by Fr. Krystian Piasta
January 18, 2024
INTRODUCTION
Even before my official takeover of the Parish on June 30, 2023, I was aware of many issues that this faith community has been enduring for a few years. As a matter of fact, my understanding of the state of the Parish back then (along with some personally noticed signs of the time) was the exact reason for me to request this pastorate.
These last six months allowed me to gain a much better understanding of what is really going on at St. Bonaventure-St. Benedict the Moor. At this time, I can quite well see what direction the Parish is going, and what is on the horizon. Although this not going to be a complete analysis or forecast, I am quite sure that its underpinnings are solid. Even if you may disagree with my findings here or there, I believe these discrepancies don’t change substantially anything significant, and thus they won’t deviate from the results nor the need for concrete solutions.
I know that many of you have spent many years at either one of the worship sites, and some of you have been here longer than I am alive – God bless you – however, sometimes the past (no matter how wonderful or successful it was) cannot be replicated these days, nor becomes relevant to contemporary solutions.
Throughout this Address you may feel tempted to look at our Parish merely as a business, another 501(c)(3), which of course we are, however, we are first and foremost a Black faith-based community, proudly standing here and worshipping as Roman Catholics for generations.
Also, at this time, I am asking you to refrain from running an investigation as to who caused what, why, and for what purpose; this attitude offers no solutions: to the contrary, it deepens the problem. It can be compared to a ship that has a hole in its bottom and is slowly taking water. Focusing on the reason for the hole to exist and who might be behind it is pointless: unless the hole is fixed the ship will inevitably go down.
In my efforts, I intended to untangle the complexity of the matter, which is why I divided this Address into several areas of focus: spiritual, financial, logistical, social, cultural, and communal. Of course, they don’t exist in a vacuum; their ecosystems are intertwined and interrelated, and very often even a slight change to one of them causes a domino effect directly affecting other, or all of them.
SPIRITUALITY
I am beginning my analysis with the most essential of all of them: spirituality. Overall, we could be proud of a substantial spiritual nutrition: our Sunday Masses are moving and inspiring; the music is uplifting and culturally fitting our community. The best proof for that is that the congregation sings along and vibrantly reacts to the music and to the proclaimed Word.
We have retrained our lectors in order to have the Word proclaimed to us and not only read. Soon the Eucharistic Ministers will have their training available.
As much as we have altar servers at St. Benedict the Moor, we need to focus on getting more of them at St. Bonaventure. The Sunday experience of the Eucharist with all that is attached to it must become our priority and focus. This is where “make it” or “break it” happens.
One of the most crucial things we need to address as soon as possible is a Ministry of Hospitality at both sites. We will start forming it at the beginning of Lent. It is not enough that we ask the visitors to stand up at the end of the Mass; we need to make all who come to our churches REALLY feel welcomed and loved. Although we will have ministers addressing this issue at the door, effectively we all need to become ministers of hospitality, so that no one would feel unwelcome, unwanted, or not belonging to “the club”, or a circle of insiders. They need to feel our love from the first moment they approach us! As you will see it in the economic section, the way we treat “strangers” has a direct financial component associated with it.
THINK OF THAT: We now know that people don’t leave churches because of their lack of faith; they leave because they feel they don’t belong there!
That is why I am introducing a significant change to the way we worship and live our faith at St. Bonaventure-St. Benedict the Moor: We have to switch from being just believers, or faithful, or parishioners to become not only disciples but GROWING DISCIPLES.
What does it mean?
I learned it many years ago that I can ask people anything I want; the only thing that is never well-received is change. It almost became some kind of a forbidden word. So before you turn off your attention, or just shrug it off completely, let me explain to you what is really going to change and why.
If you wanted to find a Biblical mission statement for us as individuals and community members, you will find two such statements: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).
And “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
As much as the first quote is challenging, the real difficulty comes with the second one, also known as the Great Commission. The stress over here is on making disciples; not just becoming ones but MAKING disciples. The other suitable quote to illustrate it further can be found in Luke, where “Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear; from now on you will be catching people” (Luke 5:10). It directly speaks to all of us: we are to become disciples and fishers of men.
And why would that matter to us? Because it is exactly that feature that distinguishes healthy and growing churches from dying churches! Ask yourself: why certain protestant churches are growing, and Catholic churches don’t? Exactly because of that. You will immediately notice how much they focus on missionary efforts and welcoming new people. This is happening not because of better music, theology, preaching, or even more beautiful worship environment: It happens because of the taking the missionary approach seriously. It boils down to a very simple yet telling difference between missionary churches and self-maintenance churches.
