Immaculate Conception (Lapeer)

In the early 1800s, the first French missionaries to visit Lapeer called the area “la pierre”—“the stone”—in reference to the rocky bed of the Flint River. Irish-American Catholics began to settle in Lapeer County during the 1830s. At the time, the faithful could receive the sacraments only when a missionary priest was passing through and Mass was occasionally celebrated in family homes.

Catholics were slow to settle in Lapeer partly because, like much of the nation, many settlers had a strong anti-Catholic bias. In 1844, a visiting missionary priest, Fr. Laurence Kilroy, was pelted with stones. Despite difficulties, Fr. Kilroy sought out any Catholics living in the area. He encountered many non-Catholics who were moved by his “untiring zeal and Christian charity” and were thereby converted to Catholicism. Nevertheless, Fr. Kilroy left Lapeer, convinced that Catholics should not settle there, and went east to St. Clair. 

 

On August 17, 1859, Fr. DeCunic, a Flint priest, persuaded Alvin Hart, founder of Lapeer, to procure property for the site of a Catholic church. Hart provided a small parcel of property on the northern boundary of the village of Lapeer on the top of a hill where, today, Calhoun and Oregon Streets meet. As Catholics were viewed with suspicion and not particularly welcome in Lapeer, this location was chosen purposely to keep Catholics on the outskirts of town.


Jerry Sullivan led the construction efforts and, by October of 1860, much of the frame was finished. However, due to the Civil War, construction was delayed. In October of 1864, Fr. John Busche, a 25-year old German missionary, was appointed pastor to the people of Lapeer. The congregation originally chose the patronage of St. Martin but eventually selected Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was one of the first churches to bear that title after the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated by Pope Pius IX a decade earlier. The first Mass was held in the unfinished church; congregants improvised with boxes and boards because there were no pews at first.

Fr. Busche oversaw the completion of the first church, finished in 1866, and ministered to Catholics in nearby villages. He organized the faithful in Imlay City and Davison, where he built mission churches and purchased land for cemeteries. Fr. Busche also led many converts to the Faith. By 1880, according Fr. Alonzo Nacy, who grew up in Lapeer, half of the parish was comprised of converts. Construction on the current, fieldstone church began in 1895 and finished a decade later. It stands a mile south of the previous church, in what is now called Piety Hill Historic District. 

Fr. Francis Kelley served as pastor at the turn of the 20th Century. In 1924, he was consecrated as the second Bishop of Oklahoma City. He died in 1948 and, two years later, Immaculate Conception Parish established a K-8 school named in honor of him.

Bishop Kelley Catholic School remains active today and is the only Catholic school in Lapeer County.

Nearby churches such as St. Joseph the Worker in Lake Orion and St. Augustine in Richmond are also built from fieldstone.

The interior of the church features a barrel vault ceiling, pointed arches and Corinthian columns.

The parish rescued a 7,000-pound marble altar from a closed New Jersey church and installed it at Immaculate Conception in 2013.

St. Peregrine relic and statue in the east transept; St. Jude statue and relic in the west transept.


The St. Jude statue was transplanted from a now-closed Detroit church and is believed to be the one that Danny Thomas prayed before, leading to his successful acting career. In thanksgiving, Thomas established St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
 

The parish allows Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the church, at the Sacred Heart altar.


Immaculate Conception celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2014 and there are currently about 2,100 registered parishioners today.



The Lamb of God is depicted in the center of a large set of windows in the west transept.


The Descent of the Holy Spirit is depicted in the east transept windows.


Stained-glass windows in the nave all follow the same geometric pattern with variation in colors and symbols.


The Jerusalem Cross is inlaid in the floor of the church, in front of the altar.


Fr. Joseph Tuskiewicz has been Associate Pastor for over a year. Fr. Brian Hurley, previously at St. Anthony in Temperance, arrived as pastor at the beginning of July. They are assisted by Deacon Joseph Hulway.



