Take a moment and watch this video highlighting the first 40 years of our parish community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXPx_Vhly2w

Patron Saint of Hope

St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Savior. St. Jude was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus.
 
Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia.  According to Eusebius, he returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.

He is an author of an epistle (letter) to the Churches of the East, particularly the Jewish converts, directed against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics.  This Apostle is said to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia, which was then subject to Persia.  The final conversion of the Armenian nation to Christianity did not take place until the third century of our era.

Jude is invoked in desperate situations because his New Testament letter stresses that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them.  St. Jude Thaddeus is the Patron Saint of Hope or desperate/impossible cases and his feast day is October 28.

St. Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand.  This recalls one of his miracles during his work spreading the Word of God.  King Abagar of Edessa asked Jesus to cure him of leprosy and sent an artist to bring him a drawing of Jesus.  Impressed with Abagar’s great faith, Jesus pressed His face on a cloth, leaving the image of His face on it.  He gave the cloth to St. Jude, who took the image to Abagar and cured him.  Also St. Jude is often depicted with a tongue of flame above his head. This flame represents his receipt of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as one of the twelve apostles present in the Upper Room. 
 

Most holy Apostle, Saint Jude Thaddeus, friend of Jesus, I place myself in your care at this difficult time. Help me know that I need not face my troubles alone. Please join me in my need, asking God to send me: consolation in my sorrow, courage in my fear, and healing in the midst of my suffering. Ask our loving Lord to fill me with the grace to accept whatever may lie ahead for me and my loved ones, and to strengthen my faith in God's healing powers. Thank you, Saint Jude Thaddeus, for the promise of hope you hold out to all who believe, and inspire me to give this gift of hope to others as it has been given to me.  Amen.

 

In early 1967, a group of Catholic citizens from DeWitt requested an appointment with Bishop Alexander Zaleski (2nd Bishop of the Diocese of Lansing 1965-1975) to discuss the subject of a Catholic church for DeWitt. The bishop agreed to consider the idea and referred the matter to his building commission which called upon that group to suggest sites for the church property.  The present ten-acre site on North Bridge Street was decided upon and the Catholic people of DeWitt enthusiastically began preparations for their new parish.
 
Prayers, hopes and dreams for a Catholic church in DeWitt were on the way to being realized when the DeWitt area Catholics began to be spiritually served locally by the clergy of St. Therese Parish in 1969. The first Mass was held in DeWitt on September 28, 1969, at the Fuerstenau Jr. High School with Fr. John Shinners, the pastor of St. Therese, officiating.  Over 300 people attended this Mass indicating the presence of a growing Catholic community in DeWitt.  In addition to Fr. Shinners, Fr. Vincent Kuntz and Fr. Joseph Droste, associate pastors of St. Therese, served the Catholics of DeWitt.
 
On July 1, 1970, the DeWitt community was formally granted the status of a Mission in the care of the priests at St. Therese.  That same year, Fr. Francis Murray became pastor of St. Therese Parish with its Mission in DeWitt.  In September of 1970 the official name of the Mission, The Community of St. Jude, was adopted.

On June 30, 1971, the Mission in DeWitt was formally established as a parish of the Diocese of Lansing with the appointment of Fr. Jerome Schmitt as its first pastor.  St. Jude’s Rectory at 409 North Wilson Street in DeWitt, was purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ballard in August of 1971. Daily Masses were held at the rectory until 1977. Sunday Masses were held at the DeWitt Middle School until a church could be built.
 
Morris H. Stein Associates, Inc. was chosen to design the multi-purpose building, now known as the Community Center.  Estimated cost was $285,000.  On Sunday, August 12, 1973, members of the Community of St. Jude gathered to break ground for their new church building. Fr. Schmitt turned over the first sod on the site at 801 North Bridge Street, across from the DeWitt City Cemetery. Construction was completed in July of 1974. The first Mass in the new church was celebrated on July 14, 1974.
 
On January 13, 1976, Fr. Schmitt resigned the pastorate and was succeeded by Fr. Michael D. Murphy in February of 1976 who was appointed pastor by Bishop Kenneth J. Povish (3rd Bishop of the Diocese of Lansing 1975-1995).  During his pastorate the family room of the rectory was converted into parish offices.  The daily Mass was then offered in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at the church.

On August 14, 1977, Fr. Murphy was transferred to St. Patrick’s Church in Brighton, and was succeeded on September 16, 1977, by Fr. David M. Stotenbur.  Fr. Stotenbur served as pastor of the parish from September of 1977 through June of 1990.  During Fr. Stotenbur’s pastorate the parish name was officially changed from “The Community of St. Jude” to “The Catholic Community of St. Jude”.  The four car garage on the rectory site was converted to office space to accommodate the religious formation department.
 
