Our History

APRIL 1977 - A Mass Station is established by families of St. Joseph parish at the Lake Orion Junior High West School (now called Waldon Middle School).

Mass is celebrated in the cafeteria.

JULY 1980 - Christ the Redeemer Parish in Formation is established; Fr. Frank Pollie is appointed Pastor.

JULY 1983 - Fr. Frank is transferred to Our Lady of Victory parish in Northville; Fr. Rick Macey is appointed part-time administrator of the Parish in Formation.

DECEMBER 1983 - Parish in Formation purchases the unoccupied Proper School building on Baldwin Rd

FEBRUARY 1984 - The first worship space is dedicated in what was the gymnasium of the remodeled school building.

FEBRUARY 4 1989 - Christ the Redeemer is given permanent parish status; the expanded worship space is dedicated; Fr. Rick Macey is appointed Pastor.

Life Station Parable delivered by Fr. Rick at the Dedication…

On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little lifesaving station whose devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little lifesaving station grew.

Some members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in this club’s decoration, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black or yellow skin. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s lifesaving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But they were finally voted down and told that, if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station somewhere down the coast and they did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself; and if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.

– Anonymous

The Lifesaving Station parable was a favorite part of a homily delivered by Fr. Rick Macey to commemorate the dedication of the parish in February 1989.

APRIL 1989 - The Gingell Family House is donated by Chuck Antaya and moved to its present location as a residence for the parish.

JULY 1989 - Fr. Joe Dailey is appointed full time pastor.

DECEMBER 26, 1996 - We build a House for the Poor

Christ the Redeemer Catholic Community builds a Habitat for Humanity house. For more information, CLICK HERE.