Sample Press Releases
Please feel free to use these press releases in promoting your parish mission. When you send a press release, don’t forget to update the contact information and dates appropriately.
SHORT RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Making Holidays Holy
CITY, DATE
Father James DiLuzio, a member of the Paulist Fathers from New York City, will present a one-man show entitled Making Holidays Holy at Saint Paul’s Church in Ramsey, NJ: Thursday, December 18TH at 7:30 PM. Fr. DiLuzio was a native of Closter, NJ, and earned a degree in English and Education from Montclair State College and a Masters in Drama from University of Southern California. He was ordained a priest as a Paulist Father in 1993. His program will include selections from Luke’s and Matthew’s Gospels, sacred and secular songs and suggestions on how you can help keep Christmas a spiritually enriching holiday. More information at www.LukeLive.com and www.Paulist.org
Contact:
NAME
PARISH ADDRESS
PARISH PHONE
LONG RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Priest/Actor Uses Scripture and Popular Music to Illuminate Gospel
CITY, DATE
Residents of CITY will have the opportunity to hear parts of the Gospel of Luke proclaimed live, from memory, along with Broadway-style singing and guided reflections. Paulist Fr. James DiLuzio from New York will offer the presentation on DATES and TIMES at PARISH NAME parish in CITY, STATE. The event is free to the public and is fitting for all ages — Families with children age 10+, teens, singles, and seniors.
The event is part of the “Luke Live” mission which is performed in churches across the country. Fr. DiLuzio has committed the book of Luke to memory and performs it as a one man show, incorporating popular music along with reflections on the meaning of scripture in relation to modern life. The performances come naturally to Fr. DiLuzio who pursued a career as a professional actor and completed a masters degree in drama at the University of Southern California.
In the early 1980s, when he was working in customer service at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, DiLuzio began attending Mass at the church of St. Paul the Apostle. He found himself drawn to the Paulist mission of evangelization through engagement. The attraction drew him into the order and he was ordained a priest on May 8, 1993.
After serving nine years in parish and campus ministry, he wanted to find a way to integrate his dramatic training with evangelization. Returning to the early days of the church — when the Gospels were shared from memory — he developed Luke Live.
“It’s not the kind of evangelization that says, ‘I have the truth and I am going to convince you’,” DiLuzio says. “It’s really about sharing, about dialogue. It’s about transforming not only the listener, but the person who is doing the sharing.”
Luke Live is ecumenical in nature, respectful of people of all faiths and creeds. Although the majority of Fr. DiLuzio’s performances have been in Catholic parishes, this past year he was invited to share the Gospel at St. Luke’s United Methodist church in Memphis, Tennessee and his audiences have included people of many different faiths.
The program has resonated with audiences. Members of other parishes who have participated have described Luke Live as “a new and exciting way of hearing the book of Luke” and “inspired and inspiring.”
This year’s presentation at PARISH will continue the work, focusing on Luke chapters NUMBER through NUMBER. Each day of the mission will focus on two chapters with the morning and evening sessions offering the same content. The event is free to the public. PARISH parish is located at ADDRESS.
Contact:
NAME
PARISH ADDRESS
PARISH PHONE
