Small Faith Community Snapshot
Name: Small Faith Community of Vista, CA.
Location: Vista is 35 miles from San Diego. Community members are parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi Church.
When Started: At the suggestion of friends in 1993, Joe Bukovchik, a resigned Maryknoll priest, began celebrating Sunday Mass in his home and the home of a neighbor. He had recently been ordered to cease his volunteer work in the local RCIA program -- one more in a long series of rejections by diocesan authorities due to his background and liberal views -- and he decided finally to act on his own initiative.
Format: Mass is celebrated at 9 A.M. three Sundays a month at homes on a rotating basis -- with shared prayer, dialogue homilies, singing, and a discussion and social afterwards. One chair in the midst of the group is always kept empty to symbolize Jesus' presence in the community.
Membership: About 50, representing a wide variety of ages and backgrounds.
Organization: Very informal. Members regard liturgy in its literal sense as "a common work" and take turns handling the details. The group sponsors an orphanage in Sri Lanka, and most members are also active at St. Francis in the soup kitchen, the Cursillo, RCIA or counseling.
Biggest Benefits: Through shared experiences in a small, intimate community, the group tries and sometimes succeeds in recreating the spirit of the early church.
Future Plans: None, except continuing to break bread, share stories and minister to the needs of the full church.
Quote: "We don't have problems with church officials and we don't expect any. There's room in God's church for everyone. Besides, the law is to help us get closer to Jesus, not hold us back... Sometimes when we're together, Jesus becomes so real it's as if he's sitting right in our midst..."
Source: Joe Bukovchik, 619-726-8831.
E-mail: annjoebuko@aol.com
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