1960 - Present
Highlights of American Indian Ministry
1960's to Present
Dioceses of California and then Diocese of El Camino Real
1960
Indian Center at St. John the Evangelist in the Mission District
San Francisco
– the Rev. Robin Merrill, missioner
1967 – 1972 Indian Student Opportunity Program,
St. Andrew’s, Saratoga – Ethan Dupris and Jerry Drino
1969-1971 Alcatraz Island occupied by the Red Power Movement
Jerry Celebrates Christmas 1970 Eucharist on the island
1970
The Parish of St. Philip the Deacons, East San Jose'
(See Common Ground Narrative Below)
1971 = The Rev. Jerry Drino elected Vicar of St. Philip's, East San Jose'
Appointed to the National Board of Indian Ministries (ECUSA)
1978 – first aspirant for ordination (failed)– Paul Willard, St. Philip’s
1989-2006
1988 Native American Ministry formed by Hank and Sherry LeBeau
St. Philip’s becomes Province 8 regional center for InterCultural Ministry Development
Jerry Drino, Executive Director
Hank LeBeau -Provincial Chair of Native Ministry Network
Serves on the National Council for Native Ministries
Mountains and Deserts Regional Center
1989 - Present Sweat Lodge
Indian Health Center Partnership with St. Philip's – Red Road to Recovery
Vancouver School of Theology, Native Masters of Divinity Program 1991-2001
Hank Le Beau – ordained Deacon and Priest (10 years)
2000-Present
Common Ground - the Current Partnership in San Jose'
Indigenous Nations Diversity Network
St. Luke's, Hollister
Second Annual Indian Gathering - September 2024
Narrative History of Indigenous and Inter-Cultural Ministries
Common Ground
A Place of Cultural Refuge and Inter-Cultural Partnership
The Journey on the Land
Acknowledgment of Its Care of Humans through the Centuries
– a Story of an East San José Parish
Pre-Contact (See Age of Conquest, Mission and Mexican Era pages)
Ohlone (meaning "peoples") live for 10,000+ years in what is now known as Santa Clara County. The Spanish arrived with Juan Batista de Anza (1775-1776) and establishing Pueblo San Jose (1777) and Mission Santa Clara the same year. The Spanish identified Ohlone tribal territories as “Santa Ysabel,” “Paleños,” Tamien, Matalan, Taunan, Asirin/Juña, Alson, Causen, Puchon, Olpen, Chalotaca and Partacsi in what is now Santa Clara County. (See tribal map under Tribes) The Pala and Santa Ysabel Ohlone (Spanish designations) resided on the Eastside, with the closest known village being near Penitencia Creek and Capitol Avenue. Within a short period of time Ohlone were all forced into and enslaved in the mission system. By 1810, almost no villages of tribes in the mission-catchment areas existed.
1832 California Mission secularized and lands begin to be given as land grants by the Governor, often as military and political rewards. A few land grants were given to Indigenous families. The two missions impacting East San José were Santa Clara and San José (in present-day Fremont). (See Mission Era Page)
East San José
1835 Rancho Pala (4,454 acres) was given as a land grant to José Joaquin Higuera, a member of the De Anza party (1775). The word “pala” in Ohlone means water, referring to the many streams and springs in what is now East San José. Charles White acquired the rancho before the beginning of the Frontier Era (1846-1890). Rancho Milpitas was granted to Tolantiono Antinio Berreyessa (1834 4,458-acre), to the north of the property beyond Penetincia Creek; Rancho Yerba Buena or Rancho Socayre (24,332-acres) was given by Governor José Figueroa to Antonio Chaboya (Evergreen and southeast San José.) The territory of these three ranchos and part of the land of the Pueblo San José would eventually comprise the Parish boundaries of St. Philip the Deacon. Established as the Alum Rock Mission in 1957, it would become a parish “in communion” with the Diocese of California, 1978, at which time its canonical boundaries were set.
