Married in the Mission

By Brittany Benjamin

When Santa Clara law student Kristin Love Boscia first started discussing marriage with her husband Chris, Mission Church seemed like the natural choice for the wedding ceremony. Having attended Mass there together, it seemed the perfect venue for their intimate ceremony.

There was only one problem in their fairytale wedding plans: the fabled five-year wait list.

Like many of the myths that circulate campus, the rumor that there's a five-year wait list to get married at Mission Church is completely false.

"I don't know where the rumor gets started that there's a five-year wait list," said Love Boscia, a Santa Clara alumna and Cyphi resident minister. "I'm happy to report that isn't true."

Love Boscia's husband Chris Boscia is also a law student, and a resident minister in the Alpha community.

According to Charles White, director of Mission Church, the earliest facilities can be reserved is two years ahead of time.

"We are first and foremost a student chapel; the university has first choice," said White, who said that university activities are scheduled first. "Once that is established, we can open it up for private use."

The wait list for the next year is released the first Friday in January. Wanting a ceremony during Labor Day weekend, the Boscias recall signing up at 3 a.m. to have first pick of dates.

"I snuck out there (to the church) and put my name on the list," Boscia said. "I was the first person out there."

According to White, demand for weddings at Mission Church has decreased in recent years. The church used to host 200 weddings a year, but the current annual average rests at 130.

When the university was an all-male institution, no weddings were held. It was when women were first allowed into the university in 1961 that interest in weddings at Mission Church began to grow.

In 1970, under pressure from the first graduating classes of female alumni, Archbishop Joseph McGucken of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which Santa Clara was a part of at the time, allowed the first wedding in Mission Church.

In order to be eligible to marry at the Mission Church, certain requirements must be met.

First, either the bride or groom must be directly affiliated with Santa Clara. At least one party must either be a current student, faculty member, staff member or alumnus.

"You carry that perk for the rest of your life," White said of the affiliation requirement.

Community members who attend Sunday morning services are not given this perk because they are not considered members of the parish, White said.

Additionally, all marriages involving at least one baptized Catholic are obligated to have a Catholic marriage ceremony. In other words, if either the bride or groom is Catholic, the wedding must also be Catholic in nature.

Alumna Lauren Swigart, a Lutheran, is marrying Colin Fleming, a third-year Catholic law student at Santa Clara, at Mission Church this coming August. She said the Catholic ceremony doesn't bother her.

"We are incorporating both of our religions in the ceremony," said Swigart, who added that Fleming's uncle is a priest and will be marrying them. "I definitely don't mind."

Swigart chose the Mission Church because of her affiliation to the university.

"There's a lot of connection to Santa Clara. It seems like the best place with the most meaning," Swigart said.

The backdrop of Mission Church didn't hurt either. "It's just so pretty," she said.

White said mixed marriages, or marriages between a Catholic and non-Catholic, are fairly common in Mission Church.

While a Catholic priest must preside over the vows, one of the Catholic faith's holy sacraments, both traditions can be represented in other parts of the mass.

Non-Catholics are also allowed to wed in Mission Church. A wedding involving other religious backgrounds can be preformed in the church without a Catholic ceremony.

"We've pretty much seen every wedding possible," White said, who calls multiple representatives co-presiders.

Administrative Coordinator for Mission Church Ginny Pauksta said, "As long as they are affiliated with the university, we consider this their chapel. We've had Catholic, many denominations of Christian, Buddhist and Jewish weddings. These are the ones that I'm aware of."

Couples having Catholic ceremonies are also required to attend marriage workshops or a natural family planning presentation.

The marriage workshops encourage couples to reflect upon questions usually not looked into during the relationship, such as money matters and holiday plans.

Natural family planning presentations allow couples to know alternatives to birth control if they chose, said White, who added that couples are only required to attend one presentation.

"It's very organized," said Love Boscia of the wedding requirements and system.

According to White, these requirements have been in place for over 30 years, since marriages were first allowed in the Church.

Contact Brittany Benjamin at (408) 551-1918 or brbenjamin@scu.edu.