Sep 19, 2025

Greetings,
It is that time of year when parishes are required to gather information for the annual Status Animarum Report. “Status Animarum” is a Latin phrase meaning "state of souls," referring to a detailed record of people living in a Catholic parish, similar to a census. It is turned into
the diocese for their statistical use, but it also gives us an indication of how we are doing as a parish. 

Last year we had 1,858 households registered in the parish which totaled 5,238 people. For the seventeenth year in a row, the parish has grown. This year we have 1,884 households registered giving us a total of 5,312 persons. Every year I think that this will be the peak year and every year I am surprised. What a blessing!

57% of our households have children living in them and the average household size of those who havechildren is 3.81. The average age of a St. Sebastianite head of household is 57 with our average age rising one year this year from 56 to 57. The average age of ALL St. Sebastianites is holding steady at 39.81.

The number of those who received their first Sacrament of Penance fell this year from 63 to 54 owing to a small second grade class in both our parish school and in PSR. These numbers also reflect those who were brought into the Church. But those who received First Communion held steady at 54. Last year we baptized 61 from infants through adults and this year there were 69! Confirmation went from 76 last year to 56 this year, again this is due to class size.

Marriages are up slightly from 13 last year to 15 this year. Those being brought into full communion with the Catholic Church held steady at 13. School enrollment is at a 10 year high at slightly over 400 students. We consider our school “full” but not at capacity. In a couple of grades, we could still accommodate a Catholic family moving to the area, but we are not actively seeking to increase our enrollment as it is believed we have our ideal number.

Thank you to the 654 adults who donate to the parish every week, but they are not the only ones! 435 donate monthly, 95 do so quarterly and another 164 keep our doors open by donating annually. You keep our lights on, pay salaries, taxes, water bills, assessments, insurances, phone bills, gas bills and all the crazy things that it takes to keep this place going! Also thank you to those who contribute through the St. Sebastian Foundation and those who participate through volunteering and in-kind services.

Not to be forgotten are our homebound. Please keep the parish and her mission in your prayers! Thank you for your spiritual attention. It should never be underestimated.

Thank you for another wonderful year. If you are attending St. Sebastian but you are not a registered parishioner, you can help the parish out by registering either during business hours at the rectory or you may do it online or scan the QR code below. Registering helps for such things as helping the diocese decide when and where to send available resources. Thank you for your consideration.

God bless,
Fr. Valencheck.
St. Sebastian, pray for us