HIDDEN HISTORY: Clergyman charged with murder, 1949

From Western NY-

On a warm June morning in 1966, George P. Hetenyi walked out of Attica State Prison, a free man for the first time in nearly 17 years.

He climbed into a station wagon and a corrections officer drove him to the Trailways Bus Terminal on Court Street in Batavia. A group of reporters and photographers awaited him.
Hetenyi was sharply dressed in a dark hat, blue suit, white shirt and green tie. Sunglasses covered his eyes.

The 57-year-old smiled as he walked past the assembled reporters. He quietly refused their questions and asked to be left alone.

Most people in the bus terminal probably didn't realize a convicted killer was in their midst.
Hetenyi purchased a bus ticket but instead left the terminal in a car driven by a Batavia man. He was later seen in several downtown Batavia stores and walking down Main Street carrying two newly purchased suitcases.

More here-

http://thedailynewsonline.com/blogs/mark_my_words/article_5ddbe0f6-4b79-11e2-aead-001a4bcf887a.html

Thank You, God, for Cancer

From Buffalo-

I am an Episcopal priest serving two congregations in Buffalo, N.Y. Two years ago this Thursday, on Oct. 4, 2010, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

My prayer, as I was listening to the doctor say the words, "invasive, lobular carcinoma," came suddenly and clearly: "Gracious God be with me through this journey, allow me to walk it with dignity and grace. And help me to be grateful, whatever may be."

Thanks be to God, that prayer was answered -- and then some.

As I awoke in the recovery room at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, I was so overwhelmed, so overcome with gratitude that the only prayer I could utter through the tears was "thank you."

Thank you.

Thank you for the presence of a world class cancer institute in my backyard.

Thank you for the newly arrived surgeon, who full of smarts and compassion, full of determination and grace, removed the cancer from me and painstakingly poked and prodded until she was sure -- absolutely, positively sure -- that all of the cancer was gone. That anything that looked or felt suspicious was removed. That the margins were checked, double checked and triple checked. That lymph nodes were felt and if not absolutely normal in texture and appearance, were also removed.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-catherine-b-dempesy/thank-you-god-for-cancer_b_1937451.html

Venerable Protestant churches discuss uniting

From Buffalo-

Two of Buffalo's most venerable mainline Protestant churches are in discussions to share space, staff and ministries -- with one of the congregations possibly selling off its buildings and moving into the landmark structure of the other congregation.

Leadership of Trinity Episcopal Church on Delaware Avenue revealed the surprising proposal, which also involves First Presbyterian Church, in a letter this past weekend to Trinity church members.

The proposal calls for First Presbyterian, the city's first congregation, dating from before the War of 1812, to sell its buildings on Symphony Circle and move to the Delaware campus of Trinity, which was formed in 1836.

The two congregations would share space, staff and programming, while maintaining their denominational identities.

More here-

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/buffalo/article723376.ece

Buffalo's blogging bishop

From Buffalo-

Bishop R. William Franklin, the lifelong theologian and esteemed academic who was installed as the 11th Episcopal bishop of Western New York last spring, has 894 Facebook friends.

"That's a pretty good number," says the jovial Franklin during an interview at the diocese's Tonawanda offices. "My children say that I have more Facebook friends than they do."

But Facebook is just one of the modern media that Franklin uses to communicate with his flock. His personal website, rwilliamfranklin.org, includes links to email for comments, questions or prayer requests. Franklin writes longer pieces and appears in video chats on a popular blog, jerusalem-crossing.com, named for the Jerusalem Cross he has chosen as his bishop's cross.

And, just for fun, Franklin is also the star of an award-winning short film titled "Stair Dance," made when he was associate director of the American Academy in Rome to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the academy's main staircase.

Comments on the YouTube video of "Stair Dance," which has been watched by more than 3,380 people, include, "I still can't believe that, that is my bishop!!!!!" "Go Bishop! LOL," and "I think the whole Episcopal diocese of WNY has seen this ... hahahaha!"

More here-

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3781727046490408959

Franklin to become new bishop of Episcopal Diocese

From Western New York-

Pomp and circumstance fit for royalty will mark the Rev. R. William Franklin’s formal introduction to the area this weekend, when he is consecrated and installed as the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York.

