Shane and Geri Morger will celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary this August. Through close friends we were persuaded to send our two girls, Trey now a Freshman at St Bonaventure, and Taryn, a 7th grader, to OLA School. Both Geri and I agree that decision was not only a great one, but life-changing as well. We felt, not only were the kids getting a first rate education, but their moral character and spiritual beings were growing as well. “It was good for us because it forced our hand to become more involved with the school and certainly with the church” said Shane, adding “it has brought us closer together as a family and for that we will always be grateful”. Stewardship to us means also leaving something or someplace BETTER than when you found it, so whether its your investment in time, your lending of your talents, or finding creative ways to “give-back” to the Church in treasures, we believe our investment will pay us back many times over.

Felipe Razón and Araceli González are part of the Hispanic Ministries youth and have been an example to the community of sharing the talents that God has given them. They both started their stewardship journey as altar servers. Although very nervous at first they soon found how fulfilling it is to share their talents in thanksgiving for all that the Lord has given us. This desire to share their talent grew and soon they were involved in many things, such as the living stations, the Pastorela and as lectors. They are an example of the "yes" that our youth have also given the Lord here at OLA.

Hi, my name is Pauline Riendeau. My husband Ed and I came to OLA Church in 1972. We had three daughters and later on, were blessed with four grandchildren. My main focus at Church was teaching at OLA School and after twenty years I retired. Three months later I found myself a widow. I will forever be grateful to our parish for its support and love that was shown to my family during that difficult time. Then in my new life without Ed, how could I use the gifts that God had given to me? Because we had been Secular Franciscans for over forty years, we followed the charism of St. Francis of Assisi in trying to live the Gospel according to our abilities. So I began new ministries such as; RCIA, RCIC, Lectoring, Eucharist Ministry, Liturgy of the Hours prayer leader, coordinating the preparation of meals for Tender Life Maternity Home and being a city of Ventura volunteer in the Senior Reader’s Theater. Still searching for ways to be a good steward for the Lord, I know that with God’s grace I will find answers at OLA. It is my family.

Gerry and I moved to Ventura in July 1984. We were warmly welcomed to the Our Lady of the Assumption Parish by Msgr. Mulcahy and quickly signed the kids up for Sunday School. That was actually our first opportunity to get involved, as I volunteered to be a Sunday School teacher. Our three children, Marcellla, Joseph and Jason all attended OLA school as well as St. Bonaventure High School. We volunteered in many ways throughout that time from Room parents, Class Mom and Fall Festival Food chair at the school to music ministry, lectoring and church environment for the Parish. Two and a half years ago our blessings were increased with the birth of our grandson, Nathan. He lives in Oxnard with Marcella and her husband, David. Both Joseph and Jason continue to live locally after graduating from college. A year ago Gerry retired after 30 years in the fire service as a Fire Captain for the City of Glendale. God has been so good to us that we feel strongly how important it is to give back. Sharing our talents is SO easy! We always receive back so much more than we could ever give. Every day we thank God for our many blessings; sharing our time, talent and treasure is an almost effortless way to express that thanks.

The Mack family consists of Jon and Kathy; daughters Jenny (21) and Kristin (15) and son Justin (9). Jenny is a senior at UCSB majoring in Cultural Anthropology and will graduate in June. Kristin is a sophomore at St. Bonaventure and Justin is in 3rd grade at OLA school. We have been members of OLA parish for over 18 years. Our strongest bond as a family is our faith! This parish is an integral part of our faith and our relationship with God. Our family believes that being a good steward means "being for others".

Kendall & Andrew VanConas have lived in Ventura since 1993. Coming from diverse religious backgrounds, Kendall & Andrew's faith converged at OLA in 1999, after Kendall completed RCIA. Their daughters, Julia (age 13) and Natalie (age 10), both attend OLA School. Over the years since they joined the parish, Kendall & Andrew have each -- slowly, but surely -- become more involved in the parish, and OLA School has offered more opportunities for the whole family to offer their time. What began as simply ushering "once in a while" at Sunday Mass has evolved into a number of different activities for the whole family. While Andrew continues to be a regular usher on Sunday mornings, he also serves on the Technology Committees at the parish and school, and helped to organize the Men's Ministry. Kendall serves on the Finance Committee for the parish, and the Consultative Board at OLA School. Julia enjoys helping the pre-schoolers at Vacation Bible School and on Sunday mornings, while Natalie is doing her part and will soon begin altar serving. The family enjoys offering their time to the Church and School, and have all come to appreciate the warmth and community offered at OLA.

SScott & Coleen Mumby

We moved to Ventura about 5 years ago, we did not haveany friends here and really did not know the area at all. Wecame from Redondo Beach where we were active in the parishand where Scott had gone through RCIA just before wewere married, so we thought finding a new parish was thebest place to start forming our new lives. We jumped into lifeat OLA with both feet. Coleen joined the Parish Council, TheWomen’s Ministry and the University Core Team, our 5 yearold twins girls are at Assumption School, we love Mrs.Bennett. The parish has become an extension of our home,it has wrapped its arms around us and supports us in all thatwe do. Stewardship is sustaining the Church that has givenus so much, our friends, our support system, and our faith.

Ray and Tricia moved to Ventura in 1994 and have been at OLA for the past 15 year. They have three young adult children who are all products of OLA elementary school. Two children graduated from SBHS and one from Villanova HS in Ojai. They began their involvement at OLA through their children’s participation with school activities. Ray and Tricia both grew up in Catholic families and have received years of Catholic education each. Tricia has been teaching full and part time at OLA school since 1995. She and Ray are Eucharistic ministers and have also been very active with the church youth group over the years. Their children have participated as peer leaders and choir members. Ray has been serving on the Parish Council for the past two and a half years. They say, “Getting involved at OLA was never a question for us. We knew this is what God wanted from us and it fit with our activities as parents. Our involvement with the OLA Parish has grown as our family has grown. When the children were young our activities seemed to center around the school. Now that they are grown, we have become more focused on church activities.” “For us, stewardship is an opportunity. It helps us give back to God for all the blessings that we have received. It also helps us to avoid becoming “complacent” in our spiritual journey.”

Hi - We are the Cohen family. Carlos, Marlene, Carlos II, and Alexandria. We have been in this community for the past 5 years but in the past year and a half we have become much more active members of the OLA community. The best part of belonging to OLA is that we get to meet "real" people and families all the time, that share the same ups and downs just like ours and who also have Jesus Christ at the center of their lives. We love that OLA is a family that has a mission that invites all of its members to contribute in carrying out the mission of the Church. We are grateful to have dedicated, innovating, and joyful leaders in every ministry at OLA. We are glad to belong to a church that takes the time to give us the opportunity to reflect and recognize the blessings and gifts of time, talent, and treasure that God gives us every day, and how we can share those to make a better world.

Nicholas, Brenda and Francesca Dominguez have been members of OLA since the summer of 2002. It was at that time that Francesca was enrolled at OLA School as a third grader. Nicholas came to Ventura with his family in 1974. Brenda was lured away from San Diego by the promise of marriage. Since then Nicholas and Brenda have been happily married for almost 18 years. They think they have a good thing going. If you ask them what they love about OLA, they will take half an hour to tell you how Father Steve has made the Mass so personal and alive. “Stewardship is an opportunity to become involved in a vibrant Catholic community. There is an inner peace that comes from giving time to God.” which is what Nicholas would say, if he could speak like that. Brenda and Nicholas are currently involved with the teens in OLA Confirmation. Sometimes they do the teaching, other times they do the learning.