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.
The Rev. Nicholas Evancho, the new priest-in-charge at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Grand Island, New York, calls both the Diocese of Western New York and the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania home. Born and raised in Hamburg, New York, just 25 miles from his new parish, Evancho attended Grove City College in Pennsylvania, where he became an…
Earlier this summer, more than 200 people across the partnership dioceses enrolled in Sacred Ground, an Episcopal Church dialogue series about race that includes readings, documentary film and short videos. Co-sponsored by the Diocese of Western New York’s Commission to Dismantle Racism and Discrimination and the partnership Mission Strategy Advisory Group, the ten-week program includes…
Beginning September 13, online diocesan worship services will be led from the Cathedral of St. Paul in Erie and St. Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo on alternating Sundays. The services will be posted on Facebook and YouTube each Sunday morning at 10 a.m., and will also be available for viewing on demand. The services will include…
“When we are asked the question ‘who do you say that I am,’ we can take a humbler approach. We can say that you are the Messiah, the Christ. You will lead us, we will follow,” said Bishop Sean in his sermon on August 23. “And we understand that it is a journey that we…
“I think we need to be shocked and mortified, because this story reminds us that in order for evil to be redeemed, it must be revealed so the light of God’s love can shine upon it,” says the Rev. Tim Dyer of Grace, Ridgeway. “And in this encounter, the blatant and veiled evil of racism…
“It feels not just like a storm some days, but like we’ve all been tossed out of the boat and here we are struggling in the sea itself,” says the Rev. Brian Reid. “And we see Jesus coming to us. If we will trust what he says — come to me, follow me, trust me…
On August 7, United Clergy of Erie, including Bishop Sean Rowe and Dean Melinda Hall met on the steps of the Cathedral of St. Paul to pray for racial reconciliation and stand in solidarity against systemic racism. “This is step one in a process of reconciliation and repentance,” said Bishop Sean. “This calls us to…
“It will be hindsight when we look back and see these humble offerings of prayer and worship and service that we’re doing right now that miracles are emerging,” says the Rev. Matthew Scott of St. Francis and Trinity Memorial Churches in Youngsville and Warren. “We here in the wilderness of loneliness and isolation will look…
“Once that seed sprouts and those roots take hold, our faith — just like the mustard plant — spreads like crazy,” says the Rev. Cathy Dempesy-Sims, canon to the ordinary for the partnership dioceses. “Once the roots of our faith take hold, this faith of ours stops being a noun and it starts being a…
