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Most Reverend John Raphael Quinn Archbishop of San Francisco 445 Church Street San Francisco, CA 94114 Dear Archbishop Quinn: The RCIA Program and Team Coordinators of St. Brigid Church respectfully request your reconsideration of the decision to close St. Brigid Parish. There are several avenues that St. Brigid's RCIA Program has been able to use to begin and continue as a strong presence in the Parish. We have excellent exposure through the Church bulletin boards both on Van Ness Avenue and Broadway Street. People passing by those bulletin boards can read that there is a program at the Church for those who are "Interested in Becoming Catholic" by just calling the rectory. Evangelization through the school provides us with a large exposure and also past participants work through their friends and relatives and talk about their experiences. Not every parish has an RCIA program and the program at St. Brigid's has been carefully orchestrated to include parish participation. We have worked with the Pastor, Fr. Hanson, so that the priest coordinator, Fr. O'Sullivan, is available to conduct most of the classes. We identify the abilities of various parishioners to conduct classes. We also invite guest speakers to address the group in areas of their expertise. The parishioners become involved in various other ways. Most candidates come to the program without sponsors and we have relied on our parishioners to be sponsors. The response has been extremely successful and they have been rewarded with many strong relationships between their candidates, as well as the other candidates, and a new found experience with the Catholic Church. The Rites and Scrutinies are performed at various Masses in order that all parishioners can be exposed to the function of the program. We also have a bulletin board with photos and a resume so that parishioners can identify those seeking the Catholic faith. We recognize the essential part that community plays within the parish and this program. By conducting Advent Prayer Service and Lenten Soup Masses it allows the candidates to know a more intimate part of the parish community. We continue to make the newly converted a part of the parish during the Mystagogy Period. While the RCIA Program at St. Brigid's is young, it has been very successful. The first year we had ten candidates and seven parishioners as sponsors. The second year there were 16 candidates and 13 parishioners as sponsors. This year there are seven candidates with a need for only one parish sponsor (but there were several volunteers). The Easter Vigil ceremony is another big involvement in the parish community and we have even introduced Baptism by immersion. A friend of the parish has built a tub for the Church. We realize and understand that every candidate who goes through the program at St. Brigid's does not live within and will not stay within our parish. Because they have heard through other means, we will never turn anyone away because of their location (we know as soon as they call whether there is a chance they will be in our parish). Those candidates have a special bond to each other and to St. Brigid's Church. Their exposure and successful journey allows them to share the Good News with their colleagues, friends and family. St. Brigid's Parish has a wealth of active and strong organizations and programs. The RCIA Program is just one that is very alive and well and living at St. Brigid's. To demolish this or any of these numerous groups at St. Brigid's would be a great loss and a huge disaster. In conclusion, we feel that it would be a great loss to the San Francisco Community and to the Archdiocese of San Francisco to suppress the Parish of St. Brigid. Our presence on the corner of Van Ness Avenue and Broadway Street is a means of evangelization and represents a real need for those Catholics in the area (both active and inactive). We hope and pray that when we present the "Book of the Elect" to you this year that it will not be the last. We have many pages to fill in that Book and we would like the opportunity to be able to continue the program at St. Brigid's for many years to come. Sincerely in Christ,
Past and Present RCIA Participants
TEAMS COORDINATORS
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