Surrounded by farmlands and vineyards, Santa Maria is blessed with generally blue skies, mild climate and hardworking, sincere people. Home to three parishes and two missions, the Santa Maria area has seen a large population growth in this northernmost pastoral region of the archdiocese.

St. Louis de Montfort Parish has grown far beyond the dreams of those who founded the parish in 1963. With close to 3,200 families in the parish, 220 young people in the two-year Confirmation program, 400 in religious education, an established 260 student school, and a parish increasingly in need of more space for classrooms, offices and meeting areas, the parish recently embarked on a two-phase master plan calling for the support, time and talent of its parishioners.

But sharing is nothing new at St. Louis de Montfort, where building plans are only part of the story. The parish has long been deeply committed to building a faith community, says Daughter of Mary and Joseph Sister Catherine Sullivan, pastoral associate, who has ministered in Santa Maria twice for a total of 19 years.

"I came back to people I had known 20 years ago, including many former students and former parishioners," says Sister Sullivan. "I find a great family spirit here. 'Becoming one family in Christ' is our parish motto."

In the mid 1970s, parish DRE Rosemary Hill, before she came to work, would frequently receive a phone call asking her to stop by the market and pick up some food for a family in need. Hill organized a system of "food barrels" where parishioners would drop off their food donations each Sunday. This meeting of the needs of others soon became the Rosemary Hill Pantry, which was recently recognized with a grant from Catholic Relief Services. And the needy still come by from early morning until late at night.

Serving about 50 families a month, the pantry works with another parish with similar needs and also supports the Catholic Worker Community in Santa Maria. Current pantry coordinator Anne Sheaff and her staff of volunteers have taken up where Rosemary left off. "No one in the United States," Sheaff says, "should go hungry."

Such projects and programs, plus the development of a parish master plan and a building campaign keeps Father Charles Hofschulte, pastor, and the Josephite Fathers who staff the parish, very busy. "There's always something more to be done," says Father Charles. "We have to change our programs to meet the needs of the people."

Well-established small faith communities formed years ago are still very active. But parishioners want more adult faith formation. So, after hearing Matthew Kelly speak at the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim on "Being the Best Version of Yourself," Father Charles, Chris Kuhbander (DRE and Adult Faith Formation coordinator) and Kelly McLoughlin (youth minister) decided to bring Kelly to Santa Maria.

For each of three nights last November, St. Louis de Montfort Church was filled with 800 people as Kelly led a parish mission. Parishioners were charged a small fee to attend and help defray costs. As Kathy Crow, St. Louis de Montfort School principal, says in surprise, "For Catholics to pay to hear a mission…"

Crow plans to use CDs from Kelly's presentations for her faculty meetings. When asked why she loves her parish so much, Kathy says with a smile, "It's like asking, 'What does my family mean to me?' This is the parish I was married in, my children all received their sacraments here, and I'll probably be buried here."

Crow, McLoughlin and Kuhbander have spent nearly all of their lives in this parish. "The people want to grow in their faith," says McLoughlin. "They want to become the best version of themselves."

Says Kuhbander, "It's my parish. It's Kelly's parish. It's the people sitting in pew four - it's their parish. It is us."