The parish, located on Haggerty Road between Five Mile and Schoolcraft was established on June 21, 1967 by Archbishop John Dearden. The property was owned by the Archdiocese for six years. St. Kenneth of Canice, an abbot from Ireland and Scotland (about the year 599 AD) was chosen as patron. His feast is celebrated on October llth.

Over the years the parish has had five pastors. Fr. James Machak served from 1967-1975; Fr. John Anthony Lombardini from 1975-1978; Fr. William Pettit from 1978-1997; and Fr. Joseph Mallia from 1997-2003. Fr. Thomas A. Belczak arrived in February of 2004.

Fr. Machak	Fr. Lombardini	Fr. Pettit

Fr. Mallia	Fr. Belczak

Fr. Hilary Muscat O.P. became the first assistant from 1970-1978. Fr. Paul Berg joined the parish in 1985 for weekend support and is still going strong. Deacon Gene Krezminski served the parish from 1981-2000.

Fr. Muscat	Fr. Berg	Deacon Krezminski

Father Machak was assigned as the first pastor, and on June 25, 1967, the first mass was celebrated at Tanger Elementary School, which served as the gathering space until the original church and rectory were built. The building was dedicated by Archbishop Dearden on February 23, 1968.

Many of the present parish programs were established that first year. Participation in parish life resulted in improvements of the grounds and enrichment of the community. The parishioners were involved in much of the landscaping through the donation of shrubs, trees, and labor. Together, they cleaned up debris and helped beautify the grounds of St. Kenneth. The Marian shrine in the atrium was a gift honoring the deceased members of the Gessner family.

In 1969 a steering committee was set up for the purpose of forming a parish council committee for worship, service, education, and also to outline the responsibilities of the council. A representative for the Vicariate was also named. The following year, in preparation for an election, a slate of council nominees were drawn up and an election was held.

As the church grew, so did the activity. The Women's Guild began the practice of serving a luncheon after funerals for the families of the deceased. A sign for the St. Kenneth Church was erected and many parishioners gathered together to give the rectory and church a new coat of paint. The first Family Fun Festival was held in September 1974.

The Liturgy Committee, the Seniors, the Seder meal, the Nursery, and the Millionaires party all had their beginnings in 1975. Girls in the parish were given new roles as ministers of the altar in 1976.The Arch Cross (no longer in existence) and the Statue of St. Kenneth were made possible through the generosity of individual donors. There are two plaques in the former church entrance listing these people.

To help enhance the worship and community life, air conditioning was installed in the church and hall in the summer of 1979. In 1980, the building was redecorated with fresh paint and new drapes, and new carpeting was installed in the sanctuary.

Another improvement has been the Mary K. Lynch Conference Center (now known as the St. Lawrence Room), where many meetings take place. Our parking lot was enlarged and resurfaced to serve the needs of this growing parish. In 1985, at the Parish Picnic, the mortgage was burned and finally the parish was out of debt. A sun porch was added to the rectory in 1985.

With the debt paid off, thoughts for a new church began to surface. Long-term planning and prognosis indicated sufficient growth in the area to begin to fund a new building. Five years of saving plus the Building Fund Drive netted us over a million dollars and enabled the parish to begin our new church building on the renovation of the former church in 1989. The church was dedicated on April 28th, 1990 with Cardinal Szoka officiating for his last time as Archbishop of Detroit before leaving for duties in Rome.

Ground-breaking, 1989

The Social Hall was refurbished by September of that year with additional classrooms and an enlarged Social Hall. In the summer of 1993 two more classrooms were added to help house our growing numbers of children. Two special programs were also added to our Religious Formation Program that have proved eminently successful: Logos and Rainbow Sunday (a liturgy of the word for children). In 1993 the choir traveled to Rome to sing at St. Peter's for Pope John Paul II. After 19 years of faithful service to the parish,

Father Bill Pettit retired in June of 1997. On July 1st of that year Father Joe Mallia was welcomed as our new pastor. Rapid growth in the parish enrollment and involvement required more space and plans were developed to add office space and more meeting rooms to the existing Social Hall. Construction began in the spring of 1999 to add over 8,000 sq. ft. The project was completed and possession of the new space took place in January 2000. The rectory was renovated the following spring. These years also saw the addition of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Health Care Ministry, Stephen's Ministry, Adult Bible Study, and Family Religious Education, just to mention a few.

In November of 2003, Father Mallia was reassigned to St. Frances Cabrini Parish and Father Belczak was appointed pastor.