After many months of preparation, this weekend we are happy to share with you some big news about the future of our parish.

Almost two years ago, our parish’s Pastoral Council began discussing a significant concern for the future of Sacred Heart Church. As many of you know, when the new church and matching parish rectory/office complex were built just over fifty years ago, included was a residence for two priests. It was small and cramped, but for many years it worked. Sometime later, that “rectory space” was needed for other parish activities and now consists of parish offices, classrooms, and meeting rooms that are regularly used by parish prayer groups, adult and children’s education classes, and a variety of other parish activities.

Since then, our pastors have lived off-site, sometimes in nearby apartments, more recently at Rockwood Land, and in Father Kevin's case, at “his little house on Wellesley Ave” gifted to him by his parents before their passing.

The concern of the Pastoral Council was that this arrangement was less than ideal in many practical ways, not in line with diocesan policy, and put the parish at higher risk of someday losing the ministry of its own pastor; (the thinking being that if the shortage of priests means eventually combining parishes or even closing parishes, the ones without rectories would be more vulnerable).

In January of 2020, Father Kevin met with Rob McCann, CEO of Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington, which owns and operates Rockwood Lane to see if some kind of beneficial arrangement could be made to purchase or rent a Rockwood Lane cottage. At that meeting, shortly before Covid-19 shut everything down, he told Father about a promise that had been made by Father Bach at the time of the original purchase of the Rockwood Lane property from Sacred Heart that Catholic Charities would be there for the parish if and when it ever decided to build a parish rectory. Rob assured us that he felt responsible to Father Bach to fulfill that promise.

Rob put his Catholic Charities architects to work developing a plan and cost projection for a new on-site rectory so that we could have a clear idea of its costs verses other options. He also developed a plan to assist us in paying for the project.

Meanwhile, the Pastoral Council set up a subcommittee of the Council to study options and make recommendations on the best way to provide for our future pastors. This subcommittee was made up of Bobby Williams, James Parker, and Lee Boling. They carefully and fully examined three options:

1. Purchasing a house in the neighborhood for use as a rectory.

2. Purchase a cottage or apartment in Rockwood Lane across the parking lot.

3. Build our own rectory on our own property.

The subcommittee labored over the options for some months, and eventually submitted to the Pastoral Council and myself their conclusion that Option 3, build our own rectory, would be in the best long-term interests of the parish.

Last September, Father Kevin met with Bishop Daly and showed him our options and early plans. He was very much in favor of the construction option and happy that we were providing for the future of the parish.

The cost to the parish for construction of the new rectory will be $150,000, funds we are now raising with your help! The remainder of the costs wil be covered by an agreement with Catholic Charities for them to purchase from the parish a "First Right of Refusal" agreement if the parish property should ever be sold.