About Our Parish
Highland's original townsite was founded in 1891, and the community soon became an important contributor to the citrus industry. Many of the buildings constructed during the town's era are still in use, helping to preserve the sense of community and transition into the Highland today.
MISSION STATEMENT
We, the Catholic Christian family of St. Adelaide and St. John Bosco, are a community of believers, empowered by the Spirit of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We are called to proclaim the living Gospel and welcome all into our faith community. In the Spirit of love and humanity, we strive to educate, to evangelize, to witness and to celebrate the Word through outreach, support, charity service to the poor and to all those in need.
Humble Beginnings
St. Adelaide Parish was established by Fr. Hugh McNeils in 1956 at the direction of Bishop Charles Buddy, Bishop of the Diocese of San Diego. With the help of thirty families and a $5,000 grant from the Extension Society, land was cleared and construction on the new church building began. It was completed in time to celebrate Christmas that same year. As the number of parishioners increased, the need for a school arose. St. Adelaide School opened in September of 1962. The school was originally staffed by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart. In 1963, Fr. McNelis had a convent built for the Sisters who taught at the school.
Fr. William Bolger became the Pastor in 1964. In 1967 the Parish Hall was constructed to accommodate the growing number of activities for the six hundered families of the Parish. During the pastorate of Fr. Patrick O'Keefe (1971-1976), the Sisters of the Presentation arrive from Ireland to teach at the school. During that time, the old rectory was raised and plans for a new rectory were drawn.
Fr. William Erstad became the Pastor in 1976. In 1977, the new rectory was completed and Fr. Erstad took uup residence there. On July 10, 1978 the Church building was destroyed by an accidental fire. On July 17, 1978 St. Adelaide Parish became part of the new Diocese of San Bernardino. It would take almost two years for the Church building to be constructed and during this time membership continued to increase. Parish activities were conducted in the parish hall.
Growing Through Change
In 1962, under the direction of Fr. Frances Wieser, the Youth Ministry formally began in response to the growing needs of the now 1,000 families. From 1967 until 1990, Fr. Peter Vavro had the Dove House renovated, established the Parish Council and initiated the much needed parish census.
Fr. John Ryan was welcomed to the Parish during the summer of 1990. Fr. Ryan would go on to serve an unprecedented twelve years as Pastor. His administration would see a huge population growth in Highland and at St. Adelaide. As the role of the lay person became more accepted, Fr. Ryan enncouraged the parishioners to be active in parish life. Many of the ministries we have today were established during the pastorate of the much beloved Fr. Ryan. As his lasting legacy, the new Parish Center was opened on May 19, 2002.
Looking to the Future
In July 2002, Sister Maura Feeley, RSM was appointed by Bishop Gerald Barnes as the Pastoral Coordinator of the Parish. She was the Parish's pastoral leader, which is the administrator and spiritual leader of our rapidly growing Parish community. Fr. Robert Viscardi, a Consolata priest, was appointed as the Priest Minister. His role was to preside at Eucharist, hear confessions, lead funeral Masses and officiate at weddings. Both Sister Maura and Fr. Robert collaborated in service to the Parish. St. Adelaide was one of fourteen pioneering parishes in the Diocese that pursued the model of parish leadership of parishes without a resident Pastor. Sadly, after eighteen months, Fr. Robert died and Fr. Bernie Alejo was our next Priest Minister. He was followed by Fr. Tom Burns, Fr. Ray Elam, and Fr. Walter Downs.
Fr. Gregory was appointed in May, 2006. Fr. Gregory was the first Episcopalian priest, a married man ordained to the Catholic priesthood in the Diocese of San Bernardino. Sister Maura and Fr. Gregory collaborated in building a strong, diversified, spiritual community at St. Adelaide. Immediately after Sister Maura was appointed Pastoral Coordinator, Bishop Dennis O'Neil (RIP), in consultation with members of the Spanish speaking community, established a Spanish language Mass. Under the leadership of Sister Maura, our services to the Hispanic Community have grown. Our Filipino community is strong and very integrated in our parish as well. The Filipino community is involved in many aspects of the church, especially in the music ministry. Sister Maura retired in 2009.
As a result of Bishop Stralinng's recommendation that the present church will not meet future needs, a Master Plan was created to expand the current church to increase the seating capacity. The first Town Hall meeting for this was held on May 24, 2007. Plans for the expansion have been ongoing.
On July 1, 2009 Fr. Pierre Deglaire was installed as Pastor of St. Adelaide. Fr. Pierre is trilingual (French, Spanish and English), and is involved in all aspects of the community. He has continued the expansion project working alongside with Mr. Fernando Solorio, Pastoral Associate, and Mr. Dan White, architect, and the Building Committee. In 2011, the Conditional Use Permit was approved by the City of Highland. Fr. Pierre has been very supportive of the Parish School, our ministries and groups and the various ethnic communities. Although the population growth has slowed down, we had 3,322 famiies registered.
After Fr. Pierre left, Bishop Gerald Barnes appointed our second Pastoral Coordinator. Bishop Barnes appointed Mr. Fernando Solorio to be the next Pastoral Coordinator on July 1, 2013. The Priest Minister was Fr. Romanus Ike. Mr. Solorio continued working on the church expansion and the work that Fr. Pierre had initiated. On April, 23, 2016 the new church building was re-dedicated by Bishop Gerald Barnes. The new building now has seating capacity for about 1,000 people. Many fundraising activities continue to develop for the Building construction and to liquidate the Diocesan Loan. Mr. Solorio continues to support the St. Adelaide Academy and the ministries in our community.
On July 1, 2016, Mr. Solorio was appointed for a second term as Pastoral Coordinator at St. Adelaide with newly ordained Fr. Alex Rodarte as Priest Minister. Since the expansion of the church many clebrations from around the Dioceses have been held at the beauitiful church.