But Franklin had been quietly making his presence known among area Episcopalians for several weeks in a more down-to-earth, typical Buffalo fashion—as a regular at various fish fry dinners during Lent.

“My goal was to try and meet everybody before April 30,” said Franklin, a Mississippi-born theologian and expert in church history who today succeeds the retiring

Bishop J. Michael Garrison.

Franklin has maintained an office at the diocesan headquarters in the Town of Tonawanda since Feb. 15, and he estimates he already has visited in some form or another about half of the 63 congregations in the seven- county diocese.

He’s attended weekend worship, weekday dinners with clergy, deanery committee meetings and, of course, those Friday fish fries — all in an effort to meet people.

“With the clergy, I just want to know their own journey of their life, and then I want to know what people’s hopes and dreams are for the diocese and for the region,” he said.

More here-

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article408562.ece

Congregation’s dream comes true

From Buffalo-

After countless spaghetti dinners, chicken barbecue fundraisers, and bottles and cans collected and redeemed, the people of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Angola finally have their new sanctuary.

Bishop J. Michael Garrison of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York helped the congregation celebrate Sunday by consecrating the bright new building at 930 Lake St.

About 90 people showed up for the special consecration service — a rarity in Western New York, where many churches with dwindling memberships have either closed or are struggling to keep their doors open.

“It was a dream that we as parishioners have had for so long,” said Carole J. Kin, warden of the vestry at St. Paul’s.

What makes the new sanctuary unusual is that church members refused to take a loan to build it.

They scrimped and saved and donated for more than 20 years to get to this point.

More here-

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article366490.ece

Retiring bishop reflects on his tenure

From Western New York-

With his 12-year tenure as head of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York coming to a close, about 400 people participated Sunday afternoon in a celebration of the episcopacy of Bishop J. Michael Garrison during a special liturgy in St. Paul’s Cathedral.

“Michael has been faithful in his time here, in his charge here,” noted Bishop John P. Croneberger, who delivered the sermon. “He has been called by God and anointed by God, and his gifts have been displayed here, and we are grateful.”

Garrison and Croneberger, who retired as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark in 2007, were part of a class of seven Episcopal bishops elected in 1998. The priests and their families developed a close friendship.

Garrison, the 10th bishop since the diocese was created in 1839, is set to retire April 30, when Bishopelect R. William Franklin is consecrated as the 11th bishop.

In an interview with The Buffalo News, Garrison, 65, looked back on his episcopacy with gratitude.

“Thanksgiving is really what it is,” he said. “It’s been an awesome experience, and I’m just very grateful that I’ve been entrusted with this role by the people of Western New York.”

More here-

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article360409.ece

Episcopalians pick church historian as new bishop

From Buffalo-

Area Episcopalians elected a church historian and former divinity school president as their 11th bishop Saturday evening after more than seven hours of voting.

The Rev. R. William Franklin, who has been a priest for just five years, but spent nearly 30 years in a variety of Episcopal lay ministry roles, received the majority of votes needed from both clergy and laity of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York on the seventh ballot.

Franklin edged out the Rev. Barbara J. Price, rector of St. Peter’s Church in Amherst and the only local candidate in the four-person race.

Franklin received 46 of a possible 89 clergy votes and 95 of a possible 150 votes by lay delegates in a tally in St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral.

He said he was honored and humbled by the election and proclaimed an abiding love for the Western New York region, where his wife’s parents have lived since 1985.

“We know Buffalo very, very well. We’re coming home is the way it feels,” Franklin said in a telephone interview with The Buffalo News.

Franklin has been serving as senior associate priest at St. Mark’s Church in Philadelphia since August.

More here-

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/buffalo/article260592.ece

Diocese of Western New York elects R. William Franklin as bishop

From ELO-

The Rev. R. William Franklin was elected on Saturday, Nov. 20 as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, pending the required consents from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction and standing committees of the Episcopal Church.

Franklin, 63, senior associate priest at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was elected on the seventh ballot out of a field of four nominees. He received 95 votes of 150 cast in the lay order and 46 of 89 cast in the clergy order. An election on that ballot required 76 in the lay order and 45 in the clergy order.

