St. Anthony's Catholic Church

History of St. Anthony's Mission

The Catholic story of Los Alamos begins not with a building but with the Chumash families who tended the Franciscan missionaries' livestock at the Rancheria de Los Alamos from about 1800 to 1820. After the secularization of the California missions in 1834, José Antonio de la Guerra received the Rancho de Los Alamos land grant, and diocesan priests from Mission Santa Inés began ministering to the Catholic ranching families of the region — the Féliz, Ramírez, Hartnell, de la Guerra, and Arrellanes households. The town of Los Alamos itself was founded in 1879 by John Bell and J. B. Shaw, and the Methodists opened the first local church in the early 1880s. The Catholic congregation at St. Anthony's was formally gathered in 1905, when Fr. Mathias Ternes — the first pastor responsible for Los Alamos, Guadalupe, and Santa Maria — saw local residents convert a house into a small chapel. The first Mass and first Baptism were celebrated there on November 19, 1905. The choice of St. Anthony as patron is not recorded. Over the next sixty years the mission passed between the pastors of Santa Inés (1911), La Purísima in Lompoc (1913), and St. Mary's in Santa Maria (1936), until the 1963 division of St. Mary's created St. Louis de Montfort Parish and gave St. Anthony's a more permanent pastoral home.

• 1800–1820: Chumash families baptized at Mission La Purisima tend mission livestock at Rancheria de Los Alamos.
• 1834: Secularization of the missions; José Antonio de la Guerra receives the Rancho de Los Alamos.
• 1879: John Bell and J. B. Shaw found the town of Los Alamos.
• Early 1880s: Methodists open the first local church.
• 1905: Fr. Mathias Ternes appointed first Catholic pastor for Los Alamos, Guadalupe, and Santa Maria.
• November 19, 1905: First Mass and Baptism celebrated in a house-converted chapel in Los Alamos.
• 1911: Pastor of Mission Santa Inés takes responsibility for St. Anthony's.
• 1913: Mission reassigned to La Purísima Parish, Lompoc.
• 1936: Mission reassigned to St. Mary's, Santa Maria.
• 1963: St. Mary's divided; St. Louis de Montfort Parish formed with Los Alamos in its territory.
• 1967: Present St. Anthony's church dedicated.
• 1975: Josephite Fathers take over pastoral care.

The 1967 Church Building

By the mid-1960s the original house-chapel had deteriorated so badly that major repairs were required. While still overseeing the construction of St. Louis de Montfort Church in Orcutt/Santa Maria, Fr. Vincent McCabe made plans for a new St. Anthony's chapel and, thanks to many contributors from the local community, dedicated the present church in 1967. It is this building — modest in scale and reflective of the small rural mission it serves — that the Josephite Fathers and visiting priests have continued to use for Sunday Mass ever since.

Josephite Pastoral Care

In 1975 the Josephite Order (Congregatio Iosephitarum), founded in Belgium in 1817 by Fr. Constant Van Crombrugge, petitioned the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for permission to take over the pastoral duties of St. Louis de Montfort Parish. That request was granted, and the Josephites have staffed both the parish and its missions — St. Anthony's Los Alamos and San Ramon Chapel in Sisquoc — continuously since then. Today the pastoral team serving the mission includes Pastor Fr. Aidan Peter Rossiter, CJ; Associates Fr. John Mayhew, CJ, Fr. Alfred Verstreken, CJ (Coordinator of Hispanic Ministry), and Fr. Armand Bopda, CJ; along with five parish deacons and lay staff.

• Fr. Anthony Runtz, CJ — first Josephite pastor (1975), died 2006
• Fr. Guillermo Garcia, CJ — pastor 1985–1990, later Superior General
• Fr. Mark Newman, CJ — pastor from 1990
• Fr. Charles Hofschulte, CJ — pastor from 2001
• Fr. Aidan Peter Rossiter, CJ — current pastor

Sacraments and Faith Formation

Faith & Family Formation for the whole parish — including St. Anthony's mission families — is directed by Parish Coordinator Patty Zumbro. Pre-Cana marriage preparation, parish renewal programs, and the parish school (SLDM Elementary, staffed by the Daughters of Mary and Joseph) round out the sacramental and catechetical life available to mission parishioners. The Josephite Fathers and the parish's five deacons assist with Baptisms, weddings, anointings, and other rites.

• Director of Faith & Family Formation: Patty Zumbro ([email protected])
• Parish school: SLDM Elementary, 5095 Harp Rd (staffed by the Daughters of Mary and Joseph)
• Pre-Cana and Parish Renewal programs

Hispanic Ministry

Because roughly half of the Sunday Masses at St. Anthony's are celebrated in Spanish, Hispanic Ministry is central to the mission's identity. The program is coordinated by Fr. Alfred Verstreken, CJ, with lay leadership through the Consejo Hispano (chaired by Elias Barriga). Fr. John Mayhew, CJ, who previously served as Superior General of the Josephites, also organizes the annual Pilgrimage Walk and other adult-education activities.

• Coordinator of Hispanic Ministry: Fr. Alfred Verstreken, CJ
• Consejo Hispano: Elias Barriga
• Adult Education and annual Pilgrimage Walk (Fr. John Mayhew)

Pastoral Team and Contacts

The mission is served by the parish team of St. Louis de Montfort Catholic Parish, with offices at 5075 Harp Road, Santa Maria. Inquiries about St. Anthony's Mass times, sacraments, and sacramental preparation should be directed to the parish office.

• Pastor: Rev. Aidan Peter Rossiter, CJ — [email protected]
• Associates: Rev. John Mayhew, CJ; Rev. Alfred Verstreken, CJ ([email protected]); Rev. Armand Bopda, CJ ([email protected])
• Parish Coordinator: Patty Zumbro — [email protected]
• Bookkeeper: Susie Gallagher — [email protected]
• Parish Deacons: Raul Blanco; Alfredo Espinoza; Chris Hansen; Robert Maciel; Antonio Mejia
• Parish Office: 5075 Harp Rd, Santa Maria, CA 93455 — 805-937-4555 — [email protected]

Relationship to St. Louis de Montfort Parish

St. Anthony's is one of three historic worship sites entrusted to St. Louis de Montfort Catholic Parish. The parent parish was officially established on March 22, 1963, when Cardinal James Francis McIntyre, Archbishop of Los Angeles, divided St. Mary's Parish in Santa Maria to accommodate the area's growth. Fr. Vincent McCabe — first pastor of St. Louis — also became responsible for Los Alamos and Sisquoc, and built both the Orcutt church/school complex (dedicated by Cardinal McIntyre on February 4, 1968) and the present St. Anthony's chapel (1967). Since 1975 the Josephites have staffed the entire family, including San Ramon Chapel in Sisquoc — Santa Barbara's first historical landmark.

• Parent parish: St. Louis de Montfort Catholic Parish, 1190 E. Clark Ave, Santa Maria, CA 93455
• Sibling mission: San Ramon Chapel, Foxen Canyon Rd. & Sisquoc Ranch Rd.
• Diocesan body: Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara Pastoral Region