The Prince of Peace Celtic Catholic Community joyfully welcomes you!
We would love for you to make your worship home with us or to help you find another spiritual home where you are joyously welcomed.
Prince of Peace operates with the prayerful support and spiritual guidance of the Celtic Christian Church, a sacramental catholic church outside the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome.
St. Benedict once said, “All are to be welcomed as Christ.”
In that spirit of St. Benedict, we welcome all to Prince of Peace regardless of race, gender identification, sexual orientation, marital or divorce status or any other category used by people in a divisive way.
In keeping with Catholic Tradition, we acknowledge Holy Eucharist as more than just a representation of Christ’s death and resurrection. We believe in the physical transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. All baptized Christians, regardless of religious affiliation, are welcomed to the Eucharistic table.
May you be richly blessed this day and always!
About
We’ve shared our lives as an independent sacramental church for over 15 years.
We meet monthly for Sunday service in Bethpage, Long Island, New York. We are a small “house church”, and so we meet in the home of our pastor, Ginger and her husband David.
Ginger’s husband, Dave, is the leader of Game Master Games, which runs board game events. So after Mass at 5pm, you are welcome to stay and relax over board games and/or conversation! (Board games are a marvelous ice breaker if you feel uncomfortable chatting with strangers. You’ll be sharing laughs and conversation in no time!!)
C’mon over!
HISTORY OF A 21ST CENTURY “HOUSE CHURCH”.
Founded in 2004, by Rev. Michael Tesmacher, our parish has met regularly ever since to worship and to celebrate the sacraments and to enjoy one another’s company.
We began in 2004 as a house church on Long Island, NY. Since then, we’ve met in church buildings, one another’s homes, and (for one memorable year) in a game store before it opened on Sundays. That led to some truly super coffee hours!!!
Ginger and Mike at Eucharist at the game store!
Mike and Maura: The Rockin’ Revs In Church
Cait celebrates”house church” Mass.
Mike presides over Eucharist from the road!
When our two beloved pastors Mike and Maura both retired in 2016, they joined every gathering via the internet. And so Prince of Peace parish expanded to three tables, three homes that met together weekly for Eucharist via the miracle of Skype and Zoom.
Mike and Maura shared a relaxed post-retirement moment.
Mike joked that we morphed into “Prince of Peace North” (continuing on Long Island), “Prince of Peace South” (with Maura and Melissa in Florida), and “Prince of Peace Wandering” (with our “Rambling Padre” Mike Tes as he explored the USA in his retirement mobile home)!
Dave VanderWerf and Ginger Walsh continue to host “Prince of Peace North”
Mike Tes led “Prince of Peace Wandering”!
The Bernard Sisters! Maura and Melissa hosted “Prince of Peace South”
In 2019, Laurie Harrington joined our Prince of Peace “Clergy Squad” as a priest. Laurie and her husband Joe set a Prince of Peace table in their home, and we all gathered via Zoom!
Joe and Laurie Harrington hosted “Prince of Peace West Virginia”.
With the encouragement of her husband Dave and retired pastor Mike, Ginger began streaming live “Coffee Break Prayers” on Twitch. tv in February 2020… just weeks before the COVID pandemic hit our communities.
Heaven prepared Prince of Peace with over three years’ experience meeting on Skype and then Zoom plus brand-new experience on Twitch. When COVID arrived, we decided to expand from Zoom to include participants on Twitch.
Deacon Sheila McCaleb and her husband Krystn joined Prince of Peace from their home in California during this difficult time of COVID… and wow, what a blessing!
Sheila & Krystn
In May 2021, The Celtic Christian Church opened St. Michael’s Ministry (named after Mike Tesmacher). Laurie, Sheila, Maura and other clergy of the Celtic Christian Church now offer Mass on Zoom every Sunday at 3 pm Eastern, and you are very welcome to join your table to theirs!
In May 2021, Ginger began a year long sabbatical (a time of wonderful learning and refreshment). In May 2022, Prince of Peace opened its doors once again for in person worship. We meet at 5pm Eastern on the second Sunday of every month in Bethpage, Long Island, New York.
Prince of Peace Celtic Catholic Community is a member parish of The Celtic Christian Church. For more information about the “CCC”, please visit our website https://www.celticchristianchurch.org/ We are grateful for the love and the many years of generous service shared by our founding bishop Joe Grenier and our current bishop Cait Finnegan Grenier.
Prince of Peace met on Zoom and Twitch through the darkest times of the COVID pandemic. (Twitch reported that 263 people joined us and the Celtic Christian Church on Twitch for 2020 Holy Saturday Vigil… quite humbling for a small community!)
Although Prince of Peace no longer meets virtually, The Celtic Christian Church gathers at tables all around the USA (and sometimes beyond the US!) at 3 pm Eastern Time on Sundays for Mass. Clergy of the Celtic Christian Church from around the country offer Eucharist as “St. Michael’s Ministry”. St. Michael’s Ministry is named after our founding priest, Fr. Michael Tesmacher.
For information on how to join St. Michael’s Ministry via Zoom, please contact Ginger at 631-881-5252 or at Virginia@PrinceofPeaceCCC.org .
Let’s keep our lights burning!
The Team
Virginia “Ginger” Walsh, Pastor and Priest Virginia@PrinceofPeaceCCC.org
Bishop Cait Finnegan Grenier
Our Beloved Founder and Priest, the late Rev. Mike Tesmacher
