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PARISH PROFILE
 St. Francis of Assisi, Staunton: ‘Very Catholic, very vibrant’
By Jean Denton
Special to The Catholic Virginian
Dan Kalas, chairman of the parish pastoral council at Staunton’s St. Francis of Assisi parish, calls the practice of the Catholic faith there “traditional.” So does Pastoral Associate Alexa Schmidheiser.
The pastor, Father Gerald Przywara, says he’d rather not apply a “label” to the parish life of the 163-year-old church community.
“To me, it’s simply Catholic,” he explains.
The parish has around-the-clock Eucharistic Adoration and an active Legion of Mary ministry of community evangelization.
St. Francis also is highly active in the work of social justice both in the Staunton community and abroad, including generous support for a twin parish in Haiti and several development projects in that country.
“This church is very Catholic, very vibrant,” said Father Jerry, as he is best known to parishioners. “The people are community-minded and social justice-minded.”
More formally, in a “pastoral summary” of the church’s strategic plan — through the diocese-directed “We Walk By Faith” process, he wrote: “Based on my 40 years experience as a parish priest, hospital chaplain, campus minister, missionary and teacher, I have observed and experienced that St. Francis is a beautiful, orthodox and reverent parish, filled with devout Catholic Christians who truly live their faith.”
Established in 1844, St. Francis is the fifth oldest parish in the diocese.
 In the decade that followed, numerous Irish Catholic immigrants came to the area, and in 1895, the current gothic-style church was built overlooking the historic town.
The church, with its native green limestone and classic stained glass windows, sits on a hill with Mary Baldwin College across the street and the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library only a few blocks away.
Father Jerry came to Staunton in 2005 from his previous pastorate in nearby Palmyra (Ss. Peter and Paul) and Columbia (St. Joseph’s).
Kalas, a retired Marine, moved to Staunton from California 15 years ago to be pastoral associate of the parish, a position he held for a dozen years. He noted that although Catholics make up only three percent of the Shenandoah Valley population, St. Francis, with five Masses every weekend, “is the largest church in the area.”
“When I talk to people from other churches in the region,” he said, “they are amazed that we are doing so much.”
“So much” includes the parish’s leadership in providing emergency food and financial assistance to families in serious need through the Staunton-Augusta Church Relief Association—known as SACRA.
Started by the Daughters of Charity 20 years ago, SACRA has become an ecumenical ministry of area churches with St. Francis providing office space as well as continued funding support and parish volunteers.
Permanent Deacon James Kledzik has established an active local prison ministry in which he is assisted by several parishioners.
Ms. Schmidheiser, who took over as pastoral associate three years ago, agreed with Kalas that St. Francis parishioners — nearly 700 households — are highly involved in ministry and parish life, as well as in the pursuit of deeper knowledge about their faith.
Since Father Jerry’s arrival, the parish has been working to build a youth program to complement religious education classes for teens. This year parishioners Karol Donfrancesco and Tracy Kruger have organized middle school activities on Sunday nights including recent projects to benefit families and school children in Kosovo and Iraq.
 High school teens are invited to a weekly “coffeehouse” on Fridays — a casual evening to socialize and get involved in service ministry.
Additionally, the pastor noted that St. Francis now has a “young people’s Mass” at 5 p.m. on Sundays in which youth serve as liturgical ministers. A youth choir helps lead worship at that Mass with more contemporary songs.
Ms. Schmidheiser said there are about 180 children enrolled in parish religious education classes.
Monica and John Wirth, who have five young daughters, have been in the parish 13 years.
“Families have a real support system with one another here,” Monica said. “There is a lot of teaching, a lot of education for all ages.”
Her husband added, “What we like about it is that a lot of people here really love the Church, and so many are interested in learning more about our Catholic faith.”
On a recent Sunday the Wirths enjoyed coffee and conversation after Mass with another couple, John and Camille Mustachio. The latter, both professional teachers, have been in the parish less than two years.
“When we first came we could see how many people here love — and practice — our faith. It’s about ongoing ministry and having a real sense of community,” Camille said explaining their affection for their new parish.
 The Mustachios chose to move to Staunton so their two sons could attend Guardian Angel Regional Catholic School there and expressed serious disappointment that it was closed last July.
Fr. Jerry said the school’s closing caused “a deflation of spirits, but we are obedient.”
Kalas added, “We just didn’t have enough people (to maintain a viable enrollment).”
St. Francis of Assisi has regular, big parish social gatherings, Ms. Schmidheiser pointed out. In October the parish held an Oktoberfest, a Knights of Columbus pancake breakfast and an All Saints party. Parish women host an annual Christmas Bazaar at which they raise funds to support various church needs.
Ms. Schmidheiser said the parish “Friendship Club” has an ongoing relationship with the local Ritenour House providing assistance to people with disabilities, including hosting a picnic for them every year.
The parish Legion of Mary group is, by all accounts, very active and led by Mike and Ubie Brown. A primary purpose of the ministry is evangelization which includes door to door visits.
Father Jerry said his challenges as a pastor at St. Francis are “to unravel the basic Catholic Christian teachings and bring people on board, both young and old, with new zeal and excitement.”
 Noting that the parish is “highly Eucharist oriented” as shown by its devotion to Eucharistic adoration, he added, “The people here are very generous and have taken great hold of their Catholic faith.”
While St. Francis has helped support St. Louis Parish in Pointe a Raquette, Haiti, for 20 years, the enthusiasm and work of a small group of Staunton parishioners has stepped up the level of activism since 2004.
Dr. Linda Kofeldt will soon make her seventh visit to LaGonave where St. Francis now supports a feeding program for “very desperate families” and a group of elderly, handicapped and at-risk individuals who she describes as “those who would die if we were not feeding them.”
Additionally, the Staunton parish has provided the resources for the Pointe a Raquette community to run a clinic, staffed by Haitian medical personnel, and to establish a school that now has 96 pupils in kindergarten through second grade and will add a grade each year.
Emphasizing that the projects in Pointe a Raquette are administered and run by the local Haitian community, Dr. Kofeldt explained that the generosity of St. Francis parishioners has allowed for continued development. She explained that now church members contribute to the outreach programs through the foundation, while the parish continues its monthly support of St. Louis Parish.
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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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