Progress

After several weeks of hibernation, the building committee (at least those would were able) gathered today with Fr. Perry and met with a Liturgical Consultant. A very constructive dialog took place and the committee received some needed advice on moving our little project forward.

In the meantime, the diocese has sent out our initial request for proposals to the short list of architects, with a due date of October 31 @ 2PM. From there, we can begin to schedule interviews and listen to their vision(s) for our property.

I know it has been spotty of late but, please keep checking in for the latest info.

Thanks for being patient! Please pray for continued patience and as always, for vocations!!!

MGD

From the Pastor.....

A few bits of info to share with you.

• HOME MASSES: Thus far, 6 households have volunteered to host a HomeMass/Potluck throughout the remainder of the year. The idea is to gather a few families in a home where I can celebrate a simple Mass followed by a potluck. This can help grow our parish and introduce people to each other. The Masses would most likely be on Mondays, Tuesdays or Fridays. I will come up with a variety of dates that families can choose from. Sign-ups will come after we have a few morevolunteers to open their homes. Masses will be casual—indoors or outdoors. If they are popular, we can continue into the Spring! Let me know if you're Interested.
• CHILD CARE: I have received questions about providing child careduring the morning Masses at Frontier. The only problem is there are no rooms available to us. So, I am continuing to explore possibilities about how we might deal with this need. Any ideas?
• RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Without facilities we really can't startReligious Education classes. The only alternative is to do something"home-based" and that is really difficult with a potentially large number of children. So, I encourage you to sign up your children in your previous parish or another of your choice. Eventually, we will begin to explore organizing our own programs.
• BUILDING COMMITTEE: Requests for proposals from local architectsare being sent out soon. Hopefully, we will decide on an architect and get a Master Site Plan going. This will be the exciting part.
• CAPITAL CAMPAIGN: I will be asking the Finance Council to meet next month to make some decisions about starting a Capital Campaign for our parish building project. The idea is to raise enough money in PHASE 1 to get us in our own building on the property. There are several options for doing this. But, the sooner we get on site, the sooner we can schedule different Mass times, religious ed, youth ministry, etc. I will keep you informed.
• I am finding that this venture requires a great deal of patience. I am learning to take things one day at a time (very difficult). Thanks for your patience, commitment to the parish, and support!

ONWARD

What a Kick Off!!!!

I suppose it shouldn't be any surprise that our first weekend of masses coincided with the NFL's "Kick-Off" Sunday for 2008. What a turnout!!! We attended the 10:30 mass Sunday morning and, it was full. If the room holds 700-750 people, there was easily 600+ at 10:30. Having spoken to some folks who where at the 9:00 mass, my understanding is that it was equally packed. I guess it is the perfect indicator of how badly the NW has needed a Catholic Church. One Mass and we're already growing out of our facilities.
Logistically, things seemed to run pretty smoothly. There will be some wrinkles to iron out but, for the most part, things went exceptionally well.
Thanks to Fr. Perry for his vision and guidance towards the identity of this new family. Thanks to Susan and the music ministry. Thanks to Denise for leading the sacristans; Deacon David for leading the EM's & Lectors. And, thanks to ALL the men & women who helped greet, usher, provide hospitality, set-up, clean-up or serve in any capacity. We can't make this all work without your help. A special thanks to all those who traveled from Fresno to help celebrate our inaugural masses. We know you miss Fr. Perry and are thankful that you are still close enough to help us keep tabs on him! ;)
Now, we need your input. We need to know what your thoughts are now that we've celebrated a mass together. What did you like? What would you like to see different? Tell us your thoughts of our first celebrations. It is your input that can help direct this new parish. Remember, it can be anonymous if you'd prefer.
Thanks and have a great week...We can finally say, see ya' next weekend!
MGD

Down to the Wire

As we approach our first weekend of masses at SEASCC, we here on the blog are also approaching another benchmark. We are about to eclipse 3000 hits in just about 4 months time. I am a bit humbled by the power of mass communication in this format. I never expected to see such a tremendous response to it all.

