Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries.
[1 Corinthians 4:1]
There is no one typical congregation in the Diocese of Western New York. In the city of Buffalo alone, a city of 40 square miles, we have 12 Episcopal parishes, each with a distinct history and mission, ranging in average Sunday attendance from 22 to 230.
Our 62 congregations range from rural churches with an average Sunday attendance of under 20 to urban parishes where about 200 people gather for worship each week. 16 congregations have more than 250 members, 25 are in the 100-250 range, and 21 have fewer than 100 members.
In late 2008 the largest parish in the diocese (with an average Sunday attendance of 510) left  The Episcopal Church to become St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church. This move was neither unexpected nor acrimonious. Only one other church, St Peter's-Forestville (an average Sunday attendance of 2) has initiated plans to leave. The dialogue in congregations about recent General Convention decisions reflects the broad range of views in the national church, and for the most part Episcopalians in Western New York have agreed to disagree. Respondents to our congregational surveys named inclusivity, outreach, and liturgical diversity as the most important features of our Episcopal identity.
Below are profiles of several parishes:
These profiles give a sense of the different faces of the Body of Christ in this region, and of the variety of ways we are practicing new ways of "being church." In reflecting upon these profiles, we are guided by Mark Twain's pronouncement: I don't believe in organized religion-I'm an Episcopalian.
 St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo
The mission of St. Paul's Cathedral is to offer hospitality, healing and hope in the city of Buffalo and the Diocese of Western New York.
St. Paul's is a caring, supportive and warm congregation committed to serving God, one another and the diocesan community. Parishioners characterize the Cathedral as a spiritually encouraging place - full of joyous praise, laughter and love - with worship services that exemplify the beauty of our Anglican tradition and with programs that nurture our spiritual lives. This is accomplished through thoughtful sermons, inspirational music, responsive pastoral care and innovative Christian education for all ages - nursery through seniors. Our diversity offers a unique mix of programs to engage many different groups spiritually in a supportive environment. These offerings include a 20's/30's Group (which recently received a grant from Trinity Wall Street for $20,000 each year for two years), and a Faith Full Families Group (for families with children through age 10). The Cathedral also spearheads a tutoring program for all ages to members of the Liberian Community in Buffalo.
The Cathedral has the obligation to exemplify the full spectrum of forms and styles of worship in the Episcopal Church and to offer the best. St. Paul's music program has maintained excellence for over 140 years and is a primary source of evangelism. In 2008, St. Paul's received the first-ever grant to a North American cathedral choir by the London-based Friends of Cathedral Music. St. Paul's choristers completed a successful choir tour to Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C. in 2009. Previous European tours were very successful as well.
The beauty of the cathedral building, which is a national historic landmark, is also part of our rich legacy. Construction of its current building, designed by the famous architect, Richard Upjohn--who also designed Trinity Church, Wall Street in New York City-- was begun in 1849.
St. Paul's strives to serve in a leadership role among the other 62 congregations of Western New York and to a broader ministry to all who work in the downtown community of Buffalo.
 St. Mark's - LeRoy
St. Mark's is the easternmost parish in the Diocese of Western New York. First formed in 1817, for almost ten years the congregation shared the local schoolhouse with the Baptists and Presbyterians. Bishop Henry Hobart consecrated the first church building in 1827; the current church was built on the site of Upham's Mill and consecrated in 1876.
The ecumenical spirit of its founding congregation continues to be central to St. Mark's mission in the community. St. Mark's joins with other churches to work for Habitat for Humanity and with the LeRoy Community Project to support the Back Pack Club, which provides food for children over the weekend during the school year; in a new partnership with the YWCA in a neighboring town, the LeRoy churches provide free breakfasts to children 18 and under during July and August. They join together for Blue Christmas and Good Friday services, the Oatka Fest Community Service in July, and the summer Vacation Bible School.
St. Mark's mission is to proclaim the gospel through the community of St. Mark's by living their lives to the fullest, according to Christ's example. Their approach to liturgy is both reverent and informal, in hopes that every stranger will feel as comfortable as they would in the home of a treasured friend. The sign over the sanctuary names the "thin place" that the church is called to be in today's world: This is none other than the House of God and this is the Gate of Heaven.
