New York to allow small religious gatherings, with restrictions

From Central New York-

Rt. Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, said churches also have to take into account other things before inviting worshipers into a gathering place.

"The wearing of masks, the cleaning regimen that would have to happen before or after, the airing out of the space, the need to manage things like doorways or bathrooms or places of contact," said Duncan-Probe.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said this announcement doesn't do anything but clarify that religious services are among areas where ten or fewer people can gather. He's supporting a plan from the Central New York Control Room, which monitors the area's reopening, that would allow religious groups to hold services using a fraction of the capacity of a church, temple or mosque.

"With religious gatherings, 25% of the building capacity, everyone at minimum six-feet apart, it makes sense to us," McMahon said.

More here-

 https://www.wrvo.org/post/new-york-allow-small-religious-gatherings-restrictions

Central New York priest under investigation for alleged financial misconduct

From ENS-

An upstate New York priest accused of financial misconduct is now being investigated by law enforcement, according to the Diocese of Central New York, which announced on Oct. 31 that it had turned over the results of its own investigation to police.

The Rev. Joell Szachara had been serving as the rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in New Hartford but resigned at the direction of Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe, the diocese said in late September. At that time, Duncan-Probe placed Szachara on administrative leave, restricting her from engaging in ministry, while a forensic audit was conducted on the finances of St. Stephen’s.

With the audit complete, the diocese – which did not specify the type of financial wrongdoing Szachara has been accused of – referred the case to law enforcement as it continues its own investigation through the Title IV disciplinary process, Duncan-Probe wrote in an Oct. 31 letter to the clergy and wardens of her diocese.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/11/05/central-new-york-priest-under-investigation-for-alleged-financial-misconduct/

Episcopal bishop: America must stop ‘running in fear’ from truth about racism

From Syracuse-

When we were children, we played hide and seek. One time when we were playing after dark, I was hiding behind a tree. I heard someone approaching and I began to run. No matter how fast I ran, the person chasing me kept getting closer. Something about running in the dark, feeling that I wouldn’t be able to escape, suddenly seemed ominous and frightening.

As February, the month dedicated to Black History and Presidents Day, comes to a close, I find myself considering the ways that our nation is still running in fear from the truth about racism. Those of us who have benefited most from slavery and institutional racism often dismiss the need to talk about race. We may even think racism no longer exists in America. But the more we refute it, the more we find it chasing us. There is more work to do, much more work. So as Lent, the Christian season of repentance, approaches on March 6, I invite you to join me in prayerfully doing the work of repenting of America’s original sin of institutional racism.

More here-

https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2019/02/episcopal-bishop-america-must-stop-running-in-fear-from-truth-about-racism-commentary.html

Bishop of CNY Episcopal Diocese maintains support for same-sex marriage

From Central New York-

The issue of gay marriage is at the heart of a disagreement in the Episcopal Church in upstate New York. An Albany Bishop has banned same-sex marriage in his diocese, going so far as to say in a letter to the Albany Diocese that the church has been 'hijacked by the 'gay rights agenda,'" with Satan at the source of this division in the church. 

But the Bishop of the Central New York Diocese strongly disagrees.

Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe said she was aware that Bishop William Love and others have struggled with the concept of gay marriage in the Episcopal Church, but was surprised at the severity in tone of Love's letter.

"Even if we disagree about what morality might be, we must love one another," Duncan-Probe said. "So I too was troubled when he invoked the term Satan, because I think it was more damaging than he realizes."

More here-

http://www.wrvo.org/post/bishop-cny-episcopal-diocese-maintains-support-same-sex-marriage

Bishop Duncan-Probe responds to Bishop Love’s November 10th Pastoral Letter and Directive

From Central NY-

Following the recent statement of Bishop Love of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York has issued a statement, available in full below.

Bishop Duncan-Probe is the Vice-President of Province II of The Episcopal Church, which includes the Dioceses of Albany, Central New York, the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, Cuba, Haiti, Long Island, Newark, New Jersey, New York, Rochester, Western New York, and the Virgin Islands. In addition, under an agreement with Bishop Love, Bishop Duncan-Probe exercises Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) over one congregation in the Diocese of Albany: St. Andrew’s, Albany. DEPO means that Bishop Duncan-Probe includes the congregation in her regular rotation of Sunday visitations, and provides pastoral care and oversight to the parish’s clergy. The parish remains under the authority of Bishop Love. 

A statement on the matter from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of The Episcopal Church may be found here.

