Pastor Charles W. Froehlich has been the pastor for more than 30 years. St. Luke's has been in Dix Hills since 1962. It was the first Lutheran Church in Dix Hills and one of the first churches built in the area.
Meetings for parents with troubled teenagers and the local Boy Scouts troop are held here. The church also has services around the holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving to bring food to the underserved as well as on Super Bowl Sunday.
Oyster Babies is a private early child care facility which caters to children ages six weeks to 5 years old. Oyster Babies offers full-time and part-time programs which include nutritious breakfasts, lunches and snacks, daily activities and a developmentally age-appropriate curriculum which endeavors to focus on creativity, academic preparation, independence and critical thinking. For more information, call or visit the website.
The school offers several different programs.
There is a "Mommy and Me" program, suitable for those children not yet ready for an independent program.
"Baby Steps" is one of those independent programs for two-year-olds. The goal for this class is to aid parent and child in the separation process, making it a gentle transition for both. The child/teacher ratio in this class is 8:2, allowing for individual attention to all.
The school also offers preschool programs three- and four-year-olds.
The pre-k programs incorporate free play, basic mathematics, science, phonics, social studies, reading and writing readiness activities and the use of manipulatives. Integrated into the basic programs are music, literature, arts and crafts, language and Bible stories.
Each classroom is equipped with easels, a chalk board and a sand/water table; they're also large, sunny, carpeted and equipped with a bathroom. The facility has an indoor, carpeted gymnasium equipped for recreation on days of inclement weather. The preschool also has a large, professional kitchen for cooking and baking activities. There is a fenced, outdoor playground that provides opportunities for running, climbing, swinging, digging and other creative outdoor play.
Rabbi Avraham Lehr said, "Everyone is welcome at the Chai Center, regardless of one's level of religious observance. The philosophy is in keeping with the Chabad-Lubavitch approach of joy, scholarship and unconditional acceptance and love of every Jew."
No membership is required. The Rabbi said that at the average shabbat service, 100 people will attend. But at a High Holy Day service, for example, the temple will be packed to capacity with 600 people. You don't need to pay for a ticket to attend a High Holy Day service, like you do at most temples.