Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Lake Orion, Michigan has spent more than four decades growing from a Mass station celebrated in a junior high cafeteria into a Roman Catholic parish serving families across northern Oakland County. At the heart of its identity is a faith formation program rooted in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, in which even the youngest children gather in specially prepared Montessori-style "atria" to encounter the Bible, the Mass, and the love of the Good Shepherd. Worship, sacramental preparation, a tithing-centered giving culture, and a year-round rhythm of service to neighbors in need all flow from that same conviction about welcoming every person into the life of the Church.
Three Atria for the Youngest Disciples
Faith formation at Christ the Redeemer is grounded in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS), a contemplative, Montessori-inspired approach to the spiritual development of children developed in Rome in the 1950s by Dr. Sofia Cavalletti, a Hebrew Scripture scholar, and Gianna Gobbi, a Montessori educator. The parish uses CGS across three age-grouped atria in its Education Wing, and the approach has been endorsed by both the Archdiocese of Detroit and the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.
In Atrium One, children in pre-K through first grade encounter Jesus as the Good Shepherd who calls His sheep by name. They hear selected parables - the Mustard Seed, the Hidden Treasure, the Leaven, the Wheat Seed - and explore the geography of Israel, the infancy narratives, the Paschal Mysteries, and the events of the Last Supper through carefully crafted materials and a prayer corner marked by the colors of the liturgical year. The atrium is meant to feel like a retreat - a quiet, ordered space where children choose their own work from specially presented materials and absorb the central message that they are loved by God.
Atrium Two welcomes children in second through fourth grade. Here the older child's growing moral imagination is invited into the parable of the True Vine, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Found Sheep, and the Found Coin. Children assemble personal missals that walk them through the Liturgy of the Word, the Preparation of the Gifts, the Eucharistic Prayer, and Communion as one unified prayer, preparing their hearts for First Reconciliation and First Eucharist, which are typically celebrated in second grade. A ribbon fifty meters long stretches across the room as a timeline of salvation history, anchoring the children in the sweep of God's plan from creation through redemption to the Parousia.
Atrium Three gathers fifth through seventh graders for a deeper exploration of the Kingdom of God as a plan of communion. Studies range across the rise and decline of great civilizations, the lives of the prophets, the typology of Old Testament events (Creation, Original Sin, the Flood, Abraham, Moses and the Gift of the Law), the structure of the Mass as memorial, the cardinal and sister virtues, and parables like the Wedding Feast, the Talents, the Workers in the Vineyard, and the Debtors. The children take on leadership roles in the liturgical celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany, the Last Supper, the Liturgy of Light at Easter, and Pentecost.
Parents are recognized as the primary catechists of their children, and the formation team - Director Carolina Castillo, Confirmation Coordinator Suzy Rhadigan, Hispanic Formation team member Iliana Sosa, and fellow catechists Claudia Enriquez and Norma Palero - describes its role as "spiritual support staff." Sacramental preparation is treated as a flexible process rather than a graded checklist: reception of First Reconciliation and First Eucharist is typically in second grade but is never tied to a specific age, and families are welcomed to wait until their child is ready. Catechist formation is fully funded by a donor family, and volunteers who serve as catechists or assistant catechists have their children's tuition waived.
Mass on Waldon Road
Worship is at the center of parish life. The Christ the Redeemer church building sits at 2700 Waldon Road and anchors the Bald Mountain Family of Parishes, a covenant that links the parish with nearby St. Joseph in Lake Orion under the joint pastoral care of Fr. Bill (Rev. Dr. William Promesso, Pastor) and Fr. James Kean of St. Joseph.
Weekend Masses at Christ the Redeemer are celebrated on Saturday at 5:00 PM and on Sunday at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. Weekday Masses are celebrated at Christ the Redeemer on Tuesday evening at 7:00 and Thursday morning at 9:00. The complementary schedule at St. Joseph includes the Saturday Vigil at 4:30 PM, Sunday at 8:00, 10:00 AM, and 12:00 PM, Monday evening at 7:30 PM, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 9:00, and a First Saturday Mass at 9:00. A daily-Mass rotation lets parishioners of either community attend any of the seven weekly celebrations.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered on Saturdays at 4:00 PM in the church, before the 5:00 Vigil Mass, and individual appointments can be made with Fr. Bill at other times. Communal Reconciliation services are offered in the Bald Mountain Family of Parishes during Advent and Lent.
Weekend Masses are livestreamed, and recordings of recent Masses and Sunday homilies are kept in an online archive. The parish encourages visitors to come as they are ("we want you to feel comfortable ... more focused on the service than what you're wearing") and to follow the lead of those around them during the postures and responses of the Mass. Ministers of Welcome serve as ushers and greeters at each weekend liturgy, helping with seating, taking up the collection, distributing bulletins, and seeing to any needs that arise before, during, and after Mass.
The Seven Sacraments
The sacraments of the Catholic Church are the visible signs by which Christ meets His people, and Christ the Redeemer devotes a great deal of its energy to preparing Catholics for each of them.
