Parish Dispatch: Fr. Kevin Roelant, St. Thecla Catholic Church, Clinton Township, MI

We are so honored to partner with vibrant parishes across the United States, each one working to bring the Kingdom of God to their neighborhoods. In the Archdiocese of Detroit, Father Kevin Roelant serves at St. Thecla Catholic Church in Clinton Township. Here he answers some questions about his special parish. (Answers have been edited for length).

Q.  Describe your parish demographic.

A. Our parish is a predominantly Caucasian community. A decent amount of this group has Italian and Polish heritage. We have people of all ages in our parish. Our pre-k to 8th grade school of about 270 students keeps us young and active in our parish. 

Q. What makes your community unique?

A. The parishioners here are very kind and welcoming. We are people of prayer — living lives of prayer and dedicating time to prayer every day with litanies, devotions, and other types of prayers. The Mass and the Eucharist are at the heart of our community with Sunday worship as the high point of our week. We also have a weekly holy hour with adoration of the Eucharist. We are people of service and help those in need. The parish has a St. Vincent de Paul Society and a food pantry open two days a week. The parish also hosts a shelter for a week each year and does other acts of service. We offer several opportunities for people to grow in faith including weekly Bible studies, a men’s fellowship group, and regular faith study sessions on different topics. The Knights of Columbus are also very active in our parish. Our grade school is a huge and very important ministry of our parish, helping to form our children to be more like Jesus — growing in wisdom and knowledge. 

Q. Why do most people visit your city?

A. Several reasons people might visit Clinton Township are for C.J. Barrymore’s which is an indoor and outdoor amusement park, Partridge Creek mall, and our nature parks.

Q. What do people say when they visit your parish for the first time?

A. I believe visitors say that our people are kind, welcoming, and dedicated to their faith.

Q. Where (and what) do you recommend for your best local eats?

A. Sajos, J.Baldwins, Luciano ’s, and Green Lantern Pizza. We also have two microbreweries nearby, Kuhnhenn Brewing Company and the Great Baraboo Brewing Company.

Q. What is the last film you saw that you would recommend to your parishioners?

A. A while ago I watched a film on Saint Faustina and Divine Mercy entitled: ‘Faustina: Love and Mercy.’ The devotion to Divine Mercy is a beautiful devotion, truly focusing on Christ’s passion and love and mercy for us. I highly encourage growing in this devotion and watching this film.

Q. What is your most used App?

A. Google Maps and, with decent occasion, I use the iBreviary app. This app has the liturgy of the hours on it. The liturgy of the hours is a public prayer of the Church, a prayer with the scriptures, especially the psalms of the Bible, that I and other priests made promises to pray every day for, and with, the people of God. 

Q. What is your most used emoji?

A. A smiley face 😊

Q. What is an underrated book of the Bible and why?

A. I would say the Gospel of Luke. One of the themes of this Gospel is that we have a God who is rich in mercy and love for us. This love and mercy is manifested in the person of Jesus. God wants us to live in the knowledge of his love and mercy for us.

Q. What is an unexpected blessing of your priesthood?

A. A grace people might not think about is the spiritual fatherhood experienced by the priest. That is a grace I give thanks to God for and have grown in — that spiritual fatherhood for the parish, being that spiritual leader, and sacrificing and laying down your life for your spiritual children.

Q. What’s the coolest thing about your parish?

A. Our kind, welcoming, and dedicated parishioners of all ages and places!

Q. Who in your community inspires you?

A. I am inspired by the dedication and faith of both of our deacons, Tom Houle and Tim Maxwell.

Q. What evangelization risk have you taken in the past year that has born great fruit?

A. Under my leadership, we are using our parish Facebook page to share many things, including aspects of evangelization and faith formation.

Q. What is your most innovative method of communication with your community?

A. It is not that innovative, but our parish Facebook page.

Q. What is the best piece of ministry advice you have received?

A. It has been said in different forms and manners, but — allow Jesus to love you. Allow God to love you. Allow His Holy Spirit to live in you. 

Q. What is important to you in a great parish website?

A. The website should be accurate and up to date, but, more importantly, it should help people encounter Jesus in a small way and allow people to grow in faith.

Q. How do you personally use social media to communicate with your faithful?

A. I don’t use social media much. I often ask one of our parish employees to post certain things on our parish Facebook page that might evangelizing or help people to grow in faith. I communicate with staff and parishioners here with regularity through personal communication, emails, bulletin articles etc. 

Thank you, Father Kevin, for sharing your parish and experience with us!

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Updated on 3-13-2024