The history of St. Mary Parish in New Baltimore begins back in December, 1875, with the appointment of Fr. Aloysius Lambert as the first resident pastor. Detroit's second bishop, Bishop Caspar H. Borgess, made the appointment for the New Year of Grace, so we begin counting from the year 1876. Prior to this, the Catholic community in New Baltimore was ministered by priests from Anchorville who celebrated Mass in private homes from 1853 until 1875. Our Catholic roots can be traced back as far as 1805 with settlers named Meldrum and Duprai (Dupre, Duprey), familiar names in today's church register. Even before 1853, Catholic communities along Anchor Bay practiced their faith with the assistance of "horseback priests," who came from Jesuit missions in Canada as well as the revered Capuchin Fathers from Detroit.

In May of 2001, St. Mary’s officially celebrated our 125th anniversary as a parish community dedicated to faith, worship and stewardship. Cardinal Adam Maida celebrated a glorious jubilee Mass, attended by hundreds of past and present parishioners and former students of the parish school. Dozens of priests, religious sisters and former staff joined in the festivities. It truly was a memorable weekend at St. Mary’s!

St. Mary’s joined our "mother parish"-Immaculate Conception in Anchorville-in a pulpit exchange and in the promise to share programs and events in the future. “Living Room Dialogues” and a parish mission nourished the spirit. Our parish music ministry recorded two C.D.’s featuring our extremely gifted voices and musicians.

Also as part of our Jubilee celebration, our parish choir and music ministry sponsored a concert series and a pilgrimage to Rome, along with the choir of St. Germaine Parish in St. Clair Shores. The combined choir was proclaimed one of the finest American choirs ever to sing in St. Peter’s Basilica by the Director of the Vatican Schola Choir. It was our honor and thrill to sing before our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, at his Wednesday audience on Ash Wednesday, 2001.

2002 saw the retirement of two long-term parish ministers. Mary Jane Schmid retired as Director of Music Ministries, and Sharon Hagemann retired as Religious Education Secretary. While no one could duplicate Mary Jane’s 43 years or Sharon’s 25 years, we are grateful that Dave Warren has accepted the new role of “Director of Liturgy and Music,” and that Anna Bissett has come forward as our new Religious Education/Faith Formation Secretary.

The people who attend daily services at St. Mary’s offer the recitation of the rosary and a special prayer for vocations every time they gather for prayer. Our Charismatic prayer group helps to “make holy” the space which we claim as our spiritual home. The local council of the Knights of Columbus have proven time and time again their dedication to their parish, their financial support of the mentally disabled, and their loyalty to their Chaplain, Fr. Nick Zukowski.

We are looking at an ambitious parish Master Plan of building and expansion; in the interim we are using our existing buildings as efficiently as possible. We are discerning the will of the Holy Spirit along with all the other parishes in the Belle River Vicariate as we share in long-range planning and the sharing of resources and personnel to meet present and future needs of the Catholic Church in Macomb and St. Clair Counties.

Since 1876, we can be proud of our Catholic presence, ministry and service in this community and of our parish mission statement "to be Christ for each other."