DEARBORN/DEARBORN HEIGHTS – The closing of an Inkster Catholic church will mean more parishioners for nearby churches – including one parish each in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights.
Cardinal Adam Maida, archbishop of Detroit, is closing Saints Kevin and Norbert Parish in Inkster sometime between now and May 31. The exact date for the closure of the parish, at 27355 Woodsfield, has not yet been determined.
The cardinal expects the 163 households in the parish to expected join one of by five other parishes, all within approximately one mile of the parish – St. Dunstan to the north, Divine Child to the east, SS. Simon and June to the west, and Holy Family and/or St. John the Baptist to the South.
Divine Child is at 1055 N. Silvery Lane, Dearborn. St. John the Baptist is at 26123 McDonald, Dearborn Heights. In addition, St. Dunstan 1615 Belton, Garden City serves many west Dearborn Heights parishioners.
In a letter to the members of S.S. Kevin and Norbert Parish, Cardinal Maida noted the decision was made after Bishop Frank Reiss, auxiliary bishop for the South Region, and Father Jack Baker, the parish administrator, met with the SS. Kevin and Norbert Pastoral Council in December and held a “town meeting” in January.
St. Norbert Parish and St. Kevin Parish (30043 Parkwood) merged in May 1998. The combined Parish has been operating out of the St. Norbert site.
Cardinal Maida noted that at the one weekend Mass currently held at the parish, the average attendance is 80 people. There have been almost no Baptisms and/or weddings and only a few funerals (most were not from the parish).
Financially, the parish is $700,000 in debt to the archdiocese. Comparison of weekly income and expenses for the current budget indicate inability to meet costs. Also, the buildings and parish plant at the St. Norbert site need extensive attention and repair, release from the Detroit Archdiocese stated.
“…A decision to close a parish is not easy for anyone, myself included,” Cardinal Maida wrote in the letter to members of the parish “SS. Kevin and Norbert have made a great contribution to the Church of Detroit over the years. We can – and should -rejoice in all that God has accomplished over the last half century.”
After the closing of SS. Kevin and Norbert Parish, there will be 314 parishes in the six-county area of the Archdiocese of Detroit. The last two parishes closed prior to SS. Kevin and Norbert were St. Bernadette in Dearborn in June of 1998 and St. Peter Lithuanian in Detroit in May of 1995.
History of the closing parish:
* June 1951: Saint Norbert Parish, 27355 Woodsfield, Inkster, was founded. The parish had 1,000 households and Father Isidore Bohr was pastor.
* June 1957: Saint Kevin Parish, 30043 Parkwood, Inkster, was founded. The parish had 283 households and Father Lawrence McHugh was pastor.
* May 1998: Saint Kevin Parish and Saint Norbert Parish merged and became SS. Kevin and Norbert Parish. Father John Lehner, OSFS, was pastor.
* Jauary 2004: Father Jack Baker is the parish administrator. Updated figures show SS. Kevin and Norbert Parish had 163 households. Average attendance at the one weekend Mass celebrated is 80 people.