Fr. Bernard Reilly was appointed pastor in June of 1990. The parish population had grown to 750 families.  Deacon Edward “Ted” Heutsche was appointed in 1996 permanent deacon to assist Fr. Reilly in the needs of the St. Jude Parish.
 
The importance of expanding the worship space to meet the needs of the growing parish was an immediate  project for Fr. Reilly and a parish design committee.  After two and one half years of intense study, the actual building of a new church was a reality.  In July of 1995, the firm of Freeman-Smith & Associates was hired along with architect David Swanson.  The groundbreaking ceremony for the new church took place in September of 1995.  Construction began in March of 1996 under the direction of Bishop Carl Mengeling (4th Bishop of the Diocese of Lansing 1996-2008).  Seating in the worship space accommodates 500 people.  The cost of the project was $2.2 million dollars. The new church building was dedicated on February 2, 1997, on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord by Bishop Carl Mengeling.
 
Fr. Reilly was reassigned to St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish, Jackson in June of 1998.  Fr. Daniel Wunderlich began serving the people of St. Jude at that time.  Due to illness, Fr. Wunderlich was unable to remain as pastor of the parish.  He left his duties at St. Jude on October 25, 1999.  He died on December 13, 1999.  During Fr. Wunderlich’s illness, Fr. Paul Cummings ministered to the sacramental needs of the parish community.  In January of 2000, Bishop Mengeling assigned Fr. Dwight Ezop as pastor to serve the members of St. Jude Parish.
 
In October of 2002 the house at 414 North Bridge Street was purchased by the parish as a permanent pastor’s  residence.  The original property on Wilson Street was remodeled providing more office space to adequately serve the demands of a larger parish staff.  Remodeling and refurbishing of the original community center building was also completed.  Along with more classroom space, a state-of- the- art audio-visual system was installed to serve the continual growth of parish needs. Deacon Terrance Fleming was appointed permanent deacon to St. Jude by Bishop Mengeling in May 2004.  Deacon Fleming also served as the parish business manager until his resignation in September of 2005 due to poor health.
 
Father Dwight Ezop was transferred and moved to serve St. John the Evangelist Parish in Fenton, Michigan June 26, 2013 at which time Fr. Robert (Bob) Irish was assigned as the Administrator of the parish on June 26, 2013 and was named as Pastor on June 25, 2014 by .Bishop Earl Boyea, Jr (5th Bishop of the Diocese of Lansing 2008—present)  On October 2015, The parish was blessed with Deacon Kevin Orth (who had moved here with his family from Florida) and was appointed by Bishop Early Boyea to provide ministry support to the parish community.
 
In 2016, the parish joined the Diocesan Witness to HOPE Capital Campaign to raise monies for a building expansion that would house parish offices and add much needed meeting/classroom space as well as a day Chapel.  The goal was 2.5 million and in six months and within that time frame the parish was blessed to receive almost 2.4 million in pledges or one-time donations towards the goal.  Approval by the Bishop was granted and construction began in late Summer 2018.
 
In 2019, on Friday, March 22, staff moved into the new addition and Bishop Boyea did the dedicaton and blessing on Friday, May 17.  Praise God!  Also the following notable events happen that same year: Deacon Ted Heutsche was granted senior deacon status on March 7. On Saturday, May 18, two of married men of the parish (Rob Strouse and Bob Nieman) were ordained as Permanent Deacons by Bishop Boyea and were assigned to assist the parish in Sacramental and outreach ministries.
 
Golden Jubilee! On the weekend of September 28 & 29, the parish celebrated their 50th Anniversary year as a parish community. The celebration began with a Saturday 5:00PM Mass with Bishop, Earl Boyea, followed by a reception in the parish hall. On Sunday after the 11AM Mass, the celebration continued with a family theme reception in the parish hall and meeting rooms.

COVID-19! In the New Year of 2020, the Corona-virus pandemic devastated our Nation and the world at large, causing businesses and faith communities to close down. Due to this virus many of Sacrament and faith events here had to be postpone or cancel; such as, First Communion, Easter Vigil and the welcoming of our catechumens and candidates, Baccalaureate Mass, Memorial Day Mass, Faith Fest 2020, Vacation Bible School, Youth Mission Trip, as well as all our programs for Young Family and Adult programs and many other special events to be hosted by the Diocese or other faith organizations such as the Knights of Columbus, etc. But all during that pandemic, even though apart, we were stronger together in our faith.
 
New Pastor - Bishop Earl Boyea named Fr. David Speicher the new pastor upon Fr. Bob being granted senior priest status; effective Wednesday, June 24, 2020. 

The story continues...