Thanks to a collaborative relationship with Together We Can Venango County, the partnership’s Commission to Dismantle Racism and Discrimination is supporting students and teachers at Oil City High School who are working to create a more inclusive community. The Rev. Mark Elliston, vicar of Christ Church, Oil City, and Dr. Joseph Croskey, a longtime member…
At St. Peter’s, Westfield, the generous donation of a new refrigerator has jump-started a renovation of the parish’s commercial kitchen — the first since the Truman administration — and a once-dormant feeding ministry. After the death of Margaret Beckman, a longtime parish member, her sons asked the Rev. Deacon Pat Guinn to suggest a gift…
Last week, Bishop Sean and 22 people from the diocesan partnership traveled to Alabama to visit key sites from the Civil Rights Movement and learn about the history of racism and racial violence. Organizers hope the journey will become a regular pilgrimage for people from our dioceses. The Rev. Kim Rossi of St. Stephen’s, Olean,…
“I remember Bishop Sean saying, ‘take that leap and build your wings on the way down.’ That’s what we’re trying to do.” –Cheryl Mumford, Our Saviour, DuBois Church of Our Saviour, DuBois, recently collected and distributed 20 bags full of personal care items such as soap, toothbrushes, pens, writing tablets, and hand and toe warmers,…
Last autumn, the Balanovych family arrived in western New York as wartime refugees from the northwestern Ukrainian city of Rivne and began building a new life. Thanks to the generosity of a relative, and a little help from St. Peter’s, Eggertsville and St. James, Batavia, they have succeeded so well that, this autumn, the Balanovyches…
For most of its 120-year history, the congregation at Church of the Good Shepherd has known that there are unmarked graves within and around their cemetery, which is the burial site of hundreds of Native American Episcopalians. “There was simply a lack of funds for markers,” said the Rev. Roland Cooper, Good Shepherd’s priest. Thanks…
In July and August, Good Shepherd, Buffalo opened its doors to welcome Dr. Carolyn Coles Benton’s Girls Leadership of Buffalo Aspiring Learners or GLOBAL Academy. The summer mentoring program, designed to foster identity, self-confidence, composure and caring in girls age 5 to 13, enrolled eight girls who met twice weekly during the summer months. “Girls today…
The Rev. Luke Fodor, rector of St. Luke’s, Jamestown, gave a bit of his Easter Vigil sermon in Spanish this year, and a bit in Swahili, too. These languages are not frequently heard at the same church service in the rural southwestern corner of New York, but the city is beginning to welcome refugees and…
As Episcopalians across the partnership dioceses seek ways to dismantle racism and discrimination, many are discovering that the region is home to important sites in the history of the Underground Railroad, the nineteenth century network that aided enslaved people as they escaped and fled north and to Canada. Earlier this year, more than 50 members…
On the fourth Sunday evening of each month, an ecumenical group of Christians gathers around tables in the parish hall of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Holley, NY. Some members come early for Eucharist; others join afterward, in time for a discussion about a book or article they have all read. Some are Episcopalians, while others…
It’s a constant challenge for Sunday School teachers: how do you keep kids engaged when the demands of school, sports, and parents’ work schedules mean that many families don’t attend church every week? At Trinity, Fredonia, the answer since 2018 has been Godly Play, a formation program for children that can work especially well for…
When the Rev. Bonnie Morris became priest-in-charge at Church of the Advent in Kenmore last year, one of the first things she noticed was a bulletin board featuring updates about the congregation’s work with Our Little Roses a ministry in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, that provides housing, and education for girls who have survived poverty, neglect…
