Partners in the Gospel - Phase 1 Summary
Summary
This packet will summarize the first phase of Partners in the Gospel, regarding the question “Who are we?”
The questions asked and the lenses provided, emerged from extensive prayer and consultation with the priest, staff, and the PFAC. This first phase is meant to draw us into the second phase around Easter of 2026, where the questions will revolve around becoming more united in our friendship with Christ and our own personal investment in bringing all souls into union with Jesus Christ through the Church, given the data provided in our current reality reports and the benchmarks provided by the Archdiocese. This will lead to our third set of listening sessions and the PFAC consultation for a One Parish Plan based on the vitality metrics, and these consultations will be completed by the summer of 2027. The One Parish Plan will be our strategic plan as we become one canonical parish. Beyond simply structural reshaping, this is also meant to deepen each of our understandings of the needs and direction we are heading together as disciples of Christ and His beloved in His Body, the Church.
The intention of this document is threefold. Firstly, it is meant to help us understand more deeply the idea of friendship with Christ that the parish has begun to use as our guiding understanding of the Church’s mission in Lakewood and in our parish boundaries. Secondly, it summarizes parishioner conversations regarding the ‘three lenses’ the parish has conducted in Phase 1, highlighting points of unity in our shared understanding of how we will be fruitful for the future. And thirdly, in response to those dialogues and prayers as parishioners, staff, and clergy, to present one of many documents for our leadership into the next phases of the Archdiocesan parish consolidation known as Partners in the Gospel.
I want to especially thank the staff who have taken on roles between both parishes: Debbie and Laurie, Gaby, Susie, Joe, and Aracely. I also want to thank Fabiana, who was hired for both parishes after discernment by an inter-parish hiring committee.
Background
Partners in the Gospel is the archdiocesan parish consolidation program. In an attempt to renew Parish life, and taking in the needs and realities of the current situation in our Archdiocese, parishes were paired together after our consultation to determine by 2027 how to most effectively use all of the resources that our parishes have to effectively bring people into friendship with Jesus Christ and extend Christ's message to all of those within the Parish boundaries. More information can be found at archseattle.org/partners.
In July 2024, Fr. Louis Cunningham was appointed pastor of the Lakewood Catholic Parish Family, which includes the parishes of St. Frances Cabrini and St. John Bosco, and the Mission Chapel Immaculate Conception. Both the pastor and principal of St. Frances Cabrini Parish School arrived at about the same time. The diocese provided information regarding this pairing to leadership and to the pastor. The Archdiocese assigned a lay archdiocesan liaison to assist in the process. As of October 2025, the parish is working with the third liaison that the Archdiocese has provided.
The Parish Family Leadership Team (PLT) was created in August of 2024. It has been an indispensable support to the pastor to work to unify our parishes. In prayer and in conversation with the PLT and working with an outside program called Amazing Parish, we determined that the best way to help frame our upcoming conversations was to give a focus of three lenses to unify around friendship with Christ: Communing in the Lord’s beauty, Evangelizing through catechesis, and Embodying the works. Our parish administration has slowly been collaborating to unify our parish staff, and sacramental programs and staffing situations have arisen. The chancery has been involved in this process. In Advent of 2024, we convened the Parish Family Advisory Council (PFAC) for the first time. It has been meeting monthly with great conversation. It is a wide, diverse representation from both parishes, the school, past school families, and staff. The current PFAC members are Steve Bullimore (chair), Rose Shandrow (vice chair), Maura Armstrong, Yurianna Bernal, Dianne Breen, Bob Estrada, George Kovich, Les Mack, Florence Mamoh, Terri Nelson, Digna Quimsong, and Dan Still. In addition to Fr. Lou, the clergy and staff on the PFAC are Deacon George Mounce III, Gaby Grossman, Fabiana Pacheco, and Deb Dewar. I also want to thank Steve Pace, Laudan Espinosa, and Ivan Salas for their involvement in the PFAC in the past year.
In the first six months of meetings, PFAC received information on sacramental, facilities, and financial data from the Archdiocese and on data collated by Fr. Lou and the PLT. This included benchmarks from the Archdiocese regarding the One Parish Plan and demographic data from our parish boundaries. Highlights of this data were presented in the Lakewood Catholic Parish Family Annual Report for the pastoral year 2024/2025, published in Advent of 2025.
Fr. Lou began writing more extensively about the three lenses in the bulletin in July 2025. From July 2025 until September, the parish bulletin mentioned the three lenses and provided background on them. These were reviewed in the bulletin articles during Advent 2025. A demographic survey was conducted in early October at the Archdiocese's request.
