First Baptist Associate Pastor James Brown
and Senior Pastor Steve Thomas stand in front
of the church’s new sign, which does not use the word ‘Baptist.’
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Tim Pallesen
No matter what you might have heard, Southern Baptists in Delray Beach are not to be feared.
The first evidence of this personality change is the sign in front of First Baptist Church — it now simply says FBC Delray without the word Baptist.
“We’re proud to be First Baptist,” senior pastor Steve Thomas explains. “But historically Baptists are known for what we’re against. We don’t want you to think we’re going to beat you up if you don’t think like us.”
The new, softer approach is a big change for the Baptists who began worshiping at the historic Sundy House in 1912. The congregation had 500 members back when IBM and Motorola were South County employers. First Baptist moved to its impressive fifth location on Military Trail south of Linton Boulevard in 1992.
The Rev. Thomas is known on Delray’s beach as a surf fisherman who sails the only green, yellow and blue trimaran sailboat. He arrived in 2008 when First Baptist membership had dipped to 120 people. Membership is up since then.
The softer tone is evident in Sunday worship, which Thomas describes as “less judgmental and prideful.” The music has a contemporary feel.
“People should know we preach everything the Bible says. The message is not what most people would call fire and brimstone,” he said. “But we still say there’s a hell.”
Members of FPC Delray now are frequently seen at the beach wearing “Free Prayer” T-shirts giving out water bottles to share God’s grace.
“We don’t want the name Baptist to be a stumbling block. For some people, it almost becomes a negative thing,” associate pastor James Brown said. “We’re just trying to drop some of the baggage.”
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He sits six hours each day in the Starbucks at Florida Atlantic University. Rabbi Moshe Goldstein is a counselor, but he’s also the most successful matchmaker on campus.
Eight of his protégés have married fellow Jews and committed to an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle this year. Three more are seriously dating.
“Marriage is everything when we do our work,” Goldstein explains.
Goldstein works for the Jewish Education Center of South Florida, located in a single-family home near an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in east Boca Raton.
His mission is to educate FAU students about their heritage and connect them to other young Orthodox Jews.
Goldstein, 36, spent 13 years in rabbinical school. But he looks the age of most college students and has no trouble striking up conversations at Starbucks.
He counsels 75 to 100 students, offering the center as an oasis where they can study and stay once a week if they commit to orthodox lifestyle, which doesn’t allow driving automobiles on the Sabbath, among other things.
Marriage is appropriate only after two or three years of serious study and commitment, Goldstein said.
About 25 young couples have purchased homes within walking distance of the synagogue east of FAU since Goldstein began his work at Starbucks five years ago.
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St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is celebrating its 100th anniversary by transforming itself as a cultural destination for downtown Lake Worth.
The historic congregation is hosting its new Artists in Residence initiative as a unique blend that includes classical music and social justice theater.
The Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival will rehearse and perform its fall concert series at St. Andrew’s, starting Sept. 19.
The Voices of Pride, a county gay men’s chorus that began in 2003, also will call St. Andrew’s its home. The congregation’s outreach to gays and lesbians has helped it grow to 170 members.
The third Artists in Residence group is the Core Ensemble, a music theater company that has toured the country for 20 years to highlight social justice issues. St. Andrew’s already is the home for People Engaged in Action and Community Effort (PEACE), which works with the Sheriff’s Office.
Artists in Residence organizer Margot Emery said St. Andrew’s wants to provide a quality cultural environment that develops Lake Worth’s image as a cultural destination.
“On our 100th anniversary, St. Andrew’s is firm in its belief that culture and the arts are essential to human development and well-being,” Emery said.
The picturesque little church on the corner of Lucerne Avenue and North Palmway was built a year after the 1928 hurricane blew down the original 1914 church building.
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Temple Emeth, a Conservative Jewish synagogue, has closed after 40 years west of Delray Beach.
The congregation thrived in the 1970s to the 1990s when many World War II-generation Jews retired to western Delray.
But Temple Emeth proved to be a one-generation congregation. The 355 remaining members are mostly in their 80s. Membership had reached 2,000 members in 1996.
About a third of Jews in Palm Beach County are synagogue members. A recent study found that 18 percent of American Jews identify with the Conservative movement, down from 43 percent in 1991.
The Temple Emeth congregation will merge with Temple Torah west of Boynton Beach. Temple Emeth buildings and land on West Atlantic Avenue will be sold to a Christian congregation for a church.
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Monsignor Thomas Skindelski
Monsignor Thomas Skindelski of St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach has just returned from leading an expedition into the jungles of Guatemala.
Father Tom and 14 Catholic men of the Knights of Columbus spent nine days building and repairing classrooms at a school that the church supports. He also served Mass in remote villages that seldom see a priest.
The St. Vincent congregation sent school and medical supplies, rosaries, holy cards, clothing, tools and candy for the children.
Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congre-gations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com.
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