A Parish Built on Clearwater Avenue
Parish of the Holy Spirit sits on the north side of Kennewick at 7409 W. Clearwater Avenue, a low-set church and adjacent Parish Community Center that has anchored Catholic life in the Tri-Cities for more than four decades. The parish was founded in June 1980 by the Diocese of Yakima with Msgr. John Ecker as founding pastor. The first Sunday Masses were celebrated at Desert Hills Middle School while daily Masses were held in rented office space. The new church was dedicated in February 1982 at its present site, a rectory followed in 1999, and the Parish Community Center (PCC) opened in 2006 to host faith formation, meetings, and parish-wide gatherings.
Successive pastors shaped the community after Msgr. Ecker moved on after Easter 1988. Fr. John O'Shea guided the parish for nearly two decades and was followed by Fr. Perron Auve, who retired in 2019. Fr. Michael Brzezowski is the current pastor, currently recovering from a serious lung illness and remembered in the parish's prayers. Three deacons serve alongside him: Ken Ellis, Mike Gaulke, and Eric Shaber. Earlier deacons include John Segura, Tom Henn, John Powers, and Ron Mertens.
Mass Schedule and the Rhythm of the Liturgical Year
Weekend Masses are celebrated Saturday Vigil at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The Saturday Vigil and Sunday morning Mass are livestreamed on the parish Facebook page. Daily Mass is offered Monday through Friday at 9:00 a.m., followed immediately by the Morning Rosary preceded by the Angelus. The parish follows the universal Catholic liturgical calendar through Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Paschal Triduum, Easter, and Ordinary Time, with the seasons marked in floral arrangements, banners, and wall hangings by the Altar Flowers ministry.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is heard Sunday afternoons from 3:00 to 4:15 p.m. and Tuesday afternoons at 4:15 p.m. during the week. Eucharistic Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place every Friday from 9:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. in the Reconciliation Room behind the sanctuary, with two volunteer adorers scheduled each hour and quiet drop-ins welcome throughout the day.
What Visitors Can Expect
First-time visitors are greeted at the church doors by a team of ushers and greeters who arrive fifteen minutes before each Mass, hand out bulletins, and offer assistance to those with special needs. Dress is typically parish-casual. A service dog policy has been formally adopted that allows service animals as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act throughout the church, PCC, and grounds, while explicitly excluding pets and emotional-support animals. A small nursery staffed by a paid part-time supervisor and volunteers is available on Sundays during morning Mass and on Fridays for certain parish activities, serving children ages eighteen months to three and a half years.
Newcomers are encouraged to register as parishioners through the parish office. The parish sends a twice-yearly Voice of the Spirit newsletter to registered families and offers a Flocknote text-and-email service that anyone can join by texting WEGOTSPIRIT to 84576. Online giving is available through ParishSoft.
Faith Formation from Preschool Through High School
Faith formation at the parish begins with Elementary Religious Education for children age four through grade five, meeting Tuesday afternoons from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. Children preparing for First Penance, First Communion, and Confirmation take part in a two-year preparation program. The Children's Choir rehearses after class on Tuesdays and sings at one of the Masses roughly every two months. A Christmas Pageant is staged each December following two Saturday morning practices.
Middle schoolers in grades six through eight gather for EDGE on Sunday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and high school youth in grades nine through twelve meet for Life Teen at the same time. After the evening Mass on Sundays during the religious education year, volunteer crews share a meal with the EDGE and Life Teen members. The Life Teen Band provides music at the Sunday evening Mass, blending contemporary Christian music with traditional hymns. Vacation Bible School runs for one week each summer for children age four through fifth grade, and Camp Breakaway offers a week of Catholic summer camp at Camp Touchet in Dayton, Washington for students entering grades six through nine.
Becoming Catholic: OCIA and Returning Catholics
Adults who wish to become Catholic are welcomed through the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults, more recently known as OCIA. Coordinated by Joe and Sherry Schroeder, OCIA is described by the parish as a formation process rather than a classroom, moving through the Period of Inquiry, the Rite of Initiation, the Catechumenate, the Rite of Election, the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil, and Mystagogy. Each catechumen is paired with a sponsor who shares the journey of faith.
For those already baptized who want to return to the practice of the Catholic faith, the parish provides a Returning Catholics page linking to Catholics Come Home, a nonprofit that invites inactive Catholics back to active participation in the life of the Church. Adult faith formation also includes a parish-based Scripture Study with weekly small-group sharing Wednesday mornings from 10:00 to 11:45 a.m., daily personal study, a video lecture, and prayer. The fall studies run eight to ten weeks.
Music and Worship Ministries
Three choirs support the parish's three weekend Masses. The Amazing Grace Choir sings at the Saturday Vigil, rehearsing Wednesdays from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. and singing contemporary, gospel, classical, and jazz. The Celebration Choir leads the Sunday morning Mass, with fifteen to twenty members rehearsing Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. and a special Christmas presentation before the Christmas Eve Mass. The Life Teen Band accompanies the Sunday evening Mass, drawing on contemporary Christian music and traditional hymns. A Children's Choir rotates through the Masses about every two months.
