St. John The Baptist Catholic Church at 3160 Carla Dr., Carrollton , MI 48604-1749 US - St. John The Baptist Cathoilc Church History

Our Jubilee Tile shows the church today.

Our story begins in the fall of 1886 when under the guidance of Father Benning our Church was founded. The community was small and the people were poor but they were convinced that this was something God was asking them to do and that he would provide the means and he did. It was through their generosity in responding to God that just 8 months later on June 5, 1887 Bishop Henry Joseph Richter of Grand Rapids laid the cornerstone. The largest gathering ever seen in the village assembled for the event in spite of the inclement weather. Rev. Joseph Hebert, pastor of St. Boniface Church, Bay City, delivered the sermon in French. Bishop Richter spoke briefly in English. Fathers Sweeney and Reis of East Saginaw, and Van der Hayden and Benning of Saginaw assisted the Bishop. Alfred Archambault was the builder of the Church, however, the parishioners contributed a considerable amount of the work. The Church was situated on the east side of Jefferson between Maple and Walnut Streets in Carrollton, four squares west of the steamboat landing. The foundation was stone with a brick basement, brick veneered. It was the second building so constructed in the village. The building was 46x8O feet in size having a gable roof, a steeple rising 105 feet from the ground and a tower 14 feet square. There were four large windows on each side of the Church and two in front. The auditorium was the nave of the Church and was 66x46 feet; the gallery 17 feet wide and extending the full width of the Church; the sanctuary was 17x23 feet. The whole building had a seating capacity, including the gallery, of about 350 people. The cost of the Church building was approximately $7,000.00. The Church having been finish- ed was blessed on November 18, 1888, by Bishop Richter of Grand Rapids, under the title, St. John the Baptist. Father LeFevre who helped in the completion of the Church and gave the first mass in the new Church succeeded Father Benning in 1888. While the Church building was being constructed a rectory for the priest was also finished. The first resident pastor named to this parish was Rev. John Baptist Dupuis. Father Dupuis had charge of St. John the Baptist Church, Carrollton and its mission, St. Matthew, Zilwaukee. The same Fr. Dupuis was instrumental in organizing Holy Family, Saginaw, during his six-year tenure at St. John's. The first marriage entry in the Carrollton register is that of Henry Vanase and Adeline Lefebure, both of Zilwaukee, who were married on February 11, 1889. Rev. Michael J. Gallagher who later became Bishop of Detroit succeeded Father Dupuis. Father Gallagher took care of both Carrollton and the Zilwaukee mission from December 1, 1895 to June 1, 1896. Father Gallagher was succeeded in the pastorate by Father A. Fournier who was pastor until 1 898. Fr. Fourner took a census of the Kochville section of his parish in 1 897. Disaster struck the rapidly growing parish on February 6, 1 898, in the form of a terrible fire which originated in some unknown manner. From the Saginaw News of Monday, February 7, 1 898, we read that the fire broke out at an early hour on Sunday morning. A new furnace had been installed during the week before and the first fire was kindled in it Saturday evening as a test before its use at the Sunday services. It was supposed that the fire had burned out before the janitor left. When the blaze was discovered, however, the floor above the furnace was on fire as was a pile of wood near the basement window. The Carrollton Fire Department was quickly on hand and did great service in saving the rectory and other buildings from destruction. The ten-year-old Church building was totally destroyed, and because the insurance had recently expired the loss was not covered. The loss of the church building was estimated at $ 1 0,000.00. At the time of the fire there was no resident priest, although services had been held every Sunday. Left without a church building in which to worship, the people of St. John the Baptist accepted the hospitality of its mission offspring, St. Matthew, Zilwaukee. Two masses were offered they’re on Sundays and Holy days to take care of the larger congregation. Both Carrollton and Zilwaukee were temporarily served as missions out of Holy Family, Saginaw. Fr. Louis -Prudhomme, pastor of Holy Family, took care of St. John's with the help of assistant pastors assigned canonically to Holy Family over a period of ten years. The ten-year-old Church building was totally destroyed, and because the insurance had recently expired the loss was not covered. The loss of the church building was estimated at $ 1 0,000.00. At the time of the fire there was no resident priest, although services had been held every Sunday. Left without a