St. Lucy Catholic Church member Marilyn Rubin (left)
of Highland Beach enjoys the Xpressions 2012 40th Annual
Fashion Show & Luncheon with her guest Audrey Miller. The
show was held at the Delray Beach Club on Feb. 18.
By Tim Pallesen
The social life at St. Lucy Catholic Church is geared to the seniors.
“We cater to an older population that loves to come out and dance,” said Rana Vitha, president of the St. Lucy Council of Catholic Women. “That’s a little unique to St. Lucy because of the age of our population.”
Nearly all 700 members at the Highland Beach congregation are retirees. Many are snowbirds who arrive for the winter when St. Lucy’s social season comes alive.
“We’re quiet in the summer and blooming in the winter like any other vacation spot,” former CCW president Pat Foster said.
Italian Night on Jan. 14 was the first big dinner-dance this season, organized by the St. Lucy Men’s Club. A seven-piece live band provided music in the parish hall.
The Men’s Club sponsored a bus trip to see the horse races at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 4. Next up is the St. Patrick’s Day dinner-dance on March 10.
Church members Rose Tenny-Grasso (top), Marilyn Fontenelli (middle)
and Jacqueline Philippoussi (above) model clothing from Sondro’s in
Deerfield Beach and Plaza Boutique in Delray Beach.
Photos by Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star
Women outnumber the men in the aging congregation. So the ladies have their own calendar of social events.
Their season began with a December tea called the Baby Jesus Shower in which they brought clothing and toys as Christmas gifts for children in a poor Catholic parish in Pahokee.
The women held their 40th annual fashion show and luncheon at the Delray Beach Club on Feb. 18. Eight women from the congregation modeled clothes from dress shops in Delray Beach and Deerfield Beach.
But church leaders at St. Lucy aren’t just trying to have fun. They are also trying to combat loneliness, particularly among elderly widows in the congregation.
“Women outlive men,” Vitha said. “We have a lot of women who are experiencing loneliness, health [issues] and financial shock.”
To better understand needs within the congregation, the Council of Catholic Women invited the women to speak out at “Life Challenges for Women” on Feb. 7.
Their concerns will help church leaders plan next winter’s schedule of events at St. Lucy.
“We feel we are providing Christ’s ministry,” Vitha said.
The musical talent from four churches and two synagogues will join March 25 to perform a Sounds of Promise concert to benefit the interfaith Family Promise charity.
Choral and instrumental music during the 4 p.m. concert at First Presbyterian in Delray Beach will range from spirituals to Hebrew songs. “It’s going to be an exciting and varied event with something for everybody,” said Jim Poch, the concert’s musical director.
The horse-drawn carriage in Cuba.
Glades Presbyterian and the B’nai Torah congregation will send full choirs. The praise band from First United Methodist is coming along with organist Brian Davy from St. Gregory’s Episcopal and soloist Barbara Bayer from Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
“It’s going to be phenomenal,” said cantor Stephanie Shore from B’nai Torah, who will sing and serve as master of ceremonies for the event.
The six congregations participating in the concert and six others form Family Promise, a charity that provides emergency shelter and food to families with children. Tickets for the fund-raiser are $20.
Members of First United Methodist Church in Boca Raton are off to Haiti and Cuba with a renewed spirit for world mission.
The congregation began on Vision Sunday last November by adopting a new slogan: “Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
“We believe we are waking up to a stronger emphasis on mission, both in the community around us and in the world,” associate pastor Tom Tift said.
A delegation left March 4 to Haiti to explore ways to help Grace Children’s Hospital in Port-au-Prince and the Christian School of New Vision in LaJeune.
First Methodist already supports the children’s hospital financially, and trip leader Dan Bertotti has led three previous delegations to Haiti to help build a dormitory and well for the school.
“We see this month’s trip as the first step to identify ways we can become a more meaningful partner,” Tift said.
Teachers from Toussaint L’Ouverture High School, a Delray Beach charter school for Haitian immigrants, is with the delegation to teach the Haitian school’s teachers.
As they do, Tift and the Methodists will escort the 60 orphans who live at the school on a tour of the Citadel, a castle on a mountaintop. They also plan Bible readings and a talent show for the children.
In Cuba, the Methodists from Boca Raton have embraced Christians in the rural town of Palenque to build a home for their pastor. They also purchased a horse-drawn carriage to bring people to church.
All Methodist churches in Florida are encouraged to identify a sister church in Cuba. The communist regime of Fidel Castro doesn’t allow new churches to be built. So the pastor’s home in Palenque was built with a special room where the Cuban congregation can worship.
First Methodist’s mission efforts got a boost when William Joel, a long-time church usher, surprised the congregation with a $1 million gift after his death last year.
Celebrants will wear Spanish costumes for the annual Purim party at the Chabad of East Boca Raton on March 8.
Flamenco guitarist Alex Fox will perform after a 5:30 p.m. dinner to celebrate the deliverance of Jews over their enemies in the ancient Persian Empire. A carnival will entertain the children.
Tickets to Purim en España are $35. Call 417-7797 for details.
Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com.
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