Dear Friends,

The Board of Directors of the Marian Center has unanimously decided to list for sale the beautiful 38-acre campus in Joy Valley that has served as the headquarters for the Marian Center since 1994.

To heat, insure and maintain this complex requires a tremendous financial and time commitment. Over these last four years, this burden has become overwhelming.

It is our hope and we have every intention to continue our mission to evangelize the Catholic faith even after we part from this 10,000 square-foot facility. Catholics throughout Michigan continue to attend our Annual Conference at Boyne Mountain every October. (Though, attendance is admittedly down.) We still see a demand for a Catholic bookstore in Petoskey and many people love reading our newspaper, The Morning Star.

Our Annual Conference, our Catholic bookstore and our newspaper, of course, do not require a 38-acre complex. This is a fact that has not gone unnoticed to the Board.

Back in 1994, Bob and Barb Smith gave up over $300,000 of their money to convert this doctor’s office on a hillside farm into a beautiful Catholic garden.

With the help of countless volunteers and supporters, Bob and Barb were able to adorn this picturesque place with a beautiful grotto dedicated to the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. A beautiful trail in the woods has the Stations of the Cross and leads people to a Tomb to the Unborn, built in memory of those babies lost to miscarriage or the tragedy of abortion.

For the last four years, we have had a noticeable decline in visitors to Joy Valley. We average just one visitor a day, even in the summertime. There are likely many reasons for the low attendance. Michigan’s terrible economy and the escalating cost of gasoline are, of course, major factors. Perhaps the greatest reason is that our dear Barbara, who animated this place with her amazing spirit, was truly irreplaceable. And when she left us in 2003, it was never the same.

We have tried many things to bring more people to experience this beautiful Catholic garden. We have advertised heavily on Catholic radio in Saginaw and Detroit. We have scattered thousands of copies of our newspaper all over Michigan.

With the blessing of our Bishop, we had a Mass here at the Marian Center, christening the event as a Catholic Summer Festival. We brought in speakers like Fr. Andre Schludecker, Teresa Tomeo, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, and Fr. Thomas Loya.

This year’s Catholic Summer Festival will still be held on August 9, just as scheduled. We think having Father Mitch Pacwa and Katrina Zeno will be a joyous way to celebrate all the great times that we have shared here in Joy Valley.

But hosting the Catholic Summer Festivals and moving the bookstore from downtown to the Marian Center were not enough to bring a noticeable change in the number of visitors to this beautiful place.

We also have not seen a turnaround in our finances. Despite cutting expenses every year, we have been unable to stop piling deficits. We have lost over $30,000 each year for the past five years. The spike in propane costs have been a major culprit in this.

Since January, the Marian Center has been unable to even meet payroll, forcing Josh to get a second job to provide for our growing family.

We believe that God has something else in mind for this property.

We remain open to any thoughts or suggestions that you might have. We are even open to the thought that we are wrong about this.

Perhaps someone else could do even do a better job than us. (Although, you would think that the Lord could overcome all of our shortcomings if he truly wanted us to stay here.)

This decision is extremely difficult for us and we do not want to leave any stone un-turned. We would prefer, in fact, to continue in this place. But we are humble enough to realize that perhaps the Lord has something else in mind.

We also understand that we have an obligation to make sure that we are good stewards over such a beautiful resource like this and that it is used to its full potential.

Our thoughts turn to the Parable of the Talents as recounted by Matthew 25:14-30. What good is it to have a beautiful talent or treasure if we are unable to get people to enjoy it? We simply cannot bury a treasure like this. If we cannot make it work, then we feel compelled to get out of the way and let someone else try. (Whether as a day care, hospice center or a drug rehab).

So we have taken the dramatic step of placing this gorgeous estate on the market. We have faith and trust in Divine Providence that whatever the Lord wills for this beautiful place will come to fruition. And we ask for continued prayers and support so that the important mission of winning souls over to Christ may continue.

As we said, we believe that the Lord wishes us to continue with the October Conference every year, and to publish a newspaper, and to provide the very best Catholic books to Catholics in northern Michigan and throughout the state.

And we ask that every friend of the Marian Center beg Our Father in Heaven for clear direction as to his Will for this place here in Joy Valley.

Sincerely,

Joshua & Lori Mercer
Co-Directors