What does CSCC stand for? Catholic Singles Coordinating Council.
What is the purpose of CSCC? It is a support organization for Catholic singles and young adult groups in the Los Angeles and Orange County Dioceses.
It allows groups to communicate and work together to support each other. Through the CSCC, these groups advertise and attend each other's major functions, such as dances. This allows the groups more exposure. It allows them to raise more money at major events. It also allows their members to associate with single Catholics in many other areas besides their local churches.
The CSCC s dedicated to promoting the existence of Catholic singles and young adult groups in the Los Angeles and Orange County regions. Although the CSCC is not currently an organization of either Diocese, it follows Diocesan policy wherever applicable.
Who can join CSCC? The CSCC is open to Catholic singles and young adult groups in the Los Angeles and Orange County Dioceses. Only groups can become members of CSCC, as they benefit from its services. Individual Catholics do not join CSCC. They are encouraged to join its member groups.
Through membership in any member group, single Catholics can meet people in all member groups, keep current on major functions of all member groups and receive admission discounts to almost all major functions.
What groups currently belong to CSCC? We soon intend to unite all Los Angeles and Orange County Catholic singles and young adult groups. Currently, the following groups are members:
- The 50+ Catholic Singles of St. Pancratius. P.O. Box 4179, Bellflower, CA 90707-4179 Telephone: Mary Tafolla (562) 861-6657 E-mail: MaryTafolla@aol.com Flyers: 25 Ages 50 and over. Annual membership $20.
- The Los Angeles Catholic Alumni Club (LACAC) P.O. Box 7612, Northridge, CA 91327 24-hour info./event line(818) 759-1545. E-mail: Epicenter_@_socal.rr.com. Flyers: 225 Ages 21 and over. Annual membership $37. (Renewals $27) Web page www.lacatholicsingles.org
- The New Horizons Catholic Singles. (St. Irenaeus, Cypress) . P.O. Box 957 Cypress, CA 90630 Telephone: Shirley (714) 553-5605 cell or (562) 866-6110 home E-mail: ShirleyP@Flash.net or Shirle1@gte.net
Ages 21 and over. (Ages typically over 50.) Annual membership $20.
- The Orange County Catholic Alumni Club (OCCAC) P.O. Box 6054 Orange, CA 92863-6054 Telephone: Club Information line (714) 502-8086 E-mail: OrangeCountyCAC@Juno.com Ages 21 and over. Annual membership $37 Flyers: 150
- The St. Bruno's Catholic Singles. P.O. Box 11164 Whittier, CA 90603-0164 Telephone: Carol Duran (562) 946-3276 or Sal Barragan (562) 693-6057 E-mail: StBrunoSingles@verizon.net (Carol Duran) Flyers: 40 Ages 21 & over. Annual membership $20.
- St. Cyprian's Social Adult Ministry P.O. Box 784 Bellflower, CA 90707-0784 Telephone: Maria Elena Karimi (562) 867-4264 or Nancy (626) 339-5920 E-mail: NancyRuffolo@Hotmail.com Flyers: 75 Ages 21 and over. Annual membership $20. Info. Maria Elena (562) 867-4264.
- The Santa Anita Catholic Singles. (Holy Angels Church, Arcadia) P.O. Box 1562 Arcadia, CA 91077-1562 Telephone: Dale Twedell (626) 454-5419 E-mail: twede@pacbell.net Flyers: 100 Ages 21 and over. Annual membership $25.
- The SCOT Club (Single Catholics Over 23). (Long Beach) Jean Davis P.O. Box 2443 Long Beach, CA 90801 Telephone: Jean Davis (310) 834-6517 E-mail: N/A Flyers: 12 Annual membership $20.
Is there a telephone number where we can learn about major events? Yes, the CSCC Events Line is (310) 726-4244.
Member clubs take turns hosting the bi-monthly meetings held at Carrow's Restaurant in Norwalk.
When was the CSCC established and by whom? The CSCC was founded in 1974 by the late Doctor Lee Garver. Doctor Garver had a PhD in Psychology and provided free family and singles counseling at St. Pancratius Parish in Lakewood. She understood the importance of providing a place for the single person in the Catholic Church, considering that such a large part of the Church is single. She also understood the benefits to be gained from groups working together and supporting each other. Doctor Garver had established and run several singles groups herself since 1969. Unfortunately, she had passed away in September 1997 after a long and hard battle with cancer. May God watch over her soul.
What types of functions do the CSCC member groups hold? By design, they hold the following:
Spiritual events, such as prayers, Bible studies, retreats, and home Masses.
Charitable events, such as convalescent home visits, help at soup kitchens, and game-playing with children in hospitals.
Social events, such as dances, movie nights, volleyball, museum visits and snow trips.
Doctor Lee Garver herself encouraged a good balance of all three types of events. She had found from experience that such a balance helped develop group members as human beings and also helped develop their relationships with each other.
If the Catholic singles groups have been around for so many years, how come I've never heard of them? Unfortunately, limited advertising budgets have always kept these groups humble. They would get free advertising in church bulletins and some newspapers. They would also advertise at major events, such as dances. But flyers and postage also cost money that they would not always have. Thanks to efforts from new members more experienced in marketing, they have recently improved in getting the most from their advertising budgets.
Are these Catholic singles groups really dating services? No, their function is actually quite different from that of dating services. The purpose of these groups is not specifically to provide match-making services. Their main purpose is to bring people together to develop long-term friendships - the type that can last a lifetime. These friendships are not limited to one kind of relationship, such as the husband-wife relationship. For their members, the groups strive to maintain a friendly, loving place to go and other people to talk to. This helps the singles deal with loneliness issues in general, not just with the longing for a significant other.
If I am just looking for a spouse, what do the Catholic singles groups offer me that the Catholic dating services do not? The CSCC does not attempt to suggest that Catholic singles groups offer something that the dating services do not. The singles groups are not even in competition with the dating services. Both types of entities serve two different, if similar, purposes. They both operate under two different philosophies.
Generally, dating services help their members to start long-term relationships, usually potential marital relationships, by providing them with dates who have similar qualities and interests. This can provide immediate exposure to many potentially good marriage partners. Additional features or offerings depend on the specific dating service in question.
The singles groups help their members find friends of all kinds, to help them deal with loneliness and to improve the quality of their lives. That is their main purpose. All members are available at once for everyone to meet and get to know. There is no attempt at pairing or match-making whatsoever. For those seeking marriage, the emphasis is more on developing relationships with possible partners before dating them. The spiritual, charitable and social functions help keep them together and allow them to have fun and work with each other over time. The philosophy emphasizes experiencing other people and getting to understand them as human beings before even beginning the dating process. Then, by the time dating begins, the partners are likely to have an established friendship. They know each other fairly well and are likely to be comfortable that they have found a good match.
Single Catholics who are concerned only with finding marriage partners are free to choose either or both entities, depending on which philosophies they feel are effective for them.
Are there organizations in other Dioceses similar to the CSCC? The members of the CSCC aren't aware of any other similar organizations. The CSCC may help to build similar organizations in other Dioceses in the future. However, there are currently no plans for any such work. There is, however, the Catholic Alumni Clubs, International (CACI) , supports Catholic Alumni Clubs across the United States and in other countries (like our LACAC and OCCAC).