A sense of community

St. James Catholic Church got a welcome surprise one year ago when 51-year-old Father Michael J. Cannon joined them. According to parishioners such as Kathy Derosa and Lucia Paul, he has brought a real sense of community to the church.

"I like the American church," said the atypically young priest, who was born in Scotland to Irish parents and grew up in Letterkenny, Ireland. "People's social network revolves around church, and people are more involved in church here. In Ireland, you go to church on Sunday and nothing else."

Cannon has achieved a bit of celebrity status amongst St. James Church's regular worshippers, but being gregarious does not come naturally to him. "I'm actually quite a shy person," he admitted. It is regular prayer and strong faith that has moved Father Michael to some of the initiatives he has begun, including starting a church youth group.

"The young people were not formed in any way," said Cannon, who had organized several youth groups in the past. The priest and dedicated volunteers such as youth group organizer Cindy Rivers, reached out to younger children when they found high school aged youth weren't coming to church regularly. "I'm trying to keep them with us," said Cannon of the youngsters.

Now the church has approximately 12-14 committed teens and tweens in its program, and is running fundraisers to send the youth to Spain for World Youth Day in 2011, an event that brings Catholic youngsters together to learn more about their faith.

As for the over-18 crowd, Cannon has reached out to them as well. "I decided, I'm just going to be nice to them, and they have responded incredibly. It gives me confidence and it deepens my love for them."

One of Cannon's early measures was to ask everyone in the parish to wear name badges. He felt that if he didn't know people's names, it didn't matter how many times he saw them. He also joked with them that since everyone always tends to sit in the same place in church, if he knew their names as well as where they sat, he'd have a much better chance of really getting to know them.

"People have responded very favorably to that," he said.

In the past year, Cannon has also launched a number of social events to help people get to know one another and just have fun as a community. The events were opened up to non-parishioners as well.

On Mother's Day 2009, the youth group and organizers put together a "Senior" Prom for the elderly. The social hall was decorated according to the theme, "An Evening in Paris" including a photo backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. The youth served a French meal onto elegant tables with rose centerpieces. Even the menu was in French.

"We had about 120 people," said Cannon. "They thoroughly enjoyed it. It gave people a chance to dress up, especially some of the elderly who don't have a chance to do that, especially if their partners have died."

The church's July Hawaiian Luau was also a huge hit, maxing out the social hall's capacity so quickly that many regular parishioners had to be turned away. "A lot of our own people got annoyed," recalled Cannon. "They left getting their tickets to the last minute."

Cannon also makes it a point to welcome all of his regular worshippers as well as visitors and members of other churches at the beginning of every Mass. Said Cannon of Christian religions in general, "It's approximately 96 percent of what we believe that unites us and only 4 percent that separates us. Lake Placid is small enough for us to help each other and know each other."

"I'd like for us to be the most welcoming church we can be," he added. "(People) have to be fed spiritually. That's what it's all about. That we don't just say words - that we live our words." That includes, as Cannon reminds his regulars, scooting over for someone else to sit down, even if it takes you out of "your" spot in the pew.