TRENTON — Parishioners gathered Nov. 24 to celebrate the final Mass at St. Timothy Parish in Trenton, which is closing after 68 years of service to Catholics in the Downriver area.
The final Mass at the parish took place on the Solemnity of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the liturgical year.
The decision to close St. Timothy, whose parish territory was merged into neighboring St. Joseph Parish in Trenton and Our Lady of the Woods Parish in Woodhaven, was the culmination of a nearly two-year process of discernment involving members of the whole community, said Fr. Marc Gawronski, moderator of the Downriver Missionaries of Christ Family of Parishes.
Faced with “significant financial and sacramental decline,” as well as a shortage of priests available to serve the community, St. Timothy began hosting a series of town halls in 2022 to discuss with members of the community challenges facing the parish.
After reviewing growing maintenance costs, as well as a steep decline in parishioners, offertory and available clergy, members of the parish’s transition team presented a recommendation to close St. Timothy on Aug. 7. The recommendation was shared with Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron.
On Sept. 16, Archbishop Vigneron issued two decrees — one merging the territory of St. Timothy Parish into St. Joseph and Our Lady of the Woods parishes, and another closing the church and allowing for its eventual sale.
In a letter to parishioners Nov. 24, Fr. Gawronski acknowledged the difficulty of closing a parish where so many families have celebrated sacraments over the years, calling it “a very sad day,” while inviting parishioners to continue to worship and find community at St. Joseph and Our Lady of the Woods.
Fr. Gawronski added he and Fr. Bob Johnson, SVD, “want to continue to serve you by listening to you, and praying with you, and joining you in sharing good news of salvation that has been so faithfully proclaimed at St. Timothy Parish for so many years.”
“Most importantly, let us keep one another in prayer as we seek to heal, to continue to live the faith we have received and cherished here at St. Timothy,” Fr. Gawronski said.
The offertory collection taken at the parish’s final Mass will benefit the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit, Fr. Gawronski added.
St. Timothy Parish was founded in 1956 as a mission of St. Joseph Parish in Trenton. Construction of a temporary church and classrooms for the parish school was completed in 1957, and a new church was constructed and blessed by Cardinal John Dearden in 1965. Further renovations to the church took place in 1972, 2002 and 2006. The parish school closed in 1971.
Correction: The photo accompanying this story has been updated. An original image depicted the wrong church.
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