About St. Simon's Parish

Directions

History

Pastoral Team

Mass Schedule/ Sacraments

Sacrament of Reconciliation

What St. Simon Offers You

Who is St. Simon?

Who is St. Jude?

 History

In 1955, Archbishop John J. Mitty appointed Fr. James L. Spooncer as the founding pastor of Saint Simon Parish.  Groundbreaking for the Church was held on April 22,1956 and construction was completed  in April, 1957.  A convent, rectory and Saint Simon School were added over the course of the next seven years.

Monsignor Ludwig Andre who was our pastor from September, 1989 to July, 2002, recognized that Saint Simon's infrastructure had changed little in more than twenty years and set out to revitalize and expand the Parish. In May, 1996 a Parish Center was added.  Remodeling of the Church followed and was completed on June 1, 1999.  Monsignor Andre retired in July, 2002 after 14 years of dedicated service to our parish!  Our parish was then guided by our Pastor, Father Tony Mancuso.  He brought to this parish a new set of dynamics, including the introduction of the Dominican sisters of Mission San Jose to add new life to our Adult Ministry as well as our children's ministries!  Father Tony was recently succeeded by Father Warwick James.  Father Warwick James is an experienced pastor and we are looking forward to his guidance as the shepherd of our parish!  Congratulations Father Warwick and welcome!

Currently, we have over 1900 families in our parish. Many and varied groups bring this parish to life:

• St. Simon School (a Blue RibbonSchool of Excellence) est. 1961
• St. Simon Preschool of Religion
• Parish Life Group
• Religious Education for public school children
• Catechumenate process for those who wish to become Catholic
• Bible studies
• St. Vincent de Paul
• Legion of Mary
• and many others

It is our vision that through our celebration of the Eucharist, the reception of the sacraments, prayer,and the use of our facilities, we will become a real Eucharistic community of love, realizing that we are the people of God. We hope you will be proud to be part of St. Simon Parish!

What St. Simon Offers You

A place to worship God in a community of believers A supportive and loving environment which enables us to live out our Christian values and beliefs A place where adults can have their faith nurtured through a variety of programs, services, and organizations  Involvement in our Parish Life Group activities A parish school where your children can receive a quality education which emphasizes Christian values and beliefs A place where your young child's faith is nurtured through a variety of religious education programs  A caring community that is interested in improving the quality of life for the needy in our own community and outside of it through our participation in St. Vincent de Paul projects and the Alpha-Omega program for the homeless

Who is St. Simon?

• Did you know that our Church was named after Simon, the Apostle, also known as Simon the Zealot?
• St. Simon was surnamed the "Zealot" for his rigid adherence to Jewish law and to Canaanite law.
• He evangelized or preached in Egypt, Cyrene, Mauritania, Ethiopia, and Persia.
• It is also believed that St. Jude (Patron Saint of those in Need) traveled throughout Mesopotamia, Libya, and Persia with St. Simon preaching and converting many people to Christianity.
• He was originally a fisherman prior to becoming an apostle.
• He was one of the original followers of Christ.  Not to be confused with Simon Peter!
• His feastday is on October 28th.
• His apostolic symbol is a fish lying on a Bible. 

Check out these websites for more information about our patron saint, St. Simon:

• http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=241
• http://www.britannica.com/seo/s/saint-simon-the-apostle/
• http://www.apostles.com/simon.html
• http://www.catholic-forum.com/churches/031stsimon/stsimon.htm

Who is St.Jude?

• St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Saviour.
• St. Jude was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus.
• Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea,Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia.
• St. Jude was also a fisherman and is generally believed to have been partnered with St. Simon as they evangelized in the Middle East.

• http://www.stjudenovena.org/aboutstjude.html
• http://www.apostles.com/jude.html
• http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=127

Pastoral Team

St. Simon's Church Phone:	(650)967-8311
St. Simon's Church FAX:	(650)967-8876
St. Simon's Church E-Mail:	rectory@stsimon.org
Rev. Warwick James, Pastor	rectory@stsimon.org
Rev. Abraham Antony	fatherabou@stsimon.org
Rev. Donald Morgan	dmorgan@stsimon.org
Rev. Michael Burns, in Residence	(650)967-8311
Joan Mibach, Business Manager	jmibach@stsimon.org
Lyn Patton, Administrative Assistant	lpatton@stsimon.org
Sr. Eva Beehner, O.P., Receptionist	eva@stsimon.org (650) 967-8311
Doris DeFranco, Bulletin Editor	doris@stsimon.org (650) 967-8311
Suzanne Fitzgerald, Director of Liturgy	litmusic@aol.com (650) 967-8311
Mr. Steve Clossick St. Simon School Principal	sclossick@stsimon.com (650) 968-9952
Debra Cassara, Director of Religious Education	(650) 968-9952x38
Laura Gremett, Children's Catechetical Ministry	(650) 968-9952x38
Amy Yamamura and Tina Lipscomb, Co-Directors Pre-School of Religion	(650) 694-7881 stsimon_psr@yahoo.com
Val Liberty, Director of Youth Ministry	youth@stsimon.org (650) 967-8311
Ted Monohan, EDGE Program Coordinator	youth@stsimon.org (650) 967-8311
AmyYamamura, Extended Care	(650) 967-3293 daycare@stsimon.org
Sr.  Rebecca Shinas, O.P., Director of Adult Spiritual Formation	(650) 967-8311 rebecca@stsimon.org
Josie Melo, Community Pastoral Ministry	(650) 967-8311, x10 jmelo@stsimon.org