church building in which to worship, the people of St. John the Baptist accepted the hospitality of its mission offspring, St. Matthew, Zilwaukee. Two masses were offered they’re on Sundays and Holy days to take care of the larger congregation. Both Carrollton and Zilwaukee were temporarily served as missions out of Holy Family, Saginaw. Fr. Louis Prudhomme, pastor of Holy Family, took care of St. John's with the help of assistant pastors assigned canonically to Holy Family over a period of ten years. Father Napoleon Poulyan first took care of these masses and then later Father Edward H. Racette who was assisted by Fr. Louis Bouchard from 1 903 - 1905. Fr. Racette was transferred to Pinconning in 1905. Fr. John Blain served from 1 905 - 1906; Fr. John A. Mulvery from 1906 - 1907; Fr. Frederick Williams from 1907 - 1 908; Fr. Joseph Barrette, 1 908-1910; and Fr. George O. Dequoy, 1910-1911. On September 5, 1 911 Fr. Barrette left his position as assistant at Holy Family Church and became resident Pastor of Carrollton, having charge of both the Carrollton parish and the Zilwaukee mission. Bishop Richter in this time con- firmed a class at Zilwaukee of Carrollton and Zilwaukee children in 1899. With no insurance and the area experiencing a great economic depression the task of rebuilding seemed impossible. But the same faith, generosity and trust that characterized our founding enabled St. John's to survive and rebuild. It took a while but it happened. There were two main reasons for the delay in reconstructing the church building at Carrollton: (1) the panic of 1893 was still crushing the parishioners who suffered from lack of food and work; and (2) the lumber industry was dying in the Saginaw Valley and many of the parishioners had moved away with the lumber mills. Many people were without work and had little food. Trusting in God to provide them the means the parishioners scrimped, saved and sacrificed and gratefully accepted from others what they could not afford themselves. The pews, the Stations of the Cross and the stained glass windows came from the old St. Mary's Church, Saginaw. To Fr. Prudhomme goes the credit for rebuilding the St. John the Baptist Church at Carrollton. The cornerstone of the new church building was laid May 31, 1908 and the Church was blessed on September 10, 1913. Father Barrette took care of the Carrollton Church and mission until August 15, 1915. He offered mass on the first and third Sundays of the month at Zilwaukee at 8:30 and on the second and fourth Sundays at 10:30, alternating with Carrollton. Bishop Richter administered the sacrament of Confirmation in the Carrollton Church :)n June 15, 1913 and on May 11, 1914. It was during this time that Fr. Barrette improved the appearance of the mission Church while promoting parties and 3pecial collections in the home parish. In 1915 Fr. Barrette was appointed pastor of St.Anne's Linwood. Fr. George LaVallee succeeded him. Fr. LaVallee was to spend I 0 years at this double pastorate of Carrollton and Zilwaukee. One of the highlights of his time was the visit of Bishop Gallagher, former pastor of St. John's to administer the sacrament of Confirmation in 1917. On August 1 5, 1925, Fr. Alfred J. Camirand became the new pastor of St. John the Baptist Church. He succeeded Fr. LaVallee. One of his first projects was a house-to-house census of all his parishioners. Fr. Camirand continued as pastor until his death on Wednesday, August 6, 1931, a few moments before mass. Not feeling well he sat down in an old rocking chair on the side porch of the Carrollton rectory. His housekeeper discovered him dead there a short time later. He was 54 years of age at the time of his death. Father Camirand was succeeded on September 10, 1 931 by Fr. Eugene A. McCarthy. Fr. McCarthy was the pastor for the next 11 years and served the parish during the tragedy of the depression years. Fr. McCarthy is remembered for his kind words of encouragement, which helped people to carry on day after day when they lacked many times the very necessities of life. Bishop Pinten decided in July of 1931 to close the Zilwaukee mission because of the depression. Again the indomitable faith of the people came to the fore. A committee from Zilwaukee pleaded with Bishop Pinten in Grand Rapids and the Bishop finally agreed to reopen the Church, it having been closed for six weeks. Father McCarthy was succeeded at Carrollton by Fr. Cornelius A. Bates on July 24, 1 942, by appointment of the new Bishop of Saginaw, Bishop Murphy. Fr. Bates arranged to have two masses celebrated at the mission on Sundays and Holy days. He also arranged to have the Blessed Sacrament reserved permanently in the tabernacle at St. Matthew's. Fr. Bates immediately began the redecoration of the interior of the Church at Carrollton. He put in new pews, new statues, new floors in the sanctuary and sacristy and renovated the altars. He