This past Wednesday, I began the season of Lent with ashes by engaging in the nearly 2-decade old taking-it-to-the-streets practice of “Ashes to Go.” While most of those who drove or walked up were parishioners or Roman Catholic neighbors who could not be at an Ash Wednesday service for one reason or another, the encounters…
Hello everyone. My name is Susan Woods. I’m a members of the Bishop’s Search Committee from Good Shepherd, Buffalo and of the WNY and NWPA Commission to Dismantle Racism and Discrimination. I was part of the Profile information gathering group. Thank you all for sharing your ideas at the Convention conversations, in the many listening…
To view the video presentation of this letter, CLICK HERE A letter to our fellow Americans,We, the undersigned bishops of The Episcopal Church, write today out of grief, righteous anger, and steadfast hope. What happened a week ago in Minnesota and is happening in communities across the country runs counter to God’s vision of justice…
February is the month in which we begin the church season of Lent and our walk with Jesus to Jerusalem and the cross. It is also the month that civically, and as people of faith, we observe Black History Month. This year is the 50th celebration of Black History Month, a commemoration that has been…
Back in December, the woman who cleans the Ministry Center discovered a fox curled up beside the building in the courtyard, apparently deciding that our property was just the right place for a winter nap. For days afterward, the staff at the Center—mostly Canon Cathy—became entirely, unapologetically obsessed. Naturally, the fox was given a name:…
Note: The Missioner for Youth and Children, Wendy Schumacher and Canon Cathy are aware that the name of this event has upset some people. Please read the article below to see what these gatherings mean to the young adults in our midst and let’s work together to understand that this is not an alcohol focused…
The warming center at Christ Episcopal Church welcomed five people last night, another bitter cold day. Three of those people are unhoused without a place to stay and two others lost their electricity from the powerful winds yesterday and wanted a warm place for the night. The Clarendon fire station also opened as a warming…
With the holidays approaching, it is more important now than ever to be in tune with ourcommunity and the people surrounding us. To be a human is to have relationships with thosehumans around us, and that is ever present in a spiritual context within a diocese such as ourown.On Saturday December 6th, the new bishop…
The Episcopal Diocese of Western New York has launched a newly revitalized Diocesan Property Committee, which held its first meeting on December 2, 2025. This committee has been formed to help the diocese and its congregations faithfully steward the many sacred buildings entrusted to our care—spaces that hold our history, shape our present ministry, and offer tremendous…
Over the past several months, the work of the Bishop Search Committee has quietly—but steadily—moved into high gear. What began as a wide-ranging season of listening has now become a deep, prayerful effort to understand who the Diocese of Western New York truly is in this moment, and what kind of episcopal leadership will help…
About 15 years ago, the former All Saints Church in Amherst merged with St. Mark’s Church in Buffalo’s Riverside neighborhood, leaving the diocese with an unused church building. Rather than let it sit vacant, a group of Episcopalians in recovery began to dream. What if this space could become a home for healing? A place…
Bishop Steve and Canon Cathy visited Holy Apostles’ Perry and Trinity Warsaw on Sunday, November 16, where they learned about a heart-warming ice cream contest that took place in Wyoming County this past spring. What began as a fun community activity revealed an unexpected—and very Christ-like—act of generosity from two local third graders. Each year,…
