Dear People of God in the Dioceses of Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania: One year ago today, an 18-year-old white supremacist gunman drove 200 miles from his home in southern New York State to the Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo with the express purpose of murdering Black people. Before the afternoon was…
The Rev. Luke Fodor, rector of St. Luke’s, Jamestown, gave a bit of his Easter Vigil sermon in Spanish this year, and a bit in Swahili, too. These languages are not frequently heard at the same church service in the rural southwestern corner of New York, but the city is beginning to welcome refugees and…
Alfred D. Price Jr., a longtime lay leader in the Diocese of Western New York and an esteemed professor of urban and regional planning at the University at Buffalo, died on May 2 at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo after a long illness. He was 75. “His vocation as an urban planner, and his…
In 2010, Bishop Sean found himself in a tough spot. He needed a new financial officer in the midst of several diocesan crises, and he needed one fast. On a Sunday afternoon, the day the position became vacant, he called Cindy Dougan to ask if she would consider filling in on an interim basis. By…
As Episcopalians across the partnership dioceses seek ways to dismantle racism and discrimination, many are discovering that the region is home to important sites in the history of the Underground Railroad, the nineteenth century network that aided enslaved people as they escaped and fled north and to Canada. Earlier this year, more than 50 members…
Sunday, May 14, which is Mother’s Day, marks the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo that claimed the lives of ten people and injured three others. On that day, the Commission to Dismantle Racism and Discrimination invites congregations to extend prayers for those who lost their lives, those…
Bishop Sean Rowe had always planned for the partnership between the Dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York to be facilitated by several key committees with members drawn from both dioceses. “That was going to be an important piece of helping us all move together in the most productive and healthy way,” said the…
On the fourth Sunday evening of each month, an ecumenical group of Christians gathers around tables in the parish hall of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Holley, NY. Some members come early for Eucharist; others join afterward, in time for a discussion about a book or article they have all read. Some are Episcopalians, while others…
The Commission to Dismantle Racism and Discrimination has developed a five-part Lenten series titled “Becoming Beloved Community: Here and Now.” The materials, which are based on the 2020 diocesan convention resolution titled “Framing the Journey to Beloved Community” are now available: Download the Lenten program. For more information, email Canon Twila Smith.
The Episcopal Youth Event (EYE), a triennial gathering of high school aged youth and their mentors, will be held July 4-8 at the University of Maryland in College Park. Youth in grades 9 to 12 are invited to apply to be part of the partnership’s EYE delegation. Applications must be submitted by March 10. Province III of the Episcopal Church…
When the Rev. Bonnie Morris became priest-in-charge at Church of the Advent in Kenmore last year, one of the first things she noticed was a bulletin board featuring updates about the congregation’s work with Our Little Roses a ministry in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, that provides housing, and education for girls who have survived poverty, neglect…
It’s not a requirement that priests called to the Diocese of Western New York learn to ski, but it keeps happening all the same. That’s because for more than twenty years, a worship service at the top of a slope has provided clergy who are willing to brave the mountain with an opportunity for creative…
