New Tenant for the Historic Church

We have a new tenant for the historic church. Parishioners Brian and Jackie Vossen are relocating Holy Gifts, their Catholic book and gift store, from Maple Lake to St. Michael this February! They will share the main floor of the historic church with our current tenant, Free Grace United Church, who will continue to hold services there. Having two tenants on an ongoing basis will help us offset the costs of maintaining the building, though we will still need to set aside significant funds for tuckpointing and other major maintenance needs.

To facilitate this move, some of the pews from the back half of the church will be removed beginning later this month. Most will be stored, but several of the shorter pews are being donated to One World Surgery, a Catholic medical mission started by Father Daly’s parents. These pews will be installed in a new hospital chapel under construction in the Dominican Republic—a beautiful sign of the faith and charity of this community extending to the poorest of the poor. Stay tuned for further information and photos from One World Surgery!

The church will still be available for the monthly rosary, Catholic school use, and other current activities. Special thanks to our Historic Church Steering Committee for their work exploring the options for the church, the City of St. Michael for granting us a variance so the church could be used for a small business, and to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis for their approval of this new use.