About Flint, Michigan:
The city received some unwanted nationwide publicity in the form of a public health emergency beginning in 2014. City officials, seeking to save money, had switched the city’s water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. This decision led to lead leaching into the water due to insufficient water treatment and the presence of lead pipes. The city’s water was deemed unsafe to drink and bottled water became the norm for residents of the city.
Efforts were made, and are still ongoing, to replace lead pipes throughout the city. In the meantime, the city’s population has declined from approximately 141,000 in 1979 to 79,000 since the crisis began. Not all of this can be attributed to the water crisis, of course, since outward migration from so-called “rust belt” cities has been ongoing for several decades.
Today, the city has begun to recover. Perhaps there is a lesson here in “due diligence” insofar as doing research before making major changes.
About Saint Matthew Catholic Church in Flint, Michigan:
In 1989 Lay people from the greater Flint area worked some nine months to restore the “Tridentine” (Latin) Mass in the Diocese of Lansing. On July 2, 1989, Bishop Povish gave conditional approval, with the understanding that the lay people were to locate a church, priest, altar servers, choir, ushers, et al. Father Majchrowski volunteered the use of his parish church : All Saints, in Flint. Bishop Povish finalized approval on November 2, 1989, and the first “Tridentine” Mass in the area was celebrated on November 19, 1989.
Visiting priests, chief amongst them the then Father Anthony Spinosa, Pastor of Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Rite Church and Father James Downey, O.S.B., board member of the national “Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei” and Executive Director “The Institute of Religious Life” celebrated the Mass. Subsequently Father Spinosa took on the responsibility of being the main celebrant. Substitute priests filled in in his absence.
The community remained at All Saints until the summer of 2015. At this time the Bishop of Lansing, Earl Boyea, installed Father Louis Madey as chaplain for the Latin Mass Community of Flint, and they were moved to St. Matthew in downtown Flint, Michigan. Father Louis Madey remained chaplain until his death in December of 2020.
Saint Matthew is an active parish and offers the Latin Mass at various times of the week in addition to the “Novus Ordo” Mass.
Traveling to Saint Matthew Catholic Church in Flint, Michigan:
Flint is 66 miles north of Detroit.
Address: 701 Church St, Flint, MI 48502
Phone: +1 (810) 232-0880
Click here for the official website of Saint Matthew Catholic Church in Flint, Michigan