By Linda Reeves - The Florida Catholic Palm Beach

CORAL SPRINGS | St. Andrew Parish is celebrating a journey that started 50 years ago by moving forward with plans to renew and invigorate its Christ-centered ministry.

“We see the jubilee year as not only a way to look back at the past, but also as a way to look forward to the future,” said Msgr. Michael Souckar, pastor. “The anniversary year is a time to renew ourselves as a parish.”

The theme of the golden jubilee year is “Renewing all things in Christ,” and the anniversary Mass took place Nov. 1, 2020 with Archbishop Thomas Wenski as celebrant. A Spanish Mass followed with retired Bishop Fernando Isern. Both were livestreamed.

With Florida in pandemic recovery and Broward County slowly easing restrictions after the COVID-19 lockdown, St. Andrew Parish is slowly coming back to life. Masses are being celebrated in the church, and worshipers are returning to the pews wearing masks and following safety protocols.

St. Andrew School, serving 297 students, is open, religion classes are in session and parish groups and ministries are meeting. Msgr. Souckar is busy rescheduling events that were cancelled. “We are catching up,” he said. “People are very understanding.”

The parish anniversary year launched Nov. 17, 2019 with a celebration honoring St. Andrew, the parish’s patron, but then everything came to a halt.

“We weren’t really able to do anything,” said Beatriz Castro, a parishioner for the past eight years and director of religious education.

Anniversary organizers are hoping to hold a Jubilee Gala Jan. 29, 2021 at the Marriott Hotel, picking up anniversary initiatives where they left off and carrying them forward to next November.

The pastor says everything is uncertain with the ongoing pandemic, so it's in God’s hands.

Since last fall, parishioners have been encouraged to submit stories and memories about days gone by. At some point, the stories will be featured on the website and in bulletins.

“It is important that we remember how our parish started and those who were part of our growth over the past 50 years,” said Msgr. Souckar.

 

LOOKING BACK

Going back to the beginning, Coral Springs was nothing more than a bean farm and cow pasture before it was established in 1963 with nearly 300 residents taking up roots. Today, 2010 U.S. Census figures indicate more than 125,000 people reside in the 23.79 square-mile area.

St. Andrew Parish, founded May 29, 1969, was the first Catholic parish in town. The parish began with 25 families and had no physical facilities at first. Today the congregation has 2,600 families, beautiful facilities and grounds and more than 50 ministries, programs and organizations. St. Andrew School is moving into its 45th year of serving the community.

“There is nothing that I don’t like about this parish,” said Ray LaMontagne, a native New Yorker and usher with the parish for 40 years. “People are friendly, and it is an active community.”

Barbara Branigan is an usher and has been a parishioner for nearly 35 years. “St. Andrew is a wonderful parish,” she said. “It is my church. It is my family.”

Father Patrick Farrell was the founding pastor. Emily Heafy and Connie Serao were among the startup flock helping him establish ministries. Masses were celebrated in homes and public spaces including the city’s administration building, now the Coral Springs City Hall, until the community leased some space on Sample Road in a Coral Springs industrial park. Volunteers helped transform the commercial space into a house of worship dubbed the “warehouse chapel.”

The Mellon Foundation donated a site to the parish near 99th Avenue and 29th Street in 1970, and two years later, on Feb. 6, 1972, ground was broken. Beloved Msgr. John O’Looney, pastor emeritus of St. Anthony Parish in Fort Lauderdale, the first parish in Broward, officiated.

Seven months later, on Sept. 23, 1972, the new church — a multipurpose building — was dedicated by Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll. Heafy’s sons, Edward and Ralph Gray, served at the altar. Obviously, it was a big occasion for her, who had helped build up the church where her sons would grow up. 

The multipurpose space served the parish well. St. Andrew not only had a place to worship but also clergy accommodations, offices and space for fellowship.

The school came next. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held July 4, 1976, the nation’s bicentennial. The building was dedicated Dec. 8, 1976, by Archbishop Edward McCarthy. The school opened with 197 youngsters in grades 1-6.   

 

DECADE OF CHANGE

Father Farrell took leave in 1980, and Father Brendan Grogan arrived, immediately setting aims on a new church for his new growing flock. Money was raised, and the church was built and dedicated in 1982. The original church continued to serve as a parish hall and school for pre-K and kindergarten students.  

Father James Quinn took the reins in 1986. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton had been established in 1985 as the second parish in town, and in 1989, Mary Help of Christians opened in Parkland. With the new churches came new boundaries for St. Andrew, and some faithful said goodbye and joined the new parishes closer to their homes.

Celebrations came September 1994 when the parish marked 25 years. Archbishop McCarthy celebrated an anniversary Mass both in English and Spanish, indicating the growing number of Spanish-speaking families joining the parish.

Father Quinn, concelebrating, said, “We have a wonderful parish. Everyone works hard and is dedicated. St. Andrew has played a tremendous role in the City of Coral Springs from a religious and educational standpoint.”

The next two years brought the expansion of parish offices. The construction of a new $3 million school also began.

 

THE NEXT 25 YEARS

Father Arthur Dennison arrived in 1996. During his tenure, he completed the construction of the school and established an early childhood learning center. His focus then shifted to establishing a solid foundation for a stewardship program, which set the way for the program that continues today. He wrote in a statement, “May all who are a part of this parish embrace this mission and this vision and may all who see us know that we are Christians by our love.”  

Father George Puthusseril came in 2002. Under his administration, the Men’s Club and the annual Thanksgiving dinner program began. The Zimmermann Memorial Adoration Chapel opened in 2009. Upon his departure, he thanked everyone for their support. “The parish has many people with big hearts ready to help and support the community in whatever way the can. The life of the parish is due to the service mentality of the community,” he said.

Msgr. Souckar, former archdiocesan chancellor and priest-secretary to Archbishop Favalora, took the reins July 2012. Parishioners give him high marks for his hard work over the past eight years.

“He is always moving forward," said Castro. “He is always focused on how we can improve. He has a great vision.”

Msgr. Souckar in turn praised his parish family. “I pray that St. Andrew Parish continues to be the kind of parish it is,” said Msgr. Souckar. “We have been able to maintain that.”

St. Andrew now is a large, diverse family with people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds which continues to grow. The parish is typically a beehive of activity. As part of the jubilee, Msgr. Souckar is aiming to renew and revitalize “the many good things already happening in our parish and parish school,” he said.  

He also wants to strengthen St. Andrew's missionary and evangelical efforts and is asking parishioners to reach out to fallen-away Catholics and people with little faith or no faith at all who may be unsatisfied and seeking.

“We want to make this place a spiritual home for all those who are looking for a place and for those who have gone lukewarm,” Msgr. Souckar said.

FUTURE PLANS

• St. Andrew's pastor, Msgr. Michael Souckar, had hinted in a statement last November that he was working with church committees, a planner and an architectural firm on a new master plan for the parish.
• Archbishop Thomas Wenski made it official Nov. 1, 2020 when he announced during his homily that St. Andrew would be leasing a portion of a vacant lot on parish property to Catholic Health Services to build a healthcare facility on the site — the first in northwestern Broward County.
• The parish already adjoins St. Andrew Towers I and II, 219-unit apartment complexes for low-income seniors operated by Catholic Health Services.