I understand that being a “missionary” in the Catholic psyche means going far off and preaching to people who have never heard of Jesus. If we don’t embrace our mission here at our Parish, we will head towards a disaster. If you prefer the sugar-coated version of it: you just got it.
There’s a great danger for our both churches to become so-called “chapels of convenience” with parking lots, nice music, proximity to where we live, and convenient worship times. If we want to make it again a life-changing focus point on a spiritual map of South Jamaica, WE ALL must take this job seriously. Again, I am not here to look for the guilty ones of the past, but present solutions for the future.
You may ask, so what should we do now differently?
It starts with daily prayer, reading of the Scripture, loving your neighbor, and being aware that you are on a mission from God! We must shift from being just recipients or consumers of spiritual goods to becoming growing disciples and servants. We need to be challenged and respond to it. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in the 1930s: “Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Cost of Discipleship”).
You will be hearing much about becoming a growing disciple not only in the preaching but in the petitions, announcements, etc. Effectively it will become a second nature at our Parish, just like an “Amen” at the end of your prayer.
Discipleship was at the core of the Second Vatican Council – that’s 60 years ago! – and still hasn’t made it into our Catholic bloodstream.
Reflect on the quote from “Evangelii Gaudium” by Pope Francis: “Being Church means being God’s people, in accordance with the great plan of his fatherly love. This means that we are to be God’s leaven in the midst of humanity. It means proclaiming and bringing God’s salvation into our world, which often goes astray and needs to be encouraged, given hope, and strengthened on the way. The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel” (“Evangelii Gaudium”,114).
As of last Sunday, my homilies are video recorded and published, so that those who are searching for a good church may find us. We will introduce a “Prayer Partnership Program” (PPP), that will allow people to pray for a specific person in our community.
Our next revival will be held from the Divine Mercy Sunday at St. Benedict the Moor. This revival will be held outdoors to attract people in the neighborhood and the revivalist will be Fr. Maurice Nutt, C.Ss.R.
You may ask: why all of that? To put it simply: We are responsible for spreading the Good News to all in zip codes 11433 and 11434; yes ALL, even to Greater Allen AME Cathedral, which just happens to be right in between our worshipping sites. As our good friend, Fr. Bernard Quinn said in 1929: “No church can exclude anyone and still keep its Christian ideals.”
As you can see, we are making a very strong shift in the way our faith is lived and professed. That shift stems from the Bible: we are being assured it will work if we take it seriously. As we read in the Book of Proverbs “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Shifting to some concrete points:
We are very encouraged by the Vineyard program, which is getting more and more popular and effective. In the summer, we will run our first Alpha program, which combines eating, discussion about faith and sharing. This program typically attracts many new people. More about it later in the Spring.
Recently, I have made a decision concerning our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters. They have been asking for a regular Sunday Mass at St. Benedict the Moor for eight years now. This group of approximately 120 faithful living in our community has been so far having Masses every two months or so. We will introduce a regular Sunday Mass in Spanish as of September 8, 2024. Most likely this Mass will be celebrated at 8:00 AM at St. Benedict the Moor, which should have no impact on the current schedule of Masses. That means of course a full-scale integration of the Latino community with the rest of us.
One of the most important areas of pastoral care is children, youth, and young adults. I am very pleased with the young adults’ efforts, which seem to answer some particular needs of this age group. I hope that soon the top floor of St. Benedict’s House will become our first Youth & Young Adults Room, equipped to meet the needs of young people.
My last meeting with the youth has indicated certain needs of that age group that subsequently we will be focusing on. I do think, however, that we have a great potential of making this age group more and more prominent in the life of our community.
One of the most challenging areas of pastoral care is our Religious Education program. As much as we value and appreciate the attitude and service of our catechists, we need to make substantial changes to the logistical part of the process. It seems that meeting with children at both Halls is not the optimal solution in terms of the proper environment that is not particularly enticing for studying our faith, and maybe not even financially sound. I mean by that heating up the entire St. Benedict Hall. I do recognize the need for a more creative approach toward the teaching process itself and better collaboration with the parents of children in our program. We cannot accept the fact of the notorious significant lateness of children as normal, as if nothing was happening! That also speaks directly to our responsibility as parents, godparents, and growing disciples of Christ. The Rel Ed Program is one of the most important pieces of our pastoral care and we are working hard to make some significant improvements soon we will be able to share some great news about our Program.
When it comes to the spiritual level of our community, the state of our Parish is decent, yet challenging with many exciting new possibilities.