 St. Luke's, Jamestown
St. Luke's is one of the southernmost congregations in the diocese and, with an average Sunday attendance of about 150, it is one of the larger churches in the diocese. St. Luke's mission is to draw and nurture people into a transforming relationship with Christ and His Church. The congregation feels a special call to downtown ministry, with a Thrift Shop and the 4th Street Café, where anyone can drop in for free coffee, donuts, and conversation on Thursday mornings. In addition, the congregation gives almost $30,000 each year to local and global outreach projects, including sponsoring a popular bike ride around Lake Chautauqua ("Loop de Lake") every year to benefit Episcopal Community Services
In 2007, the congregation started the program of Natural Church Development, beginning with a focus on "Passionate Spirituality" and now centering on "Building Relationships." Through an innovative Sunday School program, Rite 13 and J2A, youth nights, parish retreats and Adult Forums, St. Luke's is a welcoming parish where anyone can grow in faith and understanding.
 Calvary Church, Williamsville
For more than 100 years, Calvary Church has prospered in the eastern suburbs of Buffalo. A parish with a sense of purpose, Calvary has successfully provided the parishioners of the Amherst area with leadership in liturgy and community service. Calvary boasts one of the finest church choirs in Western New York. Evensong and concerts, as well as Sunday services, are celebrated with outstanding liturgy and song.
Fellowship and mission are hallmarks of life at Calvary. Parishioners enjoy a dynamic and creative parish life. They share dinners, trips, tours, theater, music, arts and general entertainment with the understanding that old friends and newcomers together will join with one another both spiritually and socially to form a familial church community.
Calvary's outreach ministry extends well into the community through its adoption of an inner-city school in Buffalo, support of Meals on Wheels, and Friends of the Night People (a Buffalo dining facility for the homeless). Corner House Nursery School, established by the parish in 1960 and staffed by professionally trained teachers, provides a nurturing environment for children of all faiths and an enlightening and vibrant pre-school experience. And while this ministry is of great importance, it is the overall consideration of the entire parish family's needs, including Christian education and pastoral care, that makes Calvary a strong and cohesive community.
 St. Philip's, Buffalo
Saint Philip's Episcopal Church is an historic African-American congregation founded in 1861. It is the seventh oldest African-American congregation in The Episcopal Church. Although Buffalo was a haven for persons fleeing from slavery in the South, it was in the fulcrum of the City's racial conflicts that thirty people met to form the first Negro Episcopal congregation of Buffalo. Incorporated in 1865, they called their first full-time black rector, The Rev. Samuel Berry of New Haven, Connecticut. Father Berry was one of the co-founders of what eventually became the Union of Black Episcopalians. First located in a house on Elm Street in downtown Buffalo, the congregation later moved to Goodell Street and subsequently relocated to its present address on Sussex and Fernhill Streets in 1974. Over the years at least seven members of the congregation have entered the ordained ministry, including the present Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, The Right Reverend Michael B. Curry, whose father was rector at St. Philip's.
Some families have been members of St. Philip's from its inception, covering four or more generations. Between 1920 and 1950, membership expanded to include immigrants from the West Indies. Today the congregation is predominantly native African American with southern roots; however, West Indian traditions are integral to its culture, and worshippers reflect a racially integrated Church. Worship blends Anglo-Catholic tradition with contemporary jazz, gospel, hip hop and other liturgies that seek to reflect the spirituality and rich diversity of the membership and of the surrounding community that the Church serves.
Saint Philip's mission is to be a Force for Good: To love and worship God through his son Jesus Christ; to make manifest this love in our lives and our community, and to spread God's love through our shared ministry and service in the Episcopal tradition. Although membership draws from a large cross-section of Buffalo, St. Philip's outreach targets the local community. The St. Philip's Community Center offers an after-school program to neighborhood youth, and the Food Pantry is a significant ministry in the immediate community. St. Philip's Church is among the Diocese of Western New York's most generous contributors to Episcopal Community Services and Episcopal Relief and Development Fund with a special interest in Haiti; it is also a significant direct financial resource to the Educational Fund of St. Peter's & St. Andrew's Parish in the Diocese of Matlosane, Province of South Africa. Ministry at St. Philip's is fueled by small clusters of people committed to service and prayer, including the Saturday Morning Bible Study Group, Episcopal Church Women, The Men's Club, and the St. Philip's Quilters, and the Cursillistas.
