St. Paschal Is Following Papal Call to Move Worship Closer to People

For Catholics, 2000 is a jubilee year, “a time when the generation on Earth pauses, repents, gives thanks, goes forward,” Cardinal Roger Mahony said in a pastoral letter last year.

But the archbishop of Los Angeles also reminded followers that with the celebratory year comes a deadline.

Before the new millennium arrives, parishes are expected to have implemented a “renewal of liturgy.” And for many churches, such as St. Paschal Baylon in Thousand Oaks, the task is not as easy as it sounds.

Becoming “liturgically correct”--bringing the rites of worship in line with Vatican reforms--often requires heavy lifting and serious cash.

At St. Paschal, it means raising $2 million to cover three years of construction projects that will build new office space, renovate a school and move the church’s altar 15 feet closer to worshipers.

“This ties in with the pope’s call for a jubilee,” said Msgr. Joseph George of St. Paschal. “We are getting ourselves ready for the next millennium so we can better complete our mission.”

The push from Rome is to fully realize reforms envisioned by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which include modernizing for more effective ministry and breaking down worship barriers between parishioners and clergy.

“It’s something I want to do, but getting it done is a challenge,” George said. “We’re trying to bring people closer to the liturgy, but we need the facilities and resources to do it.”

Besides adding offices to handle growing community outreach programs and updating its 35-year-old elementary school with amenities such as its first science lab, St. Paschal is reconfiguring the church to better function in the spirit of the Vatican’s latest take on Sunday Mass. The idea is to move worship off a pedestal and bring it closer to the people, George said.

“Gone are the days when people were simply nurtured by the clergy,” George said. “They need to know it is their worship--not just the priest’s. That they are a part of the action and the celebration is theirs.”

St. Paschal plans to place the altar in the middle of the church, surrounding it with removable chairs instead of pews. Seats will also wrap around a large baptismal fountain at the entrance of the church.

“We’re creating an environment where people can be more deeply immersed in the celebration of Mass,” George said. “They will feel more involved and have a better experience. They won’t feel removed; that they are just looking up and watching the action as if it were a play in the theater.”

Father Joe Gaffney, an associate pastor at St. Paschal, said the church brought in a liturgical architect to help redesign the worship space.

“We wanted everyone fully involved as a family, and most churches are not constructed in a way to make that possible,” Gaffney said. “The whole idea of liturgy is the gathering. But we have no place for that now. We’d like to be able to gather at a baptismal pool at the entrance to the church, but ours--like most others--is hidden off in the corner.”

St. Paschal serves more than 4,200 families in the Conejo Valley and is still about $400,000 short in its fund-raising goal to complete the projects by Christmas 1999.

“Every time you start a new construction project, you find things you didn’t anticipate,” George said, referring to the recent discovery of termite infestation and the necessity for asbestos abatement.

Instead of building anew, St. Paschal is renovating four structures built in the 1960s and 1970s. The former rectory is being gutted to serve as a parish center.

Meanwhile, staff members keep the church running by moving from one makeshift office to the next at the start of each construction phase.

“It’s difficult,” George said. “But this is the time to take our responsibilities and mission seriously. The liturgy is the power source, and out of it comes the grace, strength and motivation to proclaim the good news.”