As a long time resident of Sanibel and parishioner of St. Isabel's Church I was surprised at the negative comments of ""Never Again"" about our Church and its Pastor. I can only hope that he or she had a bad day at the beach because his views are not those who regularly attend St. Isabel's as visitors based on my experience. This is somewhat of an upscale retirement community not having a variety of cultures, it is true, but the parishioners and visitors support assistance to mainland minority workers and their families and like other Sanibel residents have always been remarkable for their absence of ""pompous"" conduct regardless of the nature of the community. In any case I simply can't imagine how ""Never Again"" drew any such conclusions from the conduct of people at our services nor their supposed flaunting of piety. As for the ""cry room"" for families with noisy children I believe that a reasonable person should understand the need for such a facility so that religious services can be conducted in peace. They are quite common in most Churches. Our Pastor does not make a practice of beating on that subject nor on financing the rebuilding funding. I don't recall his ever doing that about funding. I urge ""Never Again"" to come back to our Church, to immerse himself or herself in our sacred liturgy and the specially fine preaching of our Pastor and meet our parishioners who will welcome him or her as visitors. As Catholic Christians I can assure him that we do not think we are superior to any of our fellow men or women.
Pros: Beautiful church, a Pastor with unusual gifts as a preacher
Cons: Small congregation in the summer restricts activities - Pastor all alone for entire year.
more