Members of Christ Fellowship Church, above, are led in prayer by the worship team, below, on April 13.
It was the first service at their new permanent location, in the former Dillard’s department store in the Boynton Beach Mall.
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Tim Pallesen
With a last-minute flurry of construction, Christ Fellowship opened in time for Easter at its new South County location in the Boynton Beach Mall.
The megachurch based in Palm Beach Gardens also opened a new satellite church in New York City to hear founding pastor Tom Mullins lead Easter worship.
Christ Fellowship purchased a vacant Dillard’s department store here for $4.6 million in 2012.
Todd Mullins, the current lead pastor, says the familiar location is ideal for a church: “We’re hoping they will stay and shop in the mall and go eat in the food court.”
Part of the 127,000-square-foot department store’s second floor was removed to create a sanctuary with a capacity for 1,500 people.
The Boynton location starts with two Sunday services and envisions four on weekends in the future for a total of 6,000 people at worship.
About 1,000 South County residents have been attending Christ Fellowship services at Boynton Beach High School this past year, waiting for the permanent mall location to open.
Another large South County congregation, the Journey Church, wasn’t able to finish construction for Easter at its new location on South Federal Highway in Boynton.
About 1,400 have been attending services at Park Vista High School. Church leaders hope to open this month.
More than 700 children and parents celebrated the first-year anniversary of PJ Library, each donating a pair of pajamas to enjoy the April 6 fun at a park.
PJ Library enrolled more than 1,100 South County families this past year with children ages 6 months to 8 years old to receive Jewish children’s books and music in their mailboxes each month.
About 2,800 children, parents and grandparents in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Highland Beach also enjoyed 25 programs ranging from PJ Library story time to puppet shows at synagogues.
“This extraordinary program is enriching the lives of Jewish children and bringing our Jewish community together in such a meaningful way,” library chair Ilene Wohlgemuth said.
PJ stands for pajamas. So children were asked to donate pajamas to Jewish Family Services for those in need. The April 6 anniversary party at South County Regional Park featured a petting zoo.
PJ Library is supported financially by individuals and foundations. The Jewish Women’s Foundation of South Palm Beach County again chose PJ Library as one of nine charities to receive $170,000 in grants at its Granting Wishes Reception on March 24.
People of faith are raising awareness about human trafficking in very different ways.
The mountain-climbing initiative led by Debbie Dingle at Advent Lutheran Church in Boca Raton is best known locally for getting the word out.
Now the women of Temple Beth El are using chocolate to help the public understand the plight of slavery today.
The Advent Lutheran ladies hosted an April 11 wine-tasting fundraiser to support Dingle, pastor’s wife Susan Hagen and seven other women from the congregation who will climb seven Colorado mountains this summer.
The nine women are training by running in hiking boots at the beach. “The deep sand simulates what’s like to have altitude,” Dingle explained.
Her climbers raise money for Operation Mobilization, a worldwide Christian ministry to rescue women from prostitution and exploitation.
Dingle has raised awareness for the rescue effort by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2012 and Mount Everest last year.
The ladies at Temple Beth El took a somewhat less physical approach when they hosted the first Jewish Women’s Chocolate Passover Seder last month.
The Jewish ladies chose chocolate when they learned while studying human trafficking that 1.8 million children are slaves in cocoa production in Africa.
Chocolate eggs, cookies and cheesecake were served to encourage 200 women at the Chocolate Seder to open their hearts for the growing cause among Christians and Jews.
Music by Live Hymnal during the Unplugged services at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church
has brought national attention to their nontraditional approach to worship.
INSET BELOW: The Rev. Wendy Tobias
Photos provided
Unplugged at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church has received national recognition for its success in attracting unchurched young adults into a traditional church.
The 11:45 a.m. Sunday worship features old hymns such as Love Divine and Be Thou My Vision rearranged by composer Charles Milling and performed by his band Live Hymnal.
The national Episcopal Church gave the Boynton Beach congregation a $20,000 grant last month, declaring that its contemporary worship service is a “fresh expression” that other Episcopalian churches should duplicate.
“Unplugged is a new way to do liturgy and worship to attract a population that might not otherwise be interested in walking through our doors,” the Rev. Wendy Tobias said.
Tobias attended St. Joseph’s School and served 12 years as its chaplain before she was ordained.
She delivers a sermon, serves communion and blends nicely with the Live Hymnal band, which has recorded seven albums since Milling assembled his favorite South Florida musicians in 2005.
“Unplugged is for those who want to get away from the stiff and traditional,” Tobias said.
Jennifer Gomez, 27, is typical of the young adults attracted to the relaxed worship service with uplifting music. “It’s a great opportunity to get new people interested in church,” she said.
Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com.
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