Hi all! Recently,Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I started a new blog feature called Hometown Views, where we share different buildings, traditions, memories all from our hometowns. We started this because during our online friendship we have enjoyed comparing the areas we live – rural to suburban outside Detroit.

Where to start? Well, Wyandotte, my town, has 26 active churches, of all denominations. About ten years ago or so, there were more, but this the number we are at now. There used to be a joke that for every church there was a bar in our town, and honestly, I kind of think that was true! There is church or a bar on every corner it seems!

I am not going to talk about all 26 churches of course. That would be silly and I don’t know anything about most of them anyway. So I will start with the church I grew up going to, and was married at. The First United Presbyterian Church. My aunt and uncle were actually the first couple ever to be married there! My mom and dad were married there, my cousin. My grandparent’s funerals. So so many Christmas Eves, time in Sunday School and in the children’s little chapel and all my time in the children’s choir, which at times was only my cousin and me, with me half hidden behind her when we had to sing in front of the congregation. Unfortunately, this church did not survive. It lost members and never got any new ones to keep it going. However, the building is still there, and is a church according to the website, as it is now called Kinergy and I wasn’t sure what that was. I always thought this church was so pretty, and I loved being in there at night on Christmas Eve, with the candles and stained glass. I loved it so much that when we got married there, I had an evening wedding. There are stained glass windows both sides of sanctuary and I just thought they were beautiful.

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There were churches however that almost everybody I knew went to – we had a multitude of Catholic churches at one time, and most of my friends were Catholic. Three or four of these churches had festivals every summer where we could eat pierogis that were handmade all year and frozen for the festival. They were so darn good. Now only one has a festival, Mount Carmel, and it is so packed that it is almost impossible to get a pierogi.

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It stands at the end of a long boulevard, sort of majestic and tremendous in size for our city. There is a statue of the Pope, which I have heard was erected after the Pope’s visit to our area. I can’t find anything to substantiate that claim however. I can say that my best friend went to elementary school here, and also was married here. I stood up in her wedding and I remember her asking me to peek out over the balcony where we were waiting to make sure I could see her future husband down there. And of course I did, she was just a bundle of nerves!

The other “popular” Catholic church is St. Patrick, or St. Pats for short. I think this is another gorgeous building, inside and out.

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If you stand on the middle of the boulevard where St. Pats is, you can see two other churches. One is the church where my brother and sister-in-law were married, The First Congregational Church of Wyandotte. It feels so old world, even on the inside and has a charming fellowship hall. For some reason it reminds me of a tiny castle. It is no longer open either, sadly.

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The last church I am going to post about is also the third church you can see from the boulevard. St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. It is my current church, or would be if I were still going. It’s been about two years but as soon as I can go back I plan on it. This is the church that my son and my niece were christened at, on the same day. I hadn’t been to church for many years and was looking for the right fit – I felt comfortable right from the start here. If The First Congregational reminds me of a castle, this one makes me think of a little hobbit house.

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Look at those little babies! And my straight hair!

For Lisa’s post on the churches in her area, just click here! I am looking forward to seeing what her churches are like!