FINANCES
This area of focus has always been raising a lot of emotions. It is not a secret that this is the weakest level of all that we deal with. Although we have filed our Budget with the Diocese, it must be said that it only works on paper, not in reality, especially keeping in mind the increase in costs across the board.
Here is the outline of the real budget with the most current numbers at play annually (these numbers reflect the maximal income potential to date with the minimal possible expenses, a.k.a. the most optimistic scenario. These numbers are annual regardless of the fact, that our fiscal year ends on August 30, 2024):
INCOME
Sunday collections: $125,000
Rentals (halls and parking lots): $35,000
St. Monica Church/Cemetery: $15,000
TOTAL INCOME: $175,000
Not counted in income: effects of the Second Collections, donations or sponsorships
EXPENSES
Salaries: $72,000
Property Insurance: $70,000
Assessment (First Collection Tax) $20,000
Health insurance: $24,000
Electricity: $15,000
Retired priests’ tax: $14,000
Accountant: $6,000
TOTAL: $221,000
Balance: -$46,000
Not counted in expenses: maintenance (projected: 20-50K), printing expenses (8K), heating (30K), Programs expenses (10K), Telephone & internet (3K), Altar supplies (4K), extra priests (3K)
TOTAL EXPENSES: $46,000 + $86,000=$132,000 (with $30,000 as maintenance basis)
A deficit of $132,000 annually equals a deficit of $11,000 monthly.
In more understandable terms: we would have to double our Sunday Collections in order to become financially solvent. Thus, it further explains the need for a true and serious missionary outreach associated with growing discipleship.
On top of that we have a debt of $377,000 and a balance of roughly $10,000 for the Annual Catholic Appeal. Currently, we are only paying off the debt’s interests monthly and not addressing the principal. The Financial Council and I will address the issue of the debt and the ACA in future communications with the Bishop and the Diocese, asking for full forgiveness of our debt.
Financially the state of our Parish is abysmal with very few possible positive opportunities.
Personal note: I do believe in the effectiveness of the authentic growing discipleship efforts and its effects on the financial condition of the Parish. Eventually, it will result in the financial stability of our Parish, but it will not happen overnight. That is why I am going to ask the Bishop for a 3-year grace period for the changes in our fundamental approach to take full effect.
LOGISTICS
Intrinsically connected with finances is the logistical situation of both campuses. If you were an outsider, and came into any of our facilities, most likely you wouldn’t see at first sight the true state of our buildings, or at best you would wonder why certain things were done in a particular way. If you dared to take a closer look into the real condition of the buildings, you would be appalled at the least, as I am.
ST. BENEDICT THE MOOR CAMPUS
St. Benedict’s church seems to be in the best shape of all the facilities of this worship site. There are some issues with the sound system, especially towards the entrance of the church, but overall, not much has to be changed or improved there.
The “Breezeway” needs some serious attention: the roof is leaking, and the gutter system is not working properly. The most disgusting is the restroom: specifically the roof, the walls and the state of the equipment and furniture. The toilet seat platform is ill-conceived and creates more problems than solutions. The entire facility must be renovated and brought into a standard that is useful and acceptable in the 21st century. Our visitors are making quite a lot by the look of the restroom… In a word: the restroom needs a complete renovation! Unfortunately, these things usually come with a high price tag.
St. Benedict’s Rectory/House has a great potential. The basement, first floor, and top floor will soon be used for Religious Education classes and other meetings. The second floor is beginning to be used as a storage room. I have decided to renovate the basement, first floor, and the top floor in a minimal sense and at a minimal cost so that they could be used in a decent way. We do not have the money to completely renovate the house inside out and rent it out for a top dollar. Besides that, we do need the house for several activities, otherwise, we would have to use the Hall for that purpose, which in most cases is not very enticing or economically viable.
There is also a need to replace some windows there, replace three layers of shingles on the roof with a new one, fix some cracks on the chimney, and replace some gutters. These improvements can wait a while, however, we must start securing and occupying the house, so that it would not trigger too much of attention in the community.
The Hall, although it makes some income, it is equally a big problem. Currently, we have rentals 5 days a week on a regular basis (mostly basketball clinics). Despite the fact it makes some money, the use of the Hall also creates issues: I often find the windows left open (mostly in the Summer), the light on, and the heat on after the activities are over. It seems to fall on a deaf ear when I instruct users that moving the thermostat to 90 degrees is not going to heat up the room any faster. As a result, they leave the heating system running until it reaches 90 degrees… Everyone is welcome to run the heating system in such a manner… however at your own home, not here. I wonder, if the users (either Parish groups or rentals) were to pay the actual cost of heating, would they even turn on the heat at all? That is why we will be installing thermostat covers in the weeks to come.
