Please note: this is our Final Sunday Service for the 2022 Season. We will celebrate with a Coffee Hour at the conclusion of the service. It will be wonderful to see old and new friends and share some fellowship!

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang to join us at this week’s Sunday Service.

Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang, Retired

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 

Rev. Charlie Bang is a retired Lutheran (ELCA) pastor living with his wife, Debby, in Seneca Falls, NY.  

He retired from full time ministry in 2018, but since has been called to serve (part-time) at Zion Lutheran Church in Geneva, NY and St. John's Lutheran Church in Potter, NY (Penn Yan). 

Pastor Bang has served churches in San Francisco, Liverpool, Buffalo, and Virginia.  "I loved my time at Holloway Memorial Chapel and send warmest regards to all.  

Thank you so much Rev. Charlie Bang!

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Rev. Dr.  Ray Schooler to join us at this week’s Sunday Service.

Rev. Dr. Ray Schooler, D. Min.

American Baptist International Ministries,  King of Prussia, PA

Rev. Ray was born and raised in Texas, but ministry has provided opportunities to live and serve in several different places.  He has served in local church ministry in several capacities including, Senior Pastor.  Ray has served on the American Baptist Churches (USA), and as President of the Board of International Ministries (IM).  It was in this role with IM that he discovered a passion for Global Missions. 

In 2007 he went on staff with IM as the Sr. Dir. of Donor Development and Church Relations.  In this role he travels a great deal and that has allowed him to visit all over the US and several International Countries, mostly Third World or Developing countries, where the International Ministries Missionaries are serving.

Ray has been a guest speaker at Holloway Chapel for several years and always enjoys the “Holloway Experience” and especially the fine folks who make up this unique gathering.

Ray and his wife (Gail) live in Buffalo (Lancaster), NY and have five adult sons, two daughter-in-laws and three grandchildren.  He enjoys playing golf and manages to squeeze in a few rounds in between his trips and enjoys volunteering at Roswell Park with the Spiritual Care Department.

Thank you so much Rev. Ray Schooler!

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Rev. Brian Rotach to join us at this week’s Sunday Service.

Rev. Brian Rotach, received a Master of Divinity Degree, at Howard University, Washington DC.  He is a retired Pastor of Seneca Street United Methodist Church, a mission church to the challenged Seneca-Babcock neighborhood of Buffalo.

When jobs left during the rust belt era (and with it many people), the congregation at Seneca Street United Methodist Church went from several 100 people in size to about a dozen. 

In 1994, Rev. Brian and his wife, Cheryl Bird, were sent to close this church.  They soon realized how disastrous that would be for one of the poorest neighborhoods Buffalo. 

Together, Rev. Brian and Cheryl somehow managed to keep it open for the children.  Because the community surrounding it could not sustain its finances, they fortunately adopted it.  They paid the heating bills and have funded a lot of renovations.  They also funded the summer reading camp.  In addition, the church helps to run the after school tutoring program. 

Brian and Cheryl dedicated their lives in creating an organization so kids could get free lunches and access public funding using the church building.  And, they enlisted other churches in the area to help support the church so it stayed open.

"Nothing we do here is for the church," Rotach said, explaining that all of the programs run by the church are for the benefit of the children in what he describes as "one of the poorest neighborhoods in Buffalo."

"We keep this building open because the neighborhood needs a church. Nothing else is left here," said Rotach, who also has served as pastor of Woodside United Methodist Church in South Buffalo.

The effort of such a poor congregation to fill such a big gap in a truly needy neighborhood is surely immense.

29 years later, it is still open and has seen solid results in the community it serves.

Thank you so much Rev. Brian Rotach!

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Rev. Richard (Duke) Zajac to join us at this week's Sunday Service.

Richard E. Zajac, known in many circles as “Fr. Duke” has been a staff chaplain at Sisters of Charity Hospital in Buffalo for the past 39 years. 

He is presently serving on many Boards and Committees throughout the community including Catholic Medical Partners, Town of Amherst Meals on Wheels, Seminary Alumni Association, as well as the Perinatal Bereavement Network. 

He has chaired or co-chaired the Sister’s Hospital Ethics Committee since its inception in 1984, and serves on the Ethics Committee for the Catholic Health Care System of Western New York. 

He served on the National Advisory Council of the National Association of Catholic Bishops, and served as the Chairman of the Board of the Life Transition Center as well as the South Buffalo Community Development Association. 

He served on the Boards of the Upstate New York Transplant Services, Baker Victory Services, Bishop Timon High School, WNY Peace Center, Catholic Health System’s Corporate Members Board, Buffalo Area Metropolitan Ministries (BAMM), Sister’s Hospital Credit Union as well as the American Cancer Society. 

He has also served 7 terms on the Priests’ Council of the Diocese of Buffalo, 2 terms on the Priests’ Personnel Board and 3 terms on the Priests’ Council of New York State. 

In his spare time, he has authored four books: Life Injections I , II , III & IV, and is presently writing a book on preaching at funerals for priests, ministers, and deacons.  He enjoys reading, smoking a good cigar and baseball for which he’s been an officer of the Parochial Baseball League since 1969 and was inducted into the Western New York Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.

Thank you so much Rev. Duke Zajac!

Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein, Congregation Shir Shalom, Williamsville, NY.   

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein to join us at this week's Sunday Service.

Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein came to Buffalo in the Fall of 2008 to serve as the rabbi of Temple Sinai, now called Congregation Shir Shalom.  He brings warmth, creativity, and compassion to the role of synagogue rabbi.  A trained chaplain and gifted teacher, he is actively engaged in all aspects of communal life, from helping people with their everyday struggles, to intricate details of synagogue governance.  

Rabbi Alex is a respected leader in the Buffalo area, serving on many local boards including: the Buffalo Board of Rabbis, the Network of Religious Communities, Jewish Family Services, the Bureau of Jewish Education, Jewish Community Center, and the Coalition of Economic Justice.  He has served as president of the Network of Religious Communities.  He is also on the national board of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association out of Wyncote, Pennsylvania.  He works with leaders of all faiths, to improve the quality of life in Western New York and beyond.  

A 2004 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College he also holds Masters and Bachelor Degrees from the Jewish Theological Seminary, as well as a Bachelors degree from Columbia University.  Before coming to Buffalo he served as rabbi of Temple B´nai Abraham in Bordentown, New Jersey, and directed the Community Partnership Program for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.  

He currently resides in Amherst, with his wife Ashirah, and three young children, Jarah, Boaz, and Noam.  

Thank you so much Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein!

Rev. Buddy Hubbard, Retired, First Presbyterian Church, East Aurora, NY.   

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Rev. Buddy Hubbard to join us at this week's Sunday Service.

First Presbyterian Church of East Aurora Pastor Dr. Langdon Hubbard has been serving his congregation for over 20 years now.  Because of the many outreach programs initiated by this forward-thinking minister, Pastor Buddy – as he affectionately is known by nearly everybody in his church – clearly has been on the cutting edge of progressive social ideology since the beginning of the 21st century. 

As a result, it has thrust his ministry into the forefront of advanced thinking of church dogma – