Give your servant, therefore, an understanding mind.
[1 Kings 3:9]

As with so many things in life, one's strengths and challenges come together as we endeavor to carry out the ministry of Jesus Christ.  What seems to be a strength during one period of time becomes a challenge a few years later, while a challenge will bring out new unrecognized strength in us. The Diocese of Western New York recognizes this, and has responded to various challenges with new initiatives in ministry.  Using creativity and imagination in addressing our challenges to become stronger in our ministry as the Body of Christ in Western New York, we have discovered that our challenges have led us to new strengths and new opportunities.

We have responded to the challenge of our youth's changing lives by changing our focus and creating new ministries with our Diocesan Youth Ministry. For years our summer camps were well attended and provided a highlight for many young people throughout the diocese.  In recent years, for a lot of reasons - for some a variety of choices, for others economic woes - our summer camps have been less successful in attracting the youth of the diocese; in fact, two camps have been cancelled.    While this is disappointing, Happening continues to provide a strong community for some of our youth. In addition, through their parishes and deaneries young people have gone on pilgrimages to Jerusalem, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and the Washington National Cathedral; others have taken part in mission trips to New Orleans and Mississippi to help rebuild houses destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. Youth from throughout the diocese have gathered for U2charists, 30-Hour Famines, and Migrant Ministry programs.

There is a vibrant and active Diaconal Ministry in Western New York.   Our Diaconate Training Program was created in 1979,  and at present approximately thirty deacons are serving in a wide variety of ministries throughout the diocese, including prison ministry, hospital chaplaincy, hospice chaplaincy, refugee resettlement, teaching, counseling, outreach ministries to the poor and disenfranchised.  We also serve as a resource for the Diaconal Formation Program in the Canadian Diocese of Niagara  Our deacons assist with the liturgy in parishes on Sundays, but their primary ministry is to those outside the gathered worshipping communities of the church.  We have responded to the economic and social challenges of our region by finding new strength in our deacons. The Eleventh Bishop of Western New York needs to be able to foster, support and utilize this rich resource of ordained ministry in the diocese.

Outreach Ministries are the heart of our shared life in the Diocese Western New York.  Ever mindful of both the challenges of poverty and the strength that is ours in God's abundance, every parish is involved in community outreach programs, including food pantries and programs for children, youth, and the elderly. Diocesan programs include Episcopal Community Services (formerly Episcopal Charities), Episcopal Relief and Development, community outreach programs, parish mission trips to the Gulf Coast (New Orleans and Mississippi), Migrant Ministry, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, MDG support, and prison ministries.  The annual Episcopal Community Services Campaign raises about $150,000 and brings together all our parishes.  The Bishop's Gala in the spring, a wonderful evening of good food, dancing and a silent auction, is the most recent in a diocesan tradition of special events to support hunger relief  through ECS.

One challenge we share with other dioceses is a spirit of parochialism.  Many congregations have lost sight of our connectedness and many of our members have neither a clear understanding of the role of the Bishop nor a commitment to the larger community of the diocese.  At the same time, however, congregations are passionately committed to mission in their own communities.  Every parish in the diocese contributes both money and volunteers to community organizations- from the Children's Museum in Jamestown to Alden Village Nursery School, from Snack Packs for school children in Le Roy to Meals on Wheels in Buffalo, from the Threads of Hope Linen Closet in Eggertsville to Prayer Shawl Ministries in Lockport and Buffalo.  St. Matthias in East Aurora is a host site for Family Promise (Interfaith Hospitality Network), Grace Church in Lockport houses the Lockport Center of Niagara County Head Start, and St. John's Grace in Buffalo is a host site for Concerned Ecumenical Ministry's STAR after school program.  Every parish either houses or supports a Community Food Pantry, and many regularly invite the community to free meals.  Although many people hesitate to travel to special diocesan services, every parish participates in ecumenical services several times each year, and most clergy are active in their local ecumenical ministry groups.

Declining Membership in our congregations is perhaps the most serious challenge to the vitality of future diocesan mission and ministry.  The Diocese is comprised of 62 congregations.  Of these, 75% (48 congregations) had an average Sunday attendance in 2007 of 100 or fewer.  This roughly correlates to the national average for the Episcopal Church. While many of our congregations remain vibrant and strong, these statistics pose a significant challenge for the well-being and ministries of our congregations and of the diocese, even though healthy stewardship practices are exhibited in some of our smallest congregations.  Since stewardship is the main work of the church, we continue to be challenged to grow in this vital area of Christian ministry.

Declining membership creates a domino effect that also impacts on the Retention of Priests to serve our congregations.  As a diocese, we are increasingly unable to retain and place outstanding young clergy raised up and prepared for ministry from our diocese.  These priests are ready for a lifetime vocation of service to the Church, but declining numbers in our congregations mean too few parishes are able to call and fairly compensate a priest who must also earn a livelihood from the Church.  About half our congregations can no longer afford a full-time, seminary-trained priest, and currently only one of the four people currently preparing for the priesthood is participating in a full-time residential program.

One of the ways we are addressing this challenge is with new alternative congregational models. We have initiated Commended Ministry Teams, through which small congregations raise up persons who participate in a program for discernment, formation, education, and mentoring, including the Education for Ministry program developed at the University of the South in Sewanee. Upon completing this training these persons, with the approval of the Bishop, the Commission on Ministry and the Standing Committee, are ordained to the transitional diaconate and then to the priesthood to serve in their local congregations.

We have also initiated new programs for adult education and congregational development.  Cursillo constitutes a very strong, active spiritual community; the Bishop Brent School for Ministry offers courses in Holy Scripture, Church History, Theology, and Liturgy to adults at regional congregational centers. Through an agreement with Christ the King Roman Catholic Seminary in our diocese, Episcopal students can prepare for ordination to the priesthood in a two-year Anglican Formation Sequence as part of their seminary studies.    Smaller parishes are developing closer relationships through shared ministries, liturgies, and study groups; some of these relationships are informal, others are facilitated through the deaneries, and others are more formal Covenant agreements that allow congregations to remain independent while sharing resources and ministries.

As we continue to discover strength in our shared life as the Body of Christ, among the most significant challenges we face in the near future are:

• A rising number of congregations are struggling to be financially viable.

• Weak relationships between congregations and diocesan offices require structural re-organization and building morale among staff and clergy.

• Inconsistency in programs for education and formation for laity and locally trained deacons and priests needs to be addressed.

Courage is the first of human qualities
because it is the quality that guarantees all others.
[Winston Churchill]

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Letter from the Search Committee Welcome to Western New York WNY History WNY Today Welcome to the Diocese of WNY History of the Diocese Parish Profiles By the Numbers Mission and Ministry Strengths and Challenges Looking Ahead Profile of a Bishop