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Fr. Charles Coughlin
Father Coughlin decided the corner of Twelve Mile Road and
Woodward Avenue would be the ideal location for the new
church. Borrowing $78,000 from the Detroit Diocese, Father
Coughlin purchased 18 lots for the new parish. A simple
wooden building with a shingle roof was quickly erected at
the site where the tower now stands.
Father Coughlin, seeking a way to repay the $101,000 cost
of the new church, turned to creative fundraising. With the
parish still in desperate need of funds, Father Coughlin took
the unprecedented and surprising step of renting airtime on
the Detroit radio station, WJR. Commercial broadcasting in
the United States was only six years old when Father
Coughlin's Golden Hour program began in the fall of 1926.
The priest’s sermons clarified the principles of Christianity
and answered thousands of questions concerning faith and
morals. The listeners were easily mesmerized by the man
known as "The Voice" with his dramatic presentations at 2
p.m. each Sunday. Each broadcast resulted in an
increasingly positive response, often accompanied by
financial contributions.
By 1932, Father Coughlin's radio chain had grown to 27
stations, from Bangor, Maine, to Kansas City, Missouri.
Father Coughlin and his army of secretaries and assistants
worked out of parishioners’ homes and various rented
properties. When these arrangements proved insufficient,
the planning of a new church began, with provisions for
much improved office space in the basement. |