A message Franklin released to the people of the diocese of Western New York shortly after learning of his election can be read at the diocese's website.

The election took place during a special continuation of the diocese's 174th annual convention held at St. Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo, New York.

Pending a successful consent process, Franklin will succeed the Rt. Rev. J. Michael Garrison, who will retire upon his successor's consecration.

Under the canons (III.11.4) of the Episcopal Church, a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees must consent to the bishop-elect's ordination as bishop within 120 days of receiving notice of the election.

Franklin has served as the Senior Associate at St. Mark's since July 2010. Since his ordination to the priesthood in 2005, he served as associate priest at St. Paul's Within the Walls in Rome and associate director of the American Academy in Rome, fellow and associate priest of the Anglican Centre in Rome, interim vicar of the Church of the Resurrection in Orvieto, Italy, and professor of theology at the Pontifical Angelicum University. From 1998 to 2002, he was dean and president of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. Earlier in his career he was a professor at General Theological Seminary in New York and at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_125842_ENG_HTM.htm

Episcopal leader stresses core mission

FromBuffalo-

The Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop said Saturday in Buffalo that she believes divisiveness over issues of sexuality and Biblical interpretation has subsided in recent years, and the church is continuing its historical tradition of being at the forefront of the cause for social justice.

Members of the Episcopal Church may not agree with each other on issues such as whether gay people should be ordained as bishops, but those issues “aren’t essential enough to their life of faith” to separate Episcopalians from the church, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in an interview with The News.

Jefferts Schori, elected in 2006 as chief pastor of 2.4 million Episcopalians in 16 countries and 110 dioceses, including the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, made her first visit to the area Friday and Saturday to participate in the diocese’s 173rd annual convention.

Jefferts Schori is the first woman to be elected presiding bishop, but she downplayed the distinction, noting that every diocese in the Episcopal Church now has female clergy.

“I think it’s more unusual that I was trained as a scientist,” said Jefferts Schori, who worked for many years as an oceanographer prior to being ordained as a priest in 1994.

More here-

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article237172.ece

Episcopal Church's presiding bishop coming to Buffalo

From Buffalo-

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church will visit Buffalo at the end of the month and speak at the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York's annual governing convention.

Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, considered chief pastor of 2.4 million Episcopalians in 16 countries and 110 dioceses, was elected and invested to the post in 2006.

She is the 26th presiding bishop.

Her visit will coincide with the diocese's 173rd convention, to be held Oct. 29 and 30 in the Millennium Hotel in Cheektowaga.

Jefferts Schori will speak at the convention on Oct. 29 and preside and preach at a service in St. Paul's Cathedral, 128 Pearl St., 3:30 p.m. Oct. 30.

Admission to the service is by ticket only. A limited number of tickets for this special service remain and are available to the public free of charge. Call the diocesan communication office at 881-0660, Ext. 22, by Wednesday.

Prior to being ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in 1994, Jefferts Schori had a career as an oceanographer.

In 2000, she was elected bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, the same diocese where the Rev. J. Michael Garrison had served as a priest prior to his election in 1999 as bishop of Western New York.

Jefferts Schori's visit will include a tour of Buffalo, with stops at Broderick Park and Journey's End Refugee Services.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article225610.ece

Four priests in the running to become next bishop

From Western New York-

An Amherst rector and three other Episcopal priests from out of state have been nominated to become the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Buffalo, diocesan officials announced Monday.

The Rev. Canon Barbara J. Price, rector of St. Peter's Church on Longmeadow Road in Amherst since 2000, is among the nominees to succeed Bishop J. Michael Garrison, who is set to retire in 2011.

The other nominees are: the Rev. Michael N. Ambler Jr., rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Bath, Maine; the Rev. Canon Michael A. Bamberger, rector of Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Sierra Madre, Calif.; and the Rev. R. William Franklin, senior associate priest at St. Mark's Church in Philadelphia.

An election will be held Nov. 20 during a special convention-to-elect meeting of the diocese at St. Paul's Cathedral.

More here-

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article102918.ece

Food pantry receives $22,000 grant for walk-in freezer

From Buffalo

The Bread of Life Food Pantry is getting more space – freezer space, that is.

A recently-received grant for more than $22,000 from the Episcopal Diocese provided the food pantry with the necessary funding to purchase a walk-in freezer.