Baptism is celebrated at weekend Masses on a monthly schedule (except during Advent and Lent). Parents of infants and young children must be registered members of the parish and participate in a Baptism Preparation Session led by Deacon Sidney Johnson, the parish's Family Minister. Children older than seven who have not yet been baptized typically enter the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), the Church's nine-month formation process for those seeking full initiation, which culminates at the Easter Vigil with Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.
First Eucharist and First Reconciliation are prepared in Atrium Two and typically celebrated in second grade, though parents are welcomed to wait until they and their child feel ready. Preparation includes parent-and-child sessions, an evening with Fr. Bill on the meaning of each sacrament, a "Gold Book" of family reflections completed at home, and a rehearsal before the celebration, which is scheduled individually with the family in the weeks before Easter.
Confirmation is offered to all incoming eighth through twelfth graders who have been baptized and received First Eucharist, as well as to baptized Catholic adults who have not yet been confirmed. The preparation process includes parent-and-child orientation sessions, a Sunday afternoon class series, a day-long retreat, journaling, conversations with a chosen sponsor, and a chosen service project. The Bishop celebrates the Mass, typically in the spring.
Matrimony is prepared through a parish process and culminates in the liturgical celebration of the wedding. The parish's Marriage Preparation Guide walks engaged couples through the pastoral, liturgical, and canonical expectations of celebrating the sacrament in the Catholic Church.
Anointing of the Sick is offered on the first Thursday of the month at the 9:00 AM Mass, and a priest can be called at any time for emergencies. The sacrament, the parish teaches, "heals us through faith," praying that the sick be healed in body, soul, and spirit - a wound closed, a fear turned to confidence, loneliness embraced by a praying community, confusion in the face of suffering transfigured by insight.
Holy Orders - the sacrament through which a baptized male becomes a bishop, priest, or permanent deacon - is supported through discernment conversations with Fr. Bill and connection to the Archdiocese of Detroit Office of Priestly Vocations.
The OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) runs from September through May or June, meeting Sunday mornings from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. The parish welcomes catechumens (those unbaptized) and candidates (those already baptized, whether Catholic seeking Eucharist and Confirmation or Christians from another tradition seeking full communion) into the four canonical periods: Pre-Catechumenate and Inquiry, Catechumenate, Purification and Enlightenment, and Mystagogy. Drew Peters is the Coordinator of OCIA.
A Tithing Community
Christ the Redeemer describes itself as a tithing community of faith - a community that shares ten percent of its Sunday collection with local, national, and international charities. The Tithing Committee, made up of elected parishioners and supported by Mission Support Coordinator Paula Klozik, meets quarterly to discern where the gift will go.
The parish's teaching on "first fruits" is rooted in the Hebrew Scripture practice of offering God a tenth of the first produce of the harvest and in Jesus' teaching on generosity. The parish encourages regular givers to prayerfully dedicate "the first hour's wage each week (or its equivalent)" through recurring online giving rather than waiting to see what is left after the bills are paid. Online giving is arranged through the parish's secure giving platform, and giving can also be done by text message.
In addition to the Sunday tithe, parishioners can support the parish through the Kroger Community Rewards program and through employer matching gift programs. The parish also participates in the Archdiocese of Detroit's Catholic Services Appeal (CSA).
The Parish in the Community
A long list of outreach programs connects the parish to the wider Lake Orion and Pontiac area, organized by the Evangelical Charity Department under Coordinator Karen Swietlik and supported by Outreach and Engagement Coordinator Cheryl Corrion.
The annual St. Nicholas Project, the parish's signature Advent outreach begun in December 2013, sends hundreds of volunteers into local non-profits and into homes for projects around the first week of December. Habitat for Humanity partnership work has built or renovated homes in Oakland County since December 1996, and Christ the Redeemer hosts the HOPE Warming Center and the HOPE Recuperative Center during one week every January, supplying meals and toiletries to both shelters. Love INC of Northern Oakland County is a long-standing partner that links the parish to a clothes closet in Oxford, a clearinghouse for neighbors in need, and a year-round gift card drop at the Oxford Police Department.
Adopt-a-Family programs run at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter; Lenten Soup Suppers - simple meals of homemade soup and bread - are organized during Lent as a way to walk through the season together; an interfaith Oxford/Orion CROP Walk is hosted at Christ the Redeemer each May; three blood drives are sponsored with Versiti Blood Center every year; and a parish knitting and crocheting circle called Warm Up America produces afghans, prayer shawls, hats, and mittens for those in need.
The Peace and Justice Committee carries forward the Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching - Life and Dignity of the Human Person, Call to Family, Community and Participation, Rights and Responsibilities of People, Option for the Poor and the Vulnerable, Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, Solidarity, and Care for God's Creation - and meets monthly in person or on Zoom. A Stewards of the Earth initiative gathers resources on creation care, ethical consumerism, and local environmental advocacy.
