Into the Unknown
By Jack and Lois Latzy
Heading into the unknown: we found ourselves in the area that was mapped out to be the new parish of St. Maximilian Kolbe. All Catholics living in that area were going to be considered St. Max parishioners for the next two years, after which time they could register at another parish if they wished. We embraced the adventure but not without a little trepidation.
Freedom Elementary’s cafeteria, the walls decorated with “Vegetable People”, became our worship space on Sunday mornings. With dedicated parishioners converting the space each week, we became a fledgling parish with a welcoming environment. This arrangement continued from 1989 to 1992 till we moved into our newly constructed activity center built on Hamilton Mason Road, now Father John E. Porter Family Life Complex.
Before 1992, St.Max’s religion classes were held at St. John’s; The Christmas food basket program, and the Festival were held and shared with St. John’s parish. With the completion of the complex these activities were now solely ours and we now had a worship space,so to speak. We converted the gym each Saturday into our “church” by opening the sliding panels and pulling out the altar platform. Jack served as a sacristan; Lois served on the Art & Environment team.
One Weekend, we had our two young 7 & 5 year old grandsons with us for Saturday evening Mass. Trying to engage their attention, we told them we wanted them to look around and tell us all the things that were different from their parish church, St. Susanna. The 7-year-old quickly responded, “We don’t have basketball hoops in our church!” That pretty much summed up the total difference for them. We had a cool church!
Our parish family grew and grew. Our fear of the unknown grew into a deep love for the parish and our Catholic family of St. Max. We look around and see: all the endless hours of planning; numerous committees making a tremendous volume of decisions; fund raising; growth of community beyond all imagining. 35 years have flown by and our parish continues to flourish.
St. Max IS our family and we would not want to be anywhere else.