Now, we are going to make another transition. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, we will be moving all of the parish information from the blog to our new website. setoncatholicchurch.org will be launching very, very soon. It will be the spot for news regarding the parish. We are wanting it to serve as an online bulletin; A place for general information and updates, links to sermons and hopfully, pictures of events and progress. It will be very simple to start and as we grow our community, will be a source of all things SEAS.

We're not done here yet but, I wanted to take a minute to thank Fr. Perry, and all who helped and contributed to this blog. I hope it was/is a place that everyone could come for info, updates and even some friendly debate.
So, thanks again to everyone in the community for your support, your prayers and your contribution to this forum.
MGD

What do you think?

As you can see, we've made a slight change to the banner of the blog. Above, you see the new logo for SEASCC. I was only able to use a scanned copy for now but, I hope to have a good copy soon. I find it to be classy and beautiful. What do you think?

General Information and Welcome Letter

This week, the ladies in the office were very busy stuffing envelopes with an information and welcome letter. The letters were sent and should be delivered this week. If you have not had an opportunity to register your family yet, you may not receive the letter. If this is the case, please contact the parish office and provide them with your mailing info so you can begin to receive parish info.
Part of what was sent was a more official looking registration form. This needs to be completed and sent back to the parish office. It also got me thinking of a new question that I'd like to hear responses to....

Is there any particular ministry or organization that you would like to see developed in the new parish? Please leave your comments here. Remember Fr. Perry is able to see all of your ideas so, please share with us what YOU would like to see by clicking the comments link below.

I will try and get a link to the letter and registration form on the blog, so you can read/fill out/print from home, in the next few days.

Mass Info

We are now just 3 weeks away from our first gathering as a parish. Masses will begin on Sunday Sept. 7th in the performing arts center of Frontier High School @ 9AM and 10:30AM.
Our first ministry has begun to take shape, as a group of young people attended our first altar server meeting this past Saturday. Other ministries will be formed as we move forward. Pray that our young people will use this opportunity to learn more about the mass and enrich their faith.
Remember, we do not have a shortage of vocations. We have a shortage of people open to hear God's call. Turn down the noise in the lives of our children and families and show them how to be silent and listen to our God, who speaks to us everyday in all matters.

Back to School

The summer has now ended, sans the heat, and it's time for the kids to get back to school. Please take a moment to say a prayer for all students, teachers and staff as the new school year resumes on Monday. May the Holy Spirit guide them to be as successful as they can be.

Building Committee 2

Tuesday evening was the second meeting of the building committee. It was once again held at the parish residence. The meeting again began with a prayer and then some updates. The Finance committee will meet for the first time in August. The meeting will begin discussions on an operations budget and the formation of a capital campaign.
Liturgical ministries are forming now to be ready for Masses (beginning Sept. 7). We have secured a cantor/vocalist & accompaniment for masses so we will have music during our celebrations. As for other mass needs: our altar is complete (but does need staining); The processional cross is being finished; and, we have additional altar linens being made for use at mass. So, things are proceeding nicely as the 7th approaches.
The building committee continued it's discussion on a master site plan and will be sending out request for proposal's (RFP's) to 4 or 5 local architects. It was determined that there is a wealth of talent locally to help us develop our campus and, it makes troubleshooting easier if there is someone in town to deal with any issues.
There was also a short presentation on church styles. There are many options to consider in arranging a church that can seat 1500 people (min). Styles such as a more contemporary amphitheater or in-the-round configuration. Or the more traditional cruciform (a cross shaped sanctuary). Also to be considered is some sort of hybrid combining different configuration. I have posted a couple of examples to the left for all to see.
The committee will meet again in approx. 3 weeks to review the progress of the RFP's and hopefully meet with an architect or 2. In the meantime, continue to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this amazing challenge before us all.
M

Poll Results

First, I want to thank everyone who was able to participate in the poll. I will have polls posted in the future and hope we continue to have strong turnouts. 61 total votes were cast over the course of the week. Here are the reuslts:

When asked what you think the church property MUST have 20 years from now...

K-8 School received 3 votes (4% of total)
Preschool/Daycare received 2 votes (3%)
Parish Library received 2 votes(3%)
Multi-Purpose Bldg. received 24 votes (39%)
Admin. Bldg. received 6 votes (9%)
Courtyard received 10 votes (16%)
Just build it received 13 votes (21%)
Other received 1 vote (1%)
We had a few comments left on making sure we built a green friendly complex with plenty of shade trees and drought resistant landscaping.
Thanks again to everyone who participated.
MGD

Were you able to make it....

