By David Fleet

Editor

St. Anne Catholic Church was full.

Really full.

“For two or three years during the summer months I said Mass outside under the pine trees,” said the Rev. John J. Sullivan. “There were so many summer visitors there was really no option but to build a new church—the need was there. St. Anne was the first church I built from scratch—we were running out of space.”

Sullivan, who served as pastor at St. Anne from 1983-92 spearheaded a building project that grew the churc

h from a capacity of about 250 to more than 800, will be recognized for 50 years as a priest at 10:30 a.m., Aug. 14, at St. Anne Catholic Church, 825 S. Ortonville Road, Ortonville. A Mass will be celebrated, followed by a reception with light refreshments.

Sullivan, now 76, was born in Detroit and attended St. Cecilia School, Sacred Heart Seminary High School, and Sacred Heart College, all located in Detroit. He also attended St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth Township. Sullivan was ordained June 4, 1966, in Detroit and celebrated his first Mass at St. Mel parish in Dearborn Heights. Sullivan served as associate pastor at St. Eugene parish, Detroit, 1966-69; St. Pius X parish, Southgate 1969-70 and St. Lucy parish, St. Clair Shores 1970-72. He served as pastor of St. Lucy from 1972-75 and later as pastor St. Mary parish, Wayne 1975-83 before serving at St. Anne parish.

Known to parishioners as “Father John,” over the next several months Sullivan will be reflecting on his 50 years of priesthood by visiting each of his previous assignments and celebrating Mass.

Often holding up a fork at the start of Mass—local parishioners recalled Sullivan’s mantra, “Have fork will travel.” The subtle message sought dinner invitations to church members’ homes as a means to get acquainted. The personal relationships with the St. Anne parishioners unified the church as the congregation grew.

“St. Anne was actually just there for a Mass station,” he said. “There was no intention to make St. Anne a parish. So I

had no idea I was going to get into a church building when I came to Ortonville. “But we had so many visitors coming in the summer they were outside looking in the windows to join us for Mass. There was no air conditioning, either—we had to open the windows and birds would often fly right inside. The crowd was so great we moved Mass outside under the pine trees and it only rained on us one time. Of course, that was the Sunday when the Michigan Catholic newspaper came to do a story. I was passing out communion to people in cars in pouring rain—it was a crazy day.”

The need for a new church was there and about 1988 Sullivan put together a committee to visit churches around Michigan, interview architects and fundraise.

“We did our homework,” he said. “The building is not pretentious, rather it fits right into the neighborhood of Ortonville. There are many horse barns in the area so that’s what the church resembles—it’s made of wood like horse structures. We tried to stay local when possible—the stained glass windows were constructed in Oxford. The building earned an architectural design award when it was finally completed.”

“There would be tours of the new construction after Mass on Sunday,” he said. “On Dec.8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the big steel beams for the church came in on semi trucks as people were leaving Mass. I recall cheers from parishioners as they stood outside and watched the trucks arrive.”

The church took about two years to complete and was dedicated in October 1991.

“Right after the church was finished they sent me on sabbatical to Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.) for about five months,” he said. “When I came back they moved me to Plymouth—I knew it was coming and I really did not want to go, but we can’t be stingy.”

Sullivan moved on to Our Lady of Good Counsel, Plymouth 1992-2007 and St. Owen parish, Bloomfield Hills 2007-09. He served as vicar of the Western Wayne Vicariate, 1981-83 and the Lakes Vicariate, 1984-90, deacon supervisor and a member of the archdiocesan pastoral assembly and archdiocesan pastoral council. He was a member of the budget review committee from 1988-90 and priests’ assignment board from 2002-04. Sullivan also served as chaplain to Camp Stapleton in Lexington and Camp Ozanam in Carsonville. He was granted senior priest status in 2009 and retired in 2012.