Community Worship: Fr. Gregory Boyle

Lakeside is pleased to welcome Fr. Gregory Boyle, Founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, California, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world, as Preacher of the Week July 16-20. This week’s preacher is supported by Jim & Susan Hackbarth. 

Boyle will lead the 10:30 a.m. Chautauqua Community Worship Service on Sunday, July 16 in Hoover Auditorium.

Michael Shirtz and guest artist Sadiyah Babatunde (soprano) will provide musical leadership during the service.Liturgy will be led by Rev. Dr. Charles Yoost, Senior Director of Religious Life & Pastoral Care.  Worship music for the 2023 summer season is supported by James E. Beardsley and Doris F. Beardsley.

Following the opening prayer, children (ages 5-11) will proceed to Bradley Temple for Children’s Church with Chip Richter. There will be a message by Richter, songs, crafts, lemonade and cookies to share. Preschoolers are welcome if accompanied by an adult. 

From 1986-1992, Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. The church was the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city. 

Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called “decade of death” that began in the late 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992. In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, he, the parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings. 

In 1988, they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of individuals who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life. 

Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, followed by Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship and The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness. Most recently, he authored Forgive Everyone Everything, an anthology of writings accompanied by Fabian Debora’s artwork. 

Boyle has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, President Obama named Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. Homeboy Industries was the recipient of the 2020 Hilton Humanitarian Prize validating Boyle’s vision and work by the organization for over three decades. 

Join Boyle for Faith for Living Hour at 9 a.m. Monday-Thursday in Hoover Auditorium.  Boyle will give the sermon at Vespers by the Lake at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Steele Memorial Bandstand. 

Guests are welcome to attend Community Worship free of charge by requesting a complimentary Church Pass between 7:30-10:30 a.m. Sunday; valid until 1 p.m. The pass includes admittance for guests and auto. This pass must be presented to the gate attendant upon departure. If the time allotted is exceeded, the guest(s) will be charged a fee. This pass does not include access to the Grindley Aquatic & Wellness Campus pool. Complimentary passes are available for all worship services and Faith for Living Hour.