LAFAYETTE, CO – AUGUST 28, 2026: Charter event celebration and installation of officers for the Apostolado San Junípero Serra Centro Norte Colorado, the first all Spanish Serra Club in Colorado, on August 28, 2026 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Lafayette, Colorado. (Photo by Christina Antus/Denver Catholic)
On August 28, 2026, the Apostolado San Junipero Serra Centro Norte Colorado was chartered at Immaculate Conception Church in Lafayette, Colo. The installation Mass was concelebrated by Most Rev. Jorge Rodriguez, Ph.D., Auxiliary Bishop of Denver, and Fr. Shaun Galvin, pastor of Immaculate Conception.
The club’s founding president, Lourdes Keefner, is a parishioner at Immaculate Conception. She was invited to form a Spanish-speaking club for the large Hispanic population in her parish, but her zeal and devotion quickly grew to accommodate 12 parishes and 125 members in just a few months.
“I’m God’s servant,” Keefner says. “He said he will show me the way to invite people to prayer and Adoration.” At first, she got 16 people to pray for vocations with her, and told them if they wanted to form their own club, they would need to reach 25 members. Within a week she achieved that goal.
Shortly after that, on May 19, Bishop Rodriguez sent her an encouraging note and offered help if she needed it. Keefner turned to Jesus:
“I said to Jesus, ‘You deserve more members, what about 30 for your 30 years when you started spreading the Good News?’ Then I said, ‘Why not 33 members for when you died?’ Then I asked, ‘What about 40 like your days in the desert?’” With each meaningful number the members grew and grew. By July she submitted the paperwork for charter to Serra International with 120 applicants on the roster.
“I trusted in God, He showed me the way,” Keefner said of her astounding ability to attract so many members. “God wants us to be happy doing his work and people want to be part of what God does. God was offering happiness. Community, prayer, and holiness, but having fun too!”
Keefner credits Serra US Cultural Outreach VP Jesse Gallegos, Colorado Springs Serran Margarita Trevino Waters, and District 6 Governor Nancy Akers with providing essential help in forming the new club.
In addition to monthly meeting, the club convenes every Tuesday to pray the Rosary, and for Eucharistic Adoration on Thursdays. On October 1, they will receive the Pope John Paul II traveling monstrance and they are very eager for the opportunity to pray for vocations during their time with it. Keefner plans to personally visit the priests of the 12 churches represented by her club’s members and let them know that Serrans are there to be of service.
“I want to do my best to take care of God’s people: his children, my brothers and sisters, the priests, everyone who encounters me on this journey,” Keefner says. “But the foundation of this club is prayer and Adoration for vocations, growing together in holiness, and healthy community for the glory and the Grace of God.”
