunities, such as the day of service, that this year included more than a dozen local outreach activities for parishioners to choose from.

“How generous are people? It depends if they’re given the ability to be,” said commission chair Jason Fredette, who has been a St. George parishioner for more than 40 years.

Siblings Vui and Vinh, members of St. George Parish in Seattle, volunteer at the welcome table at Body of Christ Church in White Center. The teens joined parishioners from St. George, St. Edward, St. Paul and St. Peter parishes for a day of service.

The commission was created through a post-pandemic discernment process assisted by Lauren Pusich, then a pastoral mission coordinator for Catholic Community Services of Western Washington. “We looked at it as an opportunity to bring together all four parishes in a new way,” she said.

More than 60 people were nominated by fellow parishioners and staff; after a discernment day, about 10 people joined the commission, which began meeting in 2022, Pusich said.

The commission’s goal, Fredette said, is to “galvanize all those different aspects of parish life” and raise awareness among all parishioners in the cluster. For instance, a Mass announcement at all the parishes led to five carloads of donations for a Scout-led food drive, an “incredible” result, Fredette said.

The commission has been discerning whether to sponsor a Ukrainian refugee family, Father Connolly said. One of the parishes probably couldn’t sponsor a family alone, he said, “but together we have enough people.” And bringing people together as a larger group gives an effort “more life and energy … enthusiasm builds,” he said.

Combining leadership, creating community

When Father Connolly became pastor, he was attending pastoral council meetings at four different sites each month. After a discernment process, a combined pastoral council was created in 2020, with monthly meetings rotating among the four parish sites.

The big change was shifting from a single parish focus to “discerning concerns that affect our four-parish cluster as a whole,” said council member Manny Valdez, who has been a St. Edward parishioner for 41 years. The council “promotes a common ground for sharing ideas and provides more diverse and comprehensive recommendations.”

Father Connolly said the council has advised him on a variety of issues: a roof leak at St. George, the closure of the parish school at  St. Edward, selling a piece of property at St. Paul to O’Dea High School for use as an athletic practice field and a retrofit project at  St. Peter Church. Valdez said the council has helped promote family activities such as summer movie nights and welcomed into the cluster the diverse communities from St. Mary and Our Lady of Mount Virgin parishes in Seattle.

Members of St. Peter Parish enjoy an August 2022 Seattle Mariners game that was attended by parishioners from the four-parish cluster in southeast Seattle.

Some collaboration efforts have expanded what were traditionally single-parish events, helping build community.

Last December, for example, the Filipino Simbang Gabi celebration held at St. Edward for 32 years changed things up: For the first time, each parish in the cluster hosted an evening during the nine nights of celebration, Valdez said, calling it “a great blessing.”

And last summer, the regular St. Peter Parish outing to a Seattle Mariners game became an all-parishes event. More than 100 tickets were sold and many people met at St. Peter to take the light rail to the stadium together, said Debbie Castillo, a St. Peter parishioner who helps organize the event.

“It was really fun,” Castillo said. Even though she already knew some people from the other parishes, “I got to meet new people,” she said.

Fredette sees all the changes the cluster parishes experience as opportunities for growth.

“It’s nice to know your history and have that as a foundation,” he said, but “everything’s a constant evolution, so you have to see the positive in that.”

Pusich also sees God’s hand at work. “These experiences have really shown the Holy Spirit being present in these four communities coming together,” she said.

Northwest Catholic — April/May 2023