The kitchen and both restrooms require significant upgrades, as well as more plastic chairs need to be purchased. There are several leaks in the roof that further damage the hardwood floor. Some gutters are missing. All doors require new hardware upgrades that are in line with all security codes required by the FDNY. The Hall’s WIFI has to be fixed and online surveillance has to be established.
One of the most disturbing features of St. Benedict’s campus is its outdoors: we need to finally invest some money and organize the trash issues, especially next to the house and around the garage. If we are to attract any newcomers, this will have to become our priority. It seems to be a never-ending story of the trash there to the point that some of us could have become immune to the disgust of it.
I am in the process of regaining access to the three sections of the infamous container. Once it is fully acquired, the container will be rented out for storage purposes, which will generate some income for us.
Finally, there are other features that must be addressed: the fencing and gates at St. Benedict must be fixed so that we can secure the campus, the grounds must be cleaned up and better maintained, the sinkhole has to be filled up and the signage on the corner of 110th and Merrick has to be updated and made more attractive.
To sum up: the state of St. Benedict the Moor Campus is quite challenging with lots of opportunities in the future.
ST. BONAVENTURE CAMPUS
St. Bonaventure has its own issues to deal with. The church’s roof and gutters must be fixed. Thanks to some friends from St. Joseph Church, we have been able to clean up gutters out of needles and leaves that have created a tough layer of clog after years of not being maintained. The roof needs some tiles to be replaced, although the clay roof sits on a few layers of a shingle roof, thus giving us some time. The old AC compressor has to disappear and the never-finished wall around the AC units has to be fixed one way or the other.
We are still using a temporary power hookup to the church. We must invest and upgrade the shunt (and the entire power room) so that ConEd can finally upgrade our power grid. Otherwise, we are risking the power to be cut off at any time.
Currently, we are upgrading the sound system in the section of the church closer to the door by adding some extra speakers. This will enhance the reception of the choir under the balcony.
The Parish Hall still needs some cleanup, especially on the stage. The kitchen needs some upgrades, and the handicap ramp needs to be fixed one day as well.
There is still some work to be done to waterproof the Hall, including the restrooms.
I am assessing the fixing cost of the AC in the hall. Should the cost be too high, we could remove the ductwork and install an inverter (heat pump) system quite inexpensively, which works as both: a heating and cooling system. It would also significantly improve the overall outlook of the Hall. The heating system in the church has finally been fixed and now runs on gas instead of oil, thus lowering the heating bill.
The Rectory is in a decent shape. I was able to replace 17 windows right before the winter. There are still a few of them that could be replaced at a later time, but at least the most important areas are much better insulated, subsequently improving the effectiveness of the heating system. At least some of the most important sections of the Rectory should be upgraded with an inverter AC system, so that the integrity of the new windows would not be compromised, and cooling bills would be lower, as compared to the old in-window AC units.
The garage and carport (parking lot) have been upgraded: there are some upgraded sections of the roof and the garage’s electrical wiring and lighting have been upgraded, courtesy of Mr. Joseph from St. Joseph Church.
The Grotto and garden area need some attention: parts of the grotto are cracked and broken and need to be fixed and repointed. The Stations of the Cross have not been maintained for a long time and some of them are in bad shape.
To sum up: the state of St. Bonaventure Campus is decent with some challenges.
The overall state of our facilities is challenging with some critical and long-awaited improvements to be made. The situation is complicated by the fact we have no maintenance person on staff and no money to address these critical needs. On the other hand, it is quite stunning, that since 2016, when the Parish had approx. $600,000 as an investment, after just 7 years there is no money (except for a debt) and some facilities look as if they were not maintained in a long time, despite the fact they have been in critical need of addressing for several years!
SOCIAL CONTEXT
Although we are fellow believers, what binds us together is not only our faith but also personal relationships, which in some cases go many years back. It is so wonderful to see these relationships at play when we gather together. I have heard many great stories of the past, when the community was coming together to celebrate special, or just ordinary moments in life. We need to maintain existing and build new relationships by creating and participating in events.
How can we establish something that would be bringing our community more often, either at both worshiping sites on a quasi-regular basis, alternating sites, or seasonally?
I would like to work with the PPC, groups, and ministries to explore this important feature. We have a rich history of coming together, we should invest some of our attention to it. Besides that, it is always much easier to invite someone to a social function, than to a regular church service…
Socially the state of our Parish is a bit neglected with great possibilities.
