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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, NOV. 3, 2019
BY ROSE ADAMS
A popular pastor who revitalized
a struggling Bensonhurst
Church will be
reassigned in January, disappointing
parishioners
who credit him with saving
the church from closure
and restoring it to its former
glory.
“I’m upset about his
leaving,” said John Mazzola,
a member of the St.
Finbar Church’s pastoral
council who joined the
parish fi ve years ago. “He
turned the church that was
closing into a church that’s
vibrant.”
Rev. Michael Louis Gelfant,
42, was assigned to St.
Finbar Church on Benson
Avenue and Bay 20th street
in 2010, and was instructed
to close down the struggling
house of prayer, that,
like many other Brooklyn
chapels, suffered from
shrinking attendance and
fi nancial woes, he said.
“When they transferred
me over here, it was to close
the parish, to shut it down,”
he said, adding that the
church’s school and fi nancial
mismanagement had
driven St. Finbar into bankruptcy.
“It was really neglected
and falling apart.”
But Gelfant said that
once he met the church’s
passionate parishioners, he
decided to turn the church
around, stripping down
its staff, cutting expenses,
and attracting young families
to the historic parish,
founded in 1880. Word soon
spread that the church was
on the up and up, and attendance
doubled within six
months, Gelfant said.
Gelfant credits his decision
to return St. Finbar
“back to the people” with
the church’s revival, claiming
that the church regularly
circulated surveys
gauging members’ satisfaction
and that parishioners
launched a number
of fundraising campaigns
that fi xed up the premises.
In 2016, extensive renovations
began on the church,
funded by the Catholic
higher-ups and by parishioners’
donations, Gelfant
said, adding that many
Rev. Michael Louis Gelfant, who worked to revive St. Finbar Church in Bensonhurst, will be reassigned
to a church in Queens in January, 2020. Photo by Derrick Watterson
church-goes dedicated
their skills and manual labor
to the project.
“It was parishionerbased,
and we were able
to save $350,000,” Gelfant
said. The renovations included
the installation of
a new high altar, marblework,
and woodwork, as
well as repairs to the organ,
all of which parishioners
helped complete, according
to Gelfant.
And while congregants
are grateful for the reverend’s
leadership, they lament
his upcoming transfer
to a church in Queens
in 2020.
“It’s very sad for everyone,”
said Louis Cerchione,
a local who has been a member
of St. Finbar since 1978.
“When something was
done, it had to be 110 percent.
And he gave it 120.”
God speed!
Bensonhurst pastor who saved church
from closure to be reassigned
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