Mission needs volunteers to tell its story | News

The Dove of the Desert, Mission San Xavier del Bac, is a real treasure only a short drive away.

Still a working Roman Catholic parish, San Xavier begs to be understood. Patronato docents can help with that during their 30-minute tours.

“I hope you can see I love being here,” said docent Shirley “Squirrel” Lovelady. 

“My daughter always says if somebody will stand still, I’ll talk about (the mission). I love trying to make it real for people.”

Miles Green leads the Patronato docent program. He had plenty of volunteers before the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has whittled away to 16 —16 for a couple of thousand visitors during peak season. Green is now actively seeking the next cohort of volunteers to become docents, essentially tour guides. 

Right now, there are only enough people to run two tours daily, Monday to Saturday.

“(Becoming a docent) is a wonderful opportunity to discover, really, some of the roots of the makings of the European experience in this part of the country,” he said. “And it’s a wonderful way of getting in touch with a piece of our history, supporting a very worthy cause of making sure our history is preserved and providing meaningful occupation.” 

A 12-year docent, Judith Tracy was in the original cohort of volunteers. She remains because the church is so compelling.

“The place has a presence, and as soon as you walk in, regardless of your religious beliefs or whether you have any at all, it has a presence,” she said. “I think it must be preserved. There is nothing like it in this country.”

During docent training, Green gives volunteers a book to study one day a week at the mission.

“They teach you, first of all, the history of the church because that’s so important for this type of structure,” Tracy said. “(They teach) you how to present the data. It’s a wonderful program.”

To make training interesting, Green invites guest speakers, including one about statues.

“There’s been a controversy as to whether it’s St. Xavier, the patron saint, or is it St. Francis of Assisi?” he said. 

The volunteers see aspects of the church restoration that the public is not aware of.

“As a docent, we get cool experiences,” Lovelady said. “We got to go on the scaffolding and get up and see up close (the statue of) St. Barbara and she’s got original painting on her. When they cleaned the dome in 2022, we got to go up and crawl through the window and see those pictures on the dome. Now, that’s a once in a lifetime experience.”

After the training is complete, volunteers are asked to commit eight to 10 hours a month to the work plus quarterly meetings.  

According to Green, almost anyone would make a good volunteer, regardless of belief.

“(The docents) are just lay people from the community who have had an interest in the mission and seen us as a viable volunteer opportunity,” Green said.

Lovelady said potential docents should have specific interests. 

“If you like people and you like history, art, culture, architecture, religion,” Lovelady said. “The people who come here want to hear the story of the mission. They’re interested or they don’t join the tour. You meet nice people and you get to tell a beautiful story about something rare and unusual and I think it’s cool.” 

The church does not receive any government funding for its conservation and restoration efforts. Instead, the funds come from private donations, grants, and tours that serve as fundraisers. The tour is free, with a suggested donation of $5. If the contribution is made through a docent, it is designated for the restoration and conservation fund. 

“The docent program has really added a tremendous value and acts to preserve the space,” Green said. 

Evidently, volunteering as a docent is a satisfying project.

“Most of our docents would say it’s really been an integral piece of their retired life,” Green said. “We have a number of docents who would say it’s probably been the most positive thing they’ve chosen to do.”

Lovelady, “It’s a fabulous way to contribute to the community and to share a wonderful story with visitors.”

Green wants to encourage anyone interested in volunteering at the mission to do so, even those who think they are too shy or not good at public speaking.

“You may surprise yourself,” he said.