Name of Church St. Stephen Church
Address 31020 Cole Grade Road, Valley Center, CA 92082
Phone number (760) 749-3324
Website www.ststephenvc.com
Mass times Saturday vigil, 5:30 p.m. Sundays, 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m. (Spanish) Monday, 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, 8:45 a.m., Wednesday, 6:45 a.m. Thursday Communion Service, 8:45 a.m. Friday 5:30 p.m.
Confessions Fridays, 6 p.m. and by appointment
Names of priests Fr. Luke Jauregui, pastor. Fr. Luke is a middle-aged, faithful priest, strongly pro-life who grew up in the area. Msgr. Roger Lechner is a retired priest who assists at the parish; he was its founding priest.
Special groups/activities “Little Flowers” (Catholic program for girls), youth group, Women’s Ministry, Bible Study, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Men’s Fellowship, Bereavement Ministry, Culture of Life group, Guadalupanos group, Women’s Guild.
Music Choirs and musicians, depending on the Mass.
School No.
Fellow parishioners Predominantly an English-speaking community, with a large Spanish-speaking community.
Parking Ample parking around the church.
Additional observations St. Stephen is a parish of the Diocese of San Diego located near Escondido. It was established as a parish in 1981. Construction of the parish buildings began shortly after, with the current church being dedicated in 2006. Notable events in the parish’s history included the fires that ravaged the area in 2003; St. Stephen’s became a center for supplying victims with emergency supplies.
And just what is “faithful” here? Sticking the very God of the Universe in some side hall somewhere, instead of placing Jesus at the center of the physical Church, so that all may worship Him? Of course, the Bishop there likely loves to downplay anything too spiritual. Further, let’s see how many Latin Masses there are?? Spanish, of course, as it is now the true language of the Church. We must pray for these poor parishioners, who probably receive very little of the True Faith there. Remember, the Catholic Church did not begin with Vatican II although so many liberal priests and bishops are dunces about anything prior to this time.
Fr. Jauregui did not place the tabernacle outside the sanctuary. That placement was mandated by Bishop Robert Brom through the diocesan liturgical office when St. Stephen church was built. Neither the pastor who built it nor the current pastor could move it without the bishop’s permission. I personally have heard Fr. Jauregui preach: clear, faithful to the scripture and the full tradition of our holy Catholic Church. Fr. Lechner is elderly, retired, and is not assigned to the parish, rather he helps with a Mass on Sunday when he is able to do so. From supplying there, I can testify that the spirit of this parish and its parishioners is faithful to Jesus.
Father, while I generally agree with your posts, I am astonished here. Why didn’t the bishop’s fiat produce a strong reaction from the pastor and priests there. Further, where, exactly, is the tabernacle now? Can it be seen? At some point, priests need to stand up to bully, liberal bishops and say, “Christ is more important than you, bishop.” Jesus deserves to be worshipped, directly. Has the pastor petitioned the present bishop to move it to the center of the sanctuary?
As to the preaching, one has to take your word on this. However, I would not be surprised if many, many of these parishioners fit the sad result reported recently by the Pew Research Center that only about 30% of Catholics believe that the Eucharist is Christ, and not some symbol. Then again, given the common hiding of the tabernacle, how can one be surprised.
There is simply no pleasing some people.
Two observations:
Looking closely at the photo of the church interior, I cannot see the Tabernacle. Should it not be located in the center of the altar at the Crucifix?
There are two priests at the parish, the current pastor and the former pastor. That raises the question as to why there are no scheduled Masses on Thursdays and Fridays.
I wonder how many parishes in the San Diego diocese are led by an unfaithful pastor. Not many I hope.
No tabernacle in the sanctuary? Then why drive there?
If Rad Trad Catholics had been around in 325, 381 or 431 A.D. they undoubtedly would have objected to the First Council of Nicea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus all of which clarified the teachings and/or practices of the Church. Poor Father Luke and Msgr. Lechner are being verbally stoned by these fundamentalist Catholics much like St Stephen was stoned by the mob opposed to Christianity. May God Bless them both.
Details of article clearly state there is a Mass at 5:30 pm Friday. Some specifics on how the pastor is unfaithful, please, as one commenter asserts
The tabernacle is blocked by the smallest of pillars is the center of the photo. One should attend mass in a church before criticizing. A trip to Rome might broaden your clearly narrow sense of church architecture.
