SUNDAY, MARCH 1

Worship this Sunday: 10:15 am

• View or download the bulletin for this Sunday

• Read the lessons here

• Watch the livestream on Facebook or YouTube

Lent at St. Paul's

Center City Lent Series 

Please note change in locations

A number of churches in the Central Erie Deanery will be coming together again this year for a joint Lenten study. This program will be in-person only (no hybrid).

This year's series will be Unbound: Seeking the Freedom of God’s Love. Together, we will follow Jesus through the wilderness and into the heart of the Empire. Along the way, we’ll wrestle with what it means to be truly free: to remove our masks, reject false power, center the excluded, accept God’s love, and choose life even in the shadow of darkness and despair. We’ll meet characters like Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the man born blind, and Lazarus, and explore how Jesus invites each of them – and us – to step into the light to claim life abundant.

We will meet on Wednesday evenings from 5-7pm, enjoy a light Lenten supper of soup and bread, and discuss the week's reflection from the series. The schedule is:

• Feb 25: St. Philip's
• March 4: St Mark and All Saints
• March 11: Trinity, Delaware 
• March 25: St. Paul's Cathedral
• April 1: St. John's Grace

St. Paul's Lenten Bible Study

On Tuesday evenings, Dean Rebecca will lead a study on the Gospel of John. The program will be on the Cathedral Zoom page from 7-8:30pm on 2/24, 3/3, 3/10, 317, 3/24, and a final session on Easter Tuesday, 4/7. We will look at an overview of the "Fourth Gospel" while giving greater attention to the readings that from the Gospel that are part of the Lenten and Holy Week Lectionary. (If you are unable to attend the Wednesday evening Center City Lent sessions in Buffalo, this will be a good alternative.) For more information, please contact Dean Rebecca at deanrebecca@spcbuffalo.org

2026 Holy Week and Easter Services at St. Paul’s

SUNDAY, MARCH 29

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday

8:00am - Spoken Eucharist, Richmond Chapel

10:15am - Solemn Choral Eucharist

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1

Wednesday in Holy Week

12:05pm - The Holy Eucharist with Healing, Oratory Chapel

THURSDAY, APRIL 2

Maundy Thursday

7:00pm - The Holy Eucharist with Foot Washing

The Night Watch to follow

FRIDAY, APRIL 3

Good Friday

12:05pm - Stations of the Cross

7:00pm - Liturgy of the Day

Confession will be available following the Liturgy

SATURDAY, APRIL 4

The Great Vigil of Easter

8:00pm

SUNDAY, APRIL 5

The Sunday of the Resurrection

10:15am - Festival Holy Eucharist with Choir & Brass Ensemble

Cathedral Communications

Each week, the Cathedral sends out an email by Constant Contact that contains our weekly newsletter, as well as the service leaflet and lessons for Sunday, and the livestream link. We also use this email list to notify the parish of special events, and cancellations. 

When we had to postpone the Annual Meeting a couple weeks ago due to inclement weather, some members were unaware as they did not received an email. We regret that this happened, as we sent the email out at 10:30AM on Saturday, and also posted the information on the Cathedral Facebook and Instagram pages at 8:30AM. If you did not receive a notification, it may be that you haven't signed up for the weekly email, or your address may need to be updated. I encourage all of you to sign up for the weekly email, and also to check out our Facebook page which contains a lot of information about events at the Cathedral, as well as from across the church (FYI, you do not have to sign up for Facebook to look at the Cathedral page). To sign up for the weekly email, please go to the cathedral website (https://www.spcbuffalo.org/) and click on the newsletter page. Should you need assistance, please contact Teresa Carter, Administrator at office@spcbuffalo.org

Also please note, there is a Cathedral calendar on the first page of our website. Click on the Google calendar for a listing of all current and upcoming events at St. Paul's.

- Dean Rebecca

Parish Leadership Day

The diocese will hold a Parish Leadership Day on March 7 at the Diocesan Ministry Center.

9-10am: Overview for new wardens and new vestry members

10am-3pm: Group presentations and breakout sessions for all parish leaders

As there will be multiple sessions, we recommend at least TWO members from each congregation to attend. We encourage all lay leaders to attend...warden, vestry member, treasurer, and all other lay leaders.

Lunch will be included as part of the day. Please REGISTER so that we have an accurate count for planning purposes.

Children’s Christian Education: “Godly Play”

St. Paul’s offers “Godly Play: is a Montessori-based program on Sundays at 10am in the Bishop Scaife Room on the lower level of the Cathedral. Making meaning through story, wonder, and play, the program nurtures spiritual lives by honoring the centrality, competency, and capacity of children.

Prayer and Pastoral Care

We lift up the following in prayer especially Mariann and Tom, Roger, Elle & Reid, Vivian, Linda, Alex, Clark, Geri, Dominic, Lisa and family, Andrea, Byron, Chris, Joe, Lori, Larry, Carol, Renee, Sharon, Elaine, Anne, Jim, Judy, and Shirley. We also remember all those who have died, especially James, Nurul, and those whose anniversaries of death we mark this week. We pray for them and their loved ones who remember them.

ACROSS THE DIOCESE AND THE CHURCH

Letter from the Bishop: Temptation

Beloved in Christ,

A week ago, at the Transfiguration, we heard God repeat the words first spoken at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.” This past Sunday, Jesus’ baptismal identity was affirmed again. The temptations in the Lent 1 Gospel follow immediately upon Jesus’ baptism, and they are aimed directly at his baptismal identity.

