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PARISH PROFILE
St. Bede’s, Williamsburg:  Parish celebrating 75th anniversary
By Steve Neill
Of The Catholic Virginian
As St. Bede parish in Williamsburg prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary with a special Anniversary Mass on Sunday, Oct. 28, parishioners can know they have the largest church in the diocese.
The current church, dedicated in May 2003, seats 1,500 people and is expandable to seat 2,000. But its construction was a huge undertaking — not only because it was such a large building, but because St. Bede parishioners were leaving their old established church in Colonial Williamsburg to move to what some felt was a remote area three miles west.
Bob Morris, a St. Bede parishioner for 15 years who served as co-chairman of the Core Committee for the New Church and later became the pastor’s representative during the construction period, recalls the transition period which took almost two years because of problems related to the weather.
The move was necessary, he says, because parishioners were then worshipping in two separate buildings (the church and the parish center). Another major problem was lack of adequate parking. During much of the year buses often parked illegally on the nearby streets bringing tourists for Mass. Something had to be done.
 Then John and Mary Dick Digges, longtime parishioners, donated a site of 43 acres of farm land they owned on Ironbound Road.
Msgr. William H. Carr, who then was pastor, called for a major fundraising campaign to build a new church.
“His designation of the project was ‘One Table’ and that name helped us have a focus on why we were doing this,” Mr. Morris told The Catholic Virginian. The emphasis was to raise money for one building where there would be“one table” for Sunday Eucharist.
St. Bede parish has grown since that time and now has approximately 3,200 families which reflect a blend of many retired couples from the Northeast and younger families with small and teenaged children. The needs of Catholic students at the College of William and Mary, which is prominent in Williamsburg, are met by a Campus Ministry program. Mass for the students is celebrated at the former parish church on Richmond Road which is known as the Campus Ministry Center.
Father John A. Abe has been pastor of St. Bede’s since June 2005. Other clergy are Father Rob Cole, parochial vicar, and Deacon Daniel Ferry who recently came from the Diocese of Paterson, N.J.
“St. Bede’s is large and diverse,” Father Abe said. “We try to offer the best of the old and the best of the new.
“My desire is that we embrace the authentic spirituality and Tradition of the Church.”
The pastor spoke of a new program which is seeking to reach young families who are in between the retirees and the college students.
“We are making an expansion of our ministry to young families with children and young adults,” he said, pointing out that one major new event is the monthly Friday Family Night at the parish.
John and Joelle Peeters and their four daughters attended the first session this month which featured a potluck supper in the commons, allowing young families with children to get to know one another and share what works well with them in rearing their children and developing family prayer time.
The purpose of the group is two-fold, he said.
“One, it provides support to younger families that are sometimes overwhelmed by what is happening to them,” Mr. Peeters explained. “Two, it offers guidance and the life experiences of older parents who know you can’t overload children with prayer.”
Father Abe said of the new program, “The parents become friends and share parenting ideas so they feel better able to talk about God in the home.”
 One feature unique to St. Bede’s is that the parish is home to the Tidewater Intergenerational Orchestra or TIO, organized by Tom and Alice Lindsay, professional musicians who moved to Williamsburg from New Jersey in June 2004. TIO offers three concerts each year in the church sanctuary. While admission is free, donations are welcome and all money from patrons goes to the parish’s organ fund.
Musicians in the orchestra come from Hampton Roads and as its name implies, members are of various ages and from different church communities.
“What is interesting is that more and more people are coming out of the woodwork from St. Bede’s,” Mrs. Lindsay said. “We just had a high school senior sign up who is a very accomplished cellist.
“Our goal is to provide music by professional concert artists, teachers and their students and serious adults from the community,” she added.
A number of sometimes controversial topics are addressed through the parish’s Bede Lectures. This year there will be seven lectures.
“This year we’ll have a lecture on Galileo and I hope in 2008 we’ll have a lecture on the Inquisition,” Barbara Smith, coordinator of the Bede Lectures, said.
Bill Theroux, who chairs the St. Bede parish pastoral council, has been a member of the parish for 11 years.
“Our major project for this year is going through the diocesan document ‘We Walk by Faith,’” he said, adding that in November parishioners will be asked to fill out a survey at Mass in which they can rank what they like about St. Bede’s and what areas they feel need strengthening. Greg Ballentine and Peg Crews, both members of the parish pastoral council, have organized the project from its inception.
 “We’re trying to identify our strengths and areas for improvement and what changes we can make and how the diocese can help us,” Mr. Theroux said.
Gloria Flinn-Linderman is director of Christian Formation. Religious education classes for grades k-5 serve approximately 350 children and there are 130 more in the middle school group which encompasses grades 6-8. Michele Bolton, director of youth ministry, coordinates both the middle school and high school programs. The high school group meets in the church on Sunday nights and includes the 11th grade Confirmation preparation program which has about 75 youths.
“We have probably close to 100 people who are involved as catechists or as small group facilitators,” Ms. Bolton told The Catholic Virginian.
In addition, there is a group known as CIA — Catholics in Action — which seeks to develop leadership among high school youths.
 Jack and Suzanne Ruff are in charge of St. Bede’s Joy Ministry to the home-bound and hospital patients. Volunteers help bring the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church to parishioners living in retirement homes and senior centers.
St. Bede’s has an active outreach program which serves the poor and needy. Gail Vaughan is coordinator of Social Ministry.
“We try to provide for needy families of the community,” Mrs. Vaughan said. “We handle daily existence needs like food and housing. Stabilization is our goal.”
The outreach program office is open four days a week at the parish center near the old church.
“We see an average of four clients a day,”Mrs. Vaughan said. “A lof of them don’t make appointments, they’ll just walk in. Most of those who walk in come for food and we always give to them.
“We also give out gas vouchers and bus tickets.”
St. Bede’s Social Ministry also encompasses Hispanic Ministry, Haiti Outreach (St. Bede’s has a twinning parish in Thomonde, Haiti) and Friends for Life.
The parish has many groups, including the Father James Rizer Council of the Knights of Columbus which has 215 members. The Grand Knight is Tony Williams.
 With so many newcomers moving into the Williamsburg-James City County area, St. Bede’s has a newcomers’ reception four times a year after the 11 a.m. Mass on Sundays in the commons area. Representatives of the parish’s many ministries are on hand to welcome the newcomers and talk about opportunities available for service.
“We love this parish,” Elaine Charles, a recent newcomer from California, said. “When I walked in here the first time, I thought ‘I’m home.’ It’s what I grew up with and it’s what we like.”
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Copyright © 2006 The Catholic Virginian Press. Articles from Catholic News Services, including Fr. Dietzen’s column, may not be reproduced here due to copyright considerations.
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