To continue meeting the needs of its parishioners and the at-large community, the Archdiocese of Seattle has announced a plan that will combine parishes, inevitably closing some churches. “We have been looking at data and the trends for Archdiocese,” Caitlin Moulding, the COO, said. "Part of what we want to do is to create the systems and programs and models that will bring young people back to church." From 2010 to 2019, the Archdiocese of Seattle says there was an 11% decline in mass attendance, 30% fewer baptisms, and an 18% decline in Catholic weddings. On top of that, they currently have 80 pastors throughout Western Washington and expect that number to drop to 66 by the year 2036 However, Moulding says those numbers don’t paint a full picture of what’s happening on the ground. “We definitely have some parishes that have grown and are really vibrant in terms of their faith outreach, justice outreach,” Moulding said. “Then, we have others that have really shrunk, based on the demographic in that community.” Read the full story here: https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/archdiocese-of-seattle-combining-churches/281-7b39e96c-262a-45f5-b6a9-24fef48ff291