Dominican Sisters of Mary finish motherhouse in Ann Arbor

The Catholic Church in Michigan is known more for contracting these days than expanding. That’s not the case of the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist’s convent in Ann Arbor.”Yes, we’re growing very fast,” says Sister Maria Guadalupe Halle, director of mission advancement for the convent. “It’s quite unusual.”The order just finished the $10 million final phase of the expansion of its mother house on the city’s northeast side by Dominos Farms. The $25 million project turned the 25 acres into a nunnery that is quickly becoming the envy of North America. The 115,000-square-foot mother house has a lecture hall with seating for 115, a gymnasium, chaplain’s residence, and now, space to house 100 sisters.That’s key because the convent, founded in 1997 by four sisters, has now hit 99 sisters thanks to its latest recruiting class of 17. The original vision called for housing 100 sisters at the convent.”We hit 100 much more quickly than we ever imagined,” Halle says.The nuns are still fundraising for their $25 million capital campaign, with $9 million left to go. The sisters, who are all teachers, are still working to include a cemetery in the convent. They don’t plan to expand the campus otherwise.Source: Sister Maria Guadalupe Halle, director of mission advancement for the conventWriter: Jon Zemke