The Parish Family of Sacred Heart & St. Monica
On July 1, 2024, we embraced the dawn of our Parish Family with St. Monica, Mercer Island. We invite you to join Fr. Nagel and Fr. Joseph as they guide us on a transformative journey with Partners in the Gospel. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, our parish family will walk together over the next three years, courageously forming one new canonical parish and boldly re-envisioning how we serve our community. Together, we can inspire hope, deepen faith, and create a lasting legacy. We look forward to sharing this uplifting and meaningful experience with you!
Sacred Heart & St. Monica Parish Family Prayer
Heavenly Father, please send Your Holy Spirit upon our parish community, to help each of us take our next step in following Jesus, and to help us live and share the joy of the Gospel with others. Amen
This phase explored both opportunities and challenges, ensuring that the family's vision aligns with the Church's mission. Most importantly, it emphasizes discerning what the Holy Spirit is calling us to become. Therefore, attentive and prayerful listening will be essential in shaping the future direction of the parish family.
Who do we want to become?
As we complete the "Who do we want to become?" stage of One Parish Planning, we have hosted two community listening sessions and conducted an online survey. We invited feedback on the following questions:
- What new groups of people do we want to focus on or prioritize moving forward? Who have we not been serving?
- What new ministries and/or programs do we want to start, or what existing ministries should we expand to fulfill our vision of who we want to become? Is there anything that God may be calling us to reconsider or leave behind so that we may say "yes" to new ministries?
During this stage, we asked ourselves “Who are we?” to help develop an understanding and appreciation of the history, the people, the gifts, and the ministries that have been central to each of the parishes in our parish family. This question also helped our community explore the opportunities and challenges present in our parishes today.
What opportunities and challenges exist for us?
The final step of the "Who are we?" stage of the One Parish Planning process was a series of listening sessions seeking to understand the opportunities and challenges which exist for our parish family. We held five listening sessions in January 2026.
What opportunities and challenges exist for us - listening session synthesis
Listening session questions:
- What challenges do you see that exist in the wider community? (For our parish family, this is Bellevue and Mercer Island.
- What challenges do you see that exist within the parish.
- What opportunities do you see (in our parish and in the wider community) to more effectively serve and accompany others?
What Are Our Gifts?
The first opportunity for all parishioners to provide input for One Parish Planning occurred at the beginning of September 2025. During weekend Masses at both parishes, Fr. Nagel asked for direct input from members of our parish family about what makes our faith communities unique and special. Parishioners completed a brief survey.
What are our gifts - survey results
Survey questions:
- How have your experiences in our parish (and your experience of our parishes gifts and charisms) brought you closer to God? What has been the spiritual impact of your participation in our parish?
- If you had to describe the main gifts and charisms of our parish to a newcomer in one sentence, what would you say? What is your favorite part about being a parishioner? What stands out to you as something to be proud of?
Each response was read by at least two members of our Parish Family Advisory Council. The responses were compiled into categories to highlight trends.
Parish Demographics
In late September 2025, parishioners completed a Demographics Survey during Masses to help identify the demographic groups our parish family serves. Click here to view the Survey Data.
The first stage of One Parish Planning was primarily focused on coordinating and organizing our parish family's leadership. In addition to Fr. Nagel’s leadership as our pastor, two leadership groups have been established to help guide the One Parish Planning process. The first group is the Parish Family Leadership Team, the primary staff consultation and action group for executing activities related to Partners in the Gospel. The second leadership group is a Parish Family Advisory Council. This group is comprised of parishioners from Sacred Heart and St. Monica.
Our Parish Family Leadership Team:
- Bridget Darrow, PA for Parish Administration, Sacred Heart Catholic Church
- Greg Mahoney, PA for Parish Administration, St. Monica's Catholic Church
- David Burroughs, School Principal, Sacred Heart Catholic School, Interim School Principal, St. Monica School
Our Parish Family Advisory Council:
Top row (left to right): Catherine Moe (St. Monica), Joanna Collins (Sacred Heart), Reed Nagel (St. Monica), Tony Brooks (Non-member, St. Monica staff), Charlie Herb (Sacred Heart), Stephanie McIntyre (Sacred Heart), Fr. Nagel (Pastor), Bosco Lau (St. Monica & President of the Seattle Chinese Catholic Community)
Bottom row (left to right): Magdalena Brooks (St. Monica), Ethan Granlund (Sacred Heart), Ryan An (St. Monica), Crista Solaro (Sacred Heart)
The Parish Family Advisory Council is the key consultative body for One Parish Planning, representing both parishes in our parish family. The council helps our parish family discern its future parish life through various tasks including listening sessions, synthesizing input from parishioners, and creating an initiative report.
Our efforts to create a One Parish Plan begin with prayer, turning to our Lord and asking the Holy Spirit for guidance. Thank you for your support in this process.