1957 The Diocese of California formed the “Alum Rock Mission” (March 25) and purchase two and a half acres from the Portal family orchards, which included a farmhouse and water tank-house. The mission named itself St. Philip, later adding “the Deacon” and dedicated the first constructed parish building as a space for worship and fellowship in 1959. “Deacon” was added to the name eventually, connecting the memory of the first St. Philip’s Mission (1862-1875), founded by the Rev Peter Williams Cassey and the black community of San José, as a primary school and later high school. (See Frontier Era 1846-1890 links). Through a series of eras the parish would be deeply involved in social action from civil rights to opposition to the Vietnam War, the founding of community centers and Alexian Brothers Hospital (now Regional Hospital)
Indian and Inter-Cultural Ministries
1967 – The Rev. Jerry Drino established the Lakota Student Opportunity Program, with the Rev. Bruce Marx of the Cheyenne River Reservation, at St. Andrew’s, Saratoga. Bruce and Jerry were in seminary together, the only students interested in Native American ministry. Jerry was called to be an associate priest at St. Andrew's, known for its deep involvement in the Cursillo Movement who took on this program as an ecumenical outreach.
When Bruce arrived on the Cheyenne River Reservation he found numerous high-risk teenagers – one in three were committing suicide. He was convinced that if they had an educational opportunity, even a semester on the outside, they could see a pathway with a future beyond the reservation. In the next four years thirty-six Lakota high school students came to live in parishioners’ homes and attend school for at least a semester. Ethan DuPris was among the students and would play a pivotal role in the founding of the Indian Ministry at St. Philip’s twenty years later.
Jerry’s call, or vocation to ordination had come among the Uintah-Ourey, working in a summer opportunity program of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles while in high school (1958). He subsequently worked summers among native Hawaiians (Kanaka Maoli), Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (1959), Gwich’in (Alaska 1960), Blackfeet (1964), Los Angeles – urban Indians 1965).
1971 – Jerry was elected the fourth vicar of St. Philip’s, with the incentive that the San Jose' Indian Center was five blocks away on East Hills Drive. Bishop C. Kilmer Meyers (Diocese of California) appointed him to the National Indian Commission of the Episcopal Church.
1976-77 Paul Willard (Tlingit) a Bishop Committee Member of St. Philip’s, was appointed Indian Missioner for St. Philip’s, to work directly with the Indian Center five blocks from the church. He would eventual seek ordination through the Diocese of California, but rejected for lack of formal educational credentials - an expression of the systemic institutional racism.
1980 St. Philip’s becomes a Parish and Jerry elected its First Rector.
1980 – the Laotian Ministry begins with refugees from three main Lao tribes swelling to three hundred at times. This ministry would continue until 1991. Again, several Lao were nominated for ordination but rejected in the same way that Paul Willard was in 1978. However, this time it was the Bishop and Commission on Ministry in the Diocese of El Camino Real that closed the door.
1988 – the Rev. Sylvestre Romero (Mayan) joined the staff, as Hispanic Ministry Missioner, gathering leadership from their former Episcopal Dioceses of Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvado. At the same time the Rev. Fred Vergara (Tagalog) joined the staff as Asian Missioner for Filipino and Lao ministries in the parish. He would go on to become the Canon of Asian Ministries during the primacies of two Presiding Bishops of the Episcopal Church. Each missioner formed distinct congregations with their own Junior Warden elected to the Vestry. At one point there were five Junior Wardens in the parish
1988 – Ethan DuPris, (Tiospaye band, Cheyenne River Lakota) a former student in the Lakota Youth Opportunity Program of St. Andrew’s, introduces Jerry to Hank (Tiospaye Lakota Band) and Sherry LeBeau (Rosebud Sicangu Lakota Band). From that summer meeting a gathering was planned for the American Indian Community. In November, the first Harvest Feast had nearly three hundred attending. Hank was a Recovery Counselor for the Indian Health Center of Santa Clara County, (IHCSCC) and began to shift his practice and healing circles to St. Philip’s.
