St. Bruno's Church

St. Bruno's is a Roman Catholic Church in San Bruno, California. The church is named after St. Bruno of Cologne. It was founded in the early 1900s, during the town's early stages of development.

t. Bruno's Community

St. Bruno's Church serves a variety of parishioners, each of whom derive from unique cultural, social, and economic spheres. The church's most prominent cultural groups are Hispanic, Filipino, Tongan, Samoan, and Indian.

St. Bruno's is known as "The Small Parish with a Big Heart" because of its strong parishioner participation. The church, much like other Catholic Parishes in the vicinity, hold annual fundraisers for church beautification, maintenance, and so on.

Church Beautification

Between 2005 through 2008, under the guidance of retired Father Rene Gomez and current leader Father Michael Brillantes, the church has undergone major renovations, many of which are on going. Several changes included pew renovations, which was made possible through fundraising and private donations, as well as structural additions to the parish, including a much needed handicap railway. Currently, the courtyard area of the parish, which is the central gathering and social arena after masses, is moving its present centerstage to the North of the parish. This change will allot more room for parishioners during events, as well as providing a more spacious gathering area after mass.

Units of the Parish

St. Bruno's is composed of five unique building units used for several purposes. The first unit is the church itself, which occupies most of the space on the church's lot. The second unit is the housing building and offices of the priests and cathecism director. This unit is a multi-level building in certain areas, which has several rooms used for cathecism courses, ESL classes, and other purposes. The third unit is the Hall of the Parish, used for major fundraising events, church festivities and celebrations, in addition to cathecism classroom space. The Hall has a kitchen, utilized especially during the annual summer camp of the parish during July. The last two units are classroom space and a homeless shelter, which provides meals and a social gathering space for locals who are in need.

ummer Camp Program

Every year, St. Bruno's holds a week-long day camp for parishioner children, ages 5-12. Unlike other "church camps" in the area, St. Bruno's program is free and provides several types of activities, crafts, field trips, and lessons without any additional costs. This camp is often headed by the Missionaries of Charity, located in Pacifica, California. For the past several years, the camp was lead by Sister Basillia Marie, who often incorporated phrases as a central theme of the camp, including "God is Love," "Alleluia," and "God is the Way, the Truth, and the Light." Despite her reassignment to New Mexico this year, this tradition will be maintained in the camp.

The program often concludes with a field trip to San Bruno Park, where children enjoy a barbecue lunch, followed by a swim in the municipal swimming pool. This also provides the children to play with, experiment, and utilize the crafts they have made throughout the week.

External links

* [http://sanbruno.ca.gov/]
* [http://www.saintbrunos.org/]

References

* [http://www.saintbrunos.org/]