Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church, Gun Lake, will celebrate its 100th birthday with a special service at 9:30 a.m. and activities following Sunday, July 9, in the new 5,200-square-foot church hall completed only a month ago.
Bishop Paul Bradley of the Kalamazoo Diocese and the church’s current pastor, the Rev. Alphonse Savarimuthu, will celebrate the morning mass.
The church was organized in 1917 and has observed 25th and 50th anniversaries in 1942 and 1967.
“Now, 100 years later, we have grown to be a big community that has served thousands of people and given exemplary witness to the Gospels through both words and kind actions,” Savarimuthu wrote in a recent letter to the congregation.
Joining the service will be three former pastors of Sts. Cyril & Methodius, the Rev. Charles Fisher, who served as priest from 1976 to 1978, the Rev. Donald Wieber, who was a visiting retired priest from 2006 to 2015, and the Rev. Christian Johnston, who served as priest for 10 years from 2006-2016.
Several centennial festivities will be going on following the church service.
The church is located at 159 131st St., one mile north of M-179 (Chief Noonday Road) and half a mile west off Patterson Road.