About CDCC Senior Programs:
Our church lives right next to many seniors in the Villa Santa Fe housing across the street and the city of Santa Barbara is home to many who are retirement-age. We want the seniors in our community and neighborhood to know that they are valued and loved by providing healthy lunches, educational opportunities, and fun times of fellowship.
Senior Lunch
On the first and third Thursday of each month, we gather at the church in the upper fellowship room for a wonderful time of fellowship and lunch together. Our program begins at 11:00 am and lunch is served at noon.
Every time we get together, we have jokes, a question of the day, celebrate birthdays, welcome guests, share milestones, and pray for one another. Our culinary trained chef, Michele Molony, takes great pride in making fabulous lunches, using healthy and fresh ingredients from organic, local, and sustainable sources. The lunch is donation only, and we deliver meals to over twenty shut-ins every time we have a meal.
For the 2025-2026 year, the program will focus once a month on one of the saints from Christian history (i.e. St. Francis of Assisi, St. Benedict, St. Theresa of Avila, etc.) . We will learn about the context and upbringing of each saint as well as their conversion and most sacred writings. We will glean wisdom from how they followed God and persevered even in the midst of great hardship and suffering.
We will also offer musical presentations, helpful topics from community service organizations, and discussions on issues that seniors face today. We’ll also want to hear from our own participants about their trips or life histories.
This lunch is open to anyone in the community who would like to come. We ask for a $9 donation to help defray the cost of the meal. However, if that is not possible for you, please pay what you can. As a non-profit, our goal is always people first.
“I am always so impressed that efforts are made to make Senior Lunch the best it can be . . . by having excellent meals prepared at a donation level that allows access to all, table decor and theme parties that show the extra miles that are taken to honor its special senior guests and make them feel as important as they are! It is a time when you are guaranteed to be welcomed by warm smiles and hugs and people who truly care. The program varies each time, from entertainment, encouragement in one’s faith journey, educational and pertinent topics, but it is the fellowship that continually blesses.”
–Cindy Perlis, daughter of Bernice Qualls, who loved the lunch and the friendships she found, for many years before her passing
Senior Newsletter:
Pastor Colleen Hurley-Bates
Director of Senior Programs
Pastor Colleen, Senior Programs director, has been leading our Senior Lunch since 2000. Greeting our senior friends with generous hugs and laughter, Colleen enjoys creating afternoons with fun themes and activities, including a "question of the day" and a time for jokes. Her gift of hospitality welcomes people in as they enjoy music, birthday celebrations, and introducing new friends. In the belief that we never stop learning, she brings in educational and interesting speakers from all over, and, once a month, Colleen preaches on a Biblical theme chosen for the year.
Contact Pastor Colleen: colleen@fmcsb.org.
Chef Michele Molony
Senior Lunch Chef
Chef Michele Molony is an honors graduate of the Paris Cordon Bleu, where she trained in both pastry and cuisine. As a chef aboard fine yachts in the Caribbean, Central America and New Zealand, she became fascinated by the diverse ways in which cultures find nourishment and contentment through the growing and preparation of food. Presently cooking and teaching in Santa Barbara, Michele’s goal is to bring confidence and ability to those wanting to make cooking part of their lives.
