All over our region, congregations are embracing new ways of working on behalf of the Gospel. If you have a story to tell about work your community is doing, please email us.
“Laying down one’s life is not just a once in a lifetime choice to be willing to die for a cause,” said Canon Vanessa Butler in her sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter. “Laying down one’s life is a day-to-day decision to live sacrificially for others.”
The Commission to Dismantle Racism and Discrimination of the Episcopal Dioceses of Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania stands in solidarity with the family of George Floyd and all those who have suffered because of the sins of racism and oppression. The commission is committed to working with the diocesan partnership and the community to dismantle the…
“Will we allow resurrection to happen to us or will be stay stuck in Calvary’s grasp?” asked the Rev. Cathy Dempesy-Sims during her sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter.
Like members of many worshipping communities, the people of St. Andrew’s, Burt have become well-versed in the art of Zoom church during the past pandemic year. But even as in-person worship resumes, the congregation has no intention of returning to its pre-pandemic ways. “We’re not going back,” says St. Andrew’s senior warden Doug Wintersteen. “We’re…
Dear People of God in Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania, You might remember that when we began our diocesan partnership two years ago, we drew strength from the story of the Exodus. And certainly in this last year, we have often felt like the people of Israel after their escape from Egypt, wandering in…
“Thomas is the one who is called the twin but we never hear who the twin is,” said Bishop Sean in his sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter. “Sometimes I think we’re Thomas’s twin. Not only do we want to see and know, we need to see and know and to hear and touch;…
“That’s why Easter is not just today, it’s 50 days,” said Bishop Sean in his Easter Day sermon. “It’s 50 days that crackle with the energy of God. It’s 50 days that allow us to enter into a space with God where Jesus has become one with God and with all of us; that we…
“God, through Jesus, took the worst of this world and triumphed over it,” said the Rev. Canon Cathy Dempesy-Sims in her sermon for Palm Sunday. “Think about that. Whatever pain, whatever suffering we experience, God has experienced it too.”
The diocesan partnership will offer several online worship services for Holy Week and Easter: Palm Sunday Service, March 28 at 10 a.m. Palm Sunday worship will include a narrative reading of Mark’s Passion Gospel. Join the service on Zoom. If you are asked for a password, use lakeerie. To join by phone instead of video, dial…
