Partners in the Gospel is a strategic pastoral planning effort taking place across the Archdiocese of Seattle to re-invigorate and renew our local Catholic Church.

Today we face many realities that impact parish life and make it difficult to fully live out our
mission. This archdiocesan-wide renewal effort, led by the Holy Spirit and grounded in prayer, will
help us better support vibrant, sustainable, mission-focused parish communities across the entire Archdiocese of Seattle.

To learn more about Partners in the Gospel, please visit archseattle.org/Partners and view the video below.

Gracious God, we praise and thank you for the Catholic Church in Western Washington.

We praise and thank you for the women and men who have shared the joy of the Gospel here for more than 170 years.

Send your Holy Spirit upon us that we might encounter your Son anew and become more effective partners in sharing the Good News of His saving love.

May our partnership in the Gospel empower us to be your missionary disciples, bringing the Good News to all, especially to those who are marginalized or hurting in any way.

Give us the courage, the flexibility and the vision to renew parish life, so that the good work, begun long ago, may continue among us, and one day, be brought to completion in your Kingdom, where you live and reign for ever and ever.

Amen.

As Catholics, we are called to deepen our relationship with Christ, and as missionary
disciples, to invite others to grow in their relationship with Christ. We do this in many
ways — one of which is through the local parish community. Our parishes are the
primary way most Catholics stay connected to their faith and each other. The model
of parish life also allows for great flexibility in meeting the needs of Catholics at
different times in history.

Today we face many realities that are impacting parish life and making it difficult to
fully live out our mission. We face an urgent — yet exciting — opportunity to transform
parish life — and the faith of all those who live here.
Pope Francis calls us to “read the signs of the times” while adapting to both the
needs of the faithful and to historical changes.

While there is no predetermined outcome for this strategic pastoral planning effort,
together we will pray to the Holy Spirit to guide our efforts so that we may better
support our mission to encounter Christ, accompany others and live the joy of the
Gospel.

We are not the first diocese with the courage and the will to be creative with the
structure of parish life. Many dioceses have gone before us and have provided
models and lessons for how we too can use our limited resources to enhance the
Catholic parish experience in the Archdiocese of Seattle.

Archbishop Etienne has appointed a team to lead this strategic pastoral planning
work, which will bring most parishes together into a new family structure with two or
more other parishes. The pastor, parish leaders and parishioners of the new parish
family will determine how they will best join together to carry out the mission of the
Church as one parish.

Here is a timeline of the key milestones for Partners in the Gospel:

• January 2023: Public launch
• Fall 2023: Invitation to provide input on parish families
• Early 2024: Final parish family structures announced
• July 2024: Parish families go into effect with one pastor
• 2024–2027: Parish families journey together to become one parish