“I have grown in my faith in this beautiful parish. There’s something for everybody,” said Nowicki, who listed just a few of her favorite parish ministries, including the Men’s and Women’s Clubs, Christian formation, RCIA, the numerous choirs and the prayer ministry, which she helped found.
St. Malachy Parish held its 50th anniversary celebration June 28, and rather than slowing down, the half-century mark has only made the parish more intent to continue spreading the New Evangelization.
St. Malachy was founded in 1964, “at the edge of the suburbs and off a dirt road,” said Fr. Joseph Gembala, its pastor. “The first pastor was Fr. Nicholas Ghelfi, assigned by Cardinal Dearden. We still have many founding members, and published their pictures and memories over these past couple years.”
For instance, longtime member Tom Woolshon was baptized at St. Malachy’s, and later moved farther away, “but I can’t stop going … Even though my wife and I live a half-hour away, we still travel (to St. Malachy).”
“St. Malachy truly has something special going on,” Woolshon said. “It’ll forever hold a special place in my heart.”
Joanie Jeffers, a parishioner for 47 years, pointed to “a lot of very generous people at our parish. We have a lot of people with very strong faith, into a lot of prayer groups.”
Jeffers also helps take care of the parish’s Shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary, an outdoor 24-hour place for prayer and reflection, “which is very important because we have people coming there morning, noon and night.”
Fr. Gembala said when the parish began planning last year for its 50th anniversary celebration, they drew inspiration from Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron’s homily at the end of the Changing Lives Together initiative.
“He said now is the time to evangelize,” said Fr. Gembala. “I came back thinking that if all we did was celebrate the past, we’d miss a golden opportunity: we’re going to gear the whole year toward evangelization.”
“Evangelizing begins by getting your own people excited about their faith,” added Fr. Gembala. “We’ve been doing things all year long.”
As one initiative, St. Malachy passed out Matthew Kelly’s “Rediscover Catholicism” book after Christmas Masses, as well as “A Minute in the Church” by Gus Lloyd after Easter Mass.
The parish evangelization also included the “You Belong” series, a 10-week session on the history of Catholicism and the lives of the prophets, which ended with a retreat given by Auxiliary Bishop Michael J. Byrnes.
The parish youth group recently returned from the annual Steubenville youth conference “all high on the Spirit, ready to go,” said Fr. Gembala. “The joy and excitement those kids bring was contagious to the parishioners.”
And while the parish celebrated its anniversary at a Mass and picnic June 28, St. Malachy’s youth look forward to another celebration this fall when Archbishop Vigneron comes for a special youth group Mass on Oct. 5.
Fr. Gembala said that ultimately, “it’s the people. I couldn’t do anything here without the many, many volunteers of St. Malachy. I’m a blessed pastor to have so many people who love the parish and are willing to work and make it happen.”
St. Malachy Parish
14115 Fourteen Mile Rd., Sterling Heights, MI 48312
(586) 264-1220
Pastor: Fr. Joe Gembala
Founded: 1964
Founding pastor: Fr. Nicholas Ghelfi
Families: 1,900-2,000
Parish organizations, outreach: Includes RCIA, Christian Service Commission, high school and junior high youth groups, prayer ministry, Men’s Club and Women’s Club, Vacation Bible Camp, funeral luncheons, choirs for all ages, supporting local food pantries
