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Ground blessed for new community center at Mission San Miguel
by Lynne Schmitz, Observer Advocate
On Sunday, July 22, newly installed Bishop Richard Garcia made his first pastoral visit to the parish of San Miguel Mission in San Miguel. During his visit Bishop Garcia confirmed 10 candidates at the church of Our Lady of Ransom in San Ardo in southern Monterey County , and blessed the ground upon which a new and very necessary Parish Community Center will be built in San Miguel.
At 10 a.m. a crowd gathered on the site, behind the mission where Mission Pastor Fr. Ray Tintle welcomed all in English and Spanish. Following Introductory Rites, Father Tintle read from scripture. Bishop Garcia led the Intercessions. Descendants of the Salinan Indians, who originally built the mission in San Miguel, gave their blessing in prayers and smoke to the ground. Bishop Garcia then sprinkled the site and gave his blessing to the project. The ceremony closed with the hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God”.
An outdoor mass was celebrated in the picnic grounds, with hymns sung in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and a little Polish, in a parish which incorporates English, Hispanic, and Filipino cultures. The mass was opened and closed with the songs of the earliest mission peoples. Musicologist, John Warren, whose life's work is preserving and performing this early music, led the choir. A large parish barbecue followed the festivities.
Over 10 years ago, faced with a parish that was quickly growing and had long outgrown any rooms in the mission other than the main church, parishioners decided to build a parish hall. They began a drive to raise the estimated one million dollar cost for the project. When the earthquake struck in December 2003, the fund amounted to some $600,000.
The parish met in a downtown storefront, spent one whole summer celebrating Mass outdoors, moved back and forth several times, and mass attendance dropped significantly. Through all the difficulties, a loyal core of San Miguel parishioners determined to not only work to rebuild the damaged mission, but to also build the hall. Now, they had two projects.
Generous donations of money, discounted and gratis work, and sheer determination, have brought the first project to the point of being built. It has evolved into a facility that will not only serve the parish, but also the community of San Miguel. The finished project, some 6000 square feet, will be built in a U shape, with a fully appointed kitchen and some small meeting rooms. The main hall will hold approximately 250 people at tables, and 300 for meetings. Local people will be able to rent the premises for events. Cost for the entire project is now estimated near $200,000.
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