HISTORY OF THE PARISH
St. Gabriel Roman Catholic Church was established on the feast of Corpus Christi, June 15, 1973. St. Gabriel’s was originally a part of St. Michael’s Parish until an early census showed nearly two hundred families within its boundaries that encompassed the southern part of the community. Monsignor Charles J. Dollen was the founding pastor of St. Gabriel's. Initially, masses were celebrated at Twin Peaks Middle School with Saturday and Holy Day masses held in the homes of parishioners. Eventually, Saturday masses were also moved to Twin Peaks.
Monsignor Dollen, along with the St. Gabriel’s community, envisioned the building of our parish hall to serve as St. Gabriel’s worship space until our Church was built. The church was to be built during the second phase of development of the 7 ½ acres that would become the campus of St. Gabriel’s. The first Benediction on the church property was held in 1976. The first mass was celebrated on the church property in September of 1977 as construction of the parish hall was about to begin. Groundbreaking for St. Gabriel’s parish hall took place on September 18, 1977. The first mass in the hall was celebrated on July 30, 1978. Formal dedication of St. Gabriel’s by Bishop Leo T. Maher took place on September 16, 1978. Carillon bells were installed in December 1980, and a new organ was dedicated and blessed in September 1981.
Through community spirit, work and prayer, the burning of the church mortgage took place in February of 1982. With the first mortgage paid off, the building master plan was revised in 1983. The revision included five buildings: Maintenance (Bldg B), Education (Bldg C), Office (Bldg D), Church (Bldg E), and Rectory (Bldg F). The maintenance, education and office buildings were completed in 1988. A house was bequeathed to St. Gabriel’s by the Edward Engel family on June 27, 1996. Though not on or near the church property, the house was to be used as a parish rectory. Monsignor Dollen resided at the new rectory on Woodcreek Lane in Poway. He retired in 1996 and passed away in 1998. His funeral mass was celebrated at St. Gabriel’s by Bishop Robert Brom.
Upon Monsignor Dollen’s retirement, Fr. Joseph (Fr. Jay) Brady became the pastor of St. Gabriel Catholic Church on July 1, 1996. Preliminary studies were made to begin planning the expansion of St. Gabriel’s worship space. Though the next phase of building did not begin during Fr. Jay’s 3-year tenure at St. Gabriel’s, the parish debt was paid off in June of 1998, paving the way for the next pastor to resume the planning and building of the new worship space. Fr. Jay left St. Gabriel’s when he was appointed pastor of St. Catherine Laboure Catholic Church in San Diego in June of 1999.
On July 1, 1999, Fr. Michael Froidurot was appointed to St. Gabriel’s as the parish’s third pastor. A parish committee was soon formed to revisit efforts to build a new worship space. In March 2004, six acres adjacent to the church property were purchased from the Hubert Family. The rectory on Woodcreek Lane was sold and a new rectory on Budwin Lane, adjacent to the church was purchased. On August 14, 2005, the blessing of the land took place, and Fr. Michael and Fr. Hal Tindall blessed the cornerstone that is now at the foot of the West Bell Tower of the Church.
In 2008, T. B. Penick & Sons, Inc. was hired along with architects Hyndman & Hyndman to design and build our new church. A fundraising consultant was hired and a capital campaign to raise funds for the new church building was launched. On March 13, 2010, a Cornerstone ceremony was celebrated by Bishop Robert Brom with Fr. Michael and the parishioners of St. Gabriel's. After years of planning and more than a year of construction, the first official Mass was celebrated in the new church on Friday, June 24, 2011. The Mass of Dedication, celebrated by Bishop Brom and concelebrated by Monsignor Mikulanis and all of the priests of the Escondido Deanery, was held on Friday, July 8, 2011. In 2015, renovation of our reception hall (building A) was completed. The hall was dedicated to Monsignor Charles Dollen. The Monsignor Dollen Hall has been the sight of many special events and social gatherings.
Since the opening of the new worship space, the number of St. Gabriel parishioners has tripled to include more than 2500 families. To meet the growing pastoral needs over the years, three deacons were ordained for St. Gabriel's Parish: Deacon Bob Troy in June 2007, Deacon Mike Fish in May 2009, and Deacon Ricardo Elizondo in May 2012. Sadly, we said good-bye to Deacon Bob on August 1, 2016 as he went home to our Heavenly Father. In the fall of 2015, we were blessed to welcome Fr. Patrick Murphy as Senior Associate Pastor. Fr. Pat has provided pastoral counseling and spiritual direction to many since arriving at St. Gabriel’s.
Fr. Michael retired in June 2025. We welcomed Fr. Bradley Easterbrooks as parish administrator on June 24, 2025, the same date that Fr. Brad had been ordained a priest at St. Gabriel three years earlier. Fr. Brad oversaw administrative, financial and spiritual renewal initiatives as the parish welcomed many new members.
During his time at the parish, Fr. Brad led the parish on its first ever blessing and procession of a St. Gabriel icon for a Sunday celebration of the Feast of the Archangels. He also led the parish in a blessing of a courtyard bench dedicated to the memory of Deacon Bob Troy. On June 24, 2026, Fr. Brad blessed a new olive grove, our parish’s “Garden of Gethsemane,” which can be used for prayer and contemplation on the hillside overlooking our parish grounds.
Fr. Brad initiated new youth and young adult ministries including the “Theology and Grub” ministry that quickly became a popular Old Poway event. In response to community interest, a First Saturday devotion to Our Lady as well as new Confession times were added. In May, the parish welcomed new images of St. Gabriel greeting Mary and Joseph which were designed for St. Gabriel’s and reflect the building architecture and place of worship.
Fr. Brad’s one-year assignment as parish administrator ended so that he could return to active-duty Naval service as a military chaplain. Fr. Christopher Tozzi was appointed pastor beginning July 1, 2026.