1989 – Hawaiian Community’s first imu (cooking pit) was dug on the back property, the site of 1900s’ c. farmhouse. Periodic Luau and Hawaiian language Eucharist would be celebrated when visiting Hawaiian clergy were available. This continued until 2010.
1989 - Hank LeBeau begins regular formal meetings and recovery circles at St. Philip’s and has an office for counseling as a part of his work on the American Indian Health Center of Santa Clara County. He often invited Pipe-Carrier Richard Charging Eagle from South Dakota to establish and support the Red Road to Recovery. [https://www.keloland.com/keloland-living/native-american-culture-red-road-approach-to-recovery/ ] Jerry transitioned to part-time as rector, becoming Executive Director of the Office of InterCultural Ministry Development for Province 8 of the Episcopal Church. The Province covers the dioceses found in the Inter-Mountain and coastal West, Hawaii, Alaska and Taiwan, with ninety-three different ethnic language groups, including sixteen Indigenous tribes. (Eleven time-zones -https://www.provinceviii.org/ ) Anne Rowthorn wrote To Seek and To Serve (Forward Publications) highlighting the inter-cultural ministry of the parish.
1989 – the Lakota builds first Sweat Lodge, harvesting willow branches from along Penitencia Creek for the framework of the lodge. Separate weekly sweats begin for men and women. The lodge was constructed over the Hawaiian imu, using the lava stones that had been gathered earlier that year. Reconciliation was eventually worked out between the two Native traditions over the use of the space and stones…and shared kaula pig!
1990 – September 15th –- “A Celebration of the Land and Her People” – the gathering of representatives for 14 tribes, including five California tribes, and multiple immigrant nationalities and ethnic origins, commemorated what, in Latin America is called– “El Grito de la Independencia” - the day the former colonies of New Spain and the Mexican Province, from Panama to Wyoming, gained independence from Spain. The Rev. Sylvestre Romero (Mayan from Belize), Hispanic Missioner on the staff, was the inspiration for this celebration. (Syl was later elected Bishop of Belize and in retirement served as interim bishop of El Camino Real)
Imagine the Celebration the Land and Her People observance: All non-Indigenous remain outside of the church worship space where all the chairs and altar have been removed. Tribal blankets formed the altar space at the center. The doors are closed. Inside, corn and other fruits of the land form the altar offerings. Sage is burning in an abalone shell. Leaders from the various tribes gather in this space, and offer blessings in the Sacred Directions using words and movements from their traditions. The Land and the ancestors are remembered. Time and space has collapsed and we are in Pre-Contact. (anamnesis)
Once the space was blessed, then the First Nations peoples open the doors. In sequential order, each wave of immigration from outside of the Americas is invited in according to the centuries of their ancestors’ arrival (Europe, Africa, Near East, Asia, the Pacific Islands). They bring food-gifts typical of their places of origins to add to the original gifts at the altar-space. The Eucharist then is celebrated with five different languages. At the Peace everyone acknowledged with thanksgiving that they belong to each other, that they are relatives and need each other. The bread and wine and other gifts are held by the Indigenous. They are the keepers of the altar for this ceremony. Afterwards, a fiesta of foods from around the world feeds the people, who dance and share well into the afternoon.
1991 The faculty of the Native Ministry Program of Vancouver School of Theology (British Columbia) make visit to assess the potentials for establishing the Master of Divinity Extension Program at St. Philip’s. Hank, his wife Sherry and Tim White Weasel were approved, with Jerry Drino, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Kille (Director of the San Jose Jewish Community Center) and the Rev. Dr. Jacob Ennolikara (former Principal of the Catholic seminary in Karala, India) appointed as tutors. They both served on the staff of St. Philip’s. Hank would continue to work on his master’s degree for the next eight years, going to Vancouver every summer for the two-week residency program with students from multiple First Nations in BC and across Canada. Jerry and Andy served as tutors in San José, but also during the summer residency program. Sherry attended for several years.