....to tonight's general info meeting? WOW, what a nice crowd. The first half of the meeting was housekeeping. Here is the info that was shared, if you couldn't make it. Some you might know, some you might not...
The parish office is now open. The hours are Mon-Fri 9AM-2PM (and by appointment). The office telephone # is (661) 587-3626. Christine Nguyen is the office manager and is there to help Fr. Perry and answer your questions.

Fr. Perry's new e-mail is pkavookjian@setoncatholicchurch.org Please discard the hotmail address you may have had. There is a parish website being developed however, it is under construction and not available yet.

The building committee has met, the finance committee is being formed as are other ministerial teams. Please keep checking back for info on the progress of these committees.

If you are interested in registering for the new parish, please e-mail Fr. Perry to give the appropriate info.

Sacramental Life:

Masses will begin Sept. 7, 2008 @ Frontier H.S. Performing Arts Center at 9AM & 10:30AM.

Confessions are available by appointment w/ Fr. Perry (Tue-Fri). Give the office a call to schedule.

Adoration will likely begin once masses have begun. There is a small chapel at Fr. Perry's house that will be available for Eucharistic Adoration during office hours. Stay tuned for more info.

Sacraments for the sick can be arranged by contacting the office. If you are in need of anointment's, communion or any other home bound need of the sacraments, please call to schedule time.

Baptisms, weddings and funerals must occur in one of the existing Bakersfield churches. Contact Fr. Perry for the appropriate paper work.

Religious Ed./Youth Ministry's will continue at the existing parishes. Contact your local parish for details and registration info.

Time For Your Ideas...

OK, we're a few days into our poll, and I appreciate the input thus far. My intention was always for this site to be interactive. So, in addition to our poll, I'd like to start seeing some of your ideas. I share all of the info and feedback with Fr. Perry so, I'm sure he'd like to see your thoughts as well.

You are free to put your name with your thoughts or just comment anonymously. However you choose, lets start sharing ideas about what we want our parish to be. Leave us word on any topic you think is relevant. Anything from ministries you'd like to have, to padded vs. non-padded pews. I want to hear them. Please try and keep the comments as brief as you can without loosing necessary detail. You can also continue leaving your poll comments here.

Thanks for all your continued prayers and support. I look forward to reading your thoughts.

M

Building Committee

On Tuesday, the first meeting of the building committee took place.
The discussion that took place was to define the job of the committee? Fr. Perry noted that the roll of the committee should be to discern the needs of the parish. Visualize and set goals. Education in liturgical matters. Collaborate with a liturgical consultant/architect. Much of the evening was spent trying to create a long term vision. What will the needs of the community be 20 years from now and what will the property accommodate.

As a parish, we all need to be considering what our families will need in terms of the parish community. What are the space requirements of these needs.

I have posted a poll at the top of the page(as you can see). These are just some ideas of what we can do with the property; keeping in mind that a Sanctuary is obvious and central to the project. If you have additional thoughts or ideas, please leave your comments by first voting OTHER on the poll and then leave your comment by clicking the comment link below this post.

To our friends in Fresno (@ the Newman Center), you built that beautiful multi-purpose building on the campus there. I would love to hear your comments. Please feel free to vote and add your comments.

Thanks to all of the committee who were able to attend the meeting and thanks in advance for all of YOUR ideas and thoughts. Your contribution will be very important in the months (and years) to come.

A small milestone

Some time late last night or early this morning, this blog surpassed the 1000 hits mark. I never thought this was going to be more than a few interested parties checking in to get the latest info. Thanks to everyone for the support and prayers. SEACC is going to be an amazing project. We will need your continued prayers and support and we will do the same for you.

If you would like to add any prayer requests, I'd be glad to set up a section on the blog for those intentions. Hey, 1000 hits is a couple months, somebody's prayin'!!!

M

Actually...

It does help if one knows HOW to read a calender. The SEACC general info mtg. will be held at St. Phillip's on MONDAY JULY 14, 2008 @ 7PM. I hope everyone can attend. Sorry for the confusion.