We then began the first wave of listening sessions on these three lenses, which we have discerned in collaboration with the PFAC and PFLT, to help unify our parish family. We held listening sessions with PFAC (April 2025), parish staff (June 2025), ministry leaders (August 2025), and PFAC again as we honed the conversation (August 2025), and provided written and in-person opportunities for parishioner feedback. We had six in-person listening sessions, open to all parishioners across two separate weekends, in addition to the sessions we had with the individual groups. We have collected the information in different formats: sometimes using a large sheet of paper and sticky notes, sometimes one person taking minutes (in smaller groups), and sometimes with individual writing on paper.
After the Listening Sessions, PLT collated all the information to pray with. The PLT spent hours in front of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, praying and discussing the information. The PLT, PFAC, and Fr. Lou prayed with and discussed the information from December through February of 2025. Below is a synthesis of those listening sessions.
Synthesis of Answers
Staff relayed that most of the listening sessions they felt went well and that there was good conversation. In compiling information, we collected nearly forty single-spaced pages of responses from across the parish family. We had parishioners from every age range and group participate. (Some of the best responses were from the six-year-olds!). PFAC and PLT were provided with all of the feedback, and both groups prayed extensively over this data and discussed it at their meetings. A synthesis of these conversations is provided below (which will conclude with a synthesis of the joys and hopes, as well as the fears and sorrows, that came forward). Many noted the beautiful honesty they perceived in the parishioners' sharing.
The goal of this process is to formulate a sustainable plan that we can present to the Archdiocese for our becoming one canonical parish.
Why friendship with Christ?
As a pastor, it is most important to me that we each have a connection to Jesus Christ and understand why and how He loves us through being part of His family in the Catholic Church. Jesus Christ loves us and wants to be in an intimate and concrete friendship with each and every person in our parish boundaries. The task of our parish is to bring others into intimate friendship with Christ by joyfully adhering to the Catholic Faith—through true worship, the Sacraments, and a generous life of virtue. God, of course, is God. He is the Almighty Father and Perfect Communion of Happiness as the Trinity. As one of the Prefaces at Holy Mass prays, “although you have no need of our praise, yet our thanksgiving is itself your gift, since our praises add nothing to your greatness, but profit us for salvation, through Christ our Lord. Adoration is the highest form of worship and prayer; it is acknowledging God for Who He is. Almighty and Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscent. God has given His Name, and His Name is He Who is. It is right and just for us to recognize this.”
There are two pieces of literature that I want to share as reasons for this question. Friendship entails a certain mutuality. I recently had a Socratic dialogue with the eighth-grade students at the school about friendship. Friendship entails a common good and a sharing of goods. God, Eternal Happiness itself, saw my life and wanted to share something with me. Into a world of sinfulness, He emptied Himself, taking in the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men… for me. He not only experienced a common humanity with me, but even the painful, searing, isolating parts so that nothing except my no would alienate me from Himself.
And as if that weren’t enough, He lowered Himself even further, being born again and again on altars throughout the world so that what He desired to share with me wouldn’t be forgotten in the abstractness of history. He wants to share His life with me, and for all that He is and I am not, Him increasing and me decreasing, He enters again and again into this vessel of dust to commune with me. It is not an equality, that’s for sure, it is a lot more of Him than it is me. There’s a lot more to be gained in discipleship with Him, with Him sharing and me learning. He told those who followed Him to go, preach to all nations, baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach to follow all He commanded: to make all His disciples. Jesus concludes with saying: Behold I am with you always, even unto the consummation of the world. How? He came down to be with He, dropped lower than low, even into bread and wine, and his life into oil and water. I have prayed in churches throughout the world: in the richest places of history in Rome and Jerusalem, and in some of the most dangerous parts of Chicago and Palestine. And there He is, wanting, can you imagine wanting!, for me to recommend my life to Him, to share in and with every part of my life that He has already given me. Wanting to share with Me through His Son the life they have together in the place He calls His Body by receiving His Body, with all of the angels and saints. If that’s not a type of friendship: a sharing in goods, certainly unequal goods to share but goods nonetheless, then I don’t know what is.
“Why did He come? He was nice and quiet in His heaven, and He had no need of us. Why did He come, and why did the world come? You have to believe, my friend, that I, nothing of a woman, have a certain importance. You have to believe that the arrangement of time, and in time, had a certain importance. You have to believe that man and the creation of man and the destination of man and the vocation of man and the sin of man and the freedom of man and the salvation of man – all the mystery, all the mysteries of man – had a certain importance. Otherwise, it was so simple and over with in no time. It was finished in advance. He had only not to create the world, and not to create man. That way, no more decline, no more all, neither fall nor redemption. No more history at all, no more bother at all. All the world stays home. How great I must be, my friend, considering how I’ve displaced such a world, and troubled such a world, and such a great world at that! And started such a tragic history! A God, my friend, God troubled Himself, God sacrificed Himself for me. That’s Christianity.”
