Over my head, I hear music in the air – There must be a God somewhere,” sang the voices of the St. Anne choir as a procession led by the Bishop of the Oakland Diocese entered the new St. Anne worship hall.

The Knights of Columbus honor guard, dressed in full regalia, made way for the procession with swords held high, as the intense aroma of incense consumed the air of the church’s new Community Life Center.

Nearly 800 were in attendance for mass Sunday morning at the long-awaited center, all to take part in the dedication and blessing of the new worship hall.

“We’ve waited so long,” Father Ron Schmit said before the dedication that morning. “We blessed the ground seven years ago and broke ground four years ago.”

With the church’s congregation currently fluctuating between 750 and 800 families, the church had outgrown the 100-seat confines of its little chapel over a decade ago. And because of this growth, for the past 11 years, St. Anne had converted the multi-purpose room at Discovery Bay Elementary School into a worship hall each week.

Schmit said that the moment the center was ready, they set the dedication – ironically 90 years to the month after the church’s inaugural dedication in 1917.

“We have come together to offer this new church to God,” Bishop John Cummins intoned in the prayer of dedication. “We ask that you bless this … and by His power bless this gift of water. Bless this water and sanctify it as it is sprinkled on us and throughout this church.

“For may all here today and those in days to come celebrate your mysteries in this church,” Cummins continued. “Lord bless this building, which we had the privilege to build with your help.”

The original St. Anne chapel, also known as the little church, was erected in 1917 through the efforts of 12 pioneer families at a cost of $5,000 for the building and “10 dollars in gold” for a 1.3-acre parcel located at McCabe and Camino Diablo roads.

The chapel spent nearly nine decades on that corner before being moved to and refurbished on the church’s new site, some 600 feet away. A vineyard and the rolling hills along Camino Diablo surround the new site.

Schmit said the new 20,000-square foot Community Life Center was built on the principle embraced by the 12 original families, that the church should welcome new parishioners. “They were looking toward the future,” Schmit said in regard to those 12 pioneer families.

“We are doing the same here.”

Published 07/06/07 BrentwoodPress