About the Community

St. Peter's is one of 132 parishes and missions, which make up the Diocese of Long Island. Its congregation is drawn mainly from the surrounding communities of Bay Shore, North Bay Shore, Brightwaters, and West Islip.

The church is located in a residential area on Montauk Highway. There is public transportation by bus, with stops within a block of the church. The Long Island Railroad maintains stations at Bay Shore and Babylon, and travel time to New York City is about one hour.

The area surrounding the church is mainly private homes. The Bay Shore School District serves the community. Numerous public and private colleges and universities are within commuting distance. The Bay Shore/ Brightwaters Public Library is an excellent community resource within walking distance of St. Peter's Church. It offers varied programs and trips for the entire family. An established and prestigious YMCA is located on Main Street. There is a very well-equipped volunteer fire department and two hospitals are located within 3 miles of the church in each direction. Between these hospitals is a six-mile medical corridor, which serves the surrounding communities. Bay Shore has large shopping centers, and outlet stores have centers in several locations on Long Island. Many great restaurants featuring the bounty of the waters surrounding us are located in and around the Bay Shore area.

A minute away is the Great South Bay, separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the barrier beach of Fire Island. This access to the ocean provides fine beaches, both public and private, and opportunities for fishing, sailing and boating. The area has ample private and public golf courses and tennis courts. The wetlands and beach dunes are protected and provide parks and nature preserves with hiking trails.

There are diverse religious affiliations within our parish boundaries. These include 20 churches, a Jewish Center (conservative) and a Reform Temple. The 20 churches are two Roman Catholic, one Ukrainian Catholic, Congregational, Episcopal, Lutheran, United Methodist, United Presbyterian, four Baptist (3 + 1 Spanish), Fundamentalist (7), Christian Science, Unitarian, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The nearby Episcopal parishes are St. Mark's, in Islip, to our east, and Christ Church, in Babylon, to our west.

Our proximity to New York City provides access to all of the cultural events it offers, such as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Broadway theaters, museums and much more. In our own area we enjoy the Babylon Chorale, Broadhollow Theater (featuring local talent), the Vanderbilt Planetarium, and Nassau Coliseum, which offers the circus, ice-skating reviews, sports and many other events. New York City holds franchises for baseball, football and hockey teams. The U.S. Open Tennis Tournament is held in Flushing Meadow Park.

Revitalization: After many years of deteriorating conditions in the downtown area of Bay Shore, local forces have rallied and have successfully completed extensive revitalization projects. The Regent Theater has become a noted cultural center. New restaurants offering a wide variety of culinary delights at all ranges of affordability have opened as the entire downtown area has undergone extensive beautification and landscaping, including a small urban park complex with a band shell.