DEDICATION OF TWO NEW CHURCHES

Boundless and abiding blessings and intense joy always accompanies the dedication of a church. Each member of our family of believers in our diocese share in the joy of a parish family dedicating their new church.

Two parishes will soon celebrate the Solemn Dedication of a new church! The dedication of St. Ann Church in Bellevue is Sunday, March 2 at 9:00am. Dedication of St. Joseph Church in Dexter is Saturday, March 15 at 10:00am. It is their patronal feast, the Solemnity of St. Joseph.

In these waning days of my episcopal service as Bishop of Lansing, I thank Our Lord for the grace to be celebrant at these sacred dedications.

It all began when the pastor and parishioners assembled with the Bishop for the Rite of Beginning Work on the building of a church (ground breaking).

The pastor, Fr. Brendan Walsh, many parishioners and I broke ground for the new church on March 19, 2005. It was the patronal feast of St. Joseph. A wooden cross was fixed in the ground on the place where the altar will be located.

The Catholics of Bellevue and their administrator, Msgr. Raymond Goehring and Msgr. Steven Raica, Chancellor of the Diocese, broke ground on April 29, 2007. Msgr. Raica presided due to my illness. They also fixed a cross in the ground.

The closing prayers for the Blessing of the Site of a new church asks for understanding of the meaning of Church - "God of love, we praise your holy name, for your love made us your temple by baptism and inspire us to build on earth churches dedicated to your worship. Look favorably upon your children, for they have come with joy to begin work on this new church. Enable them to grow into the temple of your glory, until, shaped anew by your grace, they are gathered by your hand into your heavenly city. We ask this through Christ our Lord".

The dedications awaken and enkindle an appreciative awareness of the band of faith that links the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE among the people of a parish. All are one in Christ - Yesterday, Today and Forever!

The celebrants on March 2 and 15 are witnesses to the truth of this wise Irish saying - "We all warm ourselves by fires we did not build. We all drink from wells we did not dig".

The bold spirit of the tiny community of believers and those who followed is unforgettable and inspiring. The generous YES to being Christ's church in Bellevue and Dexter brought abundant blessings over many decades and continues now and into the future.

These parishes go back more than 150 years. The earliest record of Mass in Dexter is 1836 and Bellevue in 1855. Here is s a brief chronicle of both.
Dexter's first wood church was built in 1840. After a fire, a second wood church was erected in 1854. Groundbreaking for the present stone gothic church was in 1875. The church was dedicated by Bishop Casper Borgess of Detroit on January 3, 1875.

Soon, 133 years since their dedication of their present (third) church, the St. Joseph community under the pastoral leadership of Fr. Brendan Walsh since 1998, will be blessed by their new church to be dedicated on March 15, 2008.

For nearly 75 years, Bellevue Catholics were in the spiritual care of many priests. They came from parishes in Marshall, Grand Rapids and Charlotte. Mass was often celebrated in the local Dyer Opera House. Construction began in 1923 on their first church. This wood church was dedicated on March 4, 1924 by Bishop Michael Gallagher of Detroit.

Soon, 84 years later on almost the same date, March 2, 2008, the new St. Anne Church will be dedicated. After years of yearning and generous sacrifice the Catholic Family of St. Anne and their Shepherd, Msgr. Raymond Goehring, will rejoice in a new church.

The diocese and I congratulate both parishes and rejoice with them on these sacred and historic events. These new churches are the work of believers who were not timid and fearful, but bold and confident in the Lord's grace.

They are a witness to your faith, dedication and sacrifice. You have not betrayed the hopes of the past or the present or the future. Your fidelity and loyalty assures that the well never runs dry and the fire never goes out! Your parishes will always be blessed with waters of life: life in Christ and fires of light and warmth, Christ's truth and love.