As snowbirds head north, churches are modifying schedules

Easter has come and gone and snowbirds are starting their trek up north for the summer. 

That means some local houses of worship are modifying their schedules to make up for their missing winter congregants.

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church held its final 2 p.m. Sunday Mass of the year on Easter Sunday. For the rest of the year, the church at  5323 E. County Road 462 in Wildwood will hold weekend Masses at 4 and 6 p.m. Saturdays, as well as 8, 10 a.m. and noon Sundays.

“The 2 p.m. Sunday service is a seasonal Mass that traditionally runs from the start of the year through Easter,” said Krysten Harris, media coordinator for St. Vincent de Paul Catholic. “Parishioners who attended the 2 p.m. Sunday service earlier this year are invited to check out any of our other weekend Masses.”••St. Vincent de Paul Catholic saw a healthy increase in Mass attendance earlier this year with the addition of snowbirds and the 2 p.m. Sunday Mass. It saw 3,867 parishioners attend the five available weekend Masses the weekend of Dec. 30-31 last year, an average of just over 773 people per service.

But for 11 weekends of services from Jan. 13-14 to March 24-25, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic averaged 5,147 people for its six weekend services, an average of just under 858 people per Mass. For the weekend of Feb. 24-25, the church welcomed 5,705 congregants for worship, an average of just under 951 people per Mass.

And for each of those weekends, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic saw at least one Mass open its doors to at least 1,000 parishioners. The church’s 10 a.m. Sunday Mass saw more than 1,000 people every Sunday for those 11 weeks, while the 4 p.m. Saturday service cracked the four-figure mark 10 out of 11 weekends. For two of those weekends, St. Vincent de Paul had three Masses top the 1,000-parishioner milestone.

Then on Easter weekend, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic saw a whopping 6,726 parishioners attend six Masses, an average of 1,121 people per service. Three of the Masses saw at least 1,400 parishioners, while a special 6 a.m. Easter sunrise Mass welcomed just over 800 people.

Bethany Lutheran Church will continue its snowbird schedule until the end of this month, with services at 8 and 10:30 a.m. Sundays. Beginning May 5, the church at 1334 Griffin Road in Leesburg, just off U.S. Highway 27/441, will hold one service at 10:30 a.m. Sundays.

“When our snowbirds head north, we remind them to stay in touch with the church and let us know their northern address and phone number,” said Pastor Mike Hamel of Bethany Lutheran. “We also encourage them to keep in touch with Bethany Lutheran by subscribing to the church newsletter and watching our services online.”

For the first three Sundays in March, Bethany Lutheran averaged just over 163 people for its two services. About 1 in 4 congregants chose to attend the 8 a.m. service. And on Easter, the church saw 223 people attend worship that day, with 34% of the congregants attending the 8 a.m. service.

Another area house of worship maintaining its snowbird schedule for the rest of this month is Village of Faith Church, which will hold services at 9 and 10:45 a.m. Sundays through April 28.

“Starting May 5, Village of Faith Church, at 8653 County Road 127 in Wildwood, will hold one service at 10 a.m. Sundays,” said Worship Pastor Kevin Pledger of Village of Faith Church. “That service is livestreamed for our snowbirds and others to watch.” 

Life Church Assembly of God goes from two to one English-language worship service on Sundays beginning today. Worship is at 10 a.m. Sundays at 4001 Picciola Road in Fruitland Park. Today’s service features Life Church AOG combining worship with its Spanish-language partner, La Vida Church, which resumes its own weekly gatherings at Life Church AOG at 2 p.m. Sundays starting May 5. 

And Tri County Baptist Church recently dropped its seasonal worship service at noon Sundays. Worship continues at 9 and 10:30 a.m. Sundays at 38405 Rolling Acres Road in Lady Lake.

While a few churches are reducing the number of worship services as the snowbirds depart, one church recently doubled its worship offerings. St. Paul Parish in Belleview now holds Mass at 9 and 11 a.m. Sundays at 5245 SE 112th St. in Belleview, just off U.S. Highway 301. It’s the first time since just before the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 that the church has held two weekly services on a regular basis.

The addition of a second Mass only adds to an ever-increasing schedule of activities at the church. St. Paul Parish continues to accept donations for the Clean Kids Backpack Program, which provides personal care and hygiene items to thousands of children in Florida. The church also holds a weekly fish fry on Friday afternoons.

And St. Paul Parish recently celebrated the first anniversary of Amen Sandwiches, a lunch spot promoting and encouraging fellowship and fun, along with supporting efforts to fight food insecurity.

“A portion of every meal purchased is used to help people in need,” said the Rev. Mark Niznik of St. Paul Parish. “Since we began, we’ve provided both meals and gifts cards for dozens of people.”

To learn more about St. Paul Parish and its outreach, visit stpaulfl.com.

And New Life Christian Church in Wildwood recently moved the times of its two Sunday worship services. The church now meets at 9:30 and 11 a.m. Sundays at 4701 E. County Road 462 in Wildwood.

Senior writer James Dinan can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5302, or james.dinan@thevillagesmedia.com.