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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  'Now we are waiting for the GM pain'

by Marylynn G. Hewitt, SFO of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 5, 2009

Detroit - General Motors Corp.'s bankruptcy filing on Monday is one more dramatic and harsh reality to folks in this area still reeling from plant closings, downsizing, job losses and neighborhood foreclosures. With the headquarters for the "Big 3" - General Motors Corp., Chrysler Corp. and Ford Motor Company - all within the Archdiocese of Detroit, the impact of the auto crisis has been personal on a number of levels.

"Just what GM represents, not just to us, but to the country," says Fr. Thomas Slowinski, pastor at St. Andrew Parish, Rochester. "This giant has fallen and when it gets up it will be a lot smaller."

Parish priests across the archdiocese will be sharing a variety of messages with their parishioners this weekend as they gather for the celebration of the feast of the Holy Trinity.

"This is a tough situation. I think both the Gospel and the feast of the Holy Trinity speak well to the situation," says Fr. Slowinski. "You look at the Gospel story the Church gives us and it is the conclusion of Matthew's Gospel. It doesn't end on a great moment like the graduations we go to at this time of year with the pomp and circumstance. The disciples worshiped, but they doubted."

This weekend's feast, he says, is unlike other feasts in that it doesn't celebrate an event, but a relationship that "calls us into relationships," says Fr. Slowinski, the pastor of the almost 4,700-family parish just miles from the Chrysler headquarters and a number of auto plants.

"Jesus didn't send perfect disciples into the world and it's only appropriate because our faith doesn't obliterate our doubt. It creates the possibility to reverently hold the tension in coexistence. If Jesus had to wait until the disciples were perfect, He never would have ascended," he says, adding, "The role of faith is not to obliterate doubt. We don't reject the world, we transform it. And we do that by being transformed and we do that in the context of our relationships."

"Everyone is affected"
In northern Oakland County, Fr. Christopher Maus, pastor of St. Daniel Parish, Clarkston, says "we've been struggling with this for a year, even through the bankruptcy just happened. We've been dealing with foreclosures, trying to balance budgets, trying to balance the church budget and people trying to balance their own budgets.

"Everyone is affected," says Fr. Maus. "I talked to a dentist who said with no dental insurance people are postponing their dental visits. The local small businesses are down. I talked to a doctor who said instead of people coming in they are calling for advice on the phone when they would ordinarily come in but they can't afford the office call."

Many of the members of the 1,600 to 1,700 families in the parish "are more managerial and with the downsizing, they have lost positions. A lot of them worked downtown at GM headquarters. A lot of my people are Chrysler people. I think the Chrysler pain, we've gone through, and now we are waiting for the GM pain.

"I have more people coming in for counseling than normal. Different issues with economics and financial issues are a strain on family life," says Fr. Maus.

St. Daniel Parish, he says, is a "tithing parish. We usually tithe 6 percent of our income to charity and we have a committee that decides 1/3 of that to international, 1/3 of that to national and 1/3 local. We've had to change the way we look at things and the way we budget for the people with more being used now locally for helping people pay their electric bill and things. This is more of what we've been experiencing. It's more dramatic and when factories close up it will bring more pain. We've had our share."

Helping hands
The outreach ministry at St. Mark Parish in Warren, with the GM Tech Center and plants nearby, has expanded, not screening applicants and instead offering food and some clothing to anyone who comes to the parish seeking assistance. (The pantry is open every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon at the parish, just off Ryan Road between 9 and 10 Mile.)

It's also helped that the 1,200-family parish received some stimulus package money for the food pantry, so supplies are currently up, says Fr. Robert Ruedisueli, pastor of St. Mark. Plus, "the people have just continued to be so generous," he said of those making their own donations.

This weekend at St. Mark, the focus will be on celebrations as it's the weekend for confirmation as well as Fr. Ruedisueli's 40th anniversary to the priesthood.

Members of St. Mark have also been networking for job leads as best they can, although Fr. Ruedisueli said he knows of at least one parishioner ready to leave the state if he finds employment. Staff members are also looking into bringing someone in to lead a support group for those having a difficult time.

St. Daniel in Clarkston started such an effort six months ago by beginning a jobs ministry. They now offer a Web site (www.stdanielclarkston.org) that helps people network online to find job opportunities and be provided with spiritual direction while they try to transition.

A job networking program has been in place since 2007 at St. Andrew. The expansive ministry continues to explode and Fr. Slowinski says they are now in the process of developing a program to help other parishes offer it as well.

In the midst of these tough times, Fr. Maus says he's been impressed by the "resilience of the people. They try to bounce back and see the greater need and pitch in when they see a need. It's their faith and perseverance." Some who have been unemployed or underemployed have offered their skills at the parish as well, he says.

For a number of reasons, Fr. Maus said he doesn't think he'll address the GM bankruptcy from the pulpit this weekend. "But I'll be talking about trusting in God and how we do it. It's hard to maintain hope when there is no sign that you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know nationally people have been saying we'll come out of this at the end of the year but it's hard to see how we will come out of it without a new industry to provide jobs." He adds, "I know what the governor is saying about alternative energy, but it's a trickle of jobs to replace thousands."

Fr. Slowinski says the auto crisis "forces a lot of people to reorder their lives. I feel sorry for the retirees. If you are still working, you can compensate. If you are retired, especially for a while, what are you supposed to do? And yet I can understand the situation."

- Michigan Catholic writer Kristin Lukowski contributed to this story.