Spotlight on Christ Our Light Parish

On Jan. 18 Bishop Dennis Sullivan celebrated the 11 a.m. Mass at Christ Our Light Parish in Cherry Hill, offering a blessing of the parish’s renovated sanctuary and expressing gratitude for the support of its parishioners.

Also recognizing the parish was U.S. Catholic magazine, which featured Christ Our Light in this month’s U.S. issue as part of its “Better Know A Parish” series.

Topics such as the parish’s founding (2009, as a merger between the parishes of St. Peter Celestine and Queen of Heaven) and number of parishioners (3,500-plus families) were covered, as well its difference from other Catholic communities, its ministries, and the devotion of its parishioners.

Calling itself an “intentional community, with parishioners coming from far and wide,” Christ Our Light has more than 60 different ministries with professional staff members, and four full-time pastoral associates. The faith community, the parish explains, has “a deep commitment to justice and social action,” evident in such activities as their sandwich-making ministry, which has produced over 25,000 sandwiches over almost three years.

With the recent parish renovations, which have created a “beautiful, contemporary space for worship with an inviting, accessible sanctuary, state-of-the-art sound system, and pew design,” Christ Our Light’s visitors “find a welcoming attitude and a genuine, sincere sense of acceptance for who they are, no matter where they are coming from.”

Its parishioners “love the commitment to putting our love as disciples into action, responding to immediate needs through charitable works, and advocating for those who are most vulnerable…(they) love that we keep moving forward, striving to be a relevant and significant part of the community, and making it easy for people to find their way to our loving and merciful God.”

Responding to his parish’s inclusion in the national magazine, Christ Our Light pastor, Father Thomas Newton, said that he was “proud of the members of our community who have worked hard to make the Catholic Community of Christ Our Light a vibrant, dynamic and welcoming community. To be included as a featured parish in U.S. Catholic’s on-line edition is a great tribute to our community and to our Staff. My hope is that exposure like this will continue to encourage people, especially those who have been away, to return to the church and to our parish community.”

To read the article, go to the parish website at www.christourlight.net, or visit www.uscatholic.org