“Many gifts but the same spirit” (1 Cor 12)
An Introduction to Saint Bonaventure Catholic Community
Founded in 1957, St. Bonaventure Catholic Community is the spiritual home of 2,800 families in Contra Costa County. The parish, which rests in the foothills of Mount Diablo, straddles the border between Concord and Clayton. It has historically drawn many families from outside its parish boundaries.
In preparation for the upcoming retirement of Fr. Richard Mangini, our pastor for the last 19½ years, the parish council and staff of St. Bonaventure gathered in the summer and fall of 2015 to discern aspects of the parish’s identity that would be important for Bishop Michael Barber of Oakland to understand when choosing a new pastor. During this series of discussions, the council identified four key pillars of St. Bonaventure’s culture: Engaged, Collaborative, Welcoming and Diverse.
ENGAGED
Saint Bonaventure’s high degree of parishioner engagement gives it the reputation as “the parish that never sleeps.” On any given day or evening, one will find parishioners attending different events in the church, parish hall or our ministry center. All of these events occur because the parishioners and staff of St. Bonaventure are willing to give their time to make them happen.
One can see this first and foremost in sacraments and liturgy. Vatican II described the Eucharist as “the source and summit” of our faith. Saint Bonaventure takes to heart the council’s call that all the faithful play a “full, conscious and active part in liturgical celebration.” Parishioners participate in the Liturgy Planning, Art and Environment, and Music teams, which collaborate in bringing forth liturgy that is both reverent and engaging. The parish has a large group of lectors, Eucharistic ministers, and ministers of hospitality. The Sunday Masses are blessed with five different choirs and music teams, with different musical styles. Many individuals also participate in the Resurrection Choir, which provides music at funerals.
Parishioner engagement is not confined to the liturgy. St. Bonaventure has a large faith formation and sacramental preparation program for children, teens and adults that requires the work of many volunteers. The parish’s RCIA, children’s faith formation, teen confirmation and marriage preparation programs all rely heavily on parishioner engagement and leadership. Members of the community are able to choose from a wide variety of adult formation groups and classes, including bible and book studies, a Women’s Christian Fellowship, a Men’s Spiritual Network and a variety of small group programs. Ecclesial movements including Cursillo/Bonfire, Marriage Encounter, Knights of Columbus, the Charismatic Renewal, and the Filipino Couples for Christ also have strong parish support. Each summer hundreds of children, teens, and adults participate in a Bible Camp that celebrates the joy of Christ’s love.
Strengthened by worship and formed in their faith, St. Bonaventure parishioners also take seriously their call to bring the light of Christ to the world. Many parish ministries answer Pope Francis’ call to be missionary disciples by meeting the needs of the surrounding community. These, too, rely almost entirely on parish volunteers. Our parish Food Pantry serves more than 2,300 people monthly. Our St. Vincent de Paul team works closely with area families in need to manage their immediate crises and move toward self-sufficiency. The parish also has liturgy teams that offer Communion services at four area nursing homes/senior living centers as well as the Marsh Creek Detention Facility. In addition to serving the local community, St. Bonaventure tries to “act globally” and has funded the building of a street children’s center in India, a grammar school and high school in El Salvador, and a maternity hospital wing in Kenya.
This high degree of parishioner engagement suggests corresponding skills for a potential pastor, especially the ability to delegate responsibility effectively while providing spiritual and moral leadership. One challenge facing a new pastor will be the aging volunteer base of our community. Ideally, he would share a vision of Christian leadership which involves inspiring every parishioner to discern his or her charisms and strengths to build up the community.
COLLABORATIVE
Given the high degree of parishioner engagement just discussed, it is not surprising that St. Bonaventure has a strong culture of collaboration. This culture can be seen in the way that individual ministry teams relate to one another and in the relationship between the parish staff and the broader community. Saint Bonaventure has developed a number of structural mechanisms to support and reinforce this culture of collaboration and trust
The first of these mechanisms is a strong parish staff to whom the pastor has delegated significant operational responsibility. The pastor provides the vision and direction, trusting the staff to act in their areas of expertise. In 2006, the parish created a new leadership model with a Director of Pastoral Life. Delegating many administrative responsibilities to this Director frees the pastor to focus on providing spiritual leadership and pastoral care.
The parish has also developed a number of consultative structures to ensure close alignment between the pastor, his staff and the broader community. In addition to the Parish Council and the Finance Council, which are strong and engaged, the parish also organizes regular meetings of all ministry leaders to disseminate information and obtain feedback. Most large ministries, in turn, have their own leadership teams.
These interlocking structures and the parish’s high degree of activity require fairly robust efforts at communication. In addition to the traditional Sunday bulletin, the parish has developed other modes of communication such as a web site, email newsletters, and a presence on multiple social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
Of particular importance in this area are communications about financial matters. Given the need for some substantial capital investments in recent years (e.g. new ministry center, repairs to the parish hall and rectory), the community has come to expect a high degree of transparency about how money is being raised and spent. The parish publishes quarterly financial statements in the Sunday bulletin as well as an annual report. This openness has helped in developing a strong sense of stewardship in parishioners.
