BLOOMINGTON - St. Mary's Church celebrated Father's Day Sunday by honoring Father Ric Schneider. Three-hundred fifty people came to the gymnasium of St. Mary's Catholic Elementary School for a banquet honoring the 50th anniversary of Schneider's ordination as a Franciscan priest.

A Mass which drew 300 was celebrated before the banquet.

"It's unbelievable: what one man gives of himself makes you want to give back," said Mike Kiley, St. Mary's parish council chair."We all find ourselves wanting to give more to the community."

State Rep. Dan Brady presented Schneider a certificate of recognition from the state House of Representatives for his 50 years of service. Kiley presented Schneider with a Bose music sound system for his office, and announced that parishioners were going to replace the tape player in Schneider's van with a CD player today. Kiley said Schneider has given the parish the gift of music, and the sound systems were in thanksgiving of that.

"He seems to be always really happy contented, like someone who trusts in the Lord," said Ann Do, 20-year member of the parish.

"He's very good with children," she said. "Children really draw to him. He has charisma. A very humble man, very approachable."

Pictures of a very young, studious Father Ric sat on a table along with "Father Ric Jubilee bars" of chocolate.

"Father Ric is just an amazing person, a fantastic priest," said parish member Doris Finnigan, a parish member for 36 years. "He's definitely brought the parish of St. Mary's together and made it a family."

"We're lucky to have him at St. Mary's," said Doris' husband, Jim Finnigan, a lifelong member of the parish.

"He's really made a difference. When he first came here the parish was in trouble with fundraising. We were behind in a lot of things."

Schneider has been leading the parish 16 years. Finnigan noted that under Schneider's leadership, the parish has added onto the school in 2001 and remodeled the church in 1996. Schneider helped to bring about OSF Community Prenatal Clinic at 502 S. Morris Ave., which provides prenatal care to the large Spanish-speaking population in the parish's neighborhood. The clinic was opened in 2006 after Schneider made a suggestion to OSF St. Joseph Medical Center Administrator Ken Natzke.

"We closed the service by singing "Trust in the Lord," said parish member Pam Smith. "That's what Father Ric teaches us: trust in the Lord and all will be good."

"He's an inspirational spiritual leader. He's fun. He works hard. He's a good teacher. I've learned a lot about my faith from him."

Schneider's seemed eager at the reception to give all of the credit to his parish, which includes 4,000 members, including 1,500 households.

"This parish is unbelievable," he said. "They're a great community, and we celebrate that often, every day, in fact."

Schneider said in an average weekend of five Masses, the church brings in 1,450 congregants. The elementary school is educating 170 students, 30 percent of whom receive scholarships from the parish, Schneider said. The parish hosts meals in its soup kitchen twice weekly, and about 85 children attend vacation Bible school at the parish.

Or, in other words, there is a lot of "action on Jackson" Street.