Sewickley teen Kallie McCune was a little nervous volunteering at her church’s fish fry.
The Friday Lenten feast has been a tradition at Divine Redeemer Parish’s St. James Church for many years. For Kallie, 13, this was her first year — and the last fish fry in March was a big one.
People from across the Quaker Valley area and beyond flocked to the house of worship along Walnut Street that evening, some for a bite to eat and others to observe Bishop David Zubik lead prayers and perform the Stations of the Cross with a handful of seminarians.
Kallie served Zubik’s table.
“It was a little scary, but it was cool,” she said. “It’s my first time doing it, so I wanted it to be good.”
Kallie and about a dozen other church youths earn community service hours toward their confirmation by being a part of the fish fry.
Holy fish
Zubik, the bishop of Pittsburgh since 2007, has made it a habit of visiting the food-based fundraisers in parishes throughout the diocese’s six counties: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Lawrence and Washington. He was last at St. James in 2023.
His go-to entree is a fried fish sandwich.
“I know it’s not as healthy, but I like it,” Zubik said. His St. James sides were coleslaw and a pierogi, which is a new menu item at Divine Redeemer. They came from St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood.
The primary reason for the visits is to engage with the flock and for Stations of the Cross. The diocese sends out letters to parishes in December to coordinate visits.
“This year, we had more requests than we had numbers of Fridays,” Zubik said. “There are seven Fridays in Lent this year. We usually take a look at the ones that came in first, see if they have a special date they want to ask for, always on a Friday. We put (as many) in my schedule as possible. I’ve been doing this ever since I came back to Pittsburgh.”
Zubik served as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin for four years prior to leading Pittsburgh.
Being in Sewickley is a homecoming of sorts for Zubik, having grown up not far away in Ambridge.
He went to school at St. Stanislaus Elementary School and St. Veronica High School, both in the Beaver County borough, before entering St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh.
Zubik’s father, the late Stanley Zubik, was a produce manager for the old A&P store in Sewickley.
“It’s like a homecoming because my dad was an institution in the supermarket,” Zubik said. “I knew a lot of people and when I come back, people recognize that. In addition to that, I used to be the vice principal at Quigley Catholic High School in Baden and we had a lot of kids come from Sewickley.”
The bishop mingled with many guests at St. James prior to the service.
“It’s important for me to get out as often as I can, to go to as many parishes as I can because people want to see the bishop,” Zubik said. “I’m not just a photo on the wall. Every one of the churches has a portrait of me, and I want people to be able to see the real person.
“If it’s a good dinner, it’s a nice bonus, but the purpose of coming is to be with the people.”
Among those who chatted with Zubik were Carol and Alex Leonard. The Ohio Township couple did not know the bishop would be visiting one of their favorite fish fries.
“I feel like it was an honor that he stopped to talk to us,” said Carol. “He could have just went on his way, but he took time to talk.”
Donald and Alice Andrews of Moon Township just missed meeting the bishop. The couple is celebrating 61 years of marriage and arrived as Zubik was getting prepared for service.
They are parishioners of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Coraopolis and travel to many Western Pennsylvania fish fries in search of “new adventures” and the best food.
“I never met a pierogi that I didn’t like,” Alice Andrews said.
The Rev. Dave Jastrab, a retired pastor with Divine Redeemer, and parishioner Mary DeAngelis were in one of the front pews for Stations of the Cross.
The 14 stations, also called the Way of the Cross, depict Jesus’ final moments on the day of his crucifixion.
Jastrab has known Zubik for about 50 years and was a classmate at St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh.
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He said some church leaders use different prayers and songs used as part of the service. The ones used March 28 were selected by the bishop.
“He’s a wonderful man,” Jastrab said. DeAngelis called it a very moving and powerful service.
The Rev. Brian Noel prayed over Zubik as the bishop was making his way out of the church. Noel was in the second pew for the Stations.
“Prayer and praise and fellowship is what we’re about here,” Noel said. “We love to come together in the community and have good food and good worship. It’s always a great pleasure to host the bishop and to have the faithful (here).”
One left
St. James’ fish fry is led by parishioner Bill Monski, who is in his seventh year as coordinator.
Monski called it an honor to host the bishop.
“He’s a great guy and he makes sure he finds out who you are so he can talk to you by name,” Monski said. “He’s just a kind soul.”
The last one this season is April 11.
“As far as volume, we’re doing pretty well,” he said. “However, the costs to put it on are going up. … We started having a few other offerings to hopefully draw people in. We have authentic pierogis now. I wanted to change up from buying the regular frozen pierogis. We’re doing about 35 dozen a week. People have noticed.”
They also changed bread seasoning to add more flavor to the fish and added small pizzas for children. About 45 people volunteer each Friday.