The new freezer will replace the 11 “household type, chest freezers,” that the pantry has been using, said Pam McFadden, a food pantry board member.

“Many were old and they didn’t always work as well as a commercial one,” she said.

The household freezers also did not provide enough storage space for meat. In fact, for the past five years, McFadden said the pantry has had to turn away donated meat due to insufficient storage space.

“Plenty of meat was offered to us,” she said. “There was not enough capacity for it.”

Because they have not had the space to store meat, McFadden said the Food Pantry runs out each year around July.

Her husband, Johnnie Pond, chairman of the Bread of Life Food Pantry board, initiated the plan to get a new freezer.

“He said, ‘what we need to do is put a project together to get a new freezer,’” McFadden said of Pond. “I think primarily just because he was convinced it could be done, it went forward.”

More here-

http://www.buffalobulletin.com/articles/2010/07/21/elsewhere_in_the_bulletin/doc4c472d0049afa050021893.txt

St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill bell unveiled after rescue

From Buffalo-

If the frantic efforts to salvage the 1,000-pound bell from the wreckage of St. Mary’s-on-the- Hill Episcopal Church took a toll on local preservationist Tim Tielman, he certainly didn’t seem any worse for the wear Monday.

As executive director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo, Tielman enthusiastically presided over the unveiling of the 114-year-old bell during his organization’s annual meeting, regaling about 25 participants with his tale of the bell’s salvaging. He invited those in attendance to take turns ringing the bell as it hung from its temporary residence on a tree in a yard on Columbus Parkway.

“This bell of St. Mary’s-on-theHill has been tolling here for over 100 years, and it is . . . here now because this is a thriving, vibrant community,” said Kathy Mecca, a neighborhood resident who was instrumental in finding temporary storage for the bell.

The bell summoned parishioners to the landmark St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill at Niagara and Vermont streets from 1893 until the church’s closing in 1994, after which the neglected building fell into disrepair. On May 5, the bell tower of the building collapsed and Tielman was alerted by someone who had heard about it while monitoring a police scanner.

More here-

http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/06/29/1098023/st-marys-on-the-hill-bell-unveiled.html

Bell Tower of Landmark Church Collapses

From Buffalo-

A part of a Buffalo landmark has collapsed. A section of the bell tower of St. Mary's on the Hill Episcopal Church gave way Wednesday afternoon.

"The steeple that had been unsupported for the last year and a half finally gave way, and it's an interior portion," says preservationist Tim Tielman. "It's a problem we knew was there, the city knew it was there, and we were conceptualizing plans for that." Tielman says the collapse was inward, so no one was hurt. However, the extent of the damage is too great to save the bell tower, so Tielman says the city of Buffalo is scaling back the tower to a height safe from further collapse.

Mayoral Spokesman Peter Cutler says crews responded to the scene Wednesday evening and will be there Thursday morning. One things that will be saved is the bell that was in the tower.

As far as trying to save the church, Tielman says Wednesday's bell tower collapse "will not make it easier." He notes the church still has a great deal of its structural integrity, and major sections are still standing. Tielman says he'll have to be more determined in the meantime.

Tielman says getting a sympathetic buyer for the building will also help in those efforts. The current owner was recently convicted of housing code violations and faces a fine and jail time. TIelman has suggested the city temporarily take over the church through legal action and possibly turn it over to a non-profit or an owner actively interested in reusing the building.

No one was hurt in the collapse.

http://www.wben.com/Bell-Tower-of-Landmark-Church-Collapses/6977552

video here-

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/Bell-tower-collapses-on-landmark-church

Windows draw admirers

From Western NY-

Shirley Leseur for more than four decades has sat in the pews at St. James Episcopal Church, often reflecting on the beauty of the stained-glass windows that tell of the story of Christ's crucifixion and his resurrection.

"It adds to the whole spiritual atmosphere," Leseur said Sunday during a stained-glass tour of five churches in Batavia.

The Episcopal Church was built in the cathedral style in 1909, with very high ceilings. Sunday's tour was a fundraiser for St. James, which is under pressure to make building repairs.

The front of the building is off limits because of the threat of falling stone from the bell tower. The church can't ring its bell right now because of the structural issues with the tower.

