Parishioners at Ascension Parish handed out 180 flyers after 10:30 mass on Sunday morning to inform people that the parish’s only trustee, Bill Brach (pictured in the blue hat at last month’s meeting), was removed as of October 8th.
“This last Tuesday, Rev. Bernard Nowak/Vicar Forane, dismissed our only Trustee, Bill Brach. We have been functioning with just one trustee since last February, which is against the law(Canon and civil law),” stated Connie Bruggman, a member of Friends of Ascension Parish.
“Now we are left with no representation or oversight.”
In a letter sent to Brach, Rev. Nowak thanked Brach for his service and then stated, “Both the State of New York and the Diocese of Buffalo appoint trustees for either one year or in practice 3-5 years. Effective today, your tour of service ends. Be assured of our commitment to the church of Buffalo: looking forward to your continued participation in the mission of the Diocese.”
Bruggman says Brach has been asking to fill the open position and to have regular trustee meetings, with no response. Brach has served as trustee for over 10 years at Ascension Parish. He had not received his annual renewal for at least two years. With no long lines of people volunteering, Brach continued to do the job. With his background running a business, a company that specialized in tool design and custom machine work in the die casting industry with his wife Nancy for 38 years, Brach was used to dealing with not only financial aspects, but maintenance and whatever else came up. The couple retired and sold the business in 2022.
The Friends of Ascension Parish have been working with Save Our Buffalo Churches. Their mission statement on their website is to Save Souls and help the Parishes in the Buffalo Diocese stay open under Canon Law.
“We want to fight to keep our church open and not to have to be sold,” says Bruggman.
“We are looking into establishing a not-for-profit organization, to accept donations to help keep our church open. There are affidavits out for signatures, we have over 200 signatures so far, we need as many as possible.”
To contact Bruggman and the Friends of Ascension Parish, a Facebook page has been created called FriendsofAscension link here –(20+) Facebook
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