Together in faith and in hope

By Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 9, 2005

Metro Area – As St. Agatha Parish in Redford Township prepared to close its doors after 57 years, its parishioners went through various stages of mourning, remembering and moving on.

Parishioners, former parishioners and Catholics from the area fill every corner of St. Agatha Church for the parish'sclosing Mass August 28.

But never were they alone.

Catholics in the area surrounding the parish made sure of that.

Throughout the summer, parishes from Detroit, Farmington Hills, Livonia and Redford Township spoke and worshipped with St. Agatha parishioners, and invited them into their own faith communities. Their message to St. Agatha parishioners was simple and encouraging: There is new hope, new life, and plenty of fellowship, even after losing a parish.

"We talk about the universal Church, and we're all one Church," says Joni Benson, director of religious education at St. Pricilla Parish, Livonia, where many former St. Agatha parishioners have registered. "We're a family welcoming a large number of members from another family – but we're all one Church."

After Mass, children stand to take their pictures by the statue of St. Agatha, which stands in front of the church building.

St. Agatha, in north Redford Township, is among a tight-knit group of parishes that were known informally as the "Redford Five" – St. Agatha, Our Lady of Loretto, St. Valentine, St. John Bosco and St. Robert Bellarmine. Fr. James McNulty, administrator of St. Agatha in its final seven months, said his parishioners already were familiar with the Redford parishes because they had a rotating weekday Mass schedule – so St. Agatha parishioners would go to weekday Masses at other Redford parishes.

But still more support for parishioners of the closing parish came from outside the township.

For example, members of St. Pricilla, St. Catherine of Sienna, Detroit, and St. Alexander Parish, Farmington Hills, all went to St. Agatha to lend moral support and encouragement to its parishioners.

St. Pricilla – which is just more than two miles away from St. Agatha – is where Fr. McNulty was assigned pastor July 1, so it was a natural progression for many of St. Agatha's parishioners to follow him to the 1,400-family parish.

St. Pricilla parishioners already invited St. Agatha parishioners to their annual picnic, and registered a large percentage of the Redford Township parish's members.

"We're really excited, because most of the people who are coming have been really active at St. Agatha," Benson says. "…We really want to welcome the new faces and the new life they will bring. They'll be able to add a new dimension to our parish."

In July, St. Agatha parishioners also received a visit from parishioners of St. Catherine of Sienna – a parish recently formed out of the merger of St. Gemma and St. Christine parishes in Detroit.

Similarly to St. Agatha's position, parishioners from the former St. Christine Parish lost their building when they formed the new parish community.

"Geographically, there are many parishes between St. Agatha and us," says Beverly Ohlrich, pastoral associate at St. Catherine of Sienna. "But we wanted to extend an invitation of hope and new life in difficult circumstances. We wanted to show them a welcoming spirit, and that's what we did."

Another parish that made a special effort to reach out was St. Alexander Parish in nearby Farmington Hills. Parishioners from St. Alexander assembled welcome packets and attended services at St. Agatha to show support.

"We felt very akin to them, and so many other smaller parishes," says Deacon Mark Springer of St. Alexander. "The parish council wanted to reach out to them and give them any kind of support we could."

Meanwhile, parish leaders at St. Agatha were working hard to make sure their own parishioners knew about the strong Christian community in the area, and where to go for guidance in finding a new place to worship.

Early in the summer, St. Agatha discovered through the archdioceses' Together in Faith process that it would not have the means to continue to function. After it became public – and with guidance from the Archdiocese of Detroit's Department of Parish Life and Services – parish leaders at St. Agatha made special efforts to plan closing liturgies and to make sure no parishioner is left without a parish to go to.

Esther Strohmer, a member of St. Agatha's Christian Service Committee, sent mailings and oversaw 400 telephone calls to registered parishioners at the parish.

"We called each phone number in the parish," said Strohmer, who personally made about 240 phone calls. "(Fr. McNulty) wanted to make sure that nobody fell into a hole."

Summer of support After St. Agatha Parish announced it would close Aug. 28: • Parish members at St. Pricilla Parish, Livonia, visited the parish, invited St. Agatha members to their parish picnic and registered many of them. • Other parishes in Redford Township, who worship during the week with St. Agatha parishioners, extended invitations. • Members of St. Catherine of Sienna, Detroit – a parish recently formed from the merger of St. Gemma and St. Christine parishes – met and spoke with St. Agatha parishioners about losing a church, and welcoming new faces.

The parishioners also took part in specially scheduled liturgies and events. For example, Fr. McNulty started Thursday evening Masses and subsequent socials in the parish's final two months.

Also, the parish had a picnic, a special closing liturgy on Aug. 28, and a reception.

Strohmer says it was important that the parish enjoy its final summer at St. Agatha.

"You have to value the time," she says. "It's like a rare jewel, look at it, take it out, touch it, and then put it back in its place.

"But you just have to value what had been there."

And several St. Agatha parishioners say it's easier to value the time they had at St. Agatha now that they've found new parishes that welcome them.

"We're celebrating what St. Agatha had been to all these people," says Mary Merz, who helped organize worship for the parish's closing liturgy. "It's too bad it's over with – but, now, we're going to bring that special feeling that we had to other parishes."