On a day when the community celebrated the ornate stained-glass windows, the event also highlighted the challenges of maintaining the glorious buildings from at least a century ago. Some of the churches have shrinking congregations and declining dollars for the upkeep.

St. James is debating how to proceed with a capital project that could top $1.6 million. The church hasn't settled on the extent of the work.

"We are in need," said Leseur, one of the 60 to 75 people who regularly attend the church. "It's not dire yet, but we're hoping the community will step up and help us."

More here-

http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/articles/2010/04/12/news/6656984.txt

WESTERN NEW YORK: Search committee told to honor Resolution B033

From Episcopal Life Online-

The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York has told a newly formed bishop search committee that they are expected to "honor the mind of the Episcopal Church regarding acceptable candidates for the episcopate as expressed through the General Convention."

The Standing Committee said in a posting on the diocese's bishop search website that the requirement referred to Resolution B033, passed by the Episcopal Church's General Convention in June 2006.

In Resolution B033, General Convention called upon standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction to "exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion."

Under the canons of the Episcopal Church (III.16.4 (a)), a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees must consent to the ordination of a bishop within 120 days of receiving notice of her or his election. (If the election occurs within 120 days of a meeting of General Convention, the convention is asked for its consent.)

The Rev. Eric Williams, chair of the Western New York standing committee and rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Jamestown, told ENS April 2 that "we do understand that the letter of B033 does not relate to search committees at all."

"So we are taking a step -- and probably a somewhat controversial step -- of interpreting that and offering our guidance to the search committee," he said. "But it is not our intention to muzzle the search committee or prevent them from doing their discernment. In the end, they have to make these difficult discernment choices as they do their work over the next year and a half, and this is really an invitation to see their work in the context of the whole Episcopal Church."

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_106665_ENG_HTM.htm

What’s left of recently divided church focuses on fresh thinking.

For the few remaining members of the former St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal church in the Town of Tonawanda, starting over meant staying right where they were.

Just a dozen-or-so in number, they represent the beginning of a brand new church in the same old building, now called Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles, since the majority of their members left citing philosophical differences with the greater Episcopal Church late last year.

Those who remain sat in the very same pews they’ve occupied in some cases for decades Sunday, listening to a sermon about seeing beyond the old veneer.

“Allow your responses to change,” the Rev. Sarah Gordy told worshippers young and old, elaborating on a theme encouraging spiritual growth and leaving old assertions at the door as Lent approaches.

“Refuse to be satisfied with the old answers ...” she said from her position at a lectern in the church near the corner of Brighton And Fries roads built in the 1950s. Until just a few months ago, the place was spiritual home to about 1,000 additional souls.

Just as the new church tries to redefine its place in a house which seems suddenly very large for the few who gather there each week, its members are being encouraged to unseal old doors into their hearts and minds.

“This is Holy Apostles; this is not St. Bartholomew’s,” Gordy, 30, later said. She has since Feb. 1 administered service to those few who remain.

http://www.tonawanda-news.com/local/local_story_054022950.html

With regrets, several hundred local worshippers leave Episcopal Church

If you have to leave this is the way to do it. From near my wife's hometown of North Tonawanda, not to be confused with Tonawanda or in this case the Town of Tonawanda.

Don and Gladys Miller worshipped weekly for 53 years in the sanctuary at 1064 Brighton Road.

But Sunday, the Millers walked away from the Town of Tonawanda church building they’ve known as their spiritual home since 1955.

“We’ve been here a long time, and it’s hard to leave,” said Don Miller, dabbing at tears. “We decided a long time ago that we would move with the church.”

The Millers are joining an expected several hundred parishioners of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in a highly unusual journey: Not only are they moving into a new facility, they’re also leaving the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Western New York.

(snip)

The membership chose not to contest ownership of the property in court and instead purchased the former Temple Beth El for $750,000. The congregation will celebrate its first liturgy in the new sanctuary this Sunday.

The Episcopal diocese will continue to operate a parish called Church of the Holy Apostles at 1064 Brighton Road. Bishop J. Michael Garrison will host a meeting and compline service at 7 p.m. today.

http://www.buffalonews.com/494/story/523522.html