Church merger causes mixed feelings, but future looks bright for new parish

Though the merger closed his former parish, Rob Ciavaglia said he knows the future is bright for St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church in Dearborn.

St. Kateri was formed when St. Martha and St. Joseph Catholic churches merged July 1, 2013.

Ciavaglia had been a member of St. Martha for more than 40 years and he was on the parish council prior to the merger. He said after the merger that a new parish council was formed and he was appointed as a member of the finance council.

Through Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron, Ciavaglia said it was decided that the two churches would merge about two years before it went through.

Before the merger, the two parishes already shared a pastor, the Rev. Terry Kerner, and programs, Ciavaglia said.

We were already acting, essentially, as one, but by canon law, we had separate financial books, he said.

In addition to making the two churches one financial entity, Ciavaglia said, they had to address the fact that we had extra capacity in terms of worship space.

The two facilities were 1.5 miles apart, and, before construction of the Detroit Lions training facility in Allen Park, Ciavaglia said, you could stand at one church and see the other one.

That led to the closure of St. Martha and the eventual sale of the property to Oakwood Healthcare.

It made logical sense for the two parishes that were already sharing programs, parishioners and a pastor to merge, Ciavaglia said. In many ways, it was a formality, but the biggest portion was which facility to close. Continued...

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Church merger causes mixed feelings, but future looks bright for new parish