Parish Profile
November 1999
 

In 1947, St. Francis was formed as a mission from Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown San Jose. After only one year St. Francis became a fully self-supporting parish with a membership of 100 communicants and 150 children. Through the years, as a result of memorials, contributions and fund raising, various church buildings were built and the grounds developed.

St. Francis is an attractive and welcoming neighborhood church, located on a prominent corner in the Willow Glen area of San Jose. The church building is highly recognizable with magnificent faceted glass window walls adding to the warmth of the beamed ceiling structure. The beautiful hand carved oak entrance doors, depicting the twelve apostles, welcome all people entering our church.

Although St. Francis is currently a parish with a large number of older members, the Willow Glen area is becoming more youthful with young couples and families moving into this neighborhood environment. Because of St. Francis’ location in the heart of Willow Glen, our future will continue to develop as the neighborhood grows and changes. It is important to us that we be a part of these changes and become the church home to Episcopal families here and all newcomers to our area. 

Worship and Liturgy

St. Francis Church offers several variations of broad Episcopal Church liturgical style. At 8 a.m. on Sunday and at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, small cohesive groups follow a more traditional worship in the chapel using the Rite I Eucharist. Rite II Eucharist with organ and adult choir or hand bell music is celebrated Sunday at 10 a.m. in the main church. Morning Prayer, followed by a said Eucharist, occurs once a month at 10 a.m. Several times each year, Evensong is offered.

A faithful body of Franciscans supports each Sunday service, with an average attendance for both services totaling 150 persons. Members of the Altar and Flower Guilds beautify and prepare our sacred space. Upon entering the church, greeters and ushers welcome parishioners and newcomers. Acolytes, lectors, intercessors and lay Eucharistic ministers participate in the worship service. Our parish community supports ecumenical worship by sharing services and activities with other local churches, including the United Methodist Church and the Lutheran Church in Willow Glen. A small Gospel-based congregation uses our Chapel for services on Sunday.

St. Francis Church welcomes worshippers with disabilities. The flat entrances and naves of both the chapel and the main church, and the parish hall provide wheelchair accessibility. Large-print prayer books are available. At most services, microphones amplify the words of readers and the celebrant/preacher.

Childcare is offered to infants and toddlers at both Sunday services in the parish nursery. The caregiver is paid by the congregation to provide this service to parishioners and newcomers.

Willow Glen has changed considerably in the last number of years. Individuals and families have moved here from all over the world to take advantage of the prosperous economy and job market. Willow Glen is comprised of a wide range of cultures, ages and family structures. The parish has actively sponsored activities that bring groups from all generations together to encourage friendship and spiritual fellowship.

Active groups within St. Francis include The Book Club and the Episcopal Church Women (ECW), currently composed of women who have met for a number of years. A group of over 30 Cursillistas from St Francis actively participates in all Cursillo weekends and members serve in board positions in the Santa Clara Servant Community (SCSC). St Francis clergy have been active in the past as Spiritual Advisors for Cursillo weekends and for the SCSC.

Easter and Christmas are special times at St. Francis. In addition to a full liturgical program, festivities include Easter egg hunts for children, Lenten soup suppers, Shrove Tuesday pancake dinners, Epiphany burning of greens, holiday hors d’oeuvres parties and special activities for children. Activities are also held throughout the year in support of St. Francis. They include parish workdays, parish yard sales, dinner fundraisers, etc.

The congregation meets for coffee and conversation after the 10:00 am service in McNaught Hall. Many activities occur there. We are able to offer this facility to outside groups, as well as for parish social events. In past years, we have had parish picnics, BBQs, dances and other social events either at the church or at an off-site location.

An important aspect of our parish life has been St Francis’ experience of raising up clergy. The parish has had the joy of experiencing and encouraging the call of at least 12 clergy from our parish family. Some have been priests ordained from our own community, while others have been transitional deacons with us in their journey to priesthood or as seminarians. We value that tradition and look forward to its continuation.

Although St. Francis is an active parish, we would always like to see more participants in activities. Recent interest has been expressed in a men’s group, a women’s group to meet at times convenient to working women, more children’s and youth activities, an active newcomer’s welcoming program and more adult social events. Additionally, we would like to see more participation in Willow Glen community events.

We see an opportunity to become a more significant part of the fabric of Willow Glen and to add to the community by sharing the vitality of St. Francis’ parish life. Adults working in Silicon Valley’s high tech fast-paced environment, and their families, face constant pressures for success and achievement. We hope to offer community and an invitation to nourish spiritual lives in response to daily challenges.

Christian Education

St. Francis‘ Christian Education program falls into three main sections: children’s Sunday school, a youth program and adult bible studies. However, it is recognized that education occurs in many forms and is not limited solely to these programs.

The children’s Sunday school classes are taught during the 10:00 a.m. church service. Occasionally, prior to the children exiting the church for their classes, the rector has gathered them together in the front of the altar steps to present a children’s homily. The children appear to greatly enjoy this time.

The church school classes are divided into the following age groups: pre-K and kindergarten, first through third grades, and fourth through sixth grade. Seventh graders participate with the youth group. The average class size is 7 children. In the fall and prior to the Christmas and Easter holidays, class sizes have been as large as 20.