More here-

https://cnyepiscopal.org/2018/11/bishop-duncan-probe-responds-to-bishop-loves-november-10th-pastoral-letter-and-directive/?fbclid=IwAR09mnb2-xcQgsjRK735UP9FT-MzDOMHe2gGYqKx9O9RDc3zls_j4IdshqA

Episcopal bishop: Stand with young people marching for safe schools

From Central NY-

Christians have a responsibility to stand with those who feel most vulnerable, especially when those persons are our children and youth.

I invite all the people of Central New York to join me at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 20,  for a Facebook Live conversation on gun violence issues (at facebook.com/bishopdede), and then to prayerfully consider joining with me on Saturday, March 24, to walk in peaceful protest of gun violence and support the young people of our country. There are marches planned in several cities in the Diocese of Central New York - and around the country - that day.

I support responsible gun ownership. When I was growing up, guns were part of my life. I hunted with my brothers, regularly shot skeet (well, to be honest regularly shot at skeet) and even mastered the tricky art of launching skeet with a hand-held trebuchet. "Responsible gun ownership" was not a term I knew because everyone I knew handled guns responsibly.

More here-

http://www.syracuse.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/03/episcopal_bishop_stand_with_young_people_marching_for_safe_schools_your_letters.html

Motorcycle ministry: First female bishop of CNY Episcopal Diocese to bless bikes, join ride in Jordan

From Central New York-

When Jesus Christ sent out his disciples to spread his teachings in what the Bible calls the Great Commission, they might not have envisioned going out on motorcycles.

But that is exactly what the Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe does, and will do again Saturday, May 13, when she participates in the annual Blessing of the Bikes at Christ Episcopal Church in Jordan.

The event will begin at 10 a.m. with a brief worship service in which the bishop blesses the riders and their motorcycles. Then, she will join them on her black Harley-Davidson Softail Slim S — a birthday gift from her husband, she said — and take part in the one-hour ride before returning to the church. Riders are expected back at the church by 12:30 p.m. for a barbecue lunch, and all bikers, family, friends and motorcycle enthusiasts are invited to participate in the free event.

More here-

http://auburnpub.com/wocjournal/lifestyles/motorcycle-ministry-first-female-bishop-of-cny-episcopal-diocese-to/article_bd46f651-62fb-5222-843f-d5575d536ce1.html

CNY Episcopal bishop to bless motorcyclists then drive her Harley in Jordan church's ride

From Central New York-

When Jesus Christ sent out his disciples to spread his teachings in what the Bible calls the Great Commission, they might not have envisioned going out on motorcycles to do it.

But, that is exactly what the Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe — the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, the first woman to hold that position — does and what she will do next weekend when she participates in the annual Blessing of the Bikes at Christ Episcopal Church in Jordan.

The event is slated to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 13 at the church, 25 N. Main St., Jordan, with a brief worship service in which the bishop will bless the riders and their motorcycles. Then, she will join them on her black Harley-Davidson Softail Slim S — a birthday gift from her husband, she said — and take part in the one-hour ride before returning to the church.

More here-

http://auburnpub.com/wocjournal/lifestyles/cny-episcopal-bishop-to-bless-motorcyclists-then-drive-her-harley/article_e2366bfa-c173-5af7-9e3c-1fa0a8613962.html

DENIM SPIRIT: The commercialization of immaturity

From Central New York-

Can you feel the dis-ease?

No, not an illness but a dis-ease among us that is an unsettling lull beneath the surface, between waves pushing the storm toward a moment of breaking. Feel it?

One of the marks of maturity, emotional and spiritual, is the ability to hold two opposing perspectives or truths at one and the same time. Conversely, a blanket of categorical thinking, when nearly every decision or circumstance is evaluated as an either-or proposition, reveals an immaturity of mind and spirit. Think about that in regard to our current culture and politics.

All sides across the political spectrum pick on the news media. It is low hanging fruit for social critics. But it is also true in our current commercial culture, the sharper and more intense the divisions among us, the more profitable news becomes. In addition to reporting what is happening, the news media often heightens and enflames our divisions in a way that sells more news. But this nascent immaturity within and among us, while exacerbated and exploited by the commercialization of the news, is not caused by it.

More here-

http://www.fltimes.com/opinion/cameron_miller/denim-spirit-the-commercialization-of-immaturity-and-the-news/article_5125574e-cd01-11e6-a5c2-ef8163c71b08.html

NEW BISHOP: Next Episcopal leader emphasizes service

From Central New York-

“I have a real love and passion for small-church ministry,” says the Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe, the incoming bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York.

