The Michigan Area’s annual meeting, held on Sunday, June 25th for the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, was marked by an important announcement: Andy Smith, KM, will succeed Area Co-Chairs Robert and Barbara Wilson.

The Wilsons, who are nearing the end of their six-year term, said at the meeting that they prayed “many 54-day Rosary novenas” for the right candidate and were elated that Smith agreed to serve as Area Chair. The Wilsons and Smith will make the transition over the course of the next six months.

The announcement was made at brunch at the Bloomfield Hills Country Club, following Mass in the chapel of the Academy of the Sacred Heart, also in Bloomfield Hills. Mass was celebrated by the Rev. Stephen Burr, rector and president of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. Fifty-five members, candidates, and guests attended.

Smith said his goals include expanding the Michigan Area’s geographic footprint outside its current Southeast Michigan focus and growing the area’s membership, particularly to add more younger members. He also plans to offer more channels for communication and to add more opportunities for members to worship together.

Smith is vice president and general counsel for EJ, a global designer, manufacturer, and provider of infrastructure. A graduate of Columbia University, where he earned both a law degree and a master’s degree in international affairs, Smith graduated with honors from the University of Michigan (B.A., History, 1997), where he was a James B. Angell Scholar. He also holds an M.B.A. in International Management from European University. Smith serves on the boards of the Malta Dental and Medical Clinic in Detroit and the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy. He and his wife Andrea Smith, DM, have seven children.

Other highlights of the annual meeting:

• The St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen has re-opened in the Center for the Works of Mercy in Detroit, which also houses the Malta Dental and Medical Clinic. Kathleen Mastrangelo, DM, reported that members of the Order have served over 1,000 hot, nutritious meals made from scratch to those in need since the January re-opening. Members of the Order also prepare packets of sandwiches for soup kitchen guests to take with them, and visit with guests over lunch. Michigan Area members work in the soup kitchen on the second and fourth Fridays of each month, plus the fifth Friday if there is one.
• The Malta Dental and Medical Clinic now has a Malta Mobile Ministries van, specially designed with the Order of Malta shield, to transport patients to the Clinic. As part of the Michigan Area’s August 14 “Lourdes Experience,” the van will be blessed by Archbishop Allen Vigneron, ChC. American Association President Dr. Peter J. Kelly, GCM, and Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Trexler, ChDD, will attend.
• The “Into the Fire” ministry, led by Patrick Jones, KM, and John Juriga, KM, continues to provide lunches to people living on the streets of Detroit.
• Michigan Area members will coordinate Detroit-area parishes’ donations of food to the free pantry at Detroit’s Center for the Works of Mercy, which shares a building with the Malta Clinic.
• After an enforced hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, the Michigan Area is resuming its prison ministry, led by Auxiliary Hon. Stephen Murphy. Michigan Area members have been trained and passed rigorous security requirements to serve as weekly volunteers at Masses in the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan. The group is awaiting final approval and scheduling from the prison chaplain’s staff.
• The Wayne County Jail Outreach Ministry seeks volunteers; its board of directors is chaired by Hon. Maura D. Corrigan, a candidate for the Order. John Trupiano, KM, is the deputy executive director. WCJOM is an interfaith 501(c)3 nonprofit, supporting religious services for inmates during their stay at the Wayne County Jail, regardless of denomination, and helping them set out in a new and positive direction upon release.

The annual meeting closed with the awarding of service pins to Theresa Seraceno, DM (five years); Jim Nowka, KM, and Cathy Nowka, DM (five years); Patrick Fabian, KM (10 years); Thomas Larabell, KM (20 years), and Liz Mahoney, DM (20 years).