Every Sunday, members of American Canyon's Holy Family Parish celebrate Mass at a city gymnasium off Benton Way.

After Mass, church members fold 400 chairs, collect the missals, roll the hand-painted banner showing the Holy Family and pack everything away in a trailer. Holy Family Parish has had no home church in its 12-year history. That may change.

American Canyon's largest religious congregation has discussed a deal with a developer to build its first home church on land the Catholic Church owns behind the Fairfield Inn and Suites east of Highway 29.

"We just want a place of our own," said Michael Simmons, a deacon at Holy Family Parish, as he helped pack sound equipment after Sunday Mass.

To help finance the deal, Holy Family, which operates under the Diocese of Santa Rosa, would sell three of its five acres to Lake Street Ventures of Menlo Park, according to the parish. Lake Street Ventures is the developer of Napa Junction, the retail and apartment complex east of Highway 29.

Vincent "Buzz" Butler of Lake Street Ventures said his company will be the project manager for the church.

The sale of the church land would help fund the parish's new 8,000-square-foot multi-purpose center. Victor Rivera, a member of a church committee that advises Rev. Patrick "Pat" Stephenson on the parish's building plans, last week estimated the new building's construction costs at $2.1 million.

The parishioners, who financially support Holy Family Parish, have raised $496,000 and paid off the cost of the 5.16-acre parcel and the parish's ranch-style home where Stephenson lives, according to Rivera and Stephenson.

Stephenson, who has met with Butler, last week told his parish the sale of the land will not raise enough to pay for the new building.

"It will not cover everything," Stephenson said.

The plans could change, he also said.

Parishioners received a copy of the preliminary sketches of the building's floor plan, with a sanctuary for about 500 seats, a chapel for 24 seats, a kitchen, classrooms and offices.

The preliminary sketch of Lake Street Ventures' future three-acre site shows a 84-unit apartment complex and parking.

"Will they look different next week? Of course they will," added the Stephenson, known in the community for his high energy and sense of humor.

The future "House of Prayer and Celebration" will not be a church with stained glass windows and a steeple, but a more affordable, multi-purpose building, Stephenson and Rivera explained in separate interviews.

The church has to live within its means, they said.

A permanent building would give a place for the community to gather, said Stephenson, a former U.S. Air Force chaplain.

The parish's meeting place is the ranch-style house, where he lives.

At 9 a.m., Monday through Thursday, Mass is celebrated there in the living room.

The house is also the church office and the youth center. Baptisms take place on the deck.

Wedding and funeral Masses are often scheduled at St. Basil's or St. Vincent in Vallejo, St. John the Baptist in Napa or the Holy Family Mission in Rutherford.

Even as it expects to raise money to construct, furnish and maintain the future building, the parish, which pays $90 a week to rent the Community Center from the city, will continue to raise money for charities.

The church has raised $40,000 since 2002 to a Sisters of the Assumption shelter for abandoned girls in Nairobi, Kenya, according to Stephenson.

Stephenson, who stresses that the people, not the building, form Holy Family Parish, said the church's plans are in their early stages.

The Diocese of Santa Rosa bishop will have to approve the parish's plans, Rivera and Stephenson said.

The parishioners, whose motto is "The Friendliest Little Parish in the Valley," are confident they will have a permanent home.

"It will be built," said Josephine Rodriguez of Napa, a longtime Holy Family parishioner.

Simmons also seems confident, despite the parish seeing hopes dashed at a number of other sites.

The parish has seen "a lot" of deals to build over the years, he said.

"This one seems to be the most solid one so far," he said. "It's been a wonderful journey."