CULTURAL CONTEXT
The fact we have two worshipping sites, should not make our community divided, but rather enjoying the richness of everything we have. It expands our footprint and should put us on the map of the most prominent churches in (South) Jamaica. Exactly that feature, combined with the human resources of our community, along with an enhancement of St. Vincent de Paul and Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary, results in a very unique outcome: we have all the ingredients in order to become a significant center of Black Catholicism and Black Christianity in the borough and the Diocese.
Check the past inter-diocesan masses celebrating Black Catholic Month: the backbone for them was people from our Parish. We have already gotten some attention by bringing back the Sister Thea Bowman Choir to our Parish; we are the baptismal parish of LL Cool J, we have been touched by a servant of God Bernard Quinn in a Black-owned Catholic church, we have a food pantry twice a month, many decades of the Rhymes-Lowery School of Dance: these are just a few pieces of a very significant legacy. That story can’t just end there; we have a very strong footing for a bright future!
These days we have very strong Young Adults, who have already established themselves, and who are actively working on the creation of the new face of our Parish. I believe that with their impact, we will position ourselves as a very relevant faith community to the world outside of our walls.
That is a great opportunity. We need to establish a Development Committee that would craft a vision of an extension of that legacy into the future.
We are not to prey on the weaknesses of other parishes or churches, but should they fail in their missionary efforts, our faith community should become a welcoming oasis.
Culturally, the state of our Parish is well-established, exciting, and prophetic.
COMMUNAL CONTEXT
Recently, I have been reading again the history of St. Benedict the Moor church, which in a sense is a similar history to many ethnic churches: the beginnings were simple, humble yet full of complete dedication to the cause. As a matter of fact, no matter where you go worldwide, you will discover that sometimes the most beautiful churches, basilicas, and cathedrals were built at times of depression, poverty, and scarcity. Yet, due to dedicated people, we can marvel today and give thanks for their attitude. I do think that times are not that different; quite the opposite, people are looking for something that makes sense, that makes a difference. They are looking for worthy causes and initiatives. Maybe we are to go back to those time-proven ways of operation.
What I am suggesting as a first step is to create certain days for our community to come out and help for a couple of hours: we can clean up some of our outdoors, maybe paint parts of the house, get rid of the garbage, and yes have some burgers and ice cream to finish off the day. That’s how people have done it years ago: effectively, together, and with some fun. That is what it also means to take ownership of what truly is ours. This is how we can integrate our community, spend some time together, and have a good feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day.
This just serves as a suggestion backed up by centuries of Catholics before us in all corners of the world. I would love to see it done in our community for all the by-passers to see.
No matter how and what we want to accomplish it, none of that is going to come from the heaven above without our impact. Only we as a community can accomplish it.
Communally, the state of our Parish is full of new potential and opportunities.
SUMMARY
There are these commercials that you could have seen on TV about selling your life insurance policy. The common theme in them is that those who currently have life insurance policies are sitting on a gold mine without even knowing it.
Despite several very serious challenges, that we objectively have in our Parish, in my view – after being here for six months – we are indeed sitting on a gold mine. No, it would not be a gold mine in a physical or financial sense, but we do have very strong underpinnings for a healthy, growing, and prosperous Parish.
We have a strong and well-seasoned and tried community of die-hard believers who love their God, neighbor, and the Church. Many of us are professionals with great experiences and expertise in various fields.
We have our elders who responsibly take the obligation of setting the right example and sharing their wisdom and knowledge.
We have been blessed with great children and youth who know and feel the profits of being members of this faith community. We must not waste this unique asset but cherish it and protect it at any cost.
We have a strong and vibrant Young Adult group that has deep roots in our community and is the changing force that brings the relativity of our Church to contemporary professionals.
We have very dedicated parents who not only love their children but also love our Church and bring our Church back to their homes.
These are just a few reasons, why we are indeed sitting on a gold mine. I can see our Church community grow and get even stronger. I hope you are getting some of that excitement yourselves. If you are looking for a perfect Church, then you must die first, because you won’t find one here in this life. But this is a Church where there’s room for all of us to grow and become true and growing disciples. I see how genuinely you respond to the Word of God, I see how it connects with your faith life, that is why I am assured that God is in the midst of our efforts and will direct our feet on His path.
After serving you and God for the last six months I am even more convinced about the deep purpose of this place. We fit perfectly the mold of the Gospel and are ready to see the good things come our way.
The state of our parish is well-founded, challenged yet with incredible potential if we put our total trust in God as His growing