"In 1979, the Diocese of Oakland established the Danville/San Ramon Parish of St. Joan of Arc. The parish was formed from the growing healthy Catholic communities of St. Isidore in Danville and St. Raymond in Dublin.
Rev. Michael Joyce was assigned as pastor of St. Joan of Arc by the Bishop of Oakland, John S. Cummins.
For four years a trailer was used as the Parish and Religious Education headquarters at the church construction site. In addition to programs that provided religious instruction for the children and youth of the parish, several key committees were put into place: Liturgy, Social Concerns, Good Times and Finance.
The parish compiled a list of features wanted for the new church:
We want it to be bright and to have a flat and open area for the sanctuary
We want people to have a sense of closeness to the altar
We want a window so we can keep ourselves connected to this world of ours
This list was submitted to several architects, and a design by Aaron Green of San Francisco, a long-time associate of Frank Lloyd Wright, was selected as the favorite.
Before the church was built, Masses were held in the library of John Baldwin Elementary School in Danville. Each week volunteers would move chairs into the library on Saturday, then move them out again on Sunday after the Masses. Baptisms and weddings were even held in the school library, popularly known by parishioners at the time as “St. John Baldwin”.
St. Joan’s was built on an eight-acre parcel originally part of a 20-acre ranch. The church sits on the site of the old farmhouse, looking out at Mt. Diablo.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 25, 1982, and the first Mass was held in the church on Saturday, October 16, 1983. On December 11, 1983, Bishop Cummins consecrated the altar at the dedication ceremony. The original church had a central seating area that seated 450. An accordion door separated the adjoining multipurpose room and kitchen from the church. The office was in a separate room at the back of the church. The youth center was and is still below the church. Having a “place to call home” allowed the parish to expand its programs to better meet the needs of the parishioners as well as to extend its outreach to touch more effectively the community at large through food drives and other socially conscious efforts." (
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