Mortgage Debt Relief becomes Worship Space Expansion

After 25 years, we have finally paid off our $5.7 million establishment debt. Thank you for your first of the month donation to this effort. Starting next Sunday, our first of the month second collection will be dedicated to our Worship Space Expansion fund. Many months of discussions were held with the parish Finance Committee, who have advised that we look to the future.

It is our firm belief that the parish of St. Francis of Assisi will still be here to celebrate 50, 75, 100 years! There are several parishes in our diocese that were founded over a century ago and are still going strong—St. Thomas Aquinas (Palo Alto); St. Clare (Santa Clara); St. John the Baptist (Milpitas); St. Mary (Gilroy). We believe that we will continue to grow and flourish well into the 22^nd century. So, we need to plan ahead—starting today.

Long ago, it was the vision of our founders (at least some of them) that on the land in the upper parking lot (where the tents currently reside) there was to be a church that would seat 800 people. The chapel was to be a worship space for smaller gatherings (baptisms, weddings, daily Mass). It is not ideal for us to have either 11 Masses or to celebrate Sunday Eucharist in the Gathering Hall (which we would like to use for hospitality and faith formation).

This dream will take some time to come to fruition. We are working on God’s timetable. If and when God’s wants us to have a new church, God will make it happen. However, let’s not forget, that over the past 25 years, several parish families left large bequests to the reduction of our parish debt. Without their legacy gift, we would still be paying off our debt for the next several years. It is our hope that more parishioners will remember St. Francis of Assisi when they plan the distribution of their estate, so that our new church might more quickly become a reality.

However, in the meantime, let’s start putting away some money for the future. Some of us may not live long enough to see a new church on earth—but we will definitely get to see one from heaven!

Fr. Matthew D. Stanley, Pastor