Apostolate relocating to Menands location

The Black Apostolate of the Albany Diocese is changing its home base...again.

St. Joan of Arc Church in Menands will soon be the group's fourth location in 21 years, a move the members chose in order to make the best use of both their pastor's energy and their own fund-raising, says Christine Grosse, secretary of the Apostolate's advisory board.

"We aren't merging with that parish," she explained. "They're still St. Joan of Arc parish, and we're still the Black Apostolate. We are just utilizing their facility."

Why the move?

The decision of the board to change worship locations was the result of two factors:

* Rev. Kofi Ntsiful-Amissah, who is administrator for the group that is currently based at St. George's Church in Albany, is pastor of St. Joan's, as well as Sacred Heart parish in Albany.

* St. George's church building needed complete renovation. "The building is very old, and we began to raise funds for a renovation, consulted with architects and even had a new building design," Ms. Grosse explained.

Change of plans

Then the board realized that a number of parishes were being closed; in view of that, the members decided to revisit their plan to renovate St. George's.

"We wanted to look at several factors," Ms. Grosse said. "First, our pastor's time is now divided between three parishes. He celebrates liturgies at each one of them every weekend.

"Second, with all the parishes that were closing, we thought it might make sense for us to utilize a building already in existence."

Working it out

The group met with parishioners at both parishes and, in a mutual decision, agreed to use St. Joan's facilities.

"We're all looking forward to the move and to sharing space with our friends over at St. Joan's," Ms. Grosse said. "We will contribute to the financial upkeep of that church" instead of using the money raised for renovations.

(Since Bishop Howard J. Hubbard established the Black Apostolate in 1984, it has had three homes: St. Joseph's, St. Casimir's and St. George's, all in Albany. St. Joan's in Menands will be the fourth. The Apostolate has 125 registered families. Father Kofi will celebrate the Black Apostolate's final Mass at St. George's Church on August 14 at 11:15 a.m. On August 21, its first Mass at St. Joan's is at 11:30 a.m.)

(8/11/05) [[In-content Ad]]