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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Kevin Dincher, newly appointed director of the Marianist Center, says the center continues its own traditions while reaching out to other cultures and groups.
Peace in the Valley
Marianist Center provides a haven for solitude from modern society
By Barbara Doheny
Where Foothill Boulevard winds towards Stevens Creek, one can find the rarest of opportunities in Silicon Valley: a time and a place for reflection.
For more than a decade the nonprofit Marianist Center in Cupertino has opened its gardens and guest houses to the Silicon Valley's religious groups, nonprofit organizations and businesses.
Now the local Society of Mary, which operates the Center, finds itself amidst the stress of transition. With a new director and new programs, they hope to forge closer bonds with churches and clergy of all faiths.
But hospitality remains at the heart of their service, according to Kevin Dincher, M. Div., M.F.C.C., the Center's new head.
The Center hosted nearly 300 groups in the past year. They come for fresh air and a few calm moments away from the glare and stress of world-famous, world-weary Silicon Valley.
"It's quiet, it's reflective. The people down there are utterly respectful of what we're doing," according to Rick Bragdon, President of the San Francisco-based marketing group Idiom.
His firm develops names for companies and products. "This may sound like a stretch, but verdant grounds and space help to create fertile minds," he said. "The environment is very much in sync with our task at hand."
The serenity of the setting, he added, is a tremendous asset to its formal mission to heal and nurture individuals and communities through hospitality, education and service.
"We really believe that the environment has an impact on the way people talk to one another and the way they treat one another," Dincher said.
Sue Lapp, a former colleague of Dincher's at ARIS (AIDS Resources, Information and Services) of Santa Clara County, says her group's visits were very productive.
"We're a very busy agency, and when we're on-site, we're often interrupted. This gives us a concentrated block of time when we can work together as a group," she said. "Peaceful, gracious hosts, good food--it's a really conducive environment to doing planning."
Dana Packard said the price--about half what local hotels cost--and proximity to her company's Cupertino campus also helped attract more than a half-dozen meetings over the past five years.
But the peaceful setting is the most important part, according to Packard, who is Communications and Information Manager at Hewlett-Packard's Network Server Division.
"It's peaceful . . . You never hear a phone ring," she said. "It sort of reinforces reflection, concentration, and at the same time you can relax after doing some stressful work."
Barely a breeze disturbs the stillness of the facility's flower garden and swathes of green lawn. Small waterfalls and rock-bordered pools display an Asian influence. That influence is echoed in the buildings' natural timbers and minimalist decoration.
Marianist brothers and priests built the facility themselves, taking six years to finish the spacious guesthouses. The doors and interior woodwork were handcrafted from old redwood water tanks.
It was intended to be a "formation house," the first home of men who had just entered the order. However, the flow of applicants to religious orders soon slowed to very few. Ten years ago the house opened as a public conference and meeting space.
The Marianist Center lists major companies including Hewlett-Packard and Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers among its business clients. It has offered seminars on stress and management issues.
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Employees from Rational Software break from their conference at the Marianist Center for a lunchmade by on-site cooks.
However, as a nonprofit, the number of commercial clients the Center can host is limited. More than 80 percent of guests over the past year have been religious or other nonprofit groups, according to Dincher.
That's a change from the past decade, when the Center became a home for groups exploring Asian philosophy and some New Age religions. Eventually the Marianists became uneasy with the direction the center was taking, Dincher said.
"The concern for us is that we were so focused on the East, we were losing our traditions. The move today is more integrative and inclusive," Dincher explained.
The Society of Mary was founded in France 100 years ago and finds its spiritual model in Mary, the mother of Jesus. They take on the role of good sons, and part of their mission is the support of the family and more recently, the community at large.
The Center's first director, Mimi Latno, developed the Center as a space that welcomed followers of Asian religions and philosophies, Dincher said. She was replaced by Fr. Allen DeLong, a Marianist priest. Each group using the facility was evaluated for how well it fit within the order's own philosophy.
The decision was made to "bring in more traditional Western, and especially Christian-focused programming," Dincher said.
"We're really hoping to serve a broader group of people, and in our own tradition," he said. "What we've done this past year is tend our own roots and traditions while continuing to reach out."
New outreach includes a series of programs on such topics as the death penalty. There will be a seminar on "Atoning for the Sin of Racism" at the end of August.
Dincher said visitors and other nonprofit groups suggest programs, but as director he has considerable influence.
The Center also is partnering with the Diocese of San Jose. One upcoming project will be a program for clergy, caregivers and patients with HIV/AIDS.
Dincher came to the Marianist Center from ARIS (AIDS Resources, Information and Services) of Santa Clara County. There he managed the renovation and permitting of a state-licensed home for HIV/AIDS patients. He also served as the Facility House Manager through its first year.
Dincher has what it takes to lead a group in new directions, according to Lapp.
"He has great organizational skills, a lot of experience in planning seminars and training, great people skills and a lot of experience in working with different populations," she said. "He did a great job."
Dincher served as operations manager at the Marianist Center for a year before adding the director's duties to his job. With a small staff, he's hampered by the problem most nonprofits face: lack of manpower.
In addition to his professional duties, he has taken on such clerical tasks as building the webpage and trimming the 7,000 names on the Center's mailing list.
With master's degrees in family and child counseling, as well as divinity studies, Dincher focuses on the healing and rebuilding aspects of the center's mission.
That could be welcome news for the clergy and nonprofit organizations that take care of the valley's overworked residents, who themselves need a respite at times.
"I think we're really in a position to make some kind of response to that," he said. "And I think that fits very well with what the Marianists are about, with their emphasis on community and spirituality."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
