Mother of Good Counsel
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-Since 1925-
Services were first held in the
house chapel of the Salvatorian Monastery which was adjacent to Holy
Cross Cemetery. On December 8th, 1925, the Parish was founded. Fr.
Willibald Unger, S.D.S. was the first pastor and he served the parish
for 15 years. Fr. Willibald was encouraged to immediately begin a
school. He asked the Salvatorian Sisters to staff the school and Sr.
Hedwig was very happy to accept. The first years of teaching at Mother
of Good Counsel were unbelievably difficult as the area was sparsely
settled with only 200 families on the parish rolls.
The Sisters received no salary from 1925 to 1929 but were supported by
the province. Neither did Fr. Willibald receive a salary. What little
money came in on Sundays helped to pay heat, light and the barest
necessities. The first building was a bungalow built in 1926 that served
as both church and school. Several members remember how the students
would open a trap door to the basement and put all the chairs and desks
away for weekend. They would also haul all of the pews up and set up the
bungalow for Sunday mass. Then they would reverse the process every
Monday.
A new combination building was built in 1928 consisting of a lower-level
Church and 8 classrooms on the 1st and 2nd floors. The sisters lived on
the second floor for the first few years. The bungalow became a social
hall. Pictures of these buildings are included elsewhere in this book.
A new pastor, Fr. Paul Schuster, S.D.S. arrived on February 23rd, 1940.
Under his leadership a new wing with four classrooms and a dining room
and a gym was built in 1942. During the next years the parish continued
to grow and another building was built in 1948. This added a larger
lower-level church, a spacious kindergarten and 10 more classrooms. The
older lower-level church was changed into a dining room for the school.
Also a Boy-Scout House was built and officially dedicated on February
13, 1949.
In the fall of 1949, Fr. Paul introduced the 9th grade and 2 years later
a Jr. High School was opened at 68th and Burleigh St. It served the
needs of the parish for approximately 10 years. Past and present parents
and children owe a profound debt of gratitude to the devoted service,
self-sacrifice and patience of the Salvatorian Sisters who carried on
the educational work of Mother of Good Counsel School. As many as 30
Sisters staffed the school at the time of its peak enrollment. Through
their dedication and service, the 6 "R's", Reading,'Riting, 'Rithmatic,
Religion, Respect and Responsibility that they established, continue to
this day.
On August 15th, 1952, St. Pius Parish was established. It was the first
of the parishes founded from our main parish. In August of 1953, Fr.
Joseph Derks, S.D.S. was appointed Pastor of Mother of Good Counsel
Parish. Because of the rapid growth of the parish, 2 new parishes were
organized in 1955. They were Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Margaret Mary.
Their children still came to our school for a number of years until
their own schools could be built, pushing the enrollment to 2,100
children at times. During this time MGC School was the largest Catholic
school not only in Wisconsin but also the United States!
In 1958 a new rectory was built and blessed on the feast of St. Joseph
in 1959. When Fr. Joseph Derks became Pastor, he organized the Patron
Club, which was truly the answer to the parish's financial problems.
Through this club a new church was planned and a special groundbreaking
ceremony took place on October 9th, 1966 with the cornerstone being laid
on October 29th, 1967 by Bishop Roman Atkielski. Archbishop William E.
Cousins dedicated the new and present church on December 8th, 1968.
In 1975, during our Golden Jubilee year, the final building phase of the
Church was completed. A wing off the main corridor was added consisting
of a Bridal Room, Rest Rooms, and the long awaited focal point of the
church exterior - the Bell Tower. The Dream finally came true!
In truth, a person could say that the formation and structural phase of
the parish was now completed, however, the task of improving and
maintaining continues. Fr. Joseph Derks served on for 17 more years and
in 1985 Fr. Fred Roesing assumed the pastoral duties. Fr. Fred
implemented the directives of the Vatican II Council; the first Parish
Council was formed; weekly Lenten Ecumenical devotions with neighboring
denominational churches was established; the formation of a hand bell
choir and the recruitment of additional singers which greatly
strengthened our existing choir; the Human Concerns Committee was
established and Rev. Dean Collins became the first parish Deacon.
After serving as an Associate, Fr. Raphael Berringer assumed the
pastoral duties in 1991 and encouraged the Parish Social Ministry
Program of the Council. In October of 1992 Fr. Dan Pekarski S.D.S.
became the pastor and a new phase of parish campus improvements were
begun including outdoor landscaping and lighting, automatic door
openers; school updates such as a computer lab and a new automated
circulation system for the library. To fund major improvements including
renovations of the Fr. Joseph Derks Gym and Alumni Hall, the MGC
TOGETHER 2000 CAMPAIGN was formed in 1995. It replaced the former Patron
Club which had continued to that time. Together 2000 raised over
$1,000,000 for needed repairs at the school.
Fr. Dan Pekarski stayed on until the beginning of 1998 when Fr. Michael
Shay S.D.S. became the new pastor. The second parish deacon, Rev. Andrew
Meuler was installed at this time also. Fr. Shay reintroduced the Seder
Meal Ritual during Lent and implemented the administrative model of the
parish. In 1999 Fr. Shay was called to become the Provincial of the
Salvatorian Order and thus Fr. Carey Lahrs, S.D.S. became the new and
present pastor of Mother of Good Counsel.
As with every big endeavor, the parish has been nurtured and sustained
over the years by many societies and organizations. The officers and
members of these groups have shown their love for the parish in
countless ways. While there is not space here to recount the history of
these organizations, over 40 still serve the parish and school
community.
6924 WEST LISBON AVE., MILWAUKEE, WI 53210 414-442-7600 mgcparish@mgcparish.org