Proper 23 – Sunday, October 15 | |
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In the past week, as we have watched the news coming from Gaza and Israel, the only response we may be able to fathom is to cry out. Such cries are captured in the prayer above, by Bishop Deon Johnson of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. The atrocities and devastation, geographically far away, can also feel distant and disconnected from us. We watch in horror, yet we are able to walk away from our screens, insulated by miles and borders and our own sense of safety. Many I have heard from this week have felt connections through the specific location of the unfolding violence. The horrors come with cries for the place: the Holy Land, destination of pilgrimage, area of sacred sites for the Abrahamic faiths, the birthplace of Christianity. How could it be? Yet all places of war and devastation are holy, where God is present with the fears and fragility of the innocents, the most vulnerable. These are holy places which see the depths of pain, the weeping and mourning, the binding up of wounds. These are holy places breaking open with the cries for God’s peace, which the world cannot seem to give. We are not distant. We are not estranged from loss, we are not set apart from the atrocities of war. We share the same holy land, in the same humanity which inhabits it. “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace,” the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem reminded us this week, referencing 1 Corinthians 14:33. This is our common, holy place – to be at peace. Let us join in the prayers, the cries. Let us strive to learn, to reach for understanding, to work for peace. May we live each day with recognition that we stand together on holy ground, connected with one another beyond all perceived distance, as God’s holy people. Twila+
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Resources from the Episcopal Church and Anglican Leaders
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Funeral for Heather Moden Jones
The funeral for Heather Moden Jones, who was active at St. Paul’s with her family for many years before moving to Michigan, is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, October 28. Please keep her son Ian and daughter Meredith, and their families, in prayer.
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Garden of Love: Sorting Saturday
10 a.m. this Saturday at the Ministry Center – bring donations
Another “Sorting Saturday” is coming up and the Garden of Love can benefit from your donations and helping hands. On Saturdays, about once a month, volunteers gather to sort through donations and prepare them on racks for distribution at the weekly Garden of Love, 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays. We are in need of seasonal donations for cool/cold weather, especially items for men: jackets and coats, long pants/jeans, fleece, long-sleeved knits, flannel, walking shoes and boots, and fall/winter accessories. Blankets are also needed. Please be sure all items are clean and washable. In addition to support for people who live in downtown Buffalo, our location means that we also serve many who are in times of transition and some who are unhoused. Bring donations on Saturday, 10-12, or to the church on Sunday mornings. For additional delivery times, contact the church office.
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Godly Play This Sunday
Children may join in a special time of learning and exploration of Godly Play during the 10:15 a.m. service with Wendy Schumacher, the missioner for Children and Youth in our Diocesan Partnership. Children join their families in “big church” at the Peace. Wendy will also offer a brief time for families after worship, so that parents and older siblings can be involved in this Montessori-based approach to faith. The Godly Play room is located on the lower level of the church, at the edge of the Walker Room.
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United Thank Offering – This Sunday
The Cathedral will observe the United Thank Offering Ingathering this Sunday, at both services. As you count your blessings, please be generous with your offering. You can also give online from the Cathedral website. Our offering will be presented with that of other congregations in the Partnership at Diocesan Convention, October 20-21 in Erie. The United Thank Offering is a ministry of mission, at work since the late 1800s, and all of the funds go to support innovative missions across the Episcopal Church and throughout the Anglican Communion. UTO prayer books and offering envelopes are available at the back of the church. Judy Elliott is the Cathedral leader serving as our liaison for this important, church-wide ministry.
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Worship Through the Week
Sundays – All are invited for in-person worship, at 8 a.m. in the Richmond Chapel (side chapel, main level) and 10:15 a.m. Sundays.
• This week’s worship bulletin is here and you may read the lessons here (Track 2 options)
• Between worship services on Sundays – 9 a.m. in the Walker Room (lower level): coffee, conversation, and study of scripture for the week. Each week brings a fresh set of lessons, so stop by anytime – no pre-reading required.
• Watch the livestream of the 10:15 service at SPCBuffalo.org/livestream or Facebook or YouTube (past Livestreams are easy to find on YouTube).
• Vestry meets this week, following the 10:15 worship service, in the Walker Room.
