‘The Holy Spirit is here'

By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic

Photography: TOM TRACY | FC

NORTH LAUDERDALE | Four decades have brought community changes and new faces to their parish, but founding and newer members alike insist Our Lady Queen of Heaven is still a close-knit community of friends.

Retired nurse AJ Dorrington and her retired pharmacist husband, Donald, fondly remember how they personally installed the first screen on the rectory door years ago, and their three sons all volunteering as altar servers over the years.

Two of their daughters were also raised here, and all the grandchildren were subsequently baptized at Our Lady Queen of Heaven, located just west of the Florida Turnpike south of Atlantic Boulevard.

“It has been a wonderful little church and the Holy Spirit has really blessed it, especially at Christmas time, when one year our fifth child was baptized during a midnight Mass (by then-pastor Father Gerald Morris),” AJ Dorrington recalled.

Many of the original founding families joined newer parish members, along with Father Kidney St. Jean, pastor, and visiting clergy from the region Oct. 22 for a Mass and 40th anniversary celebration with Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski.

Lending some perspective, the archbishop, who spoke in three languages for the multi-ethnic community on hand, noted that “40 years might not seem too long in a Church that is almost 2,000 years old, but in our archdiocese, which is 56 years old, 40 years is something to celebrate.”

A vibrant Haitian and Hispanic community with roots throughout the Americas has found a home here in recent years, as evidenced by the blend of choirs at the celebration.

“What unites us is not a common language, ethnicity or national origin,” Archbishop Wenski said. “What unites us is Jesus Christ.

“Our identity is founded on one faith, one baptism, one Lord. In this evening’s second reading, St. Paul tells the gentiles to remember that without Christ, they were alienated from the community of Israel—but he tells them and us: You are strangers no longer,” the archbishop said.

In front of the altar, parishioners had placed three framed documents commemorating the 40th anniversary, including a blessing from Pope Francis and two other documents: a letter of congratulations from Archbishop Wenski and an official proclamation from the City of North Lauderdale.

Father St. Jean thanked the archbishop, clergy and the wider community for turning out for the event, saying, “Thanks for making this community what it is today, and for all of your support, your collaboration and all of you who made this anniversary what it is.

“And from the bottom of my heart am looking forward to working with you to make this community a better one in the Archdiocese of Miami,” Father St. Jean added.

The priest told The Florida Catholic that what he really loves about the parish is “the unity we are having between the people because it is really diverse and united community.”

“We have people from all over and sometimes I say it is like the United Nations, with people from all over the Caribbean, from everywhere, so it is really a pleasure to work with them as a community and they show that as Catholics we are one,” Father St. Jean said.

Sandy Stein, administrative assistant at the church and a founding member, attended the event with her husband Leo. They talked about raising their children here as the church transitioned from various temporary and borrowed spaces in the early years to its current structure, built in the early 1980s adjacent to the Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery.

“I remember we gathered in a fire station, at a Baptist church on Rock Island Road, and my children made their first Communion on North Lauderdale Elementary school—(we gathered at) any place that would take us until our building was ready.”

Stein said she remembers fondly the annual parish carnivals and how for two consecutive years the threat of hurricanes shut down a parish festival.

“There is something special about Queen of Heaven and I think many people have always said that—the Holy Spirit is here,” she added.

Fran Renguso, director of liturgy and a parishioner since 1977, called the parish a peaceful and happy church. “Most people feel comfortable here, and when people leave and come back they say, ‘We just didn’t have the same feeling we had when we were here.’”

“It is a feeling of home and caring and even though it is very diverse people are trying hard to work together,” Renguso said.

Jose Castanon, coordinator of Spanish-language lectors, said he found his way to the parish after moving to Florida from Mexico, and he subsequently had two children baptized at Our Lady Queen of Heaven.

“This is my community, and although I help lectors elsewhere they choose me to be coordinator of lectors here,” he said.

“This is our family, our community,” said founding member Janet Reilly, who added she is godmother to five children of one parish family after she taught the mother in religious education classes.

“I taught CCD for 23 years. We have fun here, and we help each other,” Reilly said. ”If someone is in trouble we help each other and we help their families.”