Haitham Fakhouri

Miracles Happen When We Work Together!

I am so delighted to share with you the good news. The Lord has made us a community to work together in order to support the Holy Church and meet the needs of the future, today.

Last weekend’s Festival, as we celebrated the Feast of our Church, the Holy Dormition, was filled with fellowship, as we reunited, once again, as a community after a year and a half of the coronavirus disrupting our lives. The community came with great resolve to support what has been established for the past many years under the leadership of Freddy Sackllah and his committee.

A festival is a festival of joy, fellowship, and prayer, and this year’s committee, headed by Wafi AlBarshini, Bandali Hosari, and George Razook built on that great legacy and the result was wonderful, wonderful in attendance, wonderful in serving food, and wonderful in the financial benefit that comes to us.

So, a heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers for your hard work and devotion to your church. Without your dedication and support, this would not have been possible. We also wish to thank the sponsors for their generosity who made our undertaking possible. A special thanks to all those who came and enjoyed the fellowship and supported the work.

Your labor paid out, not only financially, but for building a community that is meeting the future, today and this is God’s greatest gift to all of us.

Your Servant,
Fr. George

Dear Church School Families,

On May 14, His Eminence, Metropolitan Joseph, sent a directive that all church ministry programs should be reinstated, including church school programs. In light of this directive and considering the easing of pandemic restrictions throughout Michigan, as recommended by the CDC, the Basilica of St. Mary is reopening our in-person church school program in September of 2021!

We are excited at this development and ask that you recognize that the program may not be exactly the same as it was before, though it will still provide the same loving connection to Christ and His church and provide the same level of dedication that you have come to expect of your ministries at St. Mary.

What We Are Planning:

At this point, we are planning to fully reinstate all grade level education, beginning with Kindergarten-High School. There will be no pre-K classes this year. Additionally, the classroom set-up and class length will depend upon the number of students registered. To that end, we are asking that if you plan to send your child to church school this fall, please register immediately, using the link indicated below. We will use these numbers to allocate teaching staff and classroom space accordingly. This means that we must require that all students who attend church school must be pre-registered no later than August 29. Students who are not registered will not be permitted in the church school classrooms. If we are to follow the successful models of several school districts, we must insist on this protocol which helps to ensure the safety of the students and teachers.

Once we have a better idea of exactly how many students to expect, you will receive further communication regarding the logistics of the church school day, including what time children will be dismissed to class, what time class will conclude, and plans for holidays and feast days, as well as the church school calendar.

Safety Expectations:

Before coming to class, we ask that all students wash their hands. Hand sanitizing stations will be available in the Activity Center hallway as well. The church was gifted a ventilation system used by the Montessori, that also filters the air in the classrooms. Food and snacks will not be served during the class period. However, snacks may be passed out at the conclusion of class to be enjoyed with parents during coffee hour. Anyone who is not feeling well or who has been exposed to COVID-19 should stay home.

Barring any changes in the emerging state and national pandemic response, we do not anticipate that students will be required to wear masks as we go into the 2021-22 school year.  This is based on the CURRENT pandemic response trajectory that is pointing toward relaxation of the masking rules.

Your cooperation is paramount in making this a successful transition. We thank you in advance for your time and effort. Keep on the lookout in your emails and on our Facebook page for more announcements as they come. Thank you!

Click Here to Register