Troy — Blessing a new corpus hanging above the main altar and reminding parishioners of the decades of service that went into building St. Thomas More Parish as an “outpost of salvation,” Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron celebrated the Troy parish’s 50th anniversary Nov. 3.

“God has brought us here to accomplish something for him: It is for us to thank God for every day and every grace of those 50 years,” the archbishop said. “This is what is specifically different about what we do to mark an anniversary compared to other kinds of institutions. “St. Thomas More Community has been an outpost of salvation for deliverance from sin for 50 years by the life that is lived in this community: people forgiving one another, people bearing one another’s burdens, people being faithful, giving good example,” he added.

After the homily, Archbishop Vigneron blessed a new bronze corpus hanging above the church’s main altar. The “dying-rising Christ” was the result of 10 months of consideration by the parish’s New Evangelization Committee, said Msgr. John Zenz, administrator at St. Thomas More, and filled a need in the church’s sanctuary for a crucifix.

“At one in the same moment, Christ is dying but also seems to be ascending in glory, drawing us up with Him to the Father,” Msgr. Zenz said, adding that the result achieved by the corpus’ sculptor, Detroit native Suzanne Young, was both “unique and stunning.”

St. Thomas More Parish was founded June 19, 1963, with approximately 350 families. Its first church building was intended to be a temporary structure — and later a school — but eventually was renovated with a narthex and community hall as the permanent church building in 1978. As the Troy population surged, and with it the parish’s, a 25,000-square-foot expansion was added again in 1990, and in 1997 the church was closed for a nearly three-year renovation project to accommodate its nearly 2,550 families.

Fr. William L. Anderson, the parish’s first pastor, served until a car accident claimed his life in 1984. He was followed by Fr. Edward Belczak, who served as pastor until being placed on leave in 2012.

St. Thomas More Parish

4580 Adams Road, Troy

(248) 647-2222

Pastor: Msgr. John Zenz (administrator)

Founded: June 19, 1963

Founding pastor: Fr. William L. Anderson

Families: 2,550

Parish organizations, outreach: Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Co-op Nursery, prayer quilters, Red Cross blood drives, Respect Life committee, music ministry, youth/young adult ministry, Young at Heart, young families ministry, and others.