HISTORY 
 

St. Joan of Arc (SJOA)

Prior to 1927, Menands Catholics attended St. Brigid's Church in Watervliet or Sacred Heart Church in North Albany due to transportation problems. Thanks to Bishop Edmund F. Gibbons; a village resident and Albany school teacher he established a parish in the Menands area on Dec. 8th, 1927; the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Culminating with the first Mass celebrating a converted barn on Lyons Avenue; now the site of the Menands Library, Bishop Edmund Gibbons named the parish after Joan of Arc. She was one of the newest saints at the time of the Church's founding canonized after being burned at the stake in 1431 for leading the French armies against British tyranny.

This barn dutifully served as the parish's home until 1982; due to the Great Depression interfering with earlier plans to build a new church. Early in St. Joan of Arc's history, parishioners recruited a horse to pull the barn to a different point on the property. Religious Education was initiated by the Sisters of St. Joseph, who were driven over from Troy, NY every Sunday morning by parishioners, according to oral history. Eventually, the Missionary Sisters of the St. Augustine established a novitiate on Troy-Menands Road and began formal religious instruction classes for grades one through eight. The Daughters of Charity and the Sisters of Mercy also taught in the parish.

 

The Black Catholic Apostolate (BCA)

What is the Black Catholic Apostolate?

The Black Catholic Apostolate is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, New York; a church community with many diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds bound together by special relationship with God and with each other. We began in 1984 with a handful of people who believed the Black Catholic population in the Capital District was underserved. With the blessing of Bishop Howard Hubbard, the Black Catholic Apostolate was founded by Father Kofi Ntsiful-Amissah, an African priest who was part of the Albany Diocese.

The Black Apostolate’s goal was to bring Black Catholics and those looking for a more spirit-filled liturgy back to Church in a setting that incorporated the teachings of the Church, the music and rhythm of the African American and African cultures, and readings and prayer particularly meaningful to the Mass participants. The Black Catholic Apostolate began in the Sanctuary at St. Joseph’s Church in downtown Albany, outgrew the Sanctuary and moved to the main church holding a special Mass each Sunday, moved for  short time to St. Casimir’s Roman Catholic Church in Albany, relocated to St. George’s Church on Thornton and Livingston Avenues in Albany where we stayed for more than a decade, and moving to our present church home, St. Joan of Arc in Menands, in 2005.

The Black Catholic Apostolate boasts a very diverse membership. Our members are judges, lawyers, teachers, nurses, accountants, sales people, city, state and county employees, skilled laborers, students, retirees and the unemployed. We are Black, African, Hispanic, Latino, South American, West Indian, Asia, Cuban, American Indian and Caucasian, coming from all over the Capital District, Upper Hudson Valley, Massachusetts and Vermont. From the handful of people who began the Apostolate in 1984, we now have a faith community of over 150 families.

What is our Mission?

The mission of the Black Catholic Apostolate includes:

Ø Praising God at Mass firmly rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition, but spirit-filled with music, song and dance

Ø Integrating our diverse cultures and ethnic experiences in our Sacramental celebrations

Ø Warmly accepting all who come to us

Ø Spreading the Good News od God throughout the Diocese of Albany, especially to the Black community, the unchurched and those who have fallen away from their faith

Ø Reaching out to those less fortunate and sharing our material and spiritual wealth

Ø Incorporating the Bible and teaching the Catholic Church into our daily lives

Ø Working diligently with our youth to keep them active and interested in their faith and their church community

 

What goes on at Mass?

Mass begins like the traditional Catholic Mass, with a welcome and opening prayer. Hymns and Gospel songs follow, accompanied by drums, guitar, piano/organ, tambourines and Congo drums. Celebrants joyfully sing and clap, making the music am uplifting part of the liturgy. Bible reading and the Gospel, using the Catholic Order of the Prayer follow, as well as a meaningful Homily. The Black Apostolate is Bible-based, so members of the faith community bring bibles each week and the Homily is used as an opportunity for explanation and historical perspective of the texts read.

Celebration of the Eucharist begins with members of the faith community bringing to the altar the chalice and communion that will be used, and the Sign of the Peace is an opportunity for everyone to move about and greet each other with hugs and handshakes.