then turned his attention to the rectory, redecorating the interior, painting the outside of the building and adding a new entrance to the rectory office. He also bought a house to the east. of the rectory which later became what was known as Mary's School. Fr. Bates then proceeded to landscape the entire grounds, beautifying them with new shrubs and trees. Fr. Bates resigned his pastorate in 1 944 and was succeeded on July 7, of the same year, by Rev. Robert E. Fitzpatrick. Fr. Fitzpatrick was Superintendent of Education for the Diocese of Saginaw. On December 3, 1944, the mission in Zilwaukee burn- ed to the ground. Fr. Fitzpatrick encouraged the parishioners of St. Matthew's to build a new parish Church. He also constructed St. Matthew's rectory, completing it in May of 1949. Fr. Fitzpatrick showed a great interest in the religious instruction of children. To further this and to make it practical he established what was called Mary's School. Children attending public schools came over everyday from the school across the street on released time for religious education by two Grand Rapids Sisters of St. Dominic. Twice a week children from the Mershon School were transported by buses to these instructions. Children received their religious education either immediately after morning mass before public schools convened, or during the noon hour. During Father Fitzpatrick's pastorate great numbers of parishioners returned to the Church. On one day he baptized 29 persons at one ceremony. Due to Fr. Fitzpatrick's popularity and hard work the financial condition of the parish was immeasurably improved at this time. Because of Fr. Fitzpatrick's duties at the Chancery building, the Bishop saw fit to appoint an assistant to the Carrollton parish. The first assistant was Fr. Patrick G. Keogh who came in the spring of 1945. Fr. Keogh served until he was transferred in February of 1946 when Fr. Leo F. Skornia succeeded him. Fr. Skornia was assistant until March 8, 1947 when Fr. Joseph A. Castanier succeeded him. Father Castanier remained at Carrollton until March 30, 1 949. It was in March of 1949 that Bishop Murphy established St. Matthew's in Zilwaukee as a territorial parish. Bishop Woznicki named Rev. Eugene A. Forbes its first pastor on September 4, 1950. Bishop Stephen S. Woznicki named Rev. Thomas R. Horton to the pastorate of St. John the Baptist Church in September 1950. Besides carrying on the normal administration of the parish along with his chancery work, Fr. Horton dedicated most of his efforts, along with the building committee, to the planning of the construction of the first Catholic School in Carrollton. Plans were made to construct a six-room school. It was contemplated that there would be a full eight grades with an enrollment of at least 200 children. The school was planned to be built directly south of the present Church building. The architect contracted was Joseph Goddeyne of Bay City. Unfortunately when bids were taken for the proposed school and social hall combination the minimum bids far exceeded the financial capabilities of the parish. The lowest bid was $135,000.00 where as the parish could afford no more than $ 1 00,000.00. The problem of pro- viding a convent for sisters would have also arisen as an expensive item. Of necessity the parish deferred its plans to indefinitely for the building of a new school. On July 22, 1953, Rev. Thomas G. Brennan was appointed pastor. Father Brennan purchased 20 acres of land at the northwest part of the parish, which was intended as the future site of the school. On May 13, 1959, Fr. Michael Maher became pastor of St. John's. In August of the same year two entrances to the church building and its basement hall were added. At the same time the basement floor was dug out and lowered 8 inches. The basement was painted and the water and drain system was improved. It was also at this time that a new bronze bell was purchased and installed. The interior of the rectory was redecorated. Modest changes were made in the interior of the church building to facilitate the changes of Vatican II. Fr. Maher, as Pastor during the first difficult transition years following Vatican 11, did much to support and promote those first changes called for by the Council. He was also influential in developing a strong sense of stewardship in the Parish and introduced the religious concept of tithing as our response to the call to stewardship. On July 9, 1964, 1.5 acres of land was purchased and in September of that year work was begun on the Catechetical Center on this new property across from the Carrollton Jr. High School. William Spears was the architect and Walter Vollmer was the general contractor with an original contract cost of $1 52,1 25.00. It was believed to be the first Catechetical Center in the Saginaw area. It was ready for use in September 1965. It had a complete religious education program