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PARISH PROFILE
 Ss. Peter and Paul, Palmyra: Younger families blend in with retirees
By Steve Neill
Of The Catholic Virginian
In its early days of development during the 1980s Lake Monticello in Fluvanna County attracted mainly retirees who moved to the new community from New York and New Jersey.
“The lake was highly advertised in the northern newspapers,” said Barbara Favia, who moved to the area in 1993 from Edison, N.J. “Most of the people were Catholic and that was the foundation of the parish.”
The parish is Ss. Peter and Paul located in Palmyra, 20 miles southeast of Charlottesville.”The population of the church has grown with the population of the county,” Mrs. Favia said. “We now have younger families and there’s been an increase in the number of activities for the younger members.”
Father Alan Lipscomb, soon beginning his fourth year as pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul, lives within the gated community of Lake Monticello as do probably 70 to 80 percent of his parishioners. The parish has approximately 500 households.
 “It’s a retirement community, but it’s also a small city,” he said, adding there may be as many as 4,000 homes.
“Now Palmyra has become a bedroom community of Charlottesville and a lot of young people have moved to the lake,” he added.
There are more than 100 children in religious education classes, but the parish has only three classrooms. Classes for kindergarten through the 5th grade are held on Sunday mornings from 9:15 to 10:25, and the 6th to 11th grade classes meet on Tuesday nights.
“We have people meeting in the kitchen, the commons and the secretary’s office in addition to the three classrooms,” Father Lipscomb said, adding that he teaches the 8th grade class.
“One of the things that is a problem for us is that we’ve been growing very quickly and we’ve already run out of space,” the pastor said. “Now we really need a parish hall with an education wing.”
Parishioners hope to begin establishing plans for a new hall now that they have finished building a much needed new parking lot which has 211 spaces. “The old one was too small and it had gotten in bad shape,” Father Lipscomb said.
 There is ample room to build because the parish sits on 30 acres which includes a large wooded area behind the church.
The only debt the parish has is from the new parking lot.
“I think we’ll be able to pay that off in a year or two,” Father Lipscomb said.
Among the young families at Ss. Peter and Paul are Carter and Sharon Harris and their two children Joshua and Jessica. They have been parishioners for six years.
“We were traveling to Charlottesville every Sunday for church, but with the second child, it got complicated,” Mrs. Harris said. “This parish has become more multi-generational than it was before and welcomes children.”
Charlie Van Slyke, a member of Ss. Peter and Paul for 12 years, is coordinator of the parish altar servers who play a key role in the three parish liturgies. The vigil Mass is celebrated Saturday at 5 p.m. and there are 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. Masses on Sunday.
“We have 22 altar servers, two are in training, and there are four on standby,” he explained. “I’ll be putting them in training in the fall.
 “They do not serve the altar, but rather the action that is performed there, the Holy Mass.”
Mr. Van Slyke clearly enjoys his role with the altar servers in addition to being an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist.
“I’m a retired educator who worked 33 years as a science teacher and basketball coach for 20 years in eastern Long Island,” he said.
Sid D’Amico, minister of music and a parishioner for almost 16 years, said there is a choir for the Saturday vigil Mass and Sunday 11 a.m. Mass and a cantor of the 7 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass in Latin.
“I play the organ and piano at all three weekend liturgies and at weddings and funerals,” he said.
“We take most of our music from ‘Breaking Bread,’ but we’re not limited to it,” Mr. D’Amico said.
 Father Lipscomb feels there is value in having the Novus Ordo Mass in Latin each Sunday morning at 7.
“I feel there is a real desire of some people to have a quieter Mass, an opportunity to have a different experience of Mass,” he said.
“We have pretty good attendance for that early in the morning with attendance varying between 75 and 90 people,” he added.
Ss. Peter and Paul has a number of home-school families in which children receive their basic education at home. Father Lipscomb is supportive of the effort.
“I’d love to see a Catholic home-school co-op in the area,” he said.
Ann Postak, who has five children ranging in age from 25 to four, is a firm believer in the benefits of home schooling.
“Christopher, our oldest, is 25 and was home-schooled from the 3rd grade,” Mrs. Postak said. “He graduated from JMU and has a job in Arlington.
“Matthew, who has been home-schooled from the first grade, is now in college in Ohio.”
“The other three are John Michael, Maryann and Anthony who will follow the pattern of their older brothers.
Dianna Williams, who has three young children whom she home-schools, had attended Catholic school in her youth in the 1970s, but she feels the curriculum did not teach her what she had later come to know and love about the Catholic faith.
 “We want our children to love and know our faith, and not have to find out about it later,” she told The Catholic Virginian.
“The best way to teach it, in my opinion, is to teach it at home,” she continued.
“Why not have a beautiful quote of God involved in learning about creation or in learning about animals or anything in science because God created these things.”
Mrs. Williams says she still supports the parish’s religious education program which uses the “Faith and Life” series which she considers “a great curriculum.”
Being committed to home school education is not for everyone, she cautioned, and it does not allow time for running errands during the day.
I never thought I’d be able to do it, but watching my sister home-school, I found it was something I could do,” Mrs. Williams said. “I told my father I’ve got the best job in the whole world and I would not give it up.”
 The parish Yard Sale is a major fundraising event for Ss. Peter and Paul. As soon as Mass was concluded on May 11 many parishioners got busy preparing for the annual event held on Friday and Saturday, May 16–17. George Kuhlow, who served as chairman, emphasized that proceeds from the sale help pay down the parish debt.
“We will have everything from clothes to boats,” Mr. Kuhlow said. “You name it, we got it.
“Last year we raised $9,000, but this year we’re looking to do better because we have more things to pick up and we’re picking things up from all over.”
Parishioners of Ss. Peter and Paul clearly enjoy their parish and the friendly environment.
Among them is Joan Merk who moved to Lake Monticello in 1996 with her husband Alex. When he died suddenly in 1999 she considered moving back to New Jersey. But it was the friends she had met in the parish who made a difference.
“It’s like one big family,” she said.
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