Answering Their Prayers : Camarillo: The new Padre Serra Church will soon serve a burgeoning number of parishioners as it nears opening day ceremonies July 1.

Seven years ago, members of St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo decided that the 75-year-old mission-style sanctuary was no longer capable of holding its growing number of parishioners.

So about 2,500 members of the church, all residents of eastern Camarillo and the Santa Rosa Valley, began holding Mass in a room at St. John’s Seminary while seeking a permanent site to worship.

They decided the new church would be called Padre Serra parish, and with faith, a will to make things happen and the help of their Irish-born pastor, Father Liam Kidney, they embarked on a journey to build their own church.

The church’s membership has swelled to more than 5,000, and the congregation is gearing up to move into a new 16,300-square-foot building, which sits atop a hill with sweeping views of the Santa Monica Mountains and--on a clear day--the Pacific Ocean.

Located on Upland Road, the California mission-style church is surrounded by palm and olive trees. A bell tower announces the building’s holy purpose, and multihued, earth-toned walls and a red-tiled roof make it look like a Mediterranean villa.

“I can hardly believe that we are about to have our own place of worship,” said George Kroll, a church member since 1988. “It’s absolutely beautiful and we are proud of it.” On July 1, the parishioners will hold opening ceremonies, with Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony anointing various places in the sanctuary and celebrating an elaborate Mass.

To raise the $5.5 million needed to build the church, members held two fund-raising campaigns--the last one in 1993 when they hired an outside company to help them. They also put together events such as fashion shows, a golf tournament and auctions.

“It was a lot of hard work,” Kidney said. “But that is part of my job and I’m really excited that the people now have a home to worship.”

The construction of the church began a year ago on a 12-acre site near St. John’s Seminary. The proposal called for a worship hall, school and office building and an expansive garden lined with trellis-covered walkways and plants mentioned in the Bible, including olive, fig and guava trees.

Although construction of the school and the biblical garden have not begun, the hall of worship, a chapel, eight administrative offices and six classrooms for Sunday school classes have been built.

All parts of the building face a courtyard that has a fountain, California pepper trees and other plants.

The courtyard, facing the Santa Monica Mountains, leads directly to the hall of worship, which features vast, wooden ceilings. A skylight and four long, rectangular glass windows allow sun to stream into the hall.

“The sanctuary was designed to create a sense of intimacy,” said Ed Holakiewicz, the project designer. “The ceiling’s exposed wood creates a feeling of warmth, and it gives the impression that everything is reaching toward heaven, toward God.”

In contrast to the architecture of many traditional Roman Catholic churches, where the building is rectangular and has an altar at one end, Padre Serra worship hall is octagonal and the altar is in the middle of the room.

And, instead of built-in pews that all face forward, the Padre Serra hall will have mostly chairs that can be rearranged for special services such as baptisms and funerals.

By July 1, Kidney expects to have 850 oak chairs placed around the altar and 14 pews. The hall will seat about 1,100 people, he said.

In addition, the facility also has a chapel known as the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. A tabernacle, which holds the communion wafers, will be placed on top of a six-ton solid granite rock that rests in the center of the chapel, Kidney said.

For Kidney, the project is more than a home of worship to his parishioners. It’s the fulfillment of a dream.

A native of Cork City, Ireland, he came to the United States in 1964 to attend St. John’s Seminary. After he was ordained, he worked in several churches in California, then returned to Camarillo in 1988 to be the pastor of Padre Serra Church.

Although the church’s inauguration will occupy his mind for the next month, Kidney said he hopes to raise money to build the school and the biblical garden.

“This is a place for meditation, for prayer, and to worship God,” he said. “So we want to make it as holy and as comfortable as we can.”