Fulfilling a quest

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- Quests for space are nothing new for Father Vincent

Gilmore.

When he arrived at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church to begin

his new assignment as a parochial vicar three years ago, the crammed

conditions were all too familiar.

As a high school teacher at his monastery in Trabuco Canyon, Gilmore,

a member of the Order of Norbertine Fathers, had been involved in

fighting a proposed housing development that would have completely

altered the abbey’s way of life.

He soon realized Newport Beach’s largest Catholic church needed a

change as well.

Our Lady’s 4,800 members couldn’t possibly fit in the church’s

sanctuary, which is designed to seat 750. The parish school, which

includes students from kindergarten through eighth grade, had a waiting

list of more than 100 families.

Looking around Our Lady’s Eastbluff neighborhood, another religious

institution caught his eye.

“Have you ever talked to the Presbyterians about finding another

site?” he asked Msgr. William P. McLaughlin, Our Lady’s pastor and

Gilmore’s boss.

Separated only by a parking lot and a small street, the congregations

at Our Lady and St. Mark Presbyterian Church had been neighbors for about

four decades after their respective sanctuaries went up at about the same

time in the early 1960s. They’d formed bonds over the years and organized

ecumenical ministries, blood drives and Thanksgiving services together.

While McLaughlin hadn’t talked to the folks across the street, he gave

Gilmore the go-ahead to approach Gary Collins, St. Mark’s pastor.

“It was kind of a weird idea,” Gilmore said Thursday. “But I kept

pushing it.”

Now, about two years later, both churches have officially opened a new

chapter in their respective histories.

The city’s planning commissioners were expected Thursday to initiate

general plan amendments requested by Our Lady’s and St. Mark’s leaders.

While it represents only a first step in a monthlong process, St. Mark’s

eventually hopes to find a new home on vacant land at the corner of San

Joaquin Hills Road and MacArthur Boulevard that is owned by the Irvine

Co. In return, Our Lady’s church will acquire its neighbor’s old land and

build a larger sanctuary to hold 1,200 congregants. And the Catholic

congregation will shoulder about $25 million, which the change is

expected to cost.

Experts said such cooperation across denominational lines remains

unusual. But Christians have begun viewing each other as part of one

church rather than competitors.

“There’s also the realization that we’re all struggling to find a

place in the new [secular] setting,” said Mike Regele, an ordained

Presbyterian pastor and president of Percept, a Rancho Santa

Margarita-based consulting firm for religious institutions.

Friends in high places

As Gilmore began scouting out possible sites for St. Mark’s new

church, McLaughlin recommended checking with some of Our Lady’s members.

Gary Hunt, at the time the Irvine Co.’s executive vice president, was

one of the first who came to mind.

While visiting Hunt in his Newport Center office, Gilmore said Hunt

simply turned to his window with views of the city and picked out two

possible properties. Eventually, all parties settled on the now proposed

lot.

However, some of the city’s environmentalists say they are concerned

about the plan for a site that is designated as open space. Building on

the site would further reduce the city’s scarce open space, said Bob

Caustin of Defend the Bay.

Because the company would receive money from the sale of the site, it

should dedicate another lot as open space in return, he added.

Members of St. Mark’s said the congregation had initially hesitated

about occupying the empty site.

“How can we dare touch the site?” Kay Gustafson remembered hearing. A

group called Ecophilians has been active inside the St. Mark church for a

long time and a cart with literature and brochures about conservation is

displayed on Sundays.

Gustafson’s husband, Curt Webster, who works as St. Mark’s director of

outreach and special ministry projects, said the church’s mission

includes a commitment to preserving nature. Congregants began seeing the

protection of the site’s environment, which includes a canyon area, as a

calling.

“The more we looked at the San Joaquin site, the more it became

obvious that it’s consistent with who we are,” Webster said. “To be able

to care for a campus where we can visually [care for God’s creation],

that is amazing. This [site] is so St. Mark’s.”

Finding a suitable location was one thing. Turning the vision into

reality and overseeing the project’s planning was another.

But again, Gilmore didn’t have to look far for help. Teaching a class

for prospective Catholics, one of his students seemed perfect for the

job.

Gilmore “asked if I could be of any assistance in facilitating the

transaction,” said Councilman Dennis O’Neil, who served as Newport

Beach’s mayor at the time. Along with fellow convert Carol Hoffman, a

former Irvine Co. vice president and supporter of the church’s project,

O’Neil officially joined the congregation in April.

Since then, O’Neil has helped coordinate meetings with planners,

consultants and officials of the company, city and diocese. He said he’s

“really excited” about this plan, adding that he hopes his fellow City

Council members will approve the initiation of the general plan

amendments at their Feb. 27 meeting.

After consulting City Atty. Bob Burnham, O’Neil said he expects to

vote on the plan because he has no financial interests in the project.

He added that he would recuse himself from the decision if it would

jeopardize the project’s success.

O’Neil’s not the only one behind the dais that has close ties to the

Catholic church.

Councilman John Heffernan has been a member of the congregation for at

least 20 years but said he knew little about the proposed changes.

“I’m waiting to be filled in,” Heffernan said Thursday, adding that he

could not say whether he’d support the project. “It’s a pretty

complicated deal.”

Unexpected opposition

While Gilmore and others promoting the plans were able to rely on

support from influential church members, they had more trouble with

officials in another high place: the Catholic diocese of Orange.

Although the congregation at Our Lady had pledged to raise the

necessary money, the church’s hierarchical organization initially opposed

the deal and required approval from church leaders as well.

“You guys are billing the [Catholic] church for somebody else,”

Gilmore remembered as a comment from church officials. “They said no at

first.”

Our Lady was planning to pay $6.7 million to the St. Mark’s church for

the land -- a lot more than the actual value of the four-acre site.

If the deal goes through, the money will pay for St. Mark’s new

sanctuary. Arrangements to buy the land will be worked out separately

with the company, said Gilmore, adding that he couldn’t disclose details

of the negotiations.

Other churches in the diocese were struggling to make ends meet,

officials told Gilmore. They couldn’t support giving millions to a church

of a different denomination while their own parishes suffered.

Gilmore and others at Our Lady eventually convinced church leaders by

offering to tithe about $2 million for use in the diocese’s poorer

parishes as part of the project.

Just as St. Mark’s congregants had been concerned about fulfilling

their “green” mission, Our Lady members wanted to ensure that social

justice was served, Gilmore said.

“We help each other to have our missions realized,” he said.