~“Veronique” Charles Peguy.
The responses to this question were overwhelmingly positive, and many explained that they are connected to Christ and how He is connected to them. Many noted a desire to grow in that friendship and sought avenues to do so. Many noted the draw together in the universal and liturgical acts of the Church: through the common prayer to the Lord, especially at Mass. Many noted that the witness of others, especially family members, was an anchor. Parishioners are noticing a deepening through their own prayer at Mass at both parishes and a desire to translate that friendship with Christ to the whole parish. Openness to working with other friends of Christ. The few who note a more lukewarm relationship with Christ cite available time as a factor. This could inform our resources or assistance in this matter, as more opportunities may not impact this as much as enriching what we already have.
Selected Quotations
Close, because I consider him my papa, my best friend, my everything, and my mistakes and good deeds, I’m always with him, even though I am not perfect (October 25th Listening session)
A friend, someone I go to all the time with joy and gratitude, I handle problems much better when I go to him. The goal is to get better at checking in with him all day (October 18/19)
He is a very attuned friend who speaks to me in prayer and in special words that come to me, pursues me in a gentle manner, I feel close to him via the sacraments (October 18/19).
My friendship with Christ is lukewarm. I pray, but it is difficult to have a habit of consistent prayer. I search for him in the good and in the bad, and I feel bad for not being so close to him, but it's just a matter of forming a habit (October 25th listening session).
Being raised from birth as Catholic – it’s a routine. People in our lives modeled Catholicism. Mom was an anchor, she remained faithful, mass every day, that quiet model. I went away from the church, but she drew me back, and I thank God for that model and that example she set for me. (October 25/26)
Intense, in a good way (October 25/26)
Open, receptive, pray the rosary daily, morning and evening, evening prayer, and a monthly novena.
Developing a relationship with Christ. Cradle catholic, which can be a drawback because you are not open and can be set in your ways. Relationship with Christ is one of beauty and peace. When in need, I look to Christ and have a sense of peace. That is new. (October 25/26).
My family is Catholic, and is always pushing me in that direction. It is difficult for me, I feel him now, and I’m coming back. I was in the military, and I was more focused on the training. After I got out, I was confused, lost. I feel like I could be committed to just listening. I want to listen and keep on learning. I’m more in the commune lens now (October 25/26)
Lens One: Communing in the Lord’s Beauty
The lenses will allow us to continue to hone our focus for our Parish Family. The most important of these lenses is Communing in the Lord’s beauty, where we understand that our friendship with Christ begins with actual time spent with him. More information was given in the bulletin articles from 9/1/25 to 10/5/25. From our prayer flows our desire to know Christ more, to evangelize, and to conform our lives to Him.
Respondents noted a desire for courage to evangelize and to know the Lord more deeply. Some noted that the Church provides them a way to understand friendship with Christ, not just in a ‘feelings’ way, but to be able to put words to their experience. Evangelization is the most common word throughout our responses here, though the vehicle by which this is done is not clear. Trying to build a common language can be hard. Staff noted a desire to help people understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ this fits into the future of our parish family.
Select Quotations
Communing - I have a prayer life that is poor because I do not know how to do it, evangelizing - I don’t have the knowledge about the word of God – I would like to learn more. (October 25th)
To live in communion is to be with Christ, to fight, and to ask for the grace that he helps us to grow in faith so that we can be good brethren in Christ Jesus (October 25th).
We belong to a faith-sharing group. We read the Gospel three times and really look at the message and discuss it. I’ve learned so much more about Jesus and the Gospels now than I ever have. That discussion is so important. When you read it three times and then listen to what strikes everyone - just hearing what other people heard, it’s very powerful. For the first time, I have a friendship with Jesus through that faith-sharing group.
When we were a lot younger, we were quiet about our faith. Now we talk a lot more about how important he is (October 25).
I attend Mass every Sunday, and when I have transportation, I attend Mass on Friday. I try to pray the rosary once a day. My day begins with fifteen or twenty minutes of prayer. I spend some time on most days reading the Bible with a friend. Hopefully, this will bring me in closer communion with my parish family (October 25/26).
We have a prayer together with my husband and I every morning (October 25/26).
