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Our Campus

Our twelve-acre site rests atop a knoll next door to St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo California. We are located 50 miles north of Los Angeles and 50miles south of Santa Barbara on the 101 freeway.

Our Courtyard

At Padre Serra Parish, the first thing we encounter as we approach the church is the magnificent courtyard. This initial gathering space makes visible the significance of coming together as a people for worship.  Our courtyard is a place of welcome, a place of transition, a place for meeting others who have come for a common purpose.

The idea of incorporating a gathering place, a courtyard, in the design of Christian churches is as old as Christian architecture.  In Europe, large open courtyards always greeted people as they entered into great churches.  The California missions as well, have or had welcoming courtyards.  Many of these courtyards have beautiful trees and plants, some have fountains, all were designed to be places of peaceful welcome, quiet beauty and grace. 

Often, when we come to church on Sunday, we arrive with a certain amount of disarray in our lives.  It could be trying to get the children dressed and ready for church, a resistant teenager, a struggle between spouses, or the hectic pace of a long week. When we arrive at the threshold of our courtyard, we file in with others coming from their homes and lives and we enter this space – the courtyard – suddenly we find ourselves changing, slowing down. With each step, the struggles of the week become secondary, we enter together, joining for the same purpose – to worship God, the God who made us, the God who loves us. 

It is important that we do not jump from the parking lot to the pew, but that there is an opportunity to change what is going on within us. The journey through the courtyard blesses us with a peace that turns our attention to the mystery and awe of what is about to happen on the other side of the doors of our church. 

The constitution of the sacred liturgy from Vatican II tells us:
“In order that the liturgy may possess its full effectiveness, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper disposition.  That their minds be attuned to their voices and that they cooperate with divine grace...”