The Episcopal Diocese of Western New York is leaving its Delaware Avenue home of almost 60 years and relocating to one of its churches in the Town of Tonawanda, the diocese announced Tuesday.
The diocesan office will be moved to the former St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church at 1064 Brighton Road.
It was a difficult decision, because the building at 1114 Delaware Ave. has been home to the diocese since 1951.
“This move signals a shift in perspective and a new vision for our ministry in the 21st century,” Bishop J. Michael Garrison said. A split at the former St. Bartholomew’s Church left a very small congregation, and its members eventually decided to attend services at other parishes, said Laurie Wozniak, a diocesan spokeswoman.
To the statement, “This move signals a shift in perspective and a new vision for our ministry….” one can only respond that an honest person would have simply said that “We have run our diocese into the ground and don’t have enough money to pay for much of anything anymore.”
Next new location will be a phone booth.
That headline is somewhat grammatically incorrect. It is the diocesan offices that are relocating, not the Diocese itself. I usually don’t knit pick, but that was just funny. I had visions in my head of the whole Diocese moving to some place in Nevada or something…
Can it really be that hard to shuffle out of Buffalo? The diocese of WNY sure experienced much worse from 2002 through 2008 with Members down 24 percent, ASA down 24 percent and Plate & Pledge adjusted for inflation down 20 percent. Using these data only 5 (of 95) dioceses did worse. In 2008, there were 41 of 63 churches with ASA of 70 or less and 12 of these had ASA of 20 or less. Also in 2008, 54 of the 63 churches had Plate & Pledge of less than $150K. Also in 2008, there were 3 Burials for every 2 Infant Baptisms. Statmann
#3: Archer, I think the grammatically correct expression is “nit pick”.
No. 5,
Actually, the original etymology (according to the big set of Oxford Dictionaries I have here in my office) of the term nit, in fact, is originally derived from the same as knit. One term evolved into a small bug, and the other from a small type of knot, both of which being small things that are microscopic. The first recorded use of the term here was actually a “picking of knits”-i.e. an action that makes things unravel. It was only secondary usage that it began to be used for a derogatory term to mean picking as pointless, small bugs. That is of completely modern origin.
Archer (#3), LOL. Great catch. Well, who could blame them if they all did pack up and move away from the infamous Buffalo winters?
Statmann (#4),
Thanks for providing your usual stats, and for pointing out just how dismal they are. For the ASA to drop by 24%, virtually a quarter, in just 7 years is not just decline but utter collapse. But as always, I especially appreciate you highlighting the alarming number of tiny churches in this diocese, and the ominous fact that 6 out of 7 churches (54 of 63) in that imploding diocese have Plate & Pledge under $150K, putting them at high risk.
Meanwhile, the orthodox congregation that used to occupy the St. Bart’s building in Tonawanda (before departing from TEC) is apparently flourishing. Three priests on staff (rector: Fr. Arthur Ward), with two deacons as well. When St. Bart’s left this withering diocese back in 2008, it was the largest parish in W. NY, with an ASA around 500.
If the trend lines continue, it won’t be long before Fr. Ward oversees a larger flock than the bishop.
David Handy+