Decision #4 - Priest Housing
Updates
Update #1 (July 20, 2024): After touring all the houses and more deeply considering his needs, Fr. Thumbi has expressed a desire to live in Lynden. We will, for now, keep the Assumption house for guest priests and for hosting events.
Problem to be Solved
How to house 4 priests in a way that respects their desires and needs?
Available Housing
The Whatcom Catholic Churches own a number of houses, four of which are currently used to house priests. There are also multiple rental houses that could be converted to priest residences if necessary.
The Archdiocesan standard for priest housing is that each priest should have 1x bedroom, 1x office, and 1x bathroom. So the capacity of each of these houses is evaluated by how many multiples of this suite configuration could be available.
You can find a list of all Whatcom Catholic properties at this posting.
Current Rectories
Assumption (neighborhood house) - 1x priest suite + 1x guest room
Sacred Heart (original rectory) - 2x priest suites + 1x guest room
St. Joseph, Ferndale (original rectory) - 3x priest suites + 1x guest room
St. Joseph, Lynden (neighborhood house) - 1x priest suite
Current Rental Houses
Viking Catholic #1 - Current rentals. Two one-bedroom apartments in the rear of the Viking Catholic building
Viking Catholic #2 - Current rentals. 6x bedrooms, 2x bathrooms
St. Joseph, Lynden #1 - Currently used to house the Missionary Servants of the Word
St. Joseph, Lynden #2 - Current rental. 2x bedrooms, 1x bathroom
St. Anne - Current rental. 3x bedrooms, 1x bathroom
Priest Restrictions
The Archdiocese has requested that, unless a priest expresses a reasoned preference to live alone, the priests try to live together
The majority of Fr. Tyler’s time will be at Viking Catholic, so he ought to live in Bellingham
Fr. Thumbi has expressed a reasoned preference to live alone
Fr. Stephan is new to the country and should be given the support of another priest in the house
Proposed Housing Plan
Given all of this, the working plan for priest housing is:
House Fr. Tyler at Sacred Heart, with the understanding that he will use the 2nd priest suit and the guest room to house seminarians, who are regularly sent to Bellingham. This dovetails well with Fr. Tyler’s work as Associate Vocations Director for the Archdiocese.
House Fr. Thumbi at Assumption
House Fr. Moore and Fr. Stephan at Ferndale
I will work with the Lynden community to determine how best to use the house previously used as a rectory.
Update #1 (July 20, 2024): After touring all the houses and more deeply considering his needs, Fr. Thumbi has expressed a desire to live in Lynden. We will, for now, keep the Assumption house for guest priests and for hosting events.
Timeline
Unfortunately, the timeline for moving priests into these rectories is complicated, as there is a visiting priest from Kenya living in Ferndale until August 11 and there is a seminarian working at the hospital until August 17. The Assumption rectory also needs some serious renovation work which has been delayed over the last few years.
Update (July 20, 2024): This timeline has been substantially revised, and no longer reflects the initial posting.
July 01 - Fr. Tyler moves into Sacred Heart.
late-July - Fr. Thumbi moves from the Ferndale rectory into the Lynden rectory. Fr. Moore moves from the Assumption rectory into the Ferndale rectory.
August 01 - Fr. Stephan arrives and moves into the Ferndale rectory.
mid-August - Fr. Philip leaves for Kenya, seminarian Simon Stehr leaves for seminary. Renovation of the Assumption house can begin. All rectories are now stable.