Fr. Kernan: “One should attend mass in a church before criticizing.”
Generally, this simply isn’t true. Sometimes, one need only take a look at a bulletin to see just how seriously defective a parish really is.
The idea is even imprudent, since it’s precisely Masses where one is likely to find many dangers to faith and morals today. Avoiding these Masses requires prudent discretion, which is possible only if we’re able to criticize _before_ attending Mass at a particular church.
St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church in Valley Center is worth driving to. The location of the Tabernacle although not centered behind the Altar is evident and clearly distinguished upon entering the church. St. Stephen contains statues and icons hand made by parishioners and the architecture is filled with
symbology. One gets a sense of the majesty and beauty of God upon entering, but chiefly its the spirit of God in those who worship there that makes St. Stephen worth driving to. The community at St. Stephen is truly the crowning gem to the beauty of its edifice, filled with faithful young and middle age families, and a strong retired contingent, it is a vibrant source of love and community out reach in Valley Center. St. Stephen food pantry feeds over 300 local families a week and there have been many vocations. These fruits only come from the spirit of God and those faithful to his son Jesus. Like it or not the NO is a valid and licit Sacrament, I prefer latin too but I’m not encumbered by the approved norm. Would that every parish benefit from the sound preaching and reverent liturgy found at St. Stephen Roman Catholic.
The level of negative comments is appalling. I get the impression that many don’t know that the altar is the main center of a church. That is where the Mass is said. The ambo should be prominent because that is where the liturgy of the Word takes place. The cross is also usually centered, Most churches have the Tabernacle on the wall behind the altar but that is not a requirement in most dioceses. The Tabernacle is where the host is reserved until taken to the sick in homes or hospitals.
I just can’t get over how hateful the comments are, even suggesting that faithful teachings are missing from the pulpit.
I went to the bulletin of the parish. It’s great, filled with good Catholic teaching, ministries, and events that suggest a vibrant community. lots of ministries, lots of opportunities for faith formation and more. There is a Mass in Spanish. Why not? Should people who speak Spanish not be welcomed in the church? What about those who speak in the 20-30 other languages in the area? Are they not welcome? Only the English speakers are welcome? Anyone not of the Catholic faith who read the comments on this article would certainly not join the Catholic church. “Come as you are.”
“Bob One,” you continue to mis-characterize the intent of other posts. No one says that using only Latin is a dis-invitation to Spanish-speaking Catholics. Latin is the language of the Church and should be used for all liturgies and sacraments. Further, you and many of liberal apologists simply ignore the truth of lex orandi, lex credendi. How we practice the faith, the way we worship, does affect our faith, our beliefs. The Novus Ordo is a failure, as much literature has discussed. Studies, e.g. the recent Pew Research poll, show that today’s Catholics know little about the Catholic Faith, including the Eucharist. Hiding the Tabernacle, worshipping in other tongues, is a key reason.
A few days ago, this website entertained the question about why so many masses go unattended. The responses on THIS article demonstrate why so many have left. In order to compete with a culture that would rather hold a cell phone than hold hands, where a President lies to his people and berates them every chance he gets, where sex is taken as the norm both outside the Church and tragically within it, where women STILL have to fight to be taken seriously in the workplace and in the Church – we here in this article encounter another reason why. The utter bitterness, hostility, and judgementalism that people used to detect through a look here or a snub there – are now broadcast virally throughout social media, sensationalized by those who make their living through click-bating rather than by seeking a world more in tune to the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus.
One example is well known to many readers of CCD: a gay former seminarian garners millions of dollars peddling a “church can do nothing right” mentality, poisoning true evangelism, because he consistently fails to deal with his own psychological and medical history and plays into the types of thought processes that go unchecked on this very website.
Jesus is happy to be present with us wherever we want to place him. He is happy to kneel in front of us and wash our feet, or to die elevated upon the Cross. We miss the point entirely if we get ensnared in ugly battles over Church architecture which, after all, don’t have an objective right or wrong answer. In fact, I would suggest, that if we allow such divisions to obscure the Gospel, then we have left Jesus in the tabernacle and not taken him out into the world. Which is where he ACTUALLY wants to be.