Around the music, a wide array of liturgical ministries keep the Mass running smoothly. Altar Servers begin in fourth grade with training provided once a year. Lectors proclaim the readings; Eucharistic Ministers distribute Holy Communion both at Mass and to those who are ill or homebound; Greeters and Ushers welcome worshippers and take up the collection; and Projector Operators handle the slides for each liturgy. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is coordinated by Liz Friedrich, the Prayer Chain by Adele Ogryzek, and Altar Linen Care keeps vestments and cloths ready for worship. Small Church Communities meet throughout the parish as a way to connect Catholic belief with daily life.
The Mary Martha Prayer Group and Other Devotions
For more than twenty years, the Mary Martha Prayer Group has met every Wednesday from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. for prayer and study of the Sunday Scripture readings, with a monthly social lunch at a local restaurant on the third Wednesday. The Tuesdays Evening Rosary, started by the Knights of Columbus in the year 2000, gathers at 6:30 p.m. to pray a scriptural Rosary followed by the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel, and a circle of petition. Moms & Friends brings mothers together for prayer, mutual support, a monthly Mom's Night Out, Meal Trains, an annual Easter egg hunt, and Adopt-a-Family work each Christmas.
Parish Organizations and the Wider Community
Two charter organizations anchor the parish's social life. Catholic Daughters of the Americas, Court Saint Anne #2575, was chartered on October 21, 2006 and meets at 9:00 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month in the Parish Community Center, open to Catholic women eighteen and older. The local Knights of Columbus Council 10653, affiliated with the international order founded in 1881, supports parish activities, clergy and seminarians, and operates KC HELP, the Knights Community Hospital Equipment Lend Program that provides free in-home hospital equipment to anyone whose need is not covered by insurance.
The Knotty Ladies & Gents gather once a month from across the Tri-Cities parishes to make beaded rosaries for distribution in Third World countries, raising money by selling rosaries in local parishes. All women of the parish are part of the Parish Women's Group, which runs the spring and fall rummage sales, the annual summer parish picnic at Howard Amon Park in Richland, funeral meals for parish families, the Teddy Bear Tree and Christmas Raffle at Christmas, the Adopt-a-Family program, and the Epiphany Party after Christmas.
Outreach Beyond the Parish
The parish extends its ministry well beyond its own walls. Nonperishable food dropped in the Food Bank box in the vestibule is delivered weekly to the Tri-Cities Food Bank. The St. Vincent de Paul Society works year-round through home visits by teams of two or more Vincentians to assess and address the needs of neighbors in the community. Prison Ministry brings the Word of God to inmates at the Benton County Jail twice a week for roughly forty-five minutes each visit, sharing bulletin inserts and other appropriate reading material.
KC HELP loans hospital equipment free of charge to those whose insurance does not cover it, while the Retirement Home and Shut-In Ministry, coordinated by Deacon Eric Shaber, reaches Catholics who can no longer attend Mass in person. The parish also supports a wide circle of outside missions and ministries. The thank-you archive from recent years alone includes notes from FOCUS missionaries Jacklyn Gazewood and the Nguyen family, the TC Food Bank, Grace Clinic, Catholic Charities, Elijah Homes, Hope Medical, the Franciscan Friars, WAMS, Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, Unbound, SIGN Fracture Care, the Service Peace Warriors, Our Lady of the Desert in Mattawa, and seminarians supported through the Diocese of Yakima's annual Catholic Appeal.
Committees and Stewardship
The Parish Pastoral Council serves as the advisory and consultative body to the pastor, meeting on the second Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the Parish Community Center and welcoming visitors. The Finance Committee assists the pastor in managing the parish's financial resources. The Stewardship Steering Committee matches volunteers with ministries that fit their talents. The Welcoming Committee helps new parishioners feel at home and is a ministry that can be served largely from home.
The Pastoral Plan and overall direction of the parish rest with the pastor working alongside these councils. Parish Council Meeting Minutes are archived back several years so members can stay informed of the decisions shaping the community's life.
The Sacraments and Weddings
As a Catholic parish, Holy Spirit celebrates all seven sacraments. Baptisms are scheduled through Deacon Ken Ellis and may be performed on infants shortly after birth or on adults at the Easter Vigil through OCIA. First Penance, First Communion, and Confirmation each follow a two-year preparation program that begins in early childhood. Marriages are scheduled by contacting the pastor six to nine months before the desired wedding date; a wedding coordinator assists with the rehearsal, musicians, photographer, and vestibule setup. Anointing of the Sick is available for the ill and homebound, and the Funeral Meals ministry offers a meal after each funeral with volunteers taking turns providing food or serving.
Joining the Parish
Online registration as a new parishioner is available, and the parish welcomes anyone interested in learning more about the Catholic faith, returning to the sacraments, or finding a spiritual home in the Tri-Cities. Bulletin archives go back several years, and the Voice of the Spirit newsletter, the Saturday morning Adult Faith Formation video studies, and the Flocknote text and email service keep registered families connected between Sundays.