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The Fr. Robert Schwenker Center Comes Alive in Buffalo, NY An exciting new outreach ministry is taking shape at Holy Angels under the aegis of Fr. Jim Erving, OMI. A three-story parish building long in disuse is again coming to life. It was recently rededicated (Oct. 2004) and refurbished as the Fr. Robert Schwenker, OMI Center – in memory of this much loved Oblate who served at Holy Angels early in his priesthood and who died under somewhat mysterious circumstances in 2004 as a missionary in Colombia. African Sisters from various religious communities who are completing degrees at nearby D’Youville College are now living on the top floor – a 10 room residential space. Their prayerful and committed missionary presence in our midst is a source of inspiration and blessings for our Oblate parish community. Most of the space on the ground floor in the Center is reserved for the youth of Holy Angels parish. At the heart of this Youth Ministry area is an ample hall equipped with a variety of game tables, comfortable furnishings, a decent sound system and a large screen TV with video inputs. Additional meeting rooms on this floor – one featuring a bank of computers – allow for multiple simultaneous activities and “break-out” spaces for discussion sessions. A section of the ground floor has been outfitted as a food collection and distribution facility for needy folks on Buffalo’s West Side. On the 3rd Tuesday of every month nearly 200 substantial food packages are provided to needy families in the locality who come to the Center for assistance. The middle floor of the Schwenker Center is being reconfigured as a catechetical facility for small groups of young people. Two dormitories accommodating multiple bunk beds and separated by a chaperone’s suite are featured on one side of the corridor. A presenter/retreat director’s suite as well as a large meeting/conference room and library are on the opposite side of the hall. Restroom facilities on this floor are currently being expanded to meet the needs of participants in programs making use of this space. This solid red brick building has seen a variety of usages over the past 6 decades: as classrooms and Oblate faculty residence for H.A.C.I. (Holy Angels Collegiate Institute); as a convent for the Grey Nuns who served at Holy Angels School; as a group home for challenged adults needing assistance in learning basic life skills; and now as an anchor point for ministries at Holy Angels parish and as an outreach center for Oblate missionary work in the inner city. Focusing as this Center does on the involvement of young people in practicing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, hopefully a great generosity will be awakened – the seedbed that nurtures religious vocations. (Text and photos courtesy of Eugene Tremblay, OMI) |
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