Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Church closings and memories of St. Luke's

First communion at the soon-to-be closed St. Luke's in 1968.

The final masses at three Flint Catholic churches scheduled to close are fast approaching:

Sacred Heart: 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 31
St. Luke's: 10 a.m. on Sunday, August 3
St. Agnes: 11 a.m. on Sunday, August 17

Grumkin, a Flint Expatriate who was born on McClellan Street across from the current site of St. Luke's Church and school, provided these photos of her old parish.

The neighborhood kids watch St. Luke's construction in 1966.


The church weathers the snows of 1967.


Black pants, white shirts, or else at first communion in 1968.


at 12:12 PM
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 30, 2008 at 1:57 PM

    Great post, Gordie. We've talked about the subject of church closings in the area on more than one occasion. Just read the St. John Davison bulletin this weekend, July 27, 2008, and in the priest's column this is the exact quote included in his writings:

    "The merger of the four parishes (St. Luke, St. Agnes, Sacred Heart will merge with St. John Vianney...) is only the beginning of other changes that will be happening throughout our diocese in coming months. The Genesee County region that we belong to is not only the largest of six regions, but will also have the most drastic changes..."

    I think we're going to have to hang on for the ride...

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  2. AnonymousJuly 30, 2008 at 4:08 PM

    I don't consider myself a Catholic, but almost all of my family is, and I've been to many functions at St. Luke's. I'm very sad to see it go, as I see it (and the other two that are closing) as a cornerstone in the neighborhood. Three more reliable institutions leaving the city are never a good thing.

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  3. redgirlJuly 30, 2008 at 10:04 PM

    Thanks for posting these pictures, Gordie! The quote from the St. John Davison bulletin sounds rather ominous.

    I was wondering: does anyone out there have any photographs from inside Maurice Olk Primary/Donovan North/Dukette/St. Agnes school from the 70's, or St. Mike's in the late 30's/early 40's? They can also be sent to me directly at maureenstewart33@gmail.com

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  4. AnonymousJuly 30, 2008 at 11:14 PM

    my mom taught at Dukette but she didn't start there until the 80s. she painted a mural in the window wells for the pre-k/kindergarten classes back then. when i was back in Flint last August, those murals were still there... untouched by grafitti and time.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.

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