August 30, 2026 | Parish Leadership

Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today and Forever~

With this pastor’s column, I want to bring you up to speed on Columbia River Catholic’s organizational leadership. Over two years ago, parishes and missions throughout the Archdiocese of Seattle began the largest reorganization in our history called Partners in the Gospel. This is a three-year process of evaluation and discernment as all 168 parishes and missions up and down the Archdiocese move toward suppression and reestablishment into 60 parishes. As part of this reorganization, Holy Redeemer, St. Thomas Aquinas and Our Lady Star of the Sea came together under the same pastor in the summer of 2024 (that would be me); and roughly around the summer of 2027 we will become one parish with one new name. Next Sunday’s Pastor’s Column will bring you up to speed on where we stand at this time with Partners.

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Staff

As I just mentioned, I became the pastor of all three of our communities in 2024. Since then, we have been trying to consolidate our staff and consultative leadership to better reflect all three of our communities and to make our ministry more effective. To that end, we were able to bring our staff together in the summer of 2024. Although the practical pieces of how that works has been an evolutionary affair, I can proudly say that we now have one regional staff that is on mission and highly effective. Our staff is divided into three areas of responsibility with fantastic directors leading each one. “Director” is a fairly new Archdiocesan term and parish staff position; after the pastor, it is the highest position of responsibility that a parish staff member can have. We no longer have pastoral associates for administration or “administrators.”

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The three areas of responsibility that our staff and volunteers are divided into are: Evangelization, Engagement, and Resources. I have attached an organizational chart to the next page of this pastor’s column to illustrate these areas of responsibilities, as well as the staff members within them and what their responsibilities are. All of this can be found on our Columbia River Catholic website with pictures of our staff members here https://www.columbiarivercatholic.org/meet-your-staff.

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Now I want to introduce you to your pastoral and finance council members. You can find their pictures and names on our website here https://www.columbiarivercatholic.org/consultative-leadership.

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Pastoral Council

There is no definition in Church law of what a Pastoral Council is responsible for. It really comes down to what and how the pastor wants their help. In normal times, I benefit from the Pastoral Council to assist me in identifying good ideas for ministry, as well as getting feedback on what is being received well and what isn’t. What a Pastoral Council does not do is tell a pastor or the parish staff what they are to do, or how to do it. I say that because we live in a democracy where many associate councils with power. Members of pastoral councils have the power to explore and recommend, not dictate. During Partners in the Gospel, the Pastoral Council is essential in implementing the various phases of Partners. At this point, Partners is taking up most of our time at meetings and the stuff done in between those meetings. Our Pastoral Council has twelve members, five each from Holy Redeemer and St. Thomas Aquinas, and two from Our Lady Star of the Sea. In a normal year we meet about six times but have been meeting closer to monthly due to Partners in the Gospel. Because Our Lady Star of the Sea in Stevenson functions through volunteers, they have their own Pastoral Council (volunteer committee), as well as participating in the Pastoral Council for all of Columbia River Catholic. We meet every other month and discuss what’s happening there, what needs to be done, how to do it, and who’s going to do it. 😉

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Finance Council

The Finance Council consists of ten members, five each from Holy Redeemer and St. Thomas Aquinas / Our Lady Star of the Sea. While Church law mandates that each parish has its own Finance Council, we meet together as one to discuss the finances of all three communities. Until we are formally suppressed next year and reestablished as one canonical parish, the finances between our three communities will remain separate, although there are many shared expenses now. If there is something specific to one of the three communities for formal recommendation or a vote, then only the members of that parish do so. We meet every three months to review the last fiscal quarter’s income and expenses, and once a year to set the budget for the coming fiscal year.

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Parish Finance Councils exist to ensure that mismanagement isn’t happening either through incompetence or maleficence. They do not determine what the ministerial priorities of the parish are to be. I say that because some people think that the Finance Council is where the “real decisions get made.” Ministerial priorities are set by the pastor in consultation with the Archdiocese, best practices of other parishes, pastoral councils, staff, trusted parishioners, etc. 

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Volunteers ‍

I am so grateful for our wonderful staff, council members, and you! Speaking of you, I am so grateful for all of you who volunteer. Without the hundreds of parishioners across Columbia River Catholic volunteering their time and talent, we simply would cease to exist. If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, take others with you. Alone none of us could make the Church work, together with God’s grace, all good things are possible and many of those good things are happening at Columbia River Catholic.

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May Almighty God Bless You,

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Fr. Thomas Nathe

Fr. Nathe

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