For the last decade, Lisa Wittmeyer has come to know Sacred Heart and Ascension Parish as her home church, and she is not about to give it up easily, she says.
Although the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo had issued orders to close the parish in November, Friends of Ascension filed an appeal -- and are "packing the mass" --to stall that measure in an effort to remain open permanently.
“We had written the first appeal, and the time expired for the bishop to answer, and we have 10 to 15 days for the next appeal … we are to file that next week. We are still packing the mass; there’s one mass at noon on Sunday, the worst possible time, but there’s 200 in attendance; it’s been standing room only,” Wittmeyer said Thursday to The Batavian. “We’re still supporting the church, we just had a bake sale, we’re still hosting Bingo. We do have a lot of revenue, we were very fiscally responsible with our money. Right now we are kind of in a wait-and-pray; they can’t close us while we’re in appeal. We’re doing what we can to ‘Pack the Mass. We’re wearing the buttons.”
Almost immediately, the Friends of Ascension was formed after the Diocese began announcing local closures, which originally did not include Sacred Heart. Once that Southside parish was placed on the chopping block, members rallied to form the group and began to file paperwork for a nonprofit organization.
They wanted to ensure that mass and church events were continued to be supported, which has included faith formation for kids and adults, although it has mostly been kids in attendance, getting them ready for their sacraments, Wittmeyer said.
“We’re still doing holy communion, baptisms, weddings, funerals, all of that is till going on,” she said.
Confirmation class is part of church school for grades two through 11, and includes penance, communion and confirmation, so nothing is getting lost in the shuffle of the Diocese and appeal actions, she said.
As a child, Wittmeyer attended St. Joseph’s School and Church. After graduating from high school, she eventually moved to her father’s home parish, St. Anthony’s. It was there that she got married and had her boys baptized, so she has already experienced the closure of a church that meant something to her and many other members.
Wittmeyer then discovered Sacred Heart and doesn’t want to see this gem close or go back to St. Joe’s, she said.
“As long as we are in the appeal, they cannot close us. The surprising part was, we were not on the chopping block, that’s the surprising part, it wasn’t part of the original plan … (and later) they said then why not close Ascension, and we can go to Resurrection, which is St. Joe’s. But we’re two very different churches. St. Joe’s doesn’t have a church hall. I think the difference in our churches is that we’re smaller, we’re very welcoming, we’re very homey, we are like a church family,” she said. “At St. Joe’s, the acoustics are horrible, it’s hard to hear in there. It’s not aesthetically pleasing … it’s not as personable as Ascension. There’s no hall to fellowship in. I don’t want to lose another church. There is room for two Catholic churches. We used to have four, so I think we can definitely have two.”
The Diocese had given reasons of lack of financial means and participants as potential reasons for closure, both of which are not true at Ascension Parish, she said. The 4 p.m. Saturday mass was taken away, and it was “very popular,” leaving only the one Sunday mass, which people have steadfastly attended, even having to set up chairs in front when the pews fill up, she said.
“We are using the church, supporting the church, hosting activities. We are still fighting the fight,” she said. “I have hosted for the past three years the lenten soup supper on Wednesdays. It’s open to the public, and it’s very popular. We donate the funds to different charities. I hope to do it again, and I’m sure we’ll be open through then.”
A cocoa and caroling event scheduled for Thursday was canceled due to the snow that blew in Wednesday night. Members hope to reschedule it.
In the meantime, the second step in the appeal process is to send it on to the Holy See, which has 90 days to respond. Suppose Ascension receives a denial or no response. In that case, it can appeal to the Church's Supreme Court, the Apostolic Signatura, which follows its own regulations “in a different process that requires appellants to hire an advocate in Rome approved by the Signatura.” That means use of funds likely for an attorney to represent Friends of Ascension. There is no strict timeline or constraint for the response, and the Signatura may give extensions during this process.
Ascension Parish is not alone with its appeal to the Diocese. St. Brigid’s in Bergen has also filed an appeal, which has kept its doors open to date. Church member John Cummings didn’t want to comment too much about that process, other than it could take a year, and that it “has to really be fought for.”
He has been more immersed in a project to bring solace to the congregation and world at large with a musical production inspired by his son Ryan, who came up with the idea in time for Christmas.
The Cummings family formed a namesake band with family and friends 10 years ago, performing barbershop type and 50s-60s melodies, and this year Ryan suggested a more universally comforting number to embrace all that’s going on in the world today: “Let There be Peace on Earth.”
A video was recorded at St. Brigid’s with the Cummings family, including son Johnny on piano, community members, Byron-Bergen Central School music teacher Joe Paris conducting the group, and school students and alums.
“It’s just a conglomeration of people in general in the Byron-Bergen community,” the elder John said. “It’s just for everything in the world, life in general. Ryan just thought it would be a great song to do right now. They used the church to do it; it gave a beautiful background.”
The Cummings Family and Friends band performs annually and invites the community to attend, whether it’s at their home or at the Bergen park.
