A drawing for a brand new furnished house is among the festivities planned for the coming year at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Oxnard, as the parish continues to raise funds for a major renovation.

The feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe this Sunday will mark the kickoff for the drawing, which will continue throughout the year (prizes also include three new automobiles). Funds generated by the drawing will support the construction of a new church, school, conference center and rectory at the parish in Oxnard's Colonia district. Ground was broken for the new facilities a year ago.

"Our parish is the heart and home of a predominantly Mexican and Mexican-American working class community, whose numbers far exceed our structural capacity," noted Missionary of the Holy Spirit Father Jose de Jesus Sanchez, associate pastor. "The sight of parishioners overflowing onto the sidewalk and into the parking lot during Mass is all too familiar, and has been a concern for many years. It is our desire to effectively serve our parishioners, and that is the driving force behind our efforts to build."

Throughout the coming year, Our Lady of Guadalupe has scheduled a series of concerts and celebrations, including an appearance by boxer Fernando Vargas at the Dec. 22 Posada, and a concert featuring singer Vikki Carr next April. This weekend, an additional Mass has been added to the Sunday evening schedule (8:30 p.m.), to be followed by the first drawing for the winner of a new car.