Though challenged in many ways, Saint Philip's Episcopal Church continues to be a spiritual "force for good" among its members and in the community. It is a strong, vibrant, active congregation that lives out the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to all.
Commended Ministry Teams
Three congregations have raised up Commended Ministry Teams to provide leadership in administration, education, pastoral care, and liturgy.  Holy Apostles in Perry, at the eastern end of the diocese in Wyoming County, has an average Sunday attendance of 16; the congregation operates a Thrift Shop, leads a monthly service at a local nursing home, participates in community ecumenical services, and is currently developing a Spanish migrant service and ministry. Their team includes a treasurer, a Sunday School teacher and a vocational deacon; they serve in partnership with a locally trained transitional deacon who is currently engaged in the academic preparation, mentoring, and spiritual formation necessary for local ordination to the priesthood.  St. John the Baptist in Dunkirk in Chautauqua County, has an average Sunday attendance of 35 and is served by two locally trained transitional deacons who work in partnership with a team that includes a vocational deacon, a parish administrator, a teacher, and a pastoral care coordinator.
St. Peter's in Eggertsville, a suburb of Buffalo, has the newest Commended Ministry Team, which received  postulancy in the fall of 2008 and is currently working on their Team Project. They expect to be discerning additional ministry positions and members for the Commended Team in 2010. The Team includes a person who is in formation for ordination to the priesthood and serves in partnership with a vocational deacon and with the supervision and guidance of the parish priest, who serves St. Peter's on a half-time basis. With an average Sunday attendance of 75, St. Peter's has recently welcomed Ephphatha, a congregation for the deaf with an average Sunday attendance of 15, to share their worship and ministries. The congregation operates the Threads of Hope Linen closet, and is involved in refugee ministries in addition to contributing to two area food pantries.
Two other congregations have initiated the discernment of Commended Teams. St. Philip's in Buffalo is beginning to identify team members and a possible Team Project. The Church of the Good Shepherd in Irving is just getting started with their discernment process.
Covenant Relationships
Four congregations in the diocese have developed partnerships bound by Covenant Agreements that are renewed annually.  St. Andrew's in Burt and  St. John's in Wilson, located on the shore of Lake Ontario at the northern boundary of the Diocese, began their Covenant relationship in January of 2007. Located about 8 miles apart, the two parishes have shared a priest in the past, but their current relationship is more formal and more intentional, and their agreement remains separate from their individual contracts with the priest. St. Andrew's has an average Sunday attendance of 75; St. John's average Sunday attendance is 35. One priest serves both churches, and the two congregations have made the commitment to support each other's ministries, but they remain independent congregations; they worship together at their annual summer picnic Eucharist (which has become a celebration of Christmas in August to support Our Little Roses Orphanage in Honduras), and two or three other times during the year. They share ministries to the area food pantries and to the Operation Christmas Child project, they participate together in reflection and study groups, and together they co-sponsor the annual Niagara Ecumenical Choral Festival. A Covenant Team comprised of 4 members and the wardens from each church meets quarterly to discuss concerns, coordinate calendars, and plan programs for outreach and spiritual formation.
A different kind of Covenant Agreement has been shared since November 2008 by  St. Paul's Episcopal Church and St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mayville, a small town in the southern tier. These two congregations are almost the same size (an average Sunday attendance of 60 at one and of 40 at the other), and are located within easy walking distance of each other. The priest is full-time Rector at St. Paul's and provides liturgical leadership and pastoral care at St. Mark's; the two parishes share responsibility for the priest's compensation. They also participate together in outreach ministries and gather several times during the year for fellowship.
In my father's house there are many dwelling places. [John 14.2]
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A Prayer to Guide our Search
