North Oakland Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 334 has a heavenly new home in Oxford Township.

On Tuesday, post members, along with their auxiliary members, started gathering for their monthly meetings at Christ the King Church, located at 1550 W. Drahner Rd., almost 2 miles west of M-24.

“Everything about it seems to fit our needs better,” said Post Adjutant Ernie Baker, a World War II veteran. “We look at it as a very positive thing.”

Rev. Bob Holt, the church’s lead pastor, is pleased.

“We are very, very pro-veteran,” he said. “We’re welcoming them with open arms and glad to have them here. I think it’s a win-win for everybody.”

Christ the King is not charging the post any rent.

“The space is free. That was a big thing right there,” said Post 334 Commander Jim Hubbard, a highly-decorated Vietnam War veteran. “We’ll be able to give several hundred more dollars a month to the support of veterans.”

Since 2010, Post 334 had been holding its meetings at American Legion Post 108 on E. Drahner Rd. in Oxford.

But Baker explained Post 108 didn’t have adequate space to allow members of Post 334 and its auxiliary group to meet simultaneously.

At Christ the King, the groups are be able to have dinner together, then adjourn to separate rooms to conduct their respective meetings.

Post 334 currently has 160 members, while its auxiliary group is 120 strong.

“It’s going to work out well,” Baker said. “There were just a whole lot of advantages.”

He outlined some of them.

n There are two meeting rooms that, combined, can hold up to 775 people.

n All the facilities are barrier-free and there are no steps. This works out well for post members who are older and/or disabled.

n The church has a full commercial kitchen.

n A whole slew of audiovisual equipment is on-site and available for the post’s use.

n The church is situated on 30 acres with access to Tan Lake, a covered pavilion, picnic tables, paved walkways and plenty of shade trees.

“They’ve got such a beautiful complex there,” Hubbard said. “That church has got their act together. They use their space wisely.”

Some well-established links between Christ the King and Post 334 already exist.

“There’s quite a few members of our post that are members of that church,” Baker said.

He pointed out Vietnam War veteran Bob ten Bosch, leader and founder of the church’s Veterans Ministry, is a member of Post 334.

Every summer, the Veterans Ministry holds a barbecue/picnic for local veterans, their families and approximately 150 homeless veterans from Detroit. This year’s will take place on Saturday, Aug. 27.

To Holt, veterans are the “bright spots” in a nation that’s currently suffering from “low morale” due to the contentious political scene.

“(Despite this,) our country still does a great job of honoring our vets,” he said. “After Vietnam, when we did a bad job with the troops coming home, I think the country learned its lesson.”

But just because VFW Post 334 is no longer based under Legion Post 108’s roof doesn’t mean the two organizations will not continue to work together to help veterans and better the community.

“There’s over 40 of us that are also members of the Legion. I’m a life member of the Legion,” Baker explained. “I’m sure they’ll continue to support the Legion as well as the VFW.”

Baker noted Post 334 is grateful to Post 108 for providing its members with a good home. “They were kind enough to let us meet there for a long time,” he said. “We appreciate that.”

Prior to coming to Oxford, Post 334 met at the Knights of Columbus hall in Orion.

“We’ve moved around a lot,” Baker said.

Post 334 and its auxiliary group meet on the second Tuesday of the month. They gather at 6 p.m. for dinner, then adjourn to separate rooms for their meetings at 7 p.m.