This year, Transfiguration celebrates 50 years of serving the community

 

The Church of the Transfiguration was formed by the Diocese of San Francisco on April 10, 1961. The first Mass was offered on Sunday, April 16, 1961 in the garage attached to the “Little Brown House” at the end of a dirt road leading up from East Castro Valley Boulevard. There were no chairs and there were less than 20 people in attendance. Word of the new Parish quickly spread and the following Sunday, the garage overflowed with Parishioners, some sitting on donated folding chairs, but most standing outside the open doorway in the yard.

 

Mass was held outdoors in the summer of 1961 with old pews generously donated by St. Mary’s of Los Gatos.  The men began to clean out the old abandoned dog kennels which were overrun with filth and fleas. With the start of autumn, Mass was held in these kennels.

 

Around the same time, the hill was leveled and the construction of a new building began. The original intention was to utilize this new building as a temporary church and later convert it to a grammar school. This was completed by Easter, 1962. The Easter Vigil Mass of 1962 was celebrated in this building.

 

The first Mass in the current church building was celebrated on December 22, 1979. The old church is the current Hall with classrooms for CCD. Hungarian-born Isabel Piczek was commissioned to create the beautiful mural for the altar.

 

In 2006, the Grotto was updated and beautified. In 2007, the beautiful Meditation Garden was built. In 2010, the old entrance was closed and a new entrance was constructed at the traffic lights at Market Place. This allows a much safer entry into the Church. The elegant new sign was installed in April 2011 in time for the Golden Anniversary.

 

Since its formation, the Church of the Transfiguration has grown into a thriving, diverse and inclusive Parish serving the community.