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Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 22, 2007

Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic Fr. Cliff Ruskowski wanted to bring his St. Owen parishioners a new resurrected Christ statue before he left. It was installed and blessed last month. The flags were on display for the parish’s Pentecost celebration, representing the nationalities of parish members.

Bloomfield Hills — From behind the altar at St. Owen Parish, Bloomfield Hills, the risen Christ extends his arms toward the congregation, in essence reminding them how he conquered death and how they will, too.

The 6-foot, 300-pound bronze statue is a recent addition to the worship space at St. Owen, and the last one that was overseen by Fr. Cliff Ruskowski before he retires next month. He wanted to leave a gift for the people, he said, and wrote in a recent bulletin that the statue’s installation was his "wish come true for this parish."

"I wanted something beautiful in that church," he said.

The statue, "Risen Lord," replaces an older statue, which is now in the parish’s religious education center. The new statue fits in a bit better with the church and its décor, Fr. Ruskowski explained, and it more easily seen from the back of the church. It was blessed last month.

The church is relatively contemporary for being built in 1962, he said, and it features a stone floor and front wall, and a peaceful fountain to one side of the altar. "The only thing missing was that piece of art," he said.

Sue Davis, a St. Owen parishioner who served on the parish council when it decided to bring in a new statue, was also heavily involved with the project. She said it turned out very nicely, although it ended up taking longer than two years from start to finish.

"It’s a real piece of art," she said.

Davis, a nearly 20-year church member and Bingham Farms resident, did much of the work with interviewing potential artists. She said the statue not only makes you think about the risen Christ, but also "what Christ went through for the sake and love of his people," she said.

Fr. Ruskowski said he’s gotten nothing but positive feedback so far, he said. In fact, Fr. Ruskowski said some people remarked that after looking at the statue, it made them want to pray.

As Fr. Ruskowski ends his seven-year tenure at St. Owen, where he ministered to about 1,000 families, he said he was glad to get the statue in place before he left. If he had more time he’d work on getting the Stations of the Cross and a new cross for the altar in the church, but he’ll leave that for incoming pastor Fr. John Sullivan, he joked.

After a six-month search for an artist, the committee selected local artist Douglas Chick, who studied art at Eastern Michigan University and has a studio in downtown Birmingham. Creating a bronze statue is a rather complicated process of making a clay model, coating it with layer of rubber, making a wax duplicate, making a ceramic mold, and then pouring in bronze. St. Owen’s statue was so complicated and detailed, Fr. Ruskowski explained in the recent bulletin, it was cast in 14 pieces, welded together, and then smoothed out and refined.

Davis said the idea for moving forward with the new statue — which was funded through donations — was Fr. Ruskowski’s, recalling his words that you change the furniture in your home from time to time. At the time the committee started with the process, Fr. Ruskowski didn’t know he was going to retire this year, so that made it all the more important to have the statue in place when they learned he would be retiring.

Although it was something done more for the community than for the pastor, she was pleased he got the chance to see the statue in place. "He has served our community very well and the people will sorely miss him," she said. "He’s a wonderful pastor. He’s given his life to the priesthood."