THEN . . .

Founded by a small group of Luxembourg immigrant families, St. Michael Church of Orland Park has grown into one of the fastest expanding parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago. With the rapid growth of the southwest suburbs, and the opening of a major regional shopping center in Orland Park, the parish is experiencing an influx of people of diverse educational, financial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, all blending into the established parish of long time residents.

The first Mass of the parish was celebrated on the Feast of St. Michael, September 29, 1867, in a structure of sorts at 159th and Will Cook Road on land donated by Matthias Wagner. This site became the St. Michael Cemetery. Shortly thereafter a white frame church and a two-room, two story school was built on a large tract of farmland donated by John Jungles at 151st and Will Cook Road in the Village of Goodings Grove, Homer Township.

Because of the distance from Chicago, Mass was celebrated once a month by a priest who came to the parish by horseback. Later his mode of transportation changed to train and a continuation by horseback. With no resident pastor, the parish was variously cared for by the Benedictine Fathers of Chicago, the priests of St. Joseph's in Lockport, the Benedictine Fathers from Blue Island, and the Jesuits of Ignatius College, Roosevelt Road in Chicago. Staying in turn with various families for the weekend, the priest would perform marriages, baptisms, and gravesides services. On his monthly visits he would also hear confessions and catechism lessons. Arriving at the monthly Mass in their horses and buggies, the German-speaking congregation developed a strong community feeling as they used the occasion for a social as well as a religious function.

With the building of the railroad through; Goodings Grove dried up as a town and Orland Park began to emerge as the "big town," and the Catholic parish moved to Orland Park. On August 10, 1924, the first Mass was celebrated in the new white frame church at 143rd and Highland Avenue which had been pasture land on the west side of town. On July 5, 1926, the first resident pastor, Rev. William A . Gory, was appointed by His Eminence George Cardinal Mundelein.

In 1929, St. Michael's took on the religious needs of a mission church, Sacred Heart of St. James Church of the Sag in Palos Hills.

With the exception of building a rectory, physical expansion was delayed at St. Michael's by the Great Depression and by World War II. After the war, with Rev. Michael Kilbride as pastor, the parish constructed the long awaited grade school. St. Michael School opened in September, 1949, under the auspices of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine, Kentucky. The earlier two-room school had been discontinued at various times because of unfavorable conditions and had not made the move to Orland Park.

In rapid succession, additional classrooms were added to the school, a stop-gap addition was built to the white frame church, additional convent space and an auditorium-gymnasium were built, and an addition enlarged the rectory space.

In 1961 and 1962, a new wing was added to the school bringing its classrooms to 24 with 12 religious and 13 lay teachers, thus eliminating the need for a double shift.

Although in 1959, the northeast portion of the parish had been detached to form St. Alexander's in Palos Heights, and the north portion of Sacred Heart to form St. Patricia's in Hickory Hills, St. Michael's Parish continued to grow. In 1967, Sacred Heart received recognition as a parish separate from St. Michael's. In 1973, a portion of the southeast corner of the parish was disconnected to become part of the newly formed St. Julie Billiart Parish in Tinley Park.

In October, 1984, an integral and historic part of the original St. Michael's Parish, Palos Park, was designated a separate parish community and formed Our Lady of the Woods Parish. Approximately 400 families left St. Michael's to become the founding families of this new parish.

Construction of a new church began in 1966. On June 15, 1969, Pastor, Rev. Francis Coyle laid the cornerstone. His Eminence John Cardinal Cody was present. St. Michael Church was dedicated on September 19, 1969, the Feast of St. Michael.

NOW . . .

In 1976, Msgr. John R. Gorman, Pastor, and the Parish Staff invited a group of parishioners to form a Planning Committee to study how best to meet the increasing needs of the burgeoning parish. As a result of this study, groundbreaking for a Parish Activity Center took place on January 15, 1980. The Center was dedicated on April 16, 1981, by His Eminence, John Cardinal Cody. The building houses Religious Education offices, Parish Ministries office, Adult Resource Center, a large Commons, seating 300 people which is capable of being partitioned into three separate rooms, a Lower Commons meeting room and storage place, a kitchen which leads to the gymnasium, a youth ministry office and a Learning Media Center for the school. At the time of construction of the building, the ventilation and the sound systems of the gymnasium were improved, the flooring was refinished, and washrooms and changing rooms were added.

As St. Michael continued to grow, and in line with the teachings of Vatican II. In 1979, Msgr. John Gorman and the Parish Staff invited a representative group of parishioners to form a Steering Committee. This committee was to prayerfully study the needs of the parish and its development of lay ministry, and to arrive at a model of structure for St. Michael's. In June, 1980, the committee formulated the plan for the present Parish Ministry Commission (PMC) and the Parish Mission Statement.

The Mission Statement of St. Michael's calls the members of it's Faith Community to witness the Gospel message sharing each person's unique gifts with one another. The parish structure emphasizes this shared ministry as it is graphically depicted with concentric circles representing the variety of gifts serving the people the parish.