During this time Silvestre (Silito) Romero (Mayan from Guatemala) became a Postulant for Holy Orders and was tutored by Jerry, Andy and Jacob. He studied in the School for Deacons in the Diocese of California because it was the only non-residential theological training program available to him. He was ordained deacon in the Diocese of El Camino Real. Shortly after he would be called to serve and be ordained priest in Belize, where his father (Syl) was bishop. He would return to become Hispanic Missioner in the Diocese of Spokane and then as Rector of St. Philip’s. He would eventually be called to be Rector of St. George’s, Salem, Massachusetts and then be elected Bishop of Guatemala.
1992 –October 12 Commemorating Five Hundredth Anniversary of Contact with Christopher Columbus sighting San Salvador – an all-night vigil beginning at sundown on the 11th with a circle of fifty or more Indigenous peoples from dozens of tribal backgrounds and dozens of non-Indigenous. [Anamnesis] As evening was approaching, it was a time to remember that moment when, a few hours later, five hundred years before, the history of these indigenous lands, and of the world would change forever. A fire was kept going all night. Prayers, dances, conversations and traditional foods were shared. At about 3:30 AM, the time when Columbus sighted “Hispañola,” silence was observed, prayers offered, then the gathering place was cleaned and reordered. Everyone left for their homes in silence, pondering the implications of this moment, inheritors of what happened five centuries in the past.
January 17, 1993 A commemorative Eucharist of Mourning the Hundredth Anniversary of the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy at which over 200 Hawaiians gathered as ohana with mainland tribal members joined by members from dozens of European, African, Asian and other Pacific Island backgrounds. The Eucharist was celebrated in Hawaiian by a Hawaiian priest, with traditional music provided by a Kanaka Maoli band and hula. A luau followed with food prepared in a new imu, dug away from the sweat lodge.
1990s-2015 Gathering of Mountains and Deserts Indian Ministries and Province 8 First Nations Networks. The American Indian/First Nations Ministry of the parish welcomed annual gatherings of leaders from Native ministries in all the dioceses of the Western U.S., Alaska and Hawaii, often with staff from the Office of Indigenous Ministries of the Presiding Bishop in attendance. Hank was rotated through being the chair of these regional coalitions.
January 1999 Ordination of the Rev. Philip Hank LeBeau Swift Could as priest, by the Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, Bishop of Alaska (later Archbishop for First Nations Ministries of Canada). The ordination was celebrated in a circle, with the movements starting in the West (traditional Lakota beginning place) and moving through the four directions. A white eagle feather was woven into his hair as a symbol of being set aside as a sacred person. Hank served as a priest-associate of St. Philip’s until his retirement from the IHSSCC in 2016. That year Sherry died and Hank moved to Albuquerque to be with two of his daughters. Unfortunately, he died in tragic car accident in 2020. Over five hundred Indians, dignitaries, and others gathered at his memorial circle in San Jose. The Indian Health Center continues to hold regular sweats (except during COVID) as a part of their recovery programs.
2018 – Holy Family Parish is formed on the property of St. Philip’s, combining the former parishes of St. Philip’s, St. Joseph’s-Milpitas, and Holy Child Filipino Church. The Rev. Ruth Casipit-Paguio was elected and continues to serve as first Rector.
2024 - New Initiatives on the Sacred Land: Common Ground – A Healing Garden for Many Traditions. The three principal occupants of the Parish Center – Holy Family Episcopal Church, Mandala Children’s House (preschool) and the Indian Health Center have over fifty years of shared stewardship of the land. In the spring of 2024, the executives and their boards entered into conversations to develop some of the land around the sweat lodge into a landscaped area of traditional healing plants and herbs. What is envisioned is an open-air classroom where people can gain traditional knowledge of healing plants and have an enlarged ceremonial space. They are asking local tribes, who have similar spaces to consult with them and perhaps move towards some future partnership.