Churches Worth Driving To
Name of Church: St. Kieran Church
Address: 1510 Greenfield Drive, El Cajon, CA 92021
Phone number: (619) 588-6881
Website: www.stkierans.org
Mass times: Saturday vigil, 5:30 p.m. Sundays, 8 & 10 a.m. Monday – Friday, 7:30 a.m. School Mass on Wednesdays at 9 a.m.
Confessions: Saturdays, 4-5 p.m. and by appointment.
Names of priests Fr. Ben Davison, pastor. Fr. Davison is an orthodox pastor — faithful to the teachings of the Church, strongly pro-life, pro-traditional marriage — who has served as pastor since 2006. His predecessor was Bishop of Oakland Salvatore Cordileone, who was pastor 2004-06. Frank Reilly, deacon.
Special groups/activities: St. Vincent de Paul Pantry for the Poor, pro-life group prays in front of abortion clinic on Fridays and Saturdays, rosary and prayer before daily Masses, First Saturday rosary sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, Scripture and prayer groups, Altar & Rosary Society.
Music: Traditional music, uses organ and cantor for the weekend Masses. A choir sings at the Sunday 10 a.m. Mass. On holidays, a musician plays the flute and clarinet.
School: Yes, K-8. Its teachers include two of the four Sister Servants of the Blessed Sacrament who reside at the parish. The school is orthodox, but has struggled to keep its doors open in recent years due to declining enrollment. The surrounding community in El Cajon is graying, hence there are fewer children to enroll, and paying the more than $4,000 annual tuition is a challenge for same families, too.
Fellow parishioners: St. Kieran’s is an English-speaking community; nearby Holy Trinity Parish has a large Hispanic community.
Parking: No problem.
Acoustics: Good.
Additional observations: St. Kieran’s is a small parish in the Diocese of San Diego, established in 1958. While it is a modest church, Fr. Davison has done much to improve its appearance during his tenure as pastor. He added a prominent statue of Christ at the church entry (where you first drive in), for example, and another one of the Blessed Mother by the church. It’s helped give the church a more Catholic appearance and made it a more suitable place for prayer.
I used to attend Mass there when Bishop Cordilione presided there before he became a Bishop, and as well as when the present priest, Father Davison. I really like them both, my daughter sang in the Kids Choir. I will say the view and acoustics are the best anywhere. Especially the Crying Room. It’s right in the middle with a great view. They also used to have Family Movie nights there right after the 5:30 Mass on Saturday. It was so much fun. I’ve moved but that was an awesome Church. A great church. Holy, observant, freindly, beautiful and a great experience.