Wednesdays – Evening Prayer at 5:30 p.m. in the Chancel Quire (near the high altar), beginning with organ music. The service lasts about a half hour and commemorates feasts and other occasions of significance in the life of the Church.
Thursdays – Holy Eucharist at 12:05 p.m. in the Oratory Chapel (upper level of the church, near the pulpit). As with Evening Prayer, we celebrate feasts and other occasions of the Church in this mid-day, mid-week service. This week’s service will be led by Phil Cunningham and will be “ante-communion,” using the propers for a church convention.
On Social Media – Follow the Cathedral on Instagram (spcbuffalo) and Facebook for prayers and devotions through the week.
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Diocesan Partnership Convention This Week
Convention meets in Erie, PA – Friday and Saturday
Learn more about the Diocesan Convention on the partnership website. Our delegates, Reid and Elle Heffner, will be commissioned at the 10:15 a.m. worship service this Sunday. In addition to worship, business sessions, and presentations, Bishop Ian Douglas and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, lead evaluators for the evaluation of the partnership between the dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York, will present the proposed evaluation format and gather feedback. You can learn more about that process here. Convention also includes the election of leaders for governance of the dioceses and partnership. Michael Bonilla, Cathedral warden, is a nominee for the Standing Committee of WNY and Cathedral member Chris Casto, on our finance committee, is a nominee for the Trustees. This year’s outreach collection is for (new) adult-sized hats and socks, to be distributed through an Erie Episcopal-based collaboration with the Charter School of Excellence, as well as for an area homeless shelter.
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Stewardship
From Michael Bonilla, warden and chair of Stewardship
In my last stewardship message, I wrote about one of the reasons that people will give to the church and that was fiscal stability. Another reason that a person will give to the church is if he or she believes in the church’s mission. All organizations from business to government to the church have a mission. Much of what happens in the business world revolves around the selling of various and sundry products. If consumers, buy these products and are happy with them, then, business, has fulfilled its principal mission. Government too, has a mission: to create and sustain a safe and equitable society through the passage of laws and regulations. Given the division and chaos now going on
in the nation’s capital, I think it best to not delve too deeply into the question of whether the government is fulfilling its mission.
St. Paul’s Cathedral has a mission and for the most part it is the same as the church at large: to better the lives of human beings by following the pattern that was given to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ. I believe that if you look around this cathedral you will see that we are fulfilling that mission. What is the evidence? The Garden of Love which weekly provides food and clothing to those with way less than we have and our homeless friends in Cathedral Park. The Social Justice Action team providing assistance to refugees and our own brethren in the church in Irving, New York, is another good example. Perhaps you, yourself, have been the recipient of a visit from our Pastoral Care team when you or a family member was incapacitated or hospitalized. Have you been listening to our weekly “witnesses” over the last two weeks? If so, I believe that is more than ample proof for a fulfillment of mission. So, the stewardship question is: How can you, through your financial commitment to St Paul’s for 2024, help ensure that this cathedral will continue to be true to its mission?
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Case Glee Club Concert next Sunday
Free concert at 4 p.m. – offering benefits our downtown outreach
The Case Glee Club will perform a concert called Glory! at the Cathedral, 4 p.m. next Sunday, October 22. The Case Glee Club holds the distinction of being the oldest continually operating student organization at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland), dating back to 1897. This group will perform a variety of accompanied and a cappella repertoire, South African pieces, barbershop favorites, and sacred and secular works written specifically for tenor, baritone, and bass voices. For more information about the ensemble, visit https://case.edu/artsci/music/ensembles/case-glee-club.
There is no cost to attend. A “love offering” will be gratefully received to support outreach efforts in downtown Buffalo.