Traditionally, parent volunteers, who instruct for the entire school year, have taught these classes. However, during the 1998-1999 year, people were asked to volunteer for six-week periods. This encouraged and accommodated more volunteers, and more people were able to make a commitment to the shorter time frame. In addition, as of the 1999-2000 school year, a part-time paid position was developed and filled for a "Director of Religious Education."

In the past several years, teachers have utilized both commercially prepared lessons and lessons they have designed and prepared themselves. The church purchased pre-K through third grade curriculum for the 1998-1999 school year. The lessons focused on bible stories and how they relate to our lives. They were interactive and included a variety of media -- song, story, role-playing, worksheets and crafts. For the 1999/2000 school year the curriculum for all classes is Living the Good News.

Another area of children’s education is Vacation Bible School, conducted over three days during the summer. The 1999 summer program was developed and implemented with the collaboration of volunteers from the St. Francis parish and the two other congregations that share our facilities.

A youth ministry team of three people leads the program focussed on young adults. The team has outlined a schedule of varied activities with the goal of responding to the interests and needs of this age group. Concerned about a decline in participation by teens, the parish wants to welcome more teenagers to the church with activities appropriate for them.

The area of adult education has primarily consisted of Lenten soup suppers with accompanying bible studies and/or videos, and bible study groups, which met after the 10:00 a.m. service.

At other periods in the parish’s history, laypersons have facilitated bible studies, as well as special interest programs. These programs dealt with issues such as "Raising a Spiritual Child" and "Death and Dying." A study group meets regularly to review and discuss the gospel and epistle readings for the following Sunday’s service. Other areas of adult education include retreats, Cursillo and Ultreya programs.

Outreach

Outreach at St. Francis includes a variety of programs to serve individuals in need and the local community. Outreach efforts include participation in a Rotating Homeless Shelter program benefiting homeless men during the month of November, providing shelter and food for up to 15 individuals; supplying baskets of food and gifts for local needy families at Christmas time; raising funds for the United Thank Offering; participating annually in the Love Loaf Fundraiser for World Vision hunger relief; and providing ongoing support for the local Episcopal mission with donations of food, clothing and volunteer time.

Recently, we have been raising funds for the Habitat for Humanity through cutlery sales. We also reach out to the local community by sharing our church facilities with two other church parishes and two-dozen community groups such as Girl Scouts, exercise and "twelve-step" groups.

Our goal for Outreach includes a desire to involve more members, in terms of time and talent. We would like this to include church school children and youth groups, as well as adults. By getting more parishioners involved, we hope to have more ongoing programs instead of seasonal ones. We would like to emphasize meeting the social and spiritual needs of the Willow Glen community and the community at large. We envision being more responsive towards individuals in times of stress, conflict or crisis (e.g. divorced, widowed, new to the community, unemployed, working parents, elderly, etc.) We also wish to be more active and visible in reaching out to newcomers and members of the neighborhood community to encourage them to become members of St. Francis.

Buildings and Grounds

Church facilities include the Church itself (capacity 350-sitting), McNaught Dining Hall (capacity 430-assembly, 200-dining), St. Francis Chapel (capacity about 100-sitting), Church offices, the Wickham meeting room and one of the finest Episcopal libraries in the county with over 1500 books – with recent new selections added to the children’s section. All of the ground floor buildings are wheelchair accessible and public transportation is readily available. The church basement currently has eight church school classrooms and rooms for choir vesting and choir rehearsal.

Parishioners are particularly proud of several features of the Church, including: a) carved wooden panels of the twelve apostles on the main doors, b) five faceted glass panels which make up the entire South wall, and c) its Wicks two manual pipe organ with 1,032 pipes. The chapel houses a Hammond electric organ. Beautiful needlepoint done by faithful parishioners highlight the kneelers used during the Eucharist in the Church.

From time to time the parish has experimented with different service arrangements (e.g., different locations for the altar and other major decorations, and special provisions for parents with infants).

About San Jose and Willow Glen

San Jose, California is located at the southern tip of San Francisco Bay, easily accessed by several major freeways. All major points of interest and key attractions in the Bay Area – San Francisco, Oakland, the Pacific Ocean, Santa Cruz beaches, and the Monterey Peninsula – are an hour or less away. St. Francis is located in suburban Willow Glen at the corner of Newport and Pine Avenues, within walking distance of Willow Glen’s village shopping center. Willow Glen has a reputation for being a "small town" within San Jose and more and more families seek out this environment when they move to this part of Santa Clara County.

San Jose is the 11^th largest city in the United States and third largest in California. It is the main city of the beautiful Santa Clara Valley, which is home to over one and a half million people. San Jose has experienced a major renovation of its downtown center, and is home to theatre, opera, symphony and ballet companies. Museums, restaurants, sports and concert arenas all abound within the heart of downtown. San Jose (and the surrounding Santa Clara County area) has many institutions for advanced learning: universities offering four-year and advanced degree programs as well as community colleges. The San Jose Unified School District is a neighborhood school system for elementary and high school education. In addition to neighborhood schools, children may apply to a number of magnet schools which offer focus on particular areas of instruction. Willow Glen has elementary schools, middle schools and a high school. There are both parochial and secular independent elementary and high schools in the immediate area.

In Closing