Lens Two: Evangelizing through Catechesis
PFAC members noted that both parishes have already begun working together, especially in our sacramental programs. We offer English-speaking sacramental preparation for youth at the school in first and second grade, seventh and eighth grade, and on Tuesday nights (Bosco) and Wednesday nights (Cabrini). Sunday after Mass at Bosco, we integrated the entire sacramental preparation program for First Communion into the classrooms this last year. We also have high schoolers who have begun volunteering to help teach the younger kids on Sundays and on Tuesdays. This is something everyone agreed they wanted to continue encouraging: inviting our young people, from middle school through young adulthood, into roles that other adults may need to step aside from or mentor instead of controlling certain ministries. Parishioners noted a desire to work together and to better understand the Faith so they could share that friendship with others. Many parishioners noted a desire to work together to help introduce our youth to a living missionary discipleship and intimate friendship with the Lord. Increasing our training and education efforts across all age groups can be extremely resource-intensive and challenging to do effectively and economically. Yet this is clearly requested in many responses, with both language and age groupings serving as delineation factors.
Select Quotations
I have been a lifelong Catholic; however, in recent years, I have discovered that I have much to learn about our Catholic faith. I need to carve out more time for communing to better evangelize. I have grown closer to the Lord in church to joyfully embody the lenses. (English-speaking ministry leaders)
Evangelizing by planting the seed with my closest friends so they can meet with God and create a relationship. Following the sacraments as a rule of life to establish life fulfillment. (October 18/19).
I perceive this as a call from God to evangelize and to share the ministry that God has given me to make his word known. Nocturnal adoration is an important pillar of any parish. (Spanish-speaking ministry leaders).
Knowing God more through the bible studies because I am evangelizing and I participate on Mondays and Sundays after mass (October 25th)
We have been new to the parish family since last September because of our kids' Faith Formation, and as a young mother, I always try to encourage them to be what they want and let them join in any activity that they want to. We have built a beautiful community in the church because of them. They always want to participate in a lot of things. We also attended Our Lady of Guadalupe for the first time last year at SFC, along with Thanksgiving and Easter. I also like the way they always try to create unity on Sunday after Mass by providing breakfast (at SJB). ( October 18/19)
Our parish family offers many opportunities to continue to grow in our faith and relationship with our Lord. OCIA classes, parish school students start the day with prayer, time in the church, and on Fridays, school students attend 8:30 am Mass with parishioners. Our parish supports a mission for youth to the elderly in Mexico City. There are opportunities for family catechesis, where parents and children come together as a family. (October 25/26).
VBS made a huge difference to our son – he’s still talking about it. Having something like that once a month would be amazing (October 25/26).
Lens Three: Embodying the Works
Parishioners noted many ways that both parishes are embodying the works. Some noted how these works were helping souls encounter the Creator. Particular examples of embodying the works were given, such as Thanksgiving Baskets and Christmas Charitable Works. Parishioners noted that they have already seen a combination of efforts in our Parish Family, such as St. John Bosco’s Charitable Works Garden and the Women at the Well food drop-off at both parishes.
An action item was noted to develop a comprehensive list of every program and ministry that supports the greater Lakewood Catholic community and to communicate this list to all parishioners, providing the opportunity for our parishioners to choose and participate. Parishioners noted that they often didn’t feel that they knew what the parishes offered in charitable works, such as St Vincent De Paul, Catholic Daughters, Knights of Columbus, Rosary, Funeral Ministry, Christmas Baskets, Thanksgiving Baskets, etc.
Select Quotations
I am an active participant in the church. I get involved to serve. I like to serve whenever and wherever I see the need. I believe my faith needs to be expressed in my life as a whole (October 18/19).
As an empty nester, I’m not doing as much as I did when my kids were home (October 18/19).
As a choir member, as a Bellarmine parent, and as engaged in the diocesan efforts, the large catholic community has given us so many chances to engage with others and commit our time and talents for each other and the glory of God.
I commune quite well, but don’t evangelize worth a darn. I think I do well in the embody as I perform works of mercy frequently (October 25).
The richness of faith and tradition of our catholic beliefs and our church and community. Also, through donating to the church and miscellaneous organizations (October 25/26).
I’ve been away from the church for a long time. Today was my first time back. I love this church. I’m trying to get my older kids back in the church. I would love to help volunteer for things (October 25).
Joys and Hopes, Fears and Sorrows
This section reflects prayer and conversation, which will hopefully lead into Phase Two. The phrase “joys and hopes, fears and sorrows” comes from the Second Vatican Council’s document Gaudium et spes, which begins with
“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father, and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man.”