Reinhold Niebuhr, the 20th century Neo-orthodox theologian and public ethicist, noted that it is at the times of humanity’s greatest achievements that sin creeps in. He was speaking particularly about nuclear research and the atom bomb. We have plumbed the secrets of the atom, and what have we produced? A horrifying weapon of mass destruction. Niebuhr thought that progressive theologians were weak in their understanding of how sin works in human beings. It is not the obvious vices that are the real problem: greed, gluttony, theft, murder – we’re all pretty clear about those. Rather it is in the places of strength, where pride and self-righteousness creep in, that sin can take root.

So, with Jesus. The devil, who is perhaps a personification of human nature, says, “Well, Beloved of God, let me suggest some ways you can use your relationship.” Feed the poor. Many of the poor in the Empire suffer from chronic hunger. You’ll be a hero. Impress us with your invulnerability. If you feed the poor and show you are indestructible, Rome doesn’t stand a chance. Look, you can be the ruler of the whole world. Except, as Satan notes, if you do so, you will be worshiping me, not God.

So, too, with us. It’s so easy to make what I do and what I want and need to be the focus for all my thinking and actions. So easy to make my perspective, my point of view, to be the guiding principle for decision-making. How difficult to make room for another focus, another perspective!

Jesus, in the security of his baptismal identity, keeps returning to God. It’s not that bread is unimportant. We know that Jesus feeds the poor. It’s just that life and bread come from God. And it’s not that life should not continue eternally. It’s simply that eternity belongs not only to Jesus, but to all through God. And it’s not that the nations shouldn’t be ruled by God. It’s just that such glory should come, not through power, but by serving God. Jesus keeps directing Satan back to God, pushing him back to the one in whom he, Jesus, is rooted. He tries to turn Satan around, to repent of his pride and his power.

And that is perhaps a primary task for us in Lent: to take a look at those things that pump us up, the things that we feel we do well, and to ask if we are using our strengths and our gifts to serve God and our neighbors. Or are we making ourselves the center, taking care of business in a way that benefits ourselves and not the community around us?

The Good News for us is that we are embraced and held fast by Christ and our struggles take place in the frame of his love and grace. Perfection is beyond our grasp, but love and forgiveness cover us. The task we face is to place our needs and wants before God and to seek God’s peace, to grow in faith and love. We need to know ourselves and how temptation affects us. And with that knowledge, we need to join Christ in serving God rather than only ourselves.

+Steve

Service of Reconciliation, Truth-telling and Healing

The Commission to Dismantle Racism & Discrimination invites you to join us Thursday, February 26 at 5pm for a virtual Service of Reconciliation, Truth-telling and Healing. 

In these days when we witness fear, cruelty and inhumanity in our nation and globally, we come together in prayer for strength and resilience. All are welcome!

To join the virtual service, contact Susan Woods (Sew13@cornell.edu) for the zoom link.

LGBTQ+ Task Force Invites Survey Input 

Episcopalians are invited to complete a 15- to 20-minute survey offered by the Task Force on LGBTQ+ Inclusion to help the church better understand how it honors the dignity of all people and where work remains to be done.

The 80th General Convention established the task force in 2022, charging it with conducting an audit of how The Episcopal Church has lived into its public commitments affirming the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people. A survey report will be shared with the 82nd General Convention in 2027.

Members across the church—those who are LGBTQ+ and those who are not—are encouraged to share about their experiences with pastoral care, sacramental access, representation in leadership, and institutional accountability by March 15.

TAKE THE SURVEY

Our Little Roses, Honduran Luncheon

Calvary, Williamsville & Church of the Advent, Kenmore - Join us on March 14 at Calvary to benefit the girls at Our Little Roses, Honduras.

Doors open at 11:30am for the Basket Raffle, 50/50, & Honduran sale items. Lunch begins at 1pm.

Tickets are $30 each (pre-sale only and limited to 110 tickets). Call/text or Venmo to Kathy Barton at 716-534-1498 before March 1 to reserve. Please make checks payable to: Church of the Advent, with Honduran Luncheon in the memo line.

Do You Know?? A periodic article about things you may not know…

Do you know that approximately 80% of our diocesan budget is funded by congregations paying their Full Share? That means the overwhelming majority of what allows the Diocese to function — support clergy, resource congregations, form leaders, and sustain common ministry — comes directly from the faithful participation of our parishes.

Do you know that the Diocese pays a 15% Full Share to The Episcopal Church — while requesting only 13% from our congregations? The Diocese is not simply passing along an assessment; it is absorbing a portion of that cost as part of its commitment to the wider Church.

Do you know that the flat-tax Full Share model was voted on and adopted by the Diocesan Convention in 2012? This was not imposed externally; it was discerned and approved by the gathered leadership of the Diocese.

And do you know that Full Share is calculated by a clear, objective formula? It is based on the figures each congregation reports in its Parochial Report, specifically Line 3 (Plate and Pledge) and Line 5 (Total Operating Income) on page 5 of the report. The numbers congregations submit determine the assessment — ensuring consistency and transparency across the Diocese.

Full Share is not a fee for services. It is a shared commitment — a tangible expression that we belong to one another and that our ministry is larger than any single congregation.



More to come in future editions of Do You Know?

Episcopal Diocese of WNY and Church News

• For news about the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, and to sign up for emailed newsletters, go here.

• The Episcopal Church website offers resources for individuals, congregations, and various ministries.