Being the Presence of Christ

2018 was another faith-filled and busy year for Michaelonians!  With our new Lake House, we were able to welcome and accommodate many events that our faith community hosts through ministry work and community outreach. 

St. Michael is MY parish!

2017 marked our parish's 25th Anniversary!  Our Year at a Glance highlights some of the amazing people of our parish, the many ministries that do such faith-filled and meaningful work, and the various events that celebrated our parish's first 25 years as a church community.

2017 Year at a Glance
 

May 1989

• A committee of pastors and representative of St. Bridget's, St. Mary's, and Our Lady of Lourdes churches recommended to Bishop Sullivan a new parish be established on Gayton Road or Springfield Road in Glen Allen.

October 1991

• Bishop Sullivan approved the new parish to be located on 17 acres of land on Springfield Road.
• Rev. John Leonard was appointed pastor, and a new parish community started to be built.

April 1992

• Fr. Leonard gathered interested parishioners to provide information, recruit charter members, choose a name for the parish, choose a name for the new parish, and survey the new parishioner's interests.

May 30-31, 1992

• Bishop Sullivan approved the name "St. Michael the Archangel"
• Approximately 180 families attended the first liturgies at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church and Short Pump Middle School

October 4, 1992

• Bishop Sullivan installed Fr. Leonard as the first pastor of St. Michael.

June 1993

• Bishop Sullivan approved the recommnedation of the Diocesan Building and Renovation Commission that St. Michael hire an architect and develop a Master Plan.

April 1995

• Groundbreaking of the $1.5 million worship and educational facility.

March 1996

• Dedication of Phase I

1999

• A Buildilng Committee was formed to look into the completion of the "master plan" to build a larger worship space, a daily liturgy chapel, Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Sacristy, additional storage space and to add another education wing and to provide office space in the complex, and a grotto by the lake behind the complex.

October 17, 2002

• Phase II was dedicated by Bishop Walter F. Sullivan
• Ten additional classrooms were added, as well as office space for 5 full-time and 5 part-time employees.
• The final cost was approximately $8 million.

July 2003

• The parish was awarded an "Outstanding Parish Award"
• The parish became a twinning parish for St. Jean Baptisti in Dos Polasis, Haiti.

February 2004

• St. Michael welcomed Msgr. Robert Perkins as its new pastor after the retirement of Fr. John Leonard.
• The parish made great strides in reducing its debts.

July 2005

• Juanita Walker, the "face of St. Michael", retired after 13 years of dedicated service.

June 2006

• Fr. Dan Brady was named the third pastor of St. Michael.  Before coming to St. Michael, he served as pastor to four small cluster parishes in the Appalachian region of Virginia for 20 years.  This awareness led to the creation of a second twinning ministry (the Appalachian Twinning Ministry), this time with Holy Family, which is a parish comprised of the communities Fr. Dan served.
• St. Michael welcomed its 2000th family.

2008 and 2009

• Many in the Richmond area, including St. Michael parishioners, found themselves unemployed, many for the first time, due to the recession.  Recognizingf the need for support and assistance in finding jobs, parishioners Ed Landry and Steve Lindsey, along with others, started the Jobs Assistance Ministry (JAM).  Its goal is to provide job seekers the services they would receive at a career transition or outplacement center.

2010

• Fr. James Arsenault arrived at St. Michael, as St. Michael's first assisting priest.  He also serves as the parish priest for St. Elizabeth Parish in the Highland Park area of Richmond.  Fr. Jim's presence in both parishes has strengthened ties between the two.
• Planning for the Columbarium, which will be built adjacent to the Worship Space, began.

2011

• St. Michael continued to outgrow its existing facility, prompting a new capital campaign. 

       The parishioners responded to the call.

• The Columbarium construction was completed.

2012

• Phase III Part 1 Renovation began.  This project involved renovating the existing space and expanding the classroom/meeting and administrative spaces. 

2014

• The Catholic Diocese of Richmond announced its Living Our Mission capital campaign to create endowments at the diocesan level for key strategic programs.
• St. Michael decided to participate in hopes of being able to begin Phase III Part 2 construction of a separate community building to provide much needed space for the youth, the Knights of Columbus (whose activities and generosity are a vital part of the parish), and a variety of parish activities and events.

2016

• The Living Our Mission campaign commenced.  St. Michael set its goal of raising $4M.  

       The overwhelming response from the parishioners made it clear that the goal would be met 
       and construciton of the new community building would be possible.

• In the fall of 2016, the new building construction began.  

2017

• Completion of the new community building, the Lake House.
• St. Michael celebrated its 25th anniversary on May 21 with an 11 AM Mass at the University of Richmond's Robin Center.
• The parish reached 3,000 registered households, with a staff (full and part time) of more than 20.  St. Michael's growing congregation and expanded facilities exceeded anything the 150 founding families ever could have envisioned.  With its welcoming spirit, commitment to its members, and strong sense of community, St. Michael remains much like the parish that came into being back in 1992.

2018

• St. Michael partnered with the Catholic Community Foundation to begin a Legacy Giving Program, Planting Seeds Today for a Fruitful Tomorrow.  As a community of believers, St. Michael celebrates its past, lives in its present ,and plans for the future.  Our first gift, which opened the endowment fund, was given to the parish by parishioner Angela D'Allesandro.  Her legacy and generous spirit live on with the St. Michael community.

Looking Toward the Future