When St. Dennis Parish, Royal Oak, and St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, Madison Heights, began meeting this summer, they faced a deadline of June 30, 2013, to merge the two parishes. They beat that deadline by seven months.
“As the team worked through the evaluation of the resources and finances of each parish, they determined that the merger should better take place sooner than later,” said Fr. John Esper, pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, who also served as St. Dennis’ pastor during the past five months.
The merger, as envisioned by the archdiocesan-wide Together in Faith planning process, was triggered by the retirement of St. Dennis’ pastor, Fr. John Christ, 81, in June. Archbishop Allen Vigneron in February announced the second phase of Together in Faith, the ongoing process by which the limited clergy, financial and physical resources of the Archdiocese of Detroit are reconfigured to best serve the pastoral needs of the Catholic population.
With the decision to accelerate the process, the two Oakland County parishes’ religious education programs were combined at St. Vincent Ferrer this fall, and the sizable Vietnamese community at St. Dennis — about 300 families — decided to transfer their Vietnamese-language Mass there as well.
Some other St. Dennis parishioners also began attending St. Vincent Ferrer, while others remained through the final Mass at St. Dennis Church on Nov. 25. Many of those who had already made the switch returned for the closing liturgy, at which the regional moderator for the archdiocese’s Northwest Region, Msgr. John Zenz, presided.
“It was a very moving and positive experience, because when you close a church, after Mass, the altar is stripped, and everyone is invited to come up and kiss the altar,” Fr. Esper said.
With that closing Mass, half of the eventual plan for four southeast Oakland County parishes was accomplished. Next to come will be the merger of St. Mary Magdalen Parish, Madison Heights, and St. Justin Parish, Hazel Park, by the end of June 2013.
The process will be completed when St. Mary Magdalen and St. Vincent Ferrer are merged together, under a new name, by the end of June 2014.
Before the merger process began, St. Vincent Ferrer had about 1,000 families, while St. Dennis had about 600.
St. Mary Magdalen has about 700 families, while St. Justin has about 200.
While details remain to be worked out, Fr. Esper said what might emerge is one parish with two worship sites.
Fr. Esper said he does hear from former St. Dennis parishioners unhappy that their church closed, but that others tell him how welcoming and hospitable St. Vincent Ferrer has been.
Debbie Tourville, a member of the transition team from St. Vincent Ferrer, credits Fr. Esper for solidly grounding the entire process in prayer.
“Fr. Esper always takes us to prayer first, and he emphasized that we had to be prayerful people. I don’t think, without prayer, that we would have got through this as smoothly as we did,” she said.
The process was characterized by a spirit of cooperation that laid rivaling considerations aside, she said: “It was always about what is best for the united group. It’s like God’s hand was on it from Day One.”
Bernadette Gutowski, a transition team member from St. Dennis, said the review of the physical assets of the two parishes made it clear which church facility should survive.
“St. Vincent’s was in better shape, and less money would have to be put into St. Vincent’s than St. Dennis,” she said.
Because St. Vincent Ferrer was to become the new parish home for St. Dennis’ members, transition team members decided to make the Madison Heights church more homelike for them.
“We moved a number of items from St. Dennis — the processional cross, a chalice that had been donated in 1974, the Book of Gospels, and the portrait of the Vietnamese Martyrs,” Gutowski said.
She said such a merger can be difficult, but added, “When it becomes inevitable, you have to encourage people to embrace the change and move on.”
Some of the new spirit was evident among those who attended at a children’s Nativity pageant Dec. 18 at St. Vincent Ferrer.
Susan Tessier, whose twin daughters Kaitlyn and Kylie, 9, played shepherds in the Christmas pageant, said she likes that that she sees more people — and more kids — in church now.
“There weren’t a lot of kids at St. Dennis before, but those kids are now here and we’re all merging into one,” she said.
“I like Fr. John. He’s very up-front, always vocal and very welcoming. If you ever have a problem, he tells you ‘come see me,’ and he takes the time to listen. He’s very good,” Tessier added.
Karrie Schmitt, a former St. Dennis parishioner whose 11-year-old son Ean played an innkeeper, said of the Nativity play: “We never did anything like this at St. Dennis. I think the kids love it (the involvement at St. Vincent) more; it’s definitely bringing us back to church more.”
Michigan Catholic managing editor Mike Stechschulte contributed to this story.
