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From Bishop Steve
Dear Ones,
I want to begin by thanking all of you for your participation in the listening sessions currently being held by the Search and Nomination Committee. We have nearly 100% participation, and the conversations have been frank and helpful. We are being honest about the situations in our parishes, transparent about our needs and concerns, and clear about what we want going forward. The overall impact is one of encouragement for the Transition Process. So, thank you for leaning in to the listening sessions.
I’ve been reading and reflecting on the situations of our churches. All of the various denominations in the United States were built on notions of stability and growth. The denominations spread across the landscape, moving west with the population. Large church edifices were built as monuments to the glory of God and were expected to be filled with growing numbers of believers. Especially in the years after World War II, with our rapidly expanding population, those expectations seemed realistic. A large, permanent corps of clergy was deemed necessary, and church leaders established educational requirements for professional clergy. People entered ordained ministry with the expectation of a career path and a pension in retirement. All denominations adopted General Motors’ corporate model, with local franchises, regional management structures, and national organizations. We find ourselves now with denominations created by those expectations.
Historians tell us, however, that stability with growth is a rare commodity. The conditions that make it possible appear for a time in various places, but changes in the population or the economy or in relationships with other nations and cultures eventually cause the stability to weaken and force society to adapt. Church observers have been saying for some time now that we are in such times.
The Body of Christ has endured for more than two millennia. I believe with all my heart that the Church will continue to endure and will even flourish in the old ways in some places. But the landscape is changing and that requires of us both faithfulness and flexibility: faithfulness in worship and ministry and flexibility in the ways in which we organize for worship and ministry. Faithfulness and flexibility will be required at every level of our church. The Presiding Bishop has begun streamlining and adapting our churchwide structures, and we will need to do the same where we are.
Thank you for your faithfulness and flexibility. Thank you for helping us all to adapt to the times we’re in. Thank you for trusting that following Jesus will help us find new ways to worship and minister. God is faithful, and I believe our faithfulness will bear much fruit.
Much love,
Bishop Steve
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Bishop Search Update
"We Meet": Listening Sessions Continue Across the Diocese
Bishop Provisional Stephen Lane reflected last week on what makes Anglican decision-making distinct: we meet. (View the July 8th Article) The listening sessions underway across the diocese are that same instinct in practice —the slow, prayerful work of gathering perspectives so that whoever leads next is chosen with the full Body's discernment behind them.
Sessions have now been held in 19 congregations, including St. Paul's in Angola, whose members describe their small, close-knit parish as "small but mighty" and, among numerous other outreach ministries, works with a local partner’s food pantry; St. Matthias' in East Aurora, which runs a twice-monthly Pet Food Pantry for families across the region; Trinity in Lancaster, whose food pantry serves 350 families in four communities; and St. Philip's in Buffalo, which grounds its ministry in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s concept of "Beloved Community," and offers a Wednesday food pantry. READ MORE
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Sleep Away Camp 2026
Two Weeks Remaining for Registration!
Summer Camp is a long-standing tradition in the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, and we are delighted to share that planning is underway for this year’s camp.
Sleep Away Camp will be held August 9–12 at the Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center in Bemus Point. Camp is open to all youth currently in 2nd through 12th grade, and campers will be divided into three groups based on grade level to ensure age-appropriate programming and activities.
Registration
To register a camper, REGISTER HERE
by July 31st.
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Regional Confirmations
Regional confirmations have been scheduled for Saturday, November 21 at 10:30am at St Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo.
The Rt. Rev. Stephen T. Lane (Bishop Provisional of WNY) is presiding.
Please refer to the diocese's REGIONAL CONFIRMATION CUSTOMARY for guidelines to participate.
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Bishop Bill... In the News
The Living Church recently highlighted the instrumental role played by The Rt. Rev. R. William Franklin in bringing Great Awakenings—a new concert opera charting the democratic legacy of 19th-century church leader John Henry Hobart—to the stage.
The article details how Franklin, the former bishop of Western New York and current assisting bishop of Long Island, has written extensively on Hobart and championed the musical production at Trinity Church Wall Street to mark America’s 250th anniversary. The opera captures Hobart’s pioneering effort to establish an inclusive church structured around the democratic ideals of a young nation...READ MORE
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Episcopal News Service
Stay informed on everything in the wider Church by visiting and/or subscribing to the Episcopal News Service (ENS).
ENS WEBSITE
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Episcopal Church in Cuba Request
One of the six dioceses which comprises Province II (of which we are a member), The Episcopal Church in Cuba is in URGENT need of donations to the General Fund to sustain them.
The people are facing extreme food insecurity. Electricity is sporadic – often only a couple of hours a day – so they are unable to refrigerate, cook or cool their homes during this hot humid season. Most Cubans have unsafe drinking water -- when it is pumped to their homes.
The Episcopal Church in Cuba has been doing everything in its power to help ease the suffering of the people – by providing community meals, clean safe water, solar powered electricity, and community through prayer.
