St. Pete's and St. Al's Unite to Form Light of Christ Parish

Catholics from eastern Lenawee and western Monroe counties celebrated the official birth the Light of Christ Catholic Parish on Thursday, July 1.

The new parish comprises nearly 700 area families who were members of Blissfield’s St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church and Deerfield’s St. Alphonsus Catholic Church. The two churches merged to form the new parish and will continue to serve their communities.

Leaders of the new parish celebrated the occasion with a bevy of events and activities.

The day started with a 9 a.m. Mass at St. Peter’s. Following mass, the Knights of Columbus served breakfast in the church hall.

The celebration reconvened at 5:30 p.m. when more than 100 people showed up to St. Peter’s for a ceremonial parade to Deerfield’s St. Alphonsus. By motorcycle, tractor, car and bicycle, they traversed through downtown Blissfield, along Carroll Road and County Line Highway, before crossing the Bucholz Bridge, arriving in Deerfield village and parading through downtown to St. Alphonsus.

At an evening prayer, the founding of Light of Christ Catholic Parish was formalized. The new parish council, commissions and staff were introduced. And then the party began with hundreds of people in attendance.

Father Jack Loughran, who was credited by many parishioners for the smooth transition, said it was a great day for the new parish.

“People are enjoying themselves and having a lot of fun,” said Loughran.             “It’s very apparent that people are engaged and excited about our future.”

The merger was deemed necessary because of a shortage of priests.

“I welcomed the change because the alternative was shutting down one of the parishes,” said Rudy Mirelez, a member of St. Peter’s. “Neither church could absorb the other, so the logical thing to do was merge them.”

Mirelez is on a parish commission that oversees music. One of the commission’s charges is for the two choirs to learn the songs that were sung at each other’s churches.

“It’s always a good thing to learn new songs,” said Mirelez.

Terry Buehrer was one of many parishioners who began the nine month unification process with concerns.

“Just like everybody else, I was concerned about the unknown and how it would affect Blissfield and Deerfield. I got over it by listening to Father Jack. He was wonderful and why we are where we are today. They couldn’t have picked a better man to lead us,” Buehrer said, as hundreds of people around him enjoyed the barbecue, games and activities. “I think Light of Christ Catholic Parish will flourish and be an unbelievable presence, not only in Lenawee County but in the Diocese of Lansing.”

Many credited the nine-month transition period for helping the process.

“We’ve being going back and forth to each other’s church for nearly a year now,” said Jane Bolster, a St. Alphonsus member who served on the transition team.

“Many of us have become friends now,” said Finola Campbell, a member of St. Peter’s who served on the transition team.

Campbell and Bolster both viewed the celebration as evidence of a successful transition.

“This morning I was so pleased to see the full church,” said Campbell. “The events today have been wonderful. Obviously, this is working. This is going to work.”

Klaus Bachmann, a St. Peter’s member who served on the transition team, said people gradually embraced the change.

“People like to have routines and don’t always like to see change. But slowly, they’ve come around and embraced what we’re doing. I think we’re seeing today that these transitions will keep this a vibrant parish,” Bachmann said. “We’ve been blessed with a great priest in Father Jack. He is a great united with the gift of being able to bring people together.”

Buehrer said that someone “upstairs” must have been smiling on the merger.

“It’s wonderful. Look at the great weather we got and all the happy people here. You couldn’t ask for anything better,” he said. “We all believe in the same God. We’re ready to worship together. Actually, we’ve doing it for some time. Now, it’s just official.”