Elderly Parishioners Outlive Their Church Members Couldn't Keep up with Repairs for Their 'Home', by Matthai Kuruvila, San Francisco Chronicle, May 18, 2008

Elderly Parishioners Outlive Their Church
Members Couldn't Keep up with Repairs for Their 'Home'

By Matthai Kuruvila
San Francisco Chronicle
May 18, 2008

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/18/BALB10LKH2.DTL&hw=parish&sn=002&sc=364

For years, parishioners at St. Alphonsus Liguori saw their numbers dwindle, and their members age. They buried their brethren, but they kept coming.

On a typical weekend, 140 would show up for the two Masses at the San Leandro parish - in a region where some Catholic churches draw thousands. But they saw meaning.

"This is our home," said Virginia DeLaCruz, 61, of San Leandro. "We like to come because of the closeness."

Linda Morgan (left) and Ida Valenzuela prepare for another service. On June 30, the church will be closed.

But the small parish couldn't support itself financially, especially as church repair costs kept rising. The Diocese of Oakland said it wasn't spiritually healthy either, scoring low on church vibrancy. A week ago, the congregation was told the parish would be closed June 30.

"Now we're homeless," said DeLaCruz, who saw her first grandson baptized in the church four years ago.

The tiny congregation fueled intimacy. But that quality had a double edge.

"We all came because of the smallness of the parish," said Margaret McKean, 62, of Castro Valley. "But that's why they're closing it."

Catholic churches around the country and the Bay Area have closed in recent years as demographics have shifted to the suburbs, purses have tightened and payouts related to the priest abuse scandal have mounted. In the Diocese of Oakland, there have been mergers. Two years ago, two merged parishes, St. Mary, Immaculate Conception and St. Francis DeSales, merged with another two merged parishes, St. Andrew and St. Joseph. They now all comprise one downtown Oakland parish, Catholic Parish of Christ the Light, which will inhabit the new cathedral in September.

Aging parishioners

At St. Alphonsus, the challenges were many. But most of them center on what the parish had become - a quasi-senior center built around faith.

The faithful were mostly grandparents. They looked out for one another. If one was missing, they'd notice. When someone had a birthday, they gathered after services in a church hall. They gather regularly for breakfasts after weekday Mass.

"It's a family," said Ida Valenzuela, 69, a member for 35 years. But the family wasn't a complete one.

So few children came, the parish stopped offering religious education classes. Valenzuela said that when one newcomer brought a baby to services, she said, gratefully, "It's nice to hear a baby cry during church."

The lack of children was among the most striking characteristics of St. Alphonsus' weaknesses, said Carol Potter, who led the diocesan evaluation.

"That's a sign of a parish in trouble," she said.

Woman parishioners are full of emotions after a daily Mass in the chapel. The church will be closed June 30.

The diocese's 18-month evaluation of the church included numerous discussions with the parish leadership. The parish was evaluated on 10 criteria, such as how involved they were with the church.

St. Alphonsus didn't score well on evangelization, which in the Catholic context can consist of merely inviting friends to services, said Potter, director of Pastoral Planning for the diocese. When Potter attended worship, she also noticed that not many in the pews sang.

Longtime hurdles

"We couldn't justify its continuing existence," Potter said.

But the hurdles for St. Alphonsus had been long in the making, several people said.

The church opened in 1955. But within a decade, Interstate 580 would be finished, dividing San Leandro and splitting the parish boundaries. To this day, parishioners talk about how crossing the freeway was a psychological hurdle for some. And then there's the parish building. A bid to repair the roof was $100,000. And the building's former uses as a hosiery factory and a restaurant gave it little architectural significance.

"There was no possibility of applying for historical preservation grants," Potter said, joking.

Over one of their regular, post-Mass breakfasts at Dick's Restaurant and Lounge last week, parishioners said they understood why the diocese made its decision. They felt like they'd been listened to. But that didn't make it easier.

"Deep in our hearts, we knew they were going to close the church," said Fred Dorado, 67. "It was a matter of time."

The diocese's involvement didn't always help, either. Some of the pastors chosen to head St. Alphonsus were "not very healthy for the parish," Potter said. "They just weren't good administrators or they caused people to divide up."

Poor timing for closure

And there was also the way news of the closure was announced. In a congregation consisting mostly of aging mothers and grandmothers that saw the parish as home, the closure was announced on Mother's Day.

"The timing was reflective of many of the mistakes that were made," said Valenzuela.

Father Kevin Mullins saw the decision in a different way. Last Sunday was also the Feast of the Pentecost, marking the end of the Easter season. The Bible says Jesus' apostles had been afraid after his death and resurrection. But the Holy Spirit descended on them and sent them forth to build the kingdom of God.

"I spoke to the challenge of leaving those comfortable spaces and to go out and do the work of the kingdom," Mullins said of his homily. After news of the closure, "they probably heard it differently."

E-mail Matthai Kuruvila at mkuruvila@sfchronicle.com.