August 6, 2007VOL. 45, NO. 14Oakland, CA

St. Augustine Parish begins its centennial year

When Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, St. Augustine Parish hosted a memorial liturgy that drew Catholics from around the diocese to the Alcatraz Avenue church. CHRIS DUFFEY PHOTO

By Carrie McClish
Staff writer

Although Msgr. Nial McCabe served as pastor at Oakland’s St. Augustine Parish more than over 40 years ago, he still casts a mighty long shadow. One cannot pass the parish grounds on Alcatraz Avenue at Colby Street without seeing his greatest hits.

During his 18-year pastorate (1951-1969), the parish built a new convent, enlarged the school, and constructed a gymnasium. Towering over it all is the parish’s spiritual home – St. Augustine Church, which was dedicated in 1959.

The priest, who died in 1979, had enormous energy and “knew how to get things done,” said Bishop Emeritus John Cummins, who grew up in the parish. “He was just a dynamo.”

In addition to his prowess as a project manager, Msgr. McCabe was an exceptional fundraiser. The church was paid off by the time the structure was dedicated.

“That is a remarkable thing,” said Patricia Nolan, a longtime parishioner, “There are very few churches you can say that about.”

Lorraine and Vince Nicora were married in the old St. Augustine church on June 22, 1952. PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. AUGUSTINE PARISH

Past and present members of St. Augustine Parish are taking a long and affectionate look back at its roots as the congregation prepares to mark the 100th anniversary of its establishment as a parish. The centennial celebration will begin Sept. 9, the actual date that the parish was created in 1907 by San Francisco Archbishop Patrick Riordan.

Bishop Allen Vigneron will preside at the 10:30 a.m. anniversary Mass in the church. A reception follows in the gym. That evening a number of parishioners will attend a performance of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at the Woodminister Theater in the Oakland Hills.

Other highlights of the parish’s year-long commemoration include a special midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the 100th anniversary of the first Mass in the parish. Bishop Cummins will preside at the liturgy. The parish is also planning a formal dinner dance in January and an outdoor summer cinema and chili cook-off later next year, said Father Mark Wiesner, St. Augustine’s current pastor.

The parish will also continue its outreach to Elizabeth House, a Catholic Worker house of hospitality for homeless and low-income women and their children, which rents the parish convent. Parishioners will re-landscape the property over three weekends in May.

The centennial celebration will conclude on the feast of St. Augustine, Aug. 30, 2008.

Some of St. Augustine School students pose for a class photo in December 1951, three years before the school was enlarged and renovated. PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. AUGUSTINE PARISH

Members of the final graduating class of St. Augustine School pass through an honor guard in the church during their June 2, 2004 graduation ceremony. CHRIS DUFFEY PHOTO

Reaching this centennial milestone is particularly significant for parishioners who have seen the community go through some difficult times in recent years.
In 2000, a sustained decline in population, created when a number of young families and older retired people moved out of the area, led to talk of the possible closure or consolidation of the parish. The 2000 parish census had found that only 176 people attended Masses

Under the leadership of Father Ray Zielezienski, who served as pastor from 2001-2003, parishioners joined discussion groups to discuss the parish’s future. These meetings led to strengthening the ministries of liturgy, stewardship, and outreach.
The area’s demographics also aided the parish’s recovery. New families moved into the neighborhood and found a welcoming parish they could call home.

“In the last three years, on average, we have one new family a week officially registering in our parish,” Father Wiesner said. Now nearly 400 families attend the weekend liturgies.

St. Augustine’s renewal, however, did not spread to the parish school. After years of falling enrollment and rising financial problems, the school closed in 2004 after more than 80 years of providing Catholic education. The parish has since leased the building to different schools, including the current occupant, Escuela Bilingue Internacional, an independent school that offers a Spanish-English dual language immersion program.

Despite this setback, the parish has continued its long renewal. Many new parishioners say they’ve been drawn in by the highly regarded music ministry, under the direction of Jim Gilman. In addition to music for Mass, Gilman has organized a number of monthly concerts and coordinated community vigils, including two for victims of violence in Oakland.

Informal surveys of new parishioners also reveal that they are attracted to St. Augustine by the energy and preaching of Father Wiesner and by the parish’s rich tradition of hospitality.

New parishioners are invited to a luncheon with the pastor and pastoral staff to give them an opportunity to get acquainted and ask questions about the parish.
“To me it has always been a place of welcome and friendship,” said Pat Nolan, a parishioner since 1957. “People didn’t jump into their cars and run away after Mass.” That friendliness helped nurture a close-knit community, something Maureen Wikander felt when she joined the parish in 1980.

“Having been on the receiving end of that hospitality made me, in turn, want to be hospitable to other newcomers,” she said.

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