operating throughout the school day for children of the parish attending Carrollton public schools. Approximately 370 children from first grade through high school age participated two hours a week in the classes, which were held during public school hours. This arrangement with public schools was permitted under a state law that was termed "released time". The Catechetical Center had four classrooms, an office, library, teacher's room and a multi-purpose room with an adjoining kitchen. Trained lay people to gave the religious instruction under the guidance of Sr. Estelle of the Mission Sisters of the Holy Spirit. It had been the plan at that time to also build a new Church on the site where the Center was built and to abandon the present structure. After having served the parish longer than any pastor in its history (nearly 15 years) Father Maher was succeeded by Fr. Edward Trombley on March 6, 1974. During Father Trombley's pastorate a new roof was put on the rectory and garage, the grounds were improved and the inside of the church building was painted. In 1 976 the aisles and sanctuary were carpeted and a new reconciliation room was built. At the end of 1 977 Fr. Trombley left the parish and for a few months the parishioners carried on the work of the parish without a pastor. It was their faith that sustained them through this period of time. In March 1978, Fr. Joseph Miller was appointed administrator of the parish. Fr. Miller served the parish until July of that year when he was named pastor of St. Francis X. Cabrini in Vassar. The summer of 1978 proved to be a vulnerable one for our parish family. We were without a pastor, having financial difficulties and there was talk of closing four parishes in the diocese and St. John the Baptist in Carrollton was one of them. It was at this time when our very existence was threatened that God reached out to us in a powerful and dramatic way. He rescued us as he had done many times in the past. In fact our parish was the only one of the four parishes slated to close that remained open. On August 1 9, 1978 Fr. James M. Fitzpatrick arrived at St. John the Baptist to serve as its new pastor. Fr. Fitzpatrick came to us well qualified having degrees in liturgy, spirituality and theology. He stated in his first homily that what justifies the continued existence of a parish was that the parish was honestly attempting to live out the Gospel and to respond to what God was asking of it as a community. A parish membership policy was developed. Because the Eucharist is so central to our faith we felt that parishioners of St. John's should be expected to be present and participate in the weekend Eucharist on a regular basis and signify their presence through the use of envelopes whether or not they could afford to contribute. The membership policy was agreed upon by the Parish Council of St. John's and instituted in the parish. Since that time other policies regarding the administration of sacraments and also mass stipends have been developed. With the renewal of all our Catholic forms of worship our building no longer supported the worship of the community. In January of 1979 our Parish Council voted unanimously in favor of renovating our church building. The renovation of our building began in July 1979. Again the generosity of our parishioners came through. The renovation was seen as something God was asking us to do and many volunteered time and talents so that it could be accomplished. During the time of the renovation, the parish held its services at the Center on Carla Drive. The architect for the renovation was Mr. Doug Morris and the implementation of the design was carried out under the direction of Ralph Sova of Ramar Construction and also a parishioner of St John's. Because parishioners did much of the work the overall cost of the project was reduced considerably. The ceilings in the church building were lowered and the sanctuary was relocated to one of the sidewalls. The old sanctuary was converted into a chapel area, completely apart from the main assembly. Chairs replaced pews to allow for flexibility. Kneelers were retained in the chapel for private prayer and devotion. The baptismal font, which was made to accommodate the immersion of infants, was placed at the main entrance so that parishioners blessed themselves with its waters as they entered the building. An area off the chapel of reservation was provided for the sacrament of reconciliation. The first services of the renovated church building were held on the weekend of February 2, 1980 and the following Sunday, February 10, the building was rededicated by the Most Rev. Francis F. Reh, Bishop of Saginaw. Ministries in the liturgy were further developed such as: Reader, Eucharistic Minister, Minister of Hospitality, Choir and the Ministry of taking communion to the sick and shut-ins of the parish. In 1 980 Fr. Fitzpatrick