Firstly, everyone noted that the responses that were received were overwhelmingly positive. Less than 5% of the responses were fearful that these sessions wouldn’t make a difference. I understand this feeling and I want to share that, even if the decisions that are made are different than what is wanted by those who are fearful, I see this process as an opportunity to grow together and to grow in our commitment of friendship with Christ, his Church, and with each other, and to receive ideas about how we can do that better together. While we all want to move to the end of “what are we going to do with our facilities” or “what is our name,” this time is a great opportunity for us share the good that has occurred at both parishes and at Immaculate Conception Chapel, and to look forward to the investment we can all make together to ensure that everyone around us knows of Jesus’ desire to have a friendship with Him in His Church.
There is recognition that, especially at Bosco, there have been periodic challenges with clerical leadership over the last 25 years, especially in communicating decisions, which makes some parishioners wary that “the Archdiocese has already made a decision.” This is an understandable position from one perspective. The other side of this that members prayed with and discussed was the reality of our current priest situation and the hope for parishioners to be able to continue to take active roles in investment for the future of our parish family, especially in Meditation Park, the Charitable Works Garden, the breakfast events, catechesis, and prayer. The PFAC noted a danger of territorialism and parochialism – but also the hope that all parishioners will understand the universality of our Catholic Faith, and that, even in the midst of these difficulties, the Sacraments were their touchstone for the Faith.
At Cabrini, there was sorrow, especially from the most engaged parishioners, that they weren’t doing enough to evangelize. There was hope that their efforts to grow in friendship with Christ would help them deepen their ability to bring others into that friendship. There was also hope that, working together, facilities across our parish family would be revitalized, especially where strategic projects have failed to materialize due to more urgent tactical facility needs.
The major needs that were raised were the desire to bring out the gifts and follow up to empower Christ’s Faithful to grow in responsibility for their own Faith, and a continued visibility of what is occurring in our parish family, so that rumors and backbiting do not override the legitimate and true goods that the Lord has been doing in our midst in Lakewood. All listening sessions expressed the hope for a future of involvement in the parish’s life of Communing in the Lord’s beauty, Evangelizing through Catechesis, and Embodying the Works. Communication and financial information are shared in the annual report.
Both parishes reflected a sense of community with one another, and there are parishioners who are really striving to welcome others into the parishes. Acceptance is starting to happen – togetherness. Sharing communion with.
Volunteers are taking responsibility within the parish family for further investment.
Selected Quotations
I see so many new opportunities to get out of our comfort zone, in new groups for prayer and learning opportunities. It’s not always easy to get on board with changes, but it is pushing me to grow. (English-speaking ministry leaders)
Over the past year, we have participated in many activities organized by different groups. Such as OLG celebrations, Mother Cabrini feast, fellowship, novenas in different languages, mass with the Anglos, I like how the community has become one, up to a certain point. (Spanish-speaking ministry leaders)
There's a big effort to integrate more people into the community, we are being invited as proof of communion, evangelization, and embodying (October 25th)
It has been wonderful to have volunteers from Cabrini for the food bank garden (from SJB, October 18/19).
The lenses give the school a focus. There are so many details, it’s nice to have a way to look at everything that we do in an organized way, to help us know where we are strong, where we want to grow (October 25/26).
We see that the church cares enough about the community that you hold something like this (October 25/26)
Our parish needs sisters/nuns to visit. Our young girls need an example of female vocations outside of marriage (October 25/26)
I would like to see everyone in the parish help in some way (volunteer) in things as simple as wiping tables off. We are a family, so maybe we can make groups for the task.
That we have more halls to gather or to teach or evangelize, a place of meeting for the ministries (October 25th).
To reinforce the groups so that new members can continue and don’t give up, a class about the meaning of the Mass. (October 25th).
Where We’re Going
The Final goal is one parish plan based on the baseline viability metrics (found here) and the input from this process. The Archdiocese has stated it will begin publishing benchmarks for the One Parish Plan at the beginning of 2026. The PFAC, PLT, and I have received and prayed over data, much of which was synthesized in the Annual Report from Advent of 2025. And of course prayer.
Our goal is to present to the Lord a sustainable plan for our future as Lakewood Catholic that can continue to hand on a legacy of living Faith for years to come.
After Lent this year, we will enter the next set of listening sessions about: WHO DO WE WANT TO BECOME. We have been directing all groups in the parish to develop mission statements so that all parishioners can be invited to be part of their work together. We are looking for your engagement. Take a moment to reflect on these questions and be ready for the following listening sessions! The next set of listening sessions will include questions around the topics such as:
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE PARISH in supporting…
Your prayer life?
Your knowledge of the Lord?
Growing in virtue & carrying out the corporal works of mercy?
2. HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF in making that possible?
And more!
