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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, October 15, 2015 | 32 St. Michael's reaching out to newcomers and youths continued from p.28 "The congregation has aged from what it was because there's no new development within our boundaries. It would have been a very young congregation and now it's a little bit more of an older congregation," said Kuntz. "Principally, the Hispanic immigrants are from South America, but also from Philippines, India and other areas." Kuntz noted the original building is still intact and the only modifications were the expansion of the foyer in 2003 and changing the carpet flooring to tiles at the front of the church. "There have been a few minor cosmetic changes, but the actual building is the original," said Kuntz. Mihm was a carpenter, too, who built the furniture at the front of the church, Kuntz said, which includes the chairs, altar and amble. "That's kind of a neat fact about the parish," he said. "We actually had, in the basement of this house, a little workshop. We've changed it into a meeting room, but at the time it was a workshop where he built things." In 1999, Father Ted Slaman launched a Spanish mass once a month to accommodate newcomers who spoke the language. When Kuntz joined the church in 2012, there was no longer a permanent pastor handling the Spanish services, he said, and different priests were assigned to perform the ceremonies. "I learned Spanish in order to care for the Hispanic-speaking community and then the bishop officially named us a bilingual parish in June 2013," said Kuntz. "One thing that makes our parish unique is that we have mass in Spanish every Sunday and we also offer the other sacraments in Spanish." While there haven't been any major challenges for St. Michael's, there have been some minor bumps along the way, such as coordinating services for the English- and Spanish-speaking parishioners, Kuntz admitted. "The mass we (had Sept. 12 was) a bilingual celebration. Also for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, we have celebrations together," said Kuntz. "It's nice to unite the community, but there are always some people who are uncomfortable with that, who don't like to have a reading in Spanish." However, the St. Michael's pastor is quick to point out that joining the two communities has been "very positive and has gone very well." The church currently offers an English service on Saturdays and twice on Sunday mornings, while a Spanish mass is held early Sunday afternoons. In the next few years, St. Michael's Parish hopes to accomplish two things -- expand its outreach to newcomers and the Hispanic community, and offer support for young professionals and Sheridan College students with a new group that was founded over the last year. "It's a crucial time in people's faith life because they've left their parents," Kuntz said. 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