M

Progress

Just to keep everyone up-to-date; there will be a meeting of the building committee next week. An overview of the original master plan and discussion on a liturgical consultant and arcitect will be on the agenda. I will post a review of the meeting as soon as the details are available.
MGD

Correction....

There is a correction from the last posting. The meeting scheduled for Monday July 14 is actually July 12. It will be held at St. Phillip's and begin @ 7PM.

On a side note, I spent this week as a facilitator for St. Francis' Vacation Bible School. What a great experience it was. If your children were there, I hope they had as much fun as we had working with them. If not, please remember to sign them up for next year at one of the local parishes. Better yet, sign them up AND volunteer a few hours of your time to help out.

I hope everyone has a Safe and Sane 4th of July. If you are going to light your own fireworks, please be extremely careful. Our family is going to pass this year. With all of the fires in California, I think it is the least we can do to help out the brave and selfless firefighters and all law enforcement. Do what is best for you and your families but, always remember to be safe; and pray for those working on the front lines of one of the busiest holidays of the year for them.

Great News...

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church will begin holding Masses on Sunday, September 7 in the Performing Arts Center of Frontier High School (click link below/left for a map to Frontier). Two morning Masses will be held at 9 AM and 10:30 AM. There will be a general information meeting on Monday, July 14 at St. Philip the Apostle Church to organize for the Mass. We will need Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Ushers, Greeters, Altar Servers. We will also need people willing to provide hospitality after Masses and to transport and set up an altar and other furnishings. Please plan on attending this important meeting!

A formal parish website is in the making and will be up and running in the near future. For more information, contact Fr. Perry at his new email address: pkavookjian@setoncatholicchurch.org

General tidbits

I had a chance to stop by the new house this week. I was surprised to find Burt, (I hope I used correct spelling) a seminarian from Oregon via Merced, staying in the house. Burt will be with us for 10 weeks helping out Fr. Perry where he can. The house looks great. It's pretty darn clean but empty thus far. Furniture is expected this week, as is office furniture. If you get an opportunity, please stop in to say hello. Once things are settled, there will be a place in the house for Eucharistic Adoration. Thanks to all who have provided items, time and prayers.

I am still on the lookout for the 2 trees spoken of in a previous post. The back yard at the house is truly barren (sans dirt and a few weeds). I thought an olive tree would provide shade and be a good symbol of our Catholic/Christian faith. The fig tree is something I thought of as a reminder of Fr. Perry's Fresno roots and of course is a staple of the middle eastern landscape from whence our faith was created. I hope to hear of those generous donations soon.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support!!!

M

Donation Needed

I am looking for two trees for Fr. Perry's House in Bakersfield. I am looking for an olive tree, because I think a priests home should have an olive tree. Second, I am looking for a fig tree. The fig tree is to bring a little bit of Fresno to Bakersfield.

If anyone has the ability to donate these items, I would be very appreciative.

I am also always looking for ideas and topics for this blog. If you have a suggestion or question, please don't hesitate to e-mail me by clicking on the view complete profile link below (on the left). You can send me an e-mail from there.

Thanks for your prayers and support!!!

M

Just A Reminder!

For those who attend Christ the King Parish in Oildale, Fr. Perry will be preaching at all masses. FYI, his homily at St. Francis this past weekend was terrific. Sometimes God throws us all a softball....This past Sunday, He did just that. The Gospel reading was Mt. 7:24. This was the perfect reading for a homily about building a new parish. I haven't looked but, I'll bet this Sundays readings will also provide an excellent platform for the message that will be delivered.

A Couple Tidbits

Fr. Perry will be saying masses at St. Francis this weekend. I'm sure he will be sharing any updated information. Additionally, the general information meeting is still scheduled for 6PM on Mon. June 2 in the St. Francis Parish Hall.

He will be saying masses at Christ the King on the weekend of June 7/8.

Anyone interested in registering for the new parish should e-mail Fr. Perry @ the address linked below, or by calling (661) 833-2218 ext 132.

School is now out for the summer. I hope everyone has a safe, enjoyable summer.