But now the church in Cuba is in peril. Recent sanctions on banking transactions have prevented the US Episcopal Church from transferring the church operating budget for the past year, so there is no money left to support and sustain the church. No money for salaries, for food programs, for water programs, for solar programs or for any other general expenses. The Friends of the Episcopal Church in Cuba – all of you - have been the sole lifeline for the Cuban church. Through your generosity, we have delivered over $100,000 directly to enable the Church to keep paying the clergy and staff, funding food programs, and purchasing solar panels for powering the churches and water purification systems. Additional support is being sent directly by US Companion parishes in the form of online food deliveries, medicines, shelf stable food items, solar lamps, and portable generators.
We ask that you give generously and urgently so that The Friends of the Episcopal Church in Cuba – all of you – can enable the Church to survive – until the US Episcopal Church finds a way to transfer funds to Cuba.
We do accept donations through Paypal on our website, but checks are preferred. Please send checks payable to FECC to:
Rev. Mark Pendleton
Treasurer, FECC
218 Post Road
Greenland NH 03840
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.
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Prayer for the Bishop Search
Gracious God, we give thanks for your loving care for the people of the Diocese of WNY and the members of the Bishop’s Search and Transition Committees. Give us wisdom and understanding as we discern your will. We
ask for the gifts of honesty, to speak the truth in love; openness to the gifts and ideas of others and to the Holy Spirit; and willingness, to see your Light shining among us and on the path ahead. Prepare for our Diocese a bishop who will be a faithful pastor, and equip us for the ministries to which we are
called in these changing times. Help us to love and serve your world and one another in the Spirit of Christ, trusting in you to be our steadfast helper and guide; let us pray to the Lord. AMEN.
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Ordination Anniversaries
The Rev. Jerry Hilfiker: July 16
The Rev. Rosaleen Nogle: July 16
The Rev. Robert Harvey: July 17
We give you thanks, almighty and gracious God, that you have blessed us with their ministry, and we pray that they may continue to exemplify in word and deed the Gospel of your Son. Amen
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ECF Vital Practices
Did you know that the Episcopal Church Foundation offers a comprehensive and holistic resource that helps vitalize Episcopal faith communities? Vital Practices offers vestry members and other people of faith, resources and tools to respond to the changing needs of the Church. Building upon the spiritually grounded, practical Vestry Papers articles that have inspired and informed vestry members since 1995, Vital Practices uses the Internet to both expand its offering and its audience.
Vital Practices explores new ways of supporting congregations by building online communities of Episcopalians who share their stories, experiences, and best practices, who learn from one another, and who discover support to help sustain their leadership and their ministries. It includes articles by experts and peers, blogs for sharing ideas about faith and leadership, stories about real life lessons of change and leadership, tools for stewardship, communications, and opportunities for you to share your stories and examples.
To learn more, CLICK HERE
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Love Rising Ministry
As Love Rising celebrates its seventh year of bringing people together in mid-July to intentionally create more caring communities, this year's events invited participants to explore the theme of hope—how we choose it, nurture it together, and share it through acts of kindness and community.
Love Rising began in 2020 when a small group of volunteers from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Burt sought a positive response to a season marked by the pandemic, social unrest, and deep social divisions. Rather than focusing on what separated people, organizers invited neighbors to spend part of July 15th reflecting on their place within the community and considering how they could contribute to a more peaceful and welcoming world.
What started as a single day of reflection has steadily grown into a community-wide movement... READ MORE
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The Generosity of Neighbors
St. Peter's, Eggertsville has a Blessing Box ministry, an outdoor non-perishable food pantry. One day after I stocked the box a woman came up to me with a bag of groceries to donate. I gladly accepted the boxes of cereal and other very helpful items. She told me she is pregnant and on WIC assistance, but couldn't eat all the food she could get each month. Instead of buying what she wanted and having a party for her friends and family, she sacrificed and bought what she felt would be helpful to her neighbors.
It is true: people who know what it is to go without are the most generous of all when others are in need.
Carlene Boisaubin
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Chicken-n-Baskets
A joint fundraiser for St. Andrew's, Burt & St. Paul's, Lewiston will be held at St. Andrew's on July 25 from 2-6pm with a portion of the proceeds donated to charitable organizations.
Chicken Dinners are Eat-in or Take-out
Adults: $18, Child: $9, Dinner for Two: $25
Multiple Baskets and high-end items with tickets being drawn at 6pm. Win a 70" TV to watch the Bills!
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Special Guest Preacher
St. Paul's, Stafford - Join us on July 26 at 9am along with our special guest, The Rev Dr. Kevin Goodrich.
Fr. Goodrich will preach at our worship service and then engage in time of coffee and conversation with all in attendance. Learn about Dominicans in The Episcopal
Church, The Christian Mystics, and more.
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Blood Drive
Good Shepherd, Buffalo - Donate blood on July 27 from 3-7pm.
All donors will receive a Delta Sonic gift card.
All donors will be registered to win a pair of Buffalo Bill pre-season tickets at the new stadium.
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Friday Concert
St. Peter’s, Eggertsville - Looking for a source of entertainment for the dog days of
Summer? Try your Diocesan Ministry Center on August 14 from 7-10pm with Saving Waves.
The folks at St. Peter’s Eggertsville, as part of their Capital Campaign, are offering a night of music entertainment for your
listening pleasure (and dancing if the music so moves you). Bonus: Father Dan Pinti of St. Peter’s is one of the band members!
Save $5 per ticket by ordering tickets ONLINE by August 7. We’d love to see you there.
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