This week, the church returns to the liturgical season of “Ordinary Time.” While we pause for special seasons of our faith, like Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter, most of our lives revolve around the ordinary moments of everyday life.
That being said, I would hardly describe our first six months as a family of parishes in the process of eventually becoming a single canonical parish as ordinary. The changes involved in this process have been challenging at times but also full of many blessings. All in all, I still see this as a positive direction for us to move as the Catholic Community in NE Seattle.
The next step in the Partners in the Gospel plan is the creation of a Parish FamilyAdvisory Group (PFAC), which will, in time, become the Pastoral Council for our single parish. This will be a group of 9-11 people representing our four current parishes, three schools, and a range of ages, male and female, who will meet with me to discern the future mission and makeup of our eventual single parish. I am looking for thoughtful and prayerful Catholic individuals who are regular participants at Mass, practice stewardship of their time, talent, and treasure, and are open to discerning how the Holy Spirit is calling us to form a unified parish community. The role of this council is to reflect on our family of parishes as a whole and not necessarily to advocate for one’s home parish. Some key qualities I am looking for are people who listen well to others, are open-minded about various ways of being church and are creative in exploring a new model of parish life that will rejuvenate the Catholic Mission in Northeast Seattle.
This will be an open process. If you know someone you think would be a good candidate for the PFAC, please send their names to Fr. Duc or myself. Feel free to nominate yourselves. I will be putting out more information about the purpose of this new consultative body and hope to gather its members for an initial meeting before Easter. Please pray for the success of bringing this group together and the leadership it will offer as we discern our future together.