Page 5 - Annual Report to Parishioners RTP 2024 - 8 Page v3_Neat

Although we miss Fr. Ed, we look forward to new adventures with our new pastor, Fr. Bryan! We will continue
growing with the guidance of the Holy Spirit: growing in the Lord, growing our volunteer community, and
meeting more families.

Infant Baptism
This year we welcomed Ellen Hecht as the Pastoral Assistant for Baptism and Marriage. She has been a valued
addition to the parish staff, and we are grateful for her pastoral presence, leadership, and professionalism. She
and her team guided 46 families through Baptism and 13 couples through Marriage. We are grateful for Ellen!

Youth Ministry:
Our revamped Youth Ministry got off the 23-24 school year with a bang, and hasn’t
slowed down since! Our parish now offers both the EDGE and Life Teen youth group
programs for middle and high school-aged teens, respectively. Led by Michael Joseph,
one of the newest additions to the parish staff during 2023, and supported by his
fearless band of adult volunteers, dozens of teens gathered on a weekly basis to grow
closer to Christ and one another. Meet-ups usually included goofy team-building
games, great food prepared by generous parents (thanks, Moms and Dads!), and
moments for deep prayer before the Eucharist. Some of the highlights from last year
included the Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Conference at St. Michael’s in Olympia, the
Middle School Encounter at Kennedy Catholic High School, the Living Stations of the
Cross, a Praise and Worship concert hosted by musician Daniel Oberreuter, and the
Steubenville NW Conference in Spokane! On the sacramental front, we proudly
st
Confirmed 37 youths and 7 adults into the Church Militant, as well as celebrated the 1 Communion of 10 teens.
50+ actively engaged young Catholics is a great start, and we’re only looking to grow bigger this coming year

Adult Faith Formation

It was a great year for Adult Faith Formation, and we were blessed with wonderful speakers and presentations for
Adult Education that brought parishioners spiritual inspiration while providing engaging Adult Faith Formation
programs in RCIA( now OCIA), Adult Confirmation, and Marriage Preparation.
Adult Educational programs focused primarily on the National Eucharistic Revival Year. In his last year as Pastor,
Fr. Ed gave an Advent Morning of Reflection,
We also had a well-attended Parish Mission by Fr. Ed that focused on Bishop
Barron’s book. Continuing our
Parish’s focus on the Eucharist, we had a dynamic talk by Dr. Loni Nguyen,
on , that explained how science has made many
inspirational discoveries from analyzing eucharistic miracles that occurred in
modern times. We also had an amazing display of
, based on his website.

In April, the parish hosted and was blessed by the regional Men’s Conference
The Women’s Retreat, in June, was led by Sr. Mary Eucharis-
ta, SSMC, on The Retreat had 130 participants and
brought many blessings to our parish women. Additionally, the Bible Study pro-
gram had two sessions, that were well attended.

Marriage Preparation

Ellen Hecht began in late summer as our new Pastoral Assistant for Baptism and Marriage. She worked with and
helped prepare 13 couples for Marriage. In addition, she started our new Marriage Preparation program,
that focuses on Mentor Couples supporting engaged couples preparing for Marriage and continues that
support after the wedding.