It was three days before Thanksgiving and St. James' was bustling. In the office was Karen, on volunteer secretarial duty, catching every free dinner order. In walks John, having finished a survey of all the people working on Thanksgiving, so dinner could be delivered to them in the pharmacies, the ambulance corps, the urgent care, the grocery store and the like. All 84 people would receive dinners. Then he went into the sanctuary to remove altar paraments, hymnals, kneelers, altar chairs, flower stand and the prayer votive stand. All of this done to assist (and maybe shorten the time) the repair personnel who start the ceiling repair on November 29th. 

Watch "The Spirit of the Lord is upon us," a sermon preached by the Rt. Rev. Dr. DeDe Duncan-Probe, eleventh Bishop of Central New York, at the service of Holy Eucharist for the 153rd Diocesan Convention on Saturday, November 13, 2021. Plus: a recording of the entire worship service, a link to download the worship bulletin, and a transcript of the Bishop's sermon.

How can we maintain hope and even reconnect to joy when so much around us seems to be in crisis? In his 90-minute interactive program at Convention, “Reconnecting to the […]

Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe's address to the 153rd Convention of the Diocese of Central New York challenges the Church to show forth God's love in our response to climate change, racism, and partisanship.

Years ago, a friend shared with me, “If you want to beat the system, play by its rules, only more so.” That's obviously not what we’re talking about here; we’re not competing with each other who’s got more toys, or who is greener. We’re talking about redirecting a system which would love to keep us hooked on fossil fuel-derived energy by playing by its rules, only more so. Does our challenge sound like moving a mountain? Yes, if we assume that we have to find ways to change the system only through legislation or governmental rule making. Those have their place in leading us away from fossil fuel based energy, and we must not ignore their power. Here, though, we’re talking about the power of choice in the marketplace, and exercising that power to the benefit of God’s creation.