A Marian grotto and memorial for the unborn in between the church and rectory.

Drone video of the church exterior (with music).


Immaculate Conception Parish also ministers at St. Louise Chapel in Metamora, seven miles south of Lapeer.


Immaculate Conception also manages Mt. Loretto Cemetery, two miles south of the church.


Many of the graves date back to the late 19th Century and early 20th Century.
 


For more info: parish website + school website
More about the altar: The Michigan Catholic + The County Press
Another blog post: Blog Your Church
 

St. Augustine Church (Richmond)

Catholics began settles in the Richmond area in the middle of the 19th Century. Priests from St. Clair, New Baltimore and Mt. Clemens ministered to the mission. By the early 1870's what would eventually become the St. Augustine parish was ministered to by three missionaries in Macomb County; Lawrence Kilroy, Aloysius Lambert, and Benedict Gery.

In the late 1870’s, Mary McCarthy opened her Lenox Township home and housed a chapel there. The Mission of St. Augustine was established in July 1880. It was placed in the care of Rev. Schenkelberg of Anchorville.  In a report to the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1890, Fr. Schenkelburg stated that he only visited St. Augustine once a month - on the 15th of each month. While under his care, a community project in Richmond-Lenox was undertaken to construct a church building. The ground was purchased and donations were raised. A number of non-Catholic citizens, recognizing the value of the church, contributed generously. The foundation of the old wooden church was laid in 1887 and dedicated in the same year by Bishop Foley. This frame church, dedicated to St. Augustine, was constructed at a cost of $5,000 (about $120,000 adjusted for inflation).


In 1889, Michael Schindler donated the land for St. Michael Cemetery, which is still maintained by the parish today. April 21, 1892, Rev. Fr. Thomas J. Ryan of Kalamazoo was appointed to be the first resident priest. The parish grew to 200 families around the turn of the 20th Century and needed a larger church. Construction on the current edifice began in 1912. To limit costs, the farming community used fieldstones from their land for the bulk of the construction.and parishioners largely built the church themselves.


One unknown man was tasked with clearing and preparing the land for construction. His role included using dynamite, which he had no prior experience with. Another man, William Zuelk, inspected and organized every stone used in the construction. In total, parishioners excavated, hauled, and delivered over 1,000 loads of stone.


The current church was dedicated on Thursday Dec. 11, 1913. After the ceremony, dinner was served in the basement of the old frame church. The old frame church was later moved to make room for a parking lot.


The parish cemetery was later expanded in 1920 and, again in 1965, Thaddeus Swartz and his wife donated an additional 3.5 adjacent acres, effectively doubling the size of the cemetery.


Large, stone plaques in the narthex recognize benefactors to the church.
  

St. Augustine Church is a landmark in Richmond, recognized for its twin steeples and terra cotta roof.


Scenes from the Gospel are depicted in the stained-glass windows, which are likely original to the building.
    

Appropriately, the Baptism of Jesus and symbols of baptism are found in the former baptistery windows.
  

A small, round window above the altar shows the Crucifixion. It was donated by Fr. Edward Schrauder at the time of construction.


Side altars to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, respectively.
  

The left transept features a rose window depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary


St. Anthony of Padua, with Child Jesus, in the right transept.


A small statue of the parish patron on display in a corner of the right transept; an exterior view of a rose window.
  

Buttresses on the side of the church; matching windows above each door.
  

Saturday Vigil Mass is at 6:00pm followed by Confessions at 7;00pm. Sunday Masses are at 7;30am and 9:00am. Weekday Mass is at 8:00am on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.


The parish also administers a K-8 parochial school.

Fr. Joseph Mallia has been pastor for the last year and is assisted by Fr. Sean Bonner and Deacon Alan Gwozdz. All three clerics are also assigned to Holy Family Church, in Memphis, six miles north of St. Augustine.
  

For more info: parish website + school + history + cemetery
For more photos: AOD Film Services