Healing Ministries and Pastoral Care
Within the parish, a network of healing ministries tends to the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health of the community. Pastoral Care Ministers visit, pray with, and bring Communion to adults and children who are homebound, hospitalized, or in hospice. Stephen Ministers - trained lay caregivers who have completed fifty hours of formation and serve under a supervision team - provide confidential, Christ-centered care to people experiencing grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, or other life crises. Christ the Redeemer has maintained a Stephen Ministry program for more than twenty-five years and has trained more than two hundred Stephen Ministers in that time.
Mental health resources are gathered into a printable guide maintained by the parish, built on the conviction that "human dignity and care for the whole person involves mental health, along with prayer and spiritual discernment." The parish builds this ministry around four scripture passages: "Do not be anxious about anything" (Philippians 4:6-7), Jesus healing the sick (Matthew 4:24), "a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7), and "fear not, for I am with you" (Isaiah 41:10).
For families in crisis, the Tender Loving Cookers provide meals; funeral luncheons are prepared and served by parish volunteers; and a Cookie Cherubs crew bakes cookies for parish functions. Anyone in need of comfort, prayer, and presence can reach out to the Evangelical Charity Office.
Music and Liturgical Arts
Music is essential to the prayer of the gathered assembly. Worship Coordinator Mari Reyes leads a Music Ministry that brings together vocalists, instrumentalists, and cantors for weekend Masses, daily Masses, holy days, and special sacramental celebrations. Media Ministers run the digital monitors that carry the assembly responses and slide content throughout the Liturgy.
Lectors proclaim God's Word at every weekend Mass, daily Mass, holy day, and special liturgy. Altar Servers - any adult, youth, or child in sixth grade and up - assist the presider at the altar. Eucharistic Ministers distribute the Body and Blood of Christ to the assembly under the direction of the priest and deacon. Training is required for each of these roles, and Lectors and Eucharistic Ministers are typically expected to have received the Sacrament of Confirmation.
From a Cafeteria to a House on Waldon Road
The community that is now Christ the Redeemer began in April 1977 as a Mass station celebrated by families from St. Joseph parish in the cafeteria of the Lake Orion Junior High West School (now Waldon Middle School). In July 1980 the Archdiocese of Detroit declared Christ the Redeemer a Parish in Formation and appointed Fr. Frank Pollie as its first pastor; Fr. Pollie was followed in July 1983 by Fr. Rick Macey, who served as part-time administrator. That December the parish-in-formation purchased an unoccupied school building on Baldwin Road, and the following February its first worship space was dedicated in the remodeled gymnasium.
On February 4, 1989, the Archdiocese granted Christ the Redeemer permanent parish status, and the expanded worship space was dedicated. Fr. Rick Macey, who became the first pastor, marked the day by recounting a parable - the "Lifesaving Station" tale - in which a band of rescuers gradually drift toward becoming an exclusive club while the shipwrecked are left to drown. The parish's mission, Fr. Rick said, was to keep going out to sea.
In April 1989 the Gingell Family House was donated and moved to the property as a residence for the pastor. Fr. Joe Dailey was appointed full-time pastor in July 1989. In December 1996 the parish, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, built its first House for the Poor. After a groundbreaking at the new Waldon Road site in August 1998, the present church building was dedicated in October 2000, and the parish moved into its new home in November 2000.
Fr. Joe Dailey served as pastor for thirty-one years before assuming Senior Priest status in mid-2020, and Fr. William Promesso became pastor in July 2020.
Newcomers, Registering, and Getting Involved
Christ the Redeemer welcomes visitors warmly, including Catholics who may have drifted away through family or work pressures, the disruptions of the pandemic, a painful experience in the Church, or life changes such as divorce. The parish encourages anyone considering a return to reach out to the parish office; conversations can be set up with Fr. Bill or a member of the staff. Catholics whose marriage was not celebrated in the Catholic Church are invited to learn about convalidation - the formal blessing of an existing marriage within the Church.
Visitors who would like to formally join the parish can fill out a Parish Registration form online. Active parishioners receive the parish's weekly email newsletter and bulletin, invitations to formation events, and the pastoral care of the parish staff.
Volunteers are the backbone of the parish. Open roles are listed each year on Volunteer Commitment Cards in the gathering space and through the parish's online Volunteer Commitment Form. Hospitality ministries include the Coffee and Donut Ministry, funeral luncheon teams, special event hospitality, soup makers, blood drive hospitality, Cookie Cherubs, and launderers of parish table linens and towels. Outreach ministries include monthly Not Your Ordinary Food Drives, the Adopt-a-Family programs, Warm Up America knitting, and seasonal projects of all kinds. Formation ministries include Atrium Catechists and Assistant Catechists, substitute catechists, youth aides, small-group leaders for Confirmation, sponsors for teens, and craftspeople who build and sew Atrium materials.
The Archdiocese of Detroit requires all employees and volunteers who work with minors or vulnerable adults to complete a safe environment program through VIRTUS, which includes signing a Code of Conduct, authorizing a criminal background check, and completing a Protecting God's Children / Vulnerable Adults training module (renewable every three years). Volunteers who would like to serve with children and vulnerable adults can find printable registration instructions on the parish's Safe Environments page.