Our Parish

Mission & History

Three people sitting at a round table in a bright room with arched windows.

Core Purpose

As a parish family, our Core purpose is to bring Jesus to the center of the life of each family. Everything that we do here at St. Mary is to serve this purpose.

Through spending time with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration, having Family Catechesis to support parents in their role as being the primary teachers of the faith for their kids, having a school that teaches the faith in every classroom and not simply in a theology class, and everything done through St. Mary is to bring Jesus to the center of the Life of Every Family.

The three values that help serve our core purpose are

  1. Take it to Christ

  2. Encourage in Faith

  3. Speak the Truth

A nun wearing a habit is speaking to a group of teenagers seated around a table in a well-lit room. The students have books and notepads on the table.

Parish History

St. Mary Parish in Pinckney traces its roots to the 1850s, when Rev. Patrick O’Kelly celebrated monthly Mass in local homes. As the Catholic community grew, a modest brick church was completed in 1867, serving as a mission parish until the arrival of its first resident pastor, Rev. Michael Comerford, in 1895. Over the decades, the parish expanded its ministries and facilities, including the establishment of a Catholic school under Rev. Albert Schmitt in the 1950s and the construction of a larger church in 1965 following a devastating tornado.

Responding to continued growth in Livingston County, the parish embarked on an ambitious plan in 2000 to build an entirely new campus. The first phase, completed in 2003, included an Educational Center and a new worship space seating over 950, which incorporated cherished statues, icons, and relics from previous church buildings, preserving the parish's deep historical legacy while preparing for its future.