A few updates

I received an email from Fr. Perry this afternoon to let me know (first), he approves of this blog as a way to get information out. Secondly, as the new banner indicates, our parish will be called St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. For a biography on St. Elizabeth follow this link: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13739a.htm or click her photo below.

A couple of item updates from the May 19 meeting @ St. Phillip's....120 families registered that evening....there were families from St. Phillip's, St. Francis, Christ the King & OLPH...a few indicated no current parish affiliation...'We welcome them'.... Several people volunteered to be part of the different working committees; over the next few weeks, Fr. Perry will be forming these committees.

The next general meeting will be held at St. Francis Church (900 H St.) on Monday, June 2. Time and location are TBD.

Please continue to spread the word about this blog. Email a link to family and friends who live in the NW or who you might know to be looking for a congregation. Thanks for all your support!!

Start-up meeting

Tonight at St. Phillip's church we attended the first of several meetings regarding the new catholic parish in Bakersfield. If anyone was unable to attend or hadn't heard about the new church, I will be posting the progress of this major endeavour here. The church will be built (eventually) on a 20 acre parcel near the corners of Old Farm Rd. and Reina Rd. in NW Bakersfield.

The new pastor is Fr. Perry Kavookjian. Fr. Perry is a native of the San Joaquin Valley (Fresno)and has spent the past 14 years at the St. Paul, Newman Center in Fresno. Prior to his stay there, Fr. Perry served as Chancellor of the dioceses under Bishop Stienbock. Many of you may remember his 3 year stay at St. Phillip's in the early 90's. His first assignment upon being ordained (1987) was to Our Lady of Victory in Fresno.

Tonight's meeting began with a reading from the gospel of St. Matthew (Mt. 7: 24-27) and a prayer. Fr. Perry then gave his biography and some of his own reflections on starting a new parish. Some of his thoughts were on first building a congregation, establishing a database of potential/interested families, not limiting the congregation to individuals and families who reside within the boundaries of the parish (Rosedale Hwy-S, Hwy 99-E, 7th Standard & up to Shafter- N and Enos Ln-W) see map. Additionally, Fr. Perry indicated that while fund-raising would ultimately be vital, the time for that will come. At this point, we need to focus on building a community of believers who are working toward something great. We need to be willing to put aside our personal agenda's and reach out to all people who reside within our parish... Christian and non-Christian alike.

Some of the general comments from the gathered ranged from availability of diocesan moneys from their recent capital campaign, (answer: likely none) to will there be land to accommodate a future parish school, (answer: there is space but, it would be a phase 3 project...translation, maybe. Way, way, way down the line).

You may have heard the name All Saints Catholic Church floated around your parish bulletin or by local media. However, All Saints is the name of the Episcopal church on Gosford Rd in the SW. Because of several factors, the new church will have a different name. Fr. Perry provided a short list of names he compiled while still at the Newman Center in Fresno. The list included:

Corpus Christi Catholic Church

Transfiguration Catholic Church

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church

St. Stephen's Catholic Church

St. Gianna Mola Catholic Church

In a non-scientific show of hands, it appeared to me that Corpus Christi was the unofficial winner. However, all attendees were given the opportunity to privately vote on the names provided. In addition, those gathered were given a chance to brainstorm some names for the group to consider. Some of these names were:

St. Benedict's

Holy Names

St. Martin de Porres

as well as a few other names of existing churches in the valley. To make it clear, the Bishop's instructions were that the church must use the name of a saint (or one who has been beatified), and NOT use the name of an existing church in the valley.

After about 70 minutes, the meeting was closed with a final prayer and adjourned.

A few additional postscripts....Fr. Perry hopes to have additional meetings at St. Francis (tentatively June 2) and at Christ the King (TBD). All are welcome to attend... The parish offices will be located at St. Phillip's for the next few weeks until Fr. can get moved into his new residence.... After that, the office will be at the residence until such time that a parish hall can be built on site.

Please check back over the course of the summer. I will try and keep information fresh and up-to-date as best I can. In the mean time, please keep this project in your prayers and try and make some time to attend one of the upcoming meetings. Even if you don't plan on attending a new church, it is nice to offer relevant suggestions and be a participant in what will become your new catholic neighbor.