established the Catechumenate Committee to oversee the formation of those wishing to become Catholic. Over the years lay leadership has been developed. Our parish has six commissioned lay ministers and five more parishioners are lay minister candidates. Also throughout the years the ministry of the parish council has been developed to the extent that once a year there is a weekend retreat and also an evening of reflection. The council, seen as the leadership in the parish, are also present in a body at many of the major liturgies throughout the year. Particular attention was also given to the administration of the Sacraments. In 1 980 the practice of baptizing infants by immersion was introduced. Sacraments began to be seen as community events. The anointing of the sick, marriages, first communion, reconciliation and confirmation are all celebrated with the community present. Also, the importances of the signs in the sacraments were emphasized, i.e. the liberal use of oil during the sacrament of Confirmation. Attention was also given to the space in which we worshipped. Banners were beautifully hand made and flowers and plants are always real and not artificial. Another issue we, as a parish family, had to address was our prayer life. The Liturgy of the Hours was introduced with Wednesday Evening Prayer during Lent in 1979 and in September of 1 980 Morning Prayer was introduced. Eventually Evening Prayer would be held Monday thru Thursday, Morning Prayer Monday thru Friday and after the Parish Center was renovated, Noon Prayer Monday thru Friday. It was our response to what God was asking us to do. In 1 983 the Parish Center on Carla Drive underwent renovation. Two of the large classrooms were divided to make four rooms. One of them was to serve as a chapel and one larger classroom was divided to make 4 offices. The offices were now all located at the parish center. The rededication of the Center was held on February 12, 1 984. In 1983 significant changes were made in the Religious Education Program in the parish. Because the actual class time during released time was severely limited it was decided to begin a Saturday morning program for grades 1-8. This allowed for more class time and also provided an opportunity for men and women who work outside the home to be involved in the formation process. In 1 985 the High School Program changed from released time to a Sunday/Monday evening program. The program was set up for four levels: Scripture, Church History, Prayer and the Sacraments and Christian Living. In addition to his duties as pastor of St. John the Baptist, Fr. Fitzpatrick serves as consultant to the Diocesan Office of Liturgy in the area of renovation and construction of new church buildings, as well as speaking throughout the Diocese to parishes regarding instituting the Liturgy of Hours on the parish level. In February of 1986 it was proposed by the parish council of St. John the Baptist to build a new handicapped entrance to celebrate the 100 years of our existence. They felt strongly that it was what God would have us do, to provide a way for all of our parishioners to join us at the celebration of the Eucharist. Like the faith of our ancestors we knew that somehow God would pro- vide. In July work began on the new entrance and also the parish center was re-roofed. On August 24, the opening of the Centennial year was celebrated. The Centennial year was one of pride and joy for the parish. A Centennial Choir was formed and sang at major liturgies throughout the year. Concerts and activities were held. Foam insulation was applied to the outside of the building and then a base and finally an acrylic finish was applied to the face of the base. The finish of the church building was in tan and brown. The handicapped entrance was completed in December of 1 986. It had a cry room, a meeting room, a restroom and an elevator. The year came to a close on June 7 when Bishop Kenneth Untener dedicated the new-handicapped entrance. After the dedication a parish picnic was held at the parish center. It was a happy and memorable day for all. To answer the question "What is it that has kept our parish together during these years of trial and hard- ship?" we must answer that the Jesus who came to us at Bethlehem is Emmanuel, God-with-us. He has been with us throughout our history and daily he comes to us. We need not fear what the future may hold as long as we keep our eyes fixed on him and remain confident of his presence among us. This is perhaps best summed up in our Parish Centennial Motto: "In Him who is the source of our strength we have strength for everything" Phil. 4:13. Sources: Catholic Weekly Saginaw News Parish Archives Peter Riley's Reserve This history taken from the 1986-87 Parish Centennial Church Directory. ©2000 St. John The Baptist Catholic Church, Carrollton, Michigan

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