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If one were to look down upon the Church of St. James the Apostle in Carmel, a perfectly formed six-tiered scallop shell would be seen.
The scallop shell is the iconic image of St. James—the symbol for pilgrims and travelers.
It’s fitting since many of the 4,500 families in the parish have traveled north to St. James from Southern Westchester and the five boroughs.
“They’re blue-collar, working class people,” said the pastor, Father Anthony Sorgie. Quite a number of parishioners are sanitation workers, police officers and firemen. Most are in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
The parish covers an expansive area that includes Carmel, Lake Carmel, Kent, parts of Mahopac and Patterson. “It’s a huge Catholic territory,” Father Sorgie said.
The name of the parish is actually St. James the Apostle and Our Lady of the Lake/ Mount Carmel. It includes two churches: St. James, on Gleneida Avenue in Carmel and Our Lady of the Lake/Mount Carmel on Doherty Drive in Lake Carmel.
It is the church of St. James that is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The parish was founded in 1947, with the Church of St. James dedicated and the altar consecrated June 14, 1964. Exactly 50 years to the day later, Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, a New York native who is the grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, rededicated the church and altar during a Solemn High Mass.
“We’ve always had one parish, but two churches,” Father Sorgie said.
There are six Masses celebrated each weekend at St. James; with another three celebrated at Our Lady of the Lake/Mount Carmel. Daily Mass is also celebrated at St. James twice a day.
“Evangelization, especially to teenagers and young adult Catholics is our mission,” he said. Of the some 1,600 students at the local public high school, 1,200 are confirmed Catholics from the parish. “About 90 percent of the children are my souls, but they are not all at Mass,” Father Sorgie said. Other teens come from the nearby John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers.
“We make a concentrated effort on evangelizing them,” the pastor said. That initiative includes an active youth group for those aged 14 to 19 called the St. James Young Apostles. Older young adults are involved on the archdiocesan level with the program Ignite, a young adult apostolate.
There is a coordinator of youth ministries at the parish, Luigi Manete. St. James School has 250 elementary students; the principal is Valerie Crocco. The religious education program is massive, with 1,800 students under the guidance of director of religious education Dr. George Bovino.
The church itself is a sight to behold. The magnificence of the exterior is matched by the interior.
The highlight is a 127-foot wall of French stained-glass windows that overlooks Lake Gleneida. The five windows portray milestones in the life of St. James.
“It’s a striking feature,” Father Sorgie said.
During the anniversary year, the parish will celebrate with a golf tournament, a dinner and dance, a fundraising auction for the school and a parish festival, among other commemorations.
The biggest fundraiser of the year, the Feast of St. James and Our Lady of the Lake/Mount Carmel, started on Wednesday, July 16 and runs through Saturday, July 19, 6-11 on Lake Gleneida. The feast includes religious activities, rides and games, a casino, a food court and entertainment.
With all the activity in the parish, Father Sorgie said, “I have my hand in just about everything. I always try to have a shepherd’s heart. I find myself using that image often, of guiding people around.”
The parish is there for its people from birth to death, from groups for parents to bereavement groups and everything in between. Parishioners assist with everything.
Father Sorgie said, “We are blessed with a lot of volunteers. We have hard-working people who have a little extra time and use it to help the parish.”
