Christ's Mission Appeal funds approximately 50 percent of the ministries, services, and programs offered within the Diocese of Saginaw. Many of these are listed below, and some have no other means of financial support besides the appeal. Their reach extends well beyond what any parish or school could provide on its own.
Administration
The direct ministries of Bishop Gruss himself and his chief of staff and administrative assistant reach parishes and schools in a wide variety of ways.
- Bishop, Chancellor and Vicar General
- Delegate for Religious
- Child and Youth Protection
- Archives
Care for Priests
Making sure that priests have the resources they need for their active ministry and in retirement, different departments within the Diocese of Saginaw offer services. The Diocese offers ongoing enrichment for priests and has a partnership for help in navigating the healthcare system during times of medical need.
Catholic Schools
The Diocese of Saginaw Catholic Schools provide faith-based, Christ-centered education at levels from preschool to high school.
- Professional development of staff
- Curriculum development and implementation
- Religious education for students
- Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools (MANS) accreditation
- Formation for Catholic school staff
Center For Ministry
The Center for Ministry, located on the grounds of the diocesan offices offers cost-effective options for meetings, receptions and retreats. It has a variety of sizes of meeting and banquet rooms as well as private rooms for overnight accommodations. An onsite chapel is available for liturgies or private prayer and reflection.
Office of Parish Life and Evangelization
The Department of Parish Life and Evangelization encompasses many of the direct ministerial offices that provide services to parishes in the areas of direct assistance, providing resource materials and offering training for parish leader and staff members. Those offices include:
- The Office of Liturgy
The Office of Liturgy provides resources and guidelines to parishes for liturgies throughout the Church year.
The office also coordinates all special Diocesan liturgies such as deacon and priest ordinations and jubilees; the annual Chrism Mass; Rural Life Masses in the diocese’s farming communities; First Friday Masses with Bishop Gruss and Holy Hours for Vocations.
The liturgy office also provides materials for priests and parishes for subjects such as guidelines for mourning the loss of an unborn child; guidelines for training Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion; guides for visiting the sick and homebound; and music recommendations for special liturgies such as weddings and funerals.
- Lay Ecclesial Ministry
This office partners with other diocesan ministries to develop and oversee the diocesan Lay Ministry Formation Program. Continuing education and spiritual development of currently commissioned or missioned Lay Ministers also is coordinated by this office.
The lay ministry program not only aids those in the program to have deeper relationships with God and be more educated about their Catholic faith, it helps prepare them to take on larger roles in their parishes or communities in service to others.
- Marriage and Family Life
This office helps to prepare couples for marriage by providing a wealth of resources about preparing for and getting married as well as and provides regularly scheduled marriage preparation workshops and opportunities for marriage enrichment for couples.
- Faith and Catechist Formation/OCIA
This office assists parishes and schools with resources and guidelines for faith formation at all levels of education and discernment. The office also helps to train and provides enrichment opportunities for those who teach faith formation and prepare those joining the Catholic faith.
- Youth and Young Adult Ministry
This office arranges for a wide variety of opportunities for young Catholics to be more engaged with their faith and with others who share their religious beliefs, Opportunities include service retreats and projects, summer camps, special programs for youth preparing for confirmation.
The office also organizes programs and helps to form young adult groups for those aged 18 -35 in parishes throughout the Diocese. Special resources are available for young adults through a designated website www.BayCatholic.org
- Jail and Prison Ministry
This office offers training and resources for clergy and lay people who minister in jails and prisons throughout the Diocese’s 11 counties. Ministry for the incarcerated in the region includes the celebration of Mass, the sacrament of reconciliation, prayer and Communion services and other specialized offerings.
- Multicultural Ministries
This office offers programs to celebrate and honor traditions of different cultures within the parishes and regions of the Diocese.
This office also organizes and operates the Diocesan Migrant Pantry. The pantry moved to the Diocese’s Center for Ministry in summer 2026 and helps to provide for many corporal needs of those who work to harvest the numerous farms throughout the Diocese.
Office of Communications & Great Lakes Bay Catholic Magazine
The Office of Communications helps to inform those throughout the Diocese and beyond about the many ministries and happenings in our parishes and schools. The office achieves this through regular email communications to more than 4,000 parishioners twice each week, social media posts, the Diocese website, official podcasts and more.
In addition, the Diocesan magazine Great Lakes Bay Catholic magazine is published six times a year and sent free of charge to all registered parishioners.
Stewardship & Development
- Stewardship education
- Parish capital campaigns
- Christ's Mission Appeal promotional materials
- Planned giving program
- Major events coordination
Facilities and Construction Services
- Assistance to parishes with construction and renovation
- Caretaker of diocesan properties
- Assistance to merged parishes
Finance Office
The finance office helps parishes in a variety of ways such as consultation on parish financial issues and provides needed forms and documents related to parish bookkeeping, management of parish or school-based fundraisers and more.
The finance office also assists some parishes with bookkeeping personnel whereby a diocesan staff member serves as the bookkeeper for several parishes and thus parishes only pay for a portion of what a full-time bookkeeper would require.
Tribunal
The Tribunal provides resources and helps in the process of those seeking annulments. Those seeking a declaration of nullity can receive practical and spiritual assistance through the Tribunal.
- Train advocates
- Clarification of marital status and, when appropriate, granting a decree of nullity
- Offers parish support for nullity process
Vocations
- Recruitment
- Vocation discernment
- Seminarian formation and support