Churches in Inner-Ring Suburbs Face Likely Closings Parishes Hope That Togetherness, Intimacy Won't Be Lost, by Jay Tokasz, Buffalo News, May 12, 2008

Churches in Inner-Ring Suburbs Face Likely Closings
Parishes Hope That Togetherness, Intimacy Won't Be Lost

By Jay Tokasz
Buffalo News
May 12, 2008

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/344547.html

Few people would mistake St. Bonaventure Church at Harlem Road and Seneca Street for an architectural masterpiece.

Yet in this modest corner of West Seneca, the quaint church with the faded cedar shake shingles has stood the test of time, serving as spiritual home to countless Catholics and social center for young and old alike.

Parishioners and neighborhood residents hope to keep it that way, but as the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo moves toward concluding parish restructurings, the church appears likely to be closed in a merger with nearby St. William.

"It's a beautiful, beautiful area," said Bill Kruger Sr., who lives two blocks from the church. "But once they start doing this, people will say, 'Oh, I don't know about this neighborhood.' "

Western New York's inner-ring suburbs, especially West Seneca and Cheektowaga, are expected to bear the brunt of the diocese's final round of closures, which probably will be announced later this month.

Mary Lou Dietrich, left, and Dorie Meyer of St. Bonaventure Church hope that the expected merger with St. William will include wise use of buildings, taking into consideration bingo and handicapped access.
Photo by Derek Gee

Among the recommendations that have been forwarded to Bishop Edward U. Kmiec are the merging of:

• St. William and St. Bonaventure, using St. William Church as the worship site.

• St. Catherine of Siena and Queen of Heaven parishes, both in West Seneca, and using the Queen of Heaven Church campus.

•St. Augustine and St. James parishes in Depew by 2009 and using a single worship site that has yet to be determined.

• Immaculate Heart of Mary in Buffalo, near the Cheektowaga line, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parish in Cheektowaga, using the St. Aloysius site.

• Mother of Divine Grace and Infant of Prague parishes in Cheektowaga at the Infant of Prague site.

Although simpler and less ornate than the grand churches in Buffalo that will be closing, those in the suburbs are no less dear to people's hearts.

Effect on senior citizens

In some neighborhoods, including a few on the edges of the suburbs, inside the Buffalo border, many parishioners still walk to liturgies.

"The biggest effect it has is on the senior population here, which is so strong," said Peter D. Stachowski, funeral director of Buszka Funeral Home on Clinton Street in Kaisertown, a small Buffalo neighborhood bordering on both West Seneca and Cheektowaga.

Stachowski organized a "Save Our Kaisertown Churches" sign campaign about a year ago, amid discussions about whether St. Casimir, St. Bernard or Our Lady of Czestochowa would close.

The three churches are within blocks of one another near Clinton and South Ogden streets. St. Bernard and St. Casimir are in Buffalo, while Our Lady of Czestochowa is in Cheektowaga.

"Ninety percent of the people here walk to church," Stachowski said.

While the neighborhood has many elderly people, houses that are put up for sale are "sold quickly, and it's usually a younger couple," he said. "It's still a viable area."

But parishes in these communities often struggle to maintain members because of neighborhood turnover.

The houses typically are older and smaller — either the longtime residences of elderly parishioners or starter homes for young families who end up moving farther into the suburbs after a few years.

Some parishioners believe that the mergers will strengthen and revitalize their shrinking congregations, even if buildings will be lost in the process.

"To put us together, hopefully, will light a spark," said Jennifer L. Golinski, who lives near Mother of Divine Grace Church on Old Maryvale Drive in Cheektowaga.

Golinski, who teaches religious education in West Seneca, has seen enrollment in Mother of Divine Grace's religious education program — a key indicator of a parish's future prospects — fall to about 50 children this year.

"We've been slowly watching it fizzle out," she said.

Golinski supported an even more dramatic coming together of parishes — Immaculate Heart of Mary, Infant of Prague, St. Aloysius and Mother of Divine Grace — into one, but that recommendation was not made to the bishop.

Use of buildings at issue

St. Bonaventure Church and its school building continue to serve as anchors in a community that has watched several businesses on Seneca Street move away, residents said.

Parishioners say they understand the need for changes and have no problem merging with St. William Church less than a mile away on Harlem Road. But they say the buildings of St. Bonaventure could still be used for the merged community without being financially burdensome.

In particular, the parish hall is larger and more suitable for functions such as youth ministry and bingo than the small facility at the St. William campus, which also does not have a gymnasium. The St. Bonaventure hall is considered handicapped-accessible, while the St. William hall is not.

"That's a big concern for a lot of people. It's not just me," said Dorie Meyer, who is recovering from cancer and a hip replacement and uses a walker or a wheelchair to get around.

Meyer has been involved with activities in the parish for years but would not be able to continue with them if they were held in the St. William hall, which is accessible only by stairs.

Some parishioners envision a scenario in which St. William, a larger church built of stone, would be the regular worship site and St. Bonaventure Church would be used for special occasions such as weddings and funerals. The St. Bonaventure school building and hall would remain open for the social functions of the merged parish — with the money for maintenance derived from $69,500 in bingo proceeds.

Those revenues would be lost if St. Bonaventure school and hall were closed, because the St. William hall can't accommodate bingo, they said.

"Most things that happen in a church don't happen on Sunday mornings, so the fact that it's not attached to the church shouldn't be a problem," said Mary Lou Dietrich, a longtime parishioner who lives a block from St. Bonaventure.

The merged parish ultimately will decide what to do with its excess buildings, according to the recommendation of the strategic planning commission of the diocese.

Although the properties might be more marketable than city churches, residents remain concerned.

St. Bonaventure Church "might get grabbed up because of its location," Dietrich said, "but we don't want a Walgreens or a Rite-Aid on the corner that will close down in five years because there are eight more of them down the street."

'Picking and choosing'

The Rev. James R. Bastian, who has been serving as pastor of both St. William and St. Bonaventure for nearly three years, said he thinks that it is possible to continue two church campuses. "We've been picking and choosing the best sites for activities already," he said.

Combined religious education classes for children from St. William, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Bonaventure are held in the St. Bonaventure school, for example.

Bastian acknowledged that the congregations do a lot of functions in the St. Bonaventure gym that couldn't be done anywhere else.

"We have to wait for the bishop's decision," he said. "We have to wait and see: What are we really invited to do?"

Contact: jtokasz@buffnews.com