Southfield parish to
be at St. Michael's site
Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 30, 2006
Detroit – The current site of St. Michael Parish in Southfield, near Ten Mile Road between Telegraph and Lahser roads, will be the site of a new parish to replace four existing Southfield parishes.
As decided over the last two years through the archdiocese's Together in Faith reorganization plan, St. Michael, St. Ives, St. Bede and St. Beatrice parishes in Southfield will close. An entirely new parish with a new name will replace them, using the facilities at the current St. Michael Parish.
 The vicariate plan is for the new parish to be established by July 1, 2007.
Pastors of the Southfield parishes received a letter dated June 12 from Cardinal Adam Maida approving the site and encouraging them to share the news with their parishioners.
In the letter, the cardinal praised priests, religious and lay faithful of the Southfield parishes for emphasizing the mission of the Church and setting aside the individual ambitions of each parish to strengthen the Church in the city.
"The process of discussion and deliberation has been extensive and very impressive, taking into account all the demographics, financial realities and keeping as a high priority how to best serve the spiritual and pastoral needs of the Catholics in the Southfield area for the foreseeable future," the cardinal wrote.
Cardinal Maida also noted that "a new name is imperative" to the new parish. Parish council members from the four parishes will begin the process of choosing a name at a meeting Aug. 12.
Fr. William Sinatra, vicar of the Farmington-Southfield vicariate and pastor of St. Ives Parish, said changes to the Church in Southfield were necessary to establish the right kind of parish – one that's sacramental, strategic and sustainable.
"The vicariate council took the bull by the horns, so to speak," Fr. Sinatra said, "and came to the observation that possibly one parish would be substantial."
Each of the four Southfield parishes has experienced decline in membership over the past decade that have made the sacramental lives of the communities challenging. At St. Ives, for example, Fr. Sinatra said the parish no longer has enough Eucharistic ministers to distribute the cup of Christ's blood during Saturday evening Mass. And St. Bede has about 350 families in its parish and St. Beatrice has less than 100 families.
St. Michael Parish, which last year celebrated its 75th parish anniversary, currently has the largest membership of Southfield parishes with about 600 families registered. The parish was founded by the Franciscan friars, who used to run the Duns Scotus College near its campus.
Fr. Sinatra said the current plan is for a Fr. Robert Weakley, OFM, to pastor the new parish, with a newly formed parish council and commissions.
Fr. Sinatra and Fr. Lawrence Pettke, pastor of St. Bede Parish, will be reassigned when the new parish is formed. Fr. John Gagala, pastor of St. Beatrice, is expected to retire.
Interestingly, two of the three other parish sites are likely to remain in the hands of the Catholic Church, Fr. Sinatra said. Our Lady of Albanians Parish, he said, is interested in purchasing the St. Ives site while St. Thomas (Malankara) Mission, currently at St. Angela Parish in Roseville, is interested in acquiring the site of St. Beatrice Church.
Though the closing of four parishes and the beginning of a new parish is an occurrence laced with sadness and even some uncertainty, Fr. Sinatra added, he agreed with Cardinal Maida that praise is in order to the faithful and especially the vicariate council for recognizing the direction of the Holy Spirit while making tough decisions for the future of the Church in Southfield.
"We're not abandoning the city," he said. "If anything, we're contributing to its future. And the strategic presence of the Catholic Church remains.
"I would emphasize that kudos goes to the vicariate council…. They were a witness to how the development of this project is the work of the Lord."
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