With a strong belief in the power of the Holy Spirit working through the community, St. Bonaventure’s pastor, parish staff, and parishioners have developed a relationship characterized by mutual trust and respect. Relevant skills for a pastor in this environment of collaboration and transparency include comfortably engaging people in decision-making, soliciting feedback (particularly when it involves the raising and spending of money), and communicating broadly and regularly.
WELCOMING
Pope Francis has written that the “the thing the Church needs most today is to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful...I see the Church as a field hospital after a battle.” The St. Bonaventure community has always had a similar desire to make this parish a place of welcome, particularly for those at the margins of society or of the Church.
This spirit can be seen first and foremost in the liturgy, where ministers of hospitality greet people as they arrive, and the priest celebrant invites the congregation to greet one another prior to the start of Mass. Young children are invited up to the front for a collective blessing before joining a children’s Liturgy of the Word, after which they return to the pews for the remainder of Mass. Candidates and catechumens enrolled in the RCIA program are also incorporated into the celebration through a formal dismissal after the homily and, during Lent, the celebration of the scrutinies and a blessing prior to the Rite of Election. Our active funeral ministry welcomes all, space permitting, regardless of whether the deceased was a member of the parish.
A spirit of welcome also characterizes the parish’s approach to faith formation, which takes into account participants’ specific circumstances. We combine high quality group catechesis with more individualized programs as needed. Recently, we have made special efforts to develop programs for returning Catholics and for couples seeking convalidation of civil marriages.
Saint Bonaventure’s approach to outreach ministries is also infused by a desire to welcome people where they are. Our active St. Vincent de Paul conference works hard to develop a customized approach to each family in need since each faces different challenges. Similarly, our parish Food Pantry has made a conscious choice to allow those who come to the bank to choose their own food rather than receiving a bag of pre-selected items. The Food Bank team feels that this approach better respects the dignity of these struggling families.
Finally, the parish also has strong social and welcoming ministries that both welcome new families to the parish and work to strengthen relationships between existing parishioners. Through events like our Progressive Dinner, Rock-n-Roll Pasta Dinner, and outreach events with new families, the parish actively works to build a strong sense of community.
Being a place of welcome is very central to the identity of St. Bonaventure and something its parishioners care deeply about. One of the things they want most in a new pastor is someone who values this as much as they do.
DIVERSE
Perhaps because it is a place of welcome, St. Bonaventure has become a very diverse parish.
A parish that once served the needs of descendants of Italian, Portuguese, and Irish immigrants now serves large Hispanic and Filipino communities as well. Young families with children worship side by side with seniors at liturgies that range from quiet and contemplative to joyful and enthusiastic. We see wide diversity in parishioners’ income, family circumstances, level of catechesis, spirituality, and political views.
The ethnic diversity of St. Bonaventure is particularly evident in liturgy. The Sunday 12:45 Spanish Mass draws families from Concord and Pittsburg. Both resident priests and two of our deacons are fluent in Spanish. The parish plans a number of multicultural liturgies (e.g. Holy Thursday, Easter Vigil, Thanksgiving) where English, Spanish, Tagalog and other languages can be heard. The parish is also enriched by the devotional traditions of our various communities, including celebrations of Santo Niño (Filipino), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican), St. Martin de Porres (Peruvian), St. Simon and St. Jude (El Salvadoran), Señor de Esquipulas (Guatemalan), Señora de los Ángeles (Costa Rican), San Lorenzo Ruiz (Filipino), and Señor de los Milagros (Peruvian).
The faith formation ministries of St. Bonaventure also reflect its diversity. The parish offers a full range of sacramental preparation and children’s faith formation programs in both English and Spanish. The spirituality of St. Bonaventure in turn reflects a diversity of devotional styles and interests, including contemplative prayer, recitation of the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet, charismatic prayer, and Eucharistic Adoration.
This environment suggests the need for a pastor skilled in navigating diverse groups, styles and approaches to liturgy, faith formation and outreach ministry. Given the large size of the Hispanic community, it is also important that a new pastor be able to communicate well in Spanish as well as English. This pastor will need to negotiate our ongoing challenge of bringing the different sub-communities together as one united Body of Christ.
CONCLUSION
The transition to a new pastor offers both challenges and opportunities for the St. Bonaventure Catholic Community. While what we have presented thus far suggests a parish with many gifts, we also face challenges where leadership and vision will be required. As is the case with many Catholic parishes, our parishioners and ministry leaders are aging and there is a sense that a new generation of leadership has not yet fully emerged. With a declining number of priests, the demands on our lay leaders are only likely to grow in the years to come. We all face the challenge of preaching the Gospel to a new generation that is skeptical not only of religious institutions but increasingly of religious faith itself.
As a people of hope, we trust that God will give us the strength and wisdom to meet these challenges. For all of the usual anxiety that accompanies any change, the upcoming pastoral transition offers a real opportunity for St. Bonaventure to take stock of past efforts and discern God’s will for our future. A new pastor who could build on the aforementioned strengths of St. Bonaventure--its parishioner engagement, collaborative spirit, welcoming attitude and cultural diversity--would be well positioned to help us fulfill the mission of both the parish and the Diocese of Oakland: to know Christ better and to make him better known.