Father Henry Sands Visits St. Regis Mission

Submitted by Nanci Ransom

The St. Regis Mission Church is pleased to welcome our visiting priest, Father Henry Sands. Father Sands will be the celebrant for the 4:00 P.M. Mass on Saturday, April 18th. Everyone is welcome to attend the Mass and the dinner at St. Kateri Hall to honor our patron, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha.

Father Henry Sands belongs to the Ojibway, Ottawa, and Potawatomi Nations. He grew up on Walpole Island (Bkejwanong First Nation), which is located on the St. Clair River between Michigan and Ontario. An accountant by training, he holds an MBA from the University of Toronto, Ontario, and a BBA from Eastern Michigan University. He worked in corporate banking before joining the diocesan priesthood. Father Sands was ordained a priest on May 14, 2005 for the Archdiocese of Detroit. He currently is pastor of St. Alfred Parish in Taylor, Michigan. While still in the seminary, he worked for the Archdiocese's Department of Parish Life and Services in the area of Native American and Hispanic Ministries. He continues to be heavily involved in these ministries, as a priest and pastor.

From 2006 to 2009, Father Sands served on the Board of Directors of the National Tekakwitha Conference. He has served as a consultant to the Bishops' Sub-Committee on Native American Affairs since 2008. Father Sands was appointed Associate Director of Native American Affairs in the Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the Church at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He currently works with Father Wayne Paysse, the Executive Director of the Black and Indian Mission Office, located in the former home of St. Katharine Drexel in Washington, D.C.

Please join Father Anthony Osuji and the parishioners of St. Regis Mission Church in welcoming Father Henry Sands to the St. Regis Mission Church on Saturday, April 18, 2015.