Mission Statement:
Guided by the Holy Spirit, Mission San Buenaventura is a parish rich in Catholic heritage called to "go forward" in worship to spread God's Word through compassionate service. Acknowledging diversity in cultures, life experiences and individual talents, we commit ourselves to building unity in our community of faith.
Parish Goals:
- Developing Leadership
- Deepening Spirituality
- Evangelization
History:
The founding of San Buenaventura Mission traces to the decision on Palm Sunday, March 30, 1749 by the Franciscan priest Junipero Serra to journey to the New World as a missionary to the native peoples.
Thirty-three years and one day later Serra raised the Cross at "la playa de la canal de Santa Barbara" (the beach of the Santa Barbara Channel) on Easter Morning, March 31, 1782. Assisted by Padre Pedro Benito Cambon, he celebrated a High Mass, preached on the Resurrection, and dedicated a Mission to San Buenaventura (St. Bonaventure). It had been planned as the third in the chain of twenty-one Missions founded by Padre Serra but was destined to be the ninth and last founded during his lifetime, and one of six he personally dedicated.
Under the direction of Padre Cambon, whom Padre Serra left in charge of the new Mission, a system of aqueducts were built by the Chumash between 1805–1815 to meet the needs of the Mission population and consisted of both ditches and elevated stone masonry. The watercourse ran from a point on the Ventura River about ½ mile north of the remaining ruins and carried the water to holding tanks behind the San Buenaventura Mission, a total of about 7 miles (11 km). With plentiful water the Mission was able to maintain flourishing orchards and gardens, which were described by English navigator George Vancouver as the finest he had seen. The entire water distribution system was destroyed by floods and abandoned in 1862.
The Mission’s first church building was destroyed by fire. The construction of a second church was abandoned because "the door gave way." In 1792 work was in progress on the present church and the small utility buildings which (with the church) formed a quadrangle enclosing a plaza. Although half finished in 1795, the church was not completed until 1809. Dedication was held September 9 of that year and the first liturgical services took place September 10. At about that time the San Miguel Chapel (present corner of Thompson Boulevard and Palm Street) and the Santa Gertrudis Chapel (Highway 33 near Foster Park) were completed.
A series of earthquakes and an accompanying tidal wave in 1812 forced the padres and Indian neophytes to seek temporary shelter a few miles inland. Six years later the padres and their flock had to remove sacred objects from the church and flee into the hills to elude a pirate who was pillaging the Missions but fortunately was headed off after a "bargaining session" at El Refugio in Santa Barbara.