Duncan-Probe’s most recent parish was just that — about 60 parishioners when she got there, and 500 when she left.

“We have a tendency in the church to want people to come in. Instead of focusing on people coming in, we focused on going out in service," she said. "And of course, as we engaged more with the world around us, we began to grow."

The 14-county diocese includes many small towns as well as cities, like Binghamton, Ithaca, Elmira, Watertown and Syracuse. The new bishop has visited all four regions in advance of her consecration on Dec. 3.

More here-

http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/connections/faith/2016/11/28/new-bishop-next-episcopal-leader-emphasizes-service/94567518/

Episcopal leader coming to Geneva

From Central New York-

The city and Hobart and William Smith Colleges play a major role in a visit this weekend by the leader of the American Episcopal Church.

Michael Curry, the first African-American to lead the American Episcopal Church and a graduate of Hobart, will take part in a number of Geneva events during his visit to the Rochester-Finger Lakes region later this week.

On Friday at 7 p.m. at the Vandervort Room in the Scandling Campus Center at HWS, he will deliver a lecture during the President’s Forum Series. The event is free and open to the public.

More here

http://www.fltimes.com/news/episcopal-leader-coming-to-geneva/article_ebb1d876-a0fd-11e6-829e-47da5ea5d219.html

She wanted to be a priest in a Texas town where women couldn't; now she's a bishop

From Syracuse-

When DeDe Duncan-Probe finished college, she knew she wanted to bring God to people. She also knew that there were no female priests -- at least not in Texas in 1985.

She followed her dream, anyway.

On Dec. 3, Duncan-Probe will become the first female Episcopal Bishop of the Central New York Diocese, which has 81 congregations and 13,000 members. She had been the rector of the St. Peter in Woods Episcopal Church in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.

More here-

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2016/11/she_wanted_to_be_a_priest_in_a_texas_town_where_that_wasnt_done_now_shes_a_bisho.html

New Episcopal bishop looks to future of church in a fractured society

From Central New York-

For the first time, a woman will be installed as the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York. The Very Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe will look for ways to bring a geographically sprawling diocese together in an increasingly secular and divided world.

In December, Duncan-Probe becomes bishop of a diocese that stretches from the Canadian border to Pennsylvania and includes the cities of Syracuse, Utica, Binghamton, Watertown, Elmira and Ithaca. Membership of the far flung churches total 13,000, with numbers in individual parishes either dropping or holding steady. That brings Duncan-Probe to central New York at a critical time.

"Like most major religions, we’re at a turning point, where I think the idea we’ll continue to have ministry in the same way we’ve always had ministry, is changing,” said Duncan-Probe.

More here-

http://wrvo.org/post/new-episcopal-bishop-looks-future-church-fractured-society#stream/0

Episcopal Diocese of CNY To Ordain First Female Bishop

From Central New York-

Reverend DeDe Duncan-Probe remembers going to church with her family when she was young, absorbing as much as she could from each service.

"I would sit in the pews as a small child and take in this thing that was happening around me. Over time, I began to put words into that experience of a relationship with God and relationship with other people," she said.

Duncan-Probe was ordained as a deacon in 2003.

Thirteen years later, she was selected as the first female bishop of Central New York's Episcopal diocese.

Duncan-Probe visited Watertown's Trinity Episcopal Church on Tuesday.

She spent time with parishioners and leaders of smaller congregations.

"It's a good opportunity for our bishop-elect to visit the north country. We need to get to know her better, she needs to get to know us better," said Daphne Sterling of Trinity Episcopal Church.

More here-

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Episcopal-Diocese-of-CNY-To-Ordain-First-Female-Bishop-398442351.html

Meet the Bishop-Elect: The Very Rev. Dr. DeDe Duncan-Probe

From Central New York-

The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York is pleased to announce the election of The Very Rev. Dr. DeDe Duncan-Probe as the new bishop of the Diocese. Duncan-Probe currently serves as the Rector of St. Peter’s in the Woods Episcopal Church in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.

Duncan-Probe was elected today, August 6, 2016 at a Special Convention of the Diocese held at the Holiday Inn in Liverpool, New York. Pending confirmation by a majority of the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church and by a majority of the Diocesan Standing Committees in the church, she will be consecrated on December 3, 2016.

Full press release available shortly.

More here-

http://www.bishopcny.org