Journey to the Catholic Churches of Detroit.: June 2015

The parish of Our Lady of Hope is located in St. Clair Shores on Little Mack Ave. The church is set off from the street and is highlighted with a large church bell. Other than that the church is very non-descript; in fact if you blink you might miss seeing it.

Once you enter the church through the large double wood doors you come into a small vestibule area. Off to the right of the vestibule area is sitting area with a couch, love seat and chairs in a living room like setting. It is nice place to sit before or after mass to talk and come together in fellowship of the Lord.

Our Lady of Hope church is relatively small in size. There are regular chairs grouped together in 4 rows. The seats are cushioned and most of them have kneelers. The altar is also a small space. When we visited, it was adorned with a red cloth and with red germaniums in front of it to symbolize Pentecost Sunday. A crucifix hung on the back wall over the altar area.

Fr. James Bjorum is the pastor at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church. He began the mass by blessing the congregation with holy water as a sign of our baptismal renewal. In his homily, Fr. Bjorum spoke of the newness and excitement of Pentecost and he urged us to welcome back, to the church, those who have fallen away from it.

Our Lady of Hope was born out of the clustering of St. Germaine and St. Gertrude’s churches in St. Clair Shores. The people of these two congregations came together in faith and love to praise and serve the Lord as one body.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Our Lady of Hope. The people, made up of families, singles and seniors, were very inviting and friendly and they made our visit a pleasant experience.

Up Next: St. John the Baptist-Monroe