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SJAT Note: Drug Addiction Resources
From Jessy Alexander for the Social Justice Action Team
Drug overdose has moved from fiction books and movies to an epidemic America is facing today. Overdose deaths is a rising problem, with 92 cases of overdose confirmed in Erie county by March of this year, which is double that seen in the same period in 2022. Dr. Gale Burnstein, commissioner of health, said that most of the overdose deaths occurred at home or in close vicinity. We cannot be silent as this epidemic takes its toll. The White House emphasizes harm reduction, which means treating this as a disease and with no judgment or criticism, giving access to clean needles, fentanyl test strips, and naloxone. Clean needles help reduce the spread of disease. Fentanyl test strips enable drug users to check if the opioid they are about to consume will shut down breathing without any delay. Naloxone is a drug that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. The bipartisan FEND Off Fentanyl Act bill and the HALT Fentanyl Act legislation will help go after drug cartels and distributors, thereby reducing fentanyl overdoses. Whenever the opportunity arises, speak to the users, give them the information that can help and protect them:
1. Buffalo and Erie county addiction hotline: 716-831-7007.
2. Narcan will be mailed to you for free – text 716-225-5473 and learn how to use it.
3. Test the substance before use: Procure free test strips from Erie County Dept. of Health at 716-858-7695.
4. Free resources from ECDOH can be obtained online or by calling 716-858-7695.
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“Cathedraling” Today: Formation
Meeting October 22 in the Walker Room, after the 10:15 a.m. Worship Service
We have now had two sessions in our series of conversations on what it means to be the Cathedral today and these are helping us clarify a picture of who the Cathedral is today and the next best steps for the future. Led by the Dean, this is an opportunity to hear from one another about aspects of our life together as St. Paul’s Cathedral and to discern new ways to connect. Last Sunday we focused on service – ways we currently serve out in the community – and what we see as areas of particular intention. This included direct service, such as through the Garden of Love and Social Justice Action Team. From what is already happening, ideas emerged for possible new uses of the multipurpose room of the ministry center, on the first floor. While we will glean reflections from these for the upcoming search process, these are designed to help us learn and discern together about who we are – how we are living into our baptismal vows and the mission of the Church – and the work God is up to among us. Leaders have committed to being involved in these conversations, to hear what people are seeing and experiencing in the Cathedral and their lives today, out in the world. Come and be part of these important conversations for our present and future! Questions? Contact Dean Twila.
• Upcoming sessions will meet in the Walker Room (lower level of the Cathedral) following our usual time of coffee and conversation after the 10:15 worship service.
October 22 – Formation
October 29 – Community
November 5 – Worship
November 12 – Who We Are
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WEDNESDAY EVENING PRAYER
Weekday liturgies include Evening Prayer in the Chancel Quire (near the high altar) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Holy Eucharist at 12:05 p.m. Thursdays in the Oratory Chapel (by the Magi painting). Both services observe feasts and occasions of the Church and last about a half hour. Come for a mid-week “reset,” in the peace of the Cathedral.
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Prayer and Pastoral Care
We lift up the following in prayer: Michelle, Amirah, Martha, Leonard, Leann, Josephine, David, Billy, Holly, Deacon Mick, Margaret, Betty Lou, Linda, Barbara, Len, Dominic, Lenny, David, Judy, Michael, Heather, Gail, Rob, Galen, Elaine, Viola, Albert, John, Lindsay, Sharon, Allen, Renee, Shirley, Joni, Jim and Judy, Andrea, Don, Bob and Carol, Sue, and Rachel. We remember Heather Moden Jones, who died this week, and those in the life of the Cathedral who have died in years past – including Leroy Poole, Sandra Maiwald, Madeline Rundle, Melinda Poole Almeter – and their loved ones who remember them.
• If you have requests to add to the weekly Prayers of the People or a name to add for the prayers of clergy and the Pastoral Care Team, please email prayerrequests.
• If you know someone in need of pastoral care, please contact Judy Elliott or Canon Barbara Price.
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Diocesan Partnership and Church News
• See the Diocesan Partnership newsletter here.
• For more news about the Dioceses of WNY and NWPA and to sign up for emailed newsletters, go here.
• The Episcopal Church website offers resources for individuals, congregations, and various ministries.
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If you are with a group meeting on Zoom,
use the following link, unless specified otherwise:
Meeting ID: 716 855 0900 Password: 4cathedral
By Phone: 929-205-6099 Access code: 716 855 0900 Password: 535 007 8352
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St. Paul's Cathedral | 716-855-0900 | 139 Pearl Street, Buffalo, NY 14202
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