St. Joan Pastor Honored for Supporting Faith-Based Schools

The Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools Board of Trustees has named the pastor ofas one of the four recipients of the 2011 Fr. John B. Zwers award.

Msgr. G. Michael Bugarin, was honored Wednesday at MANS Administrators’ Conference in Bellaire, for his support of faith-based schools. He was nominated for the award by Donald Ancypa, principal of .

"(Msgr. Bugarin) is an excellent role model for pastors in that he sees all of the wonderful opportunities that the parish school provides for evangelization and faith formation," he said in a release. "Rather than considering the school as an additional possibly stressful responsibility he seems to value the school at the heart of the ministry.”

The award is named after Fr. John B. Zwers, who was a founding member of the  Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools and served on the Board of Trustees from 1972 until his death in 2004.

“Recognizing the critical importance that a pastor plays in successful faith based education, the MANS Board instituted the Fr. Zwers award to recognize members of the clergy with a strong history of support for faith based schools," said MANS Executive Director Brian D. Broderick in a release.