After a $7-million fundraising campaign, a new Roman Catholic church is scheduled to open in Lakeshore later this week. 

The Good Shepherd Church will officially open on Friday with a blessing from the Bishop of the Diocese of London, Reverend Ronald Peter Fabbro.

A special mass will be held at 7 p.m. Friday with priests from across the diocese along with hundreds of local parishioners.

The new church combines the parishes of St. William’s and St. Gregory’s, which closed for good on the weekend.

About 2,300 parishioners from those churches will attend the new church, located at 462 Advance Blvd.

Both well over 50 years old, the previous parish properties were sold to the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board and the Lakeshore Association of Fine Arts.

Good Shepherd pastor Reverend Gary Goyeau, tells CTV Windsor they will honour the old churches.

“We have named our parish hall St. William’s and our day chapel and meeting room St. Gregory,” says Rev. Goyeau.

The fundraising campaign continues and anyone wishing to donate can do so at the parish office or online via the diocesan website, www.dol.ca.