Our Parish - About Us - Parish History This account of St. Francis De Sales Parish gives witness to the parish's fidelity to that essential purpose. It is, as well, a chronicle of change - changes in ways of worship and ways of governance, in ways of celebrating and of working; changes in leadership and in belonging; changes in the religious and general culture - a chronicle set in a fifty year period of far reaching and sometimes disquieting change. At the foundation of the parish in 1948, the U.S. Catholic church was on the brink of full incorporation into American society. Now the church and its particular embodiment in St. Francis De Sales Parish is "The Church in the Modern World" - with all its possibilities and dangers. Globally and locally, it is at once a different and familiar world. The parish was born out of the post-war boom; many of its members were returning G.I.'s and some by reason of the G.I. Bill, the first generation of Catholics to attend college. Charter members describe their parents of themselves as "just out of college", "just married", "just hired" for expanding professional positions in Muskegon industries stimulated by the war and post-war boom. The original parish boundaries extended beyond the core city of Muskegon with its long established national churches and settled downtown. Once youthful charter members considered their new parish "out there" and "near the projects." There were broad open spaces, backyards adjoining each other without fences, Catholic households often next to Catholic households, quiet streets policed by an occasional Sheriff's Department vehicle. The parish facility is now within the City of Norton Shores, itself transformed from township to new city. The parish has both derived its membership from and contributed to that growing city. "Projects" - in Muskegon once the vernacular shorthand for the war-and postwar-time Ruddiman Terrace Housing Development - are a fading memory, no longer a place-identifier. the modest housing of the depression, war time, and baby boom eras is encircled by more affluent subdivisions to the west and south of the parish buildings. Throughout the United States and in Muskegon too, the one national parishes now evidence greater ethnic and social diversity. St. Francis De Sales parish while not racially diverse, is diverse in the social economic makeup of its membership with all the consequent variations in educational and professional backgrounds, political and philosophic persuasions, and religious attitudes. "Our parish," wrote Father Stasker in 1982, "provides such a broad sampling of human nature that there is room for everyone." While acknowledging affluence among some of its members, parishioners are quick to disavow the label of "rich parish." What the parish has achieved in property, buildings and services has been the hard work and sacrifice of many as well as the extraordinary generosity of a few. The remarkable growth of the parish has taken it from a relatively close knit community to its present status as the largest parish in West Michigan outside of Grand Rapids. Size alone disallows community activities such as those that characterized the 1950s and early 1960s. Changes in society have contributed to new ways of relating to the parish. National parishes often grew out of or served as mutual aid societies. Among immigrant peoples, they provided initial socialization and on-going community. As people became acclimated to the larger society, other agencies and institutions provided for these needs; other patterns of interaction were formed and new expectations of the parish evolved. Within these strong currents of change, there remains the permanency of Catholic Christian belief, values, and the sacramental life. Sacrament initiates and nurtures each in the great mystery of the Christian life. Signed by the sign of Christ, the people of St. Francis De Sales Parish are sustained and sustain each other, are served and serve, are formed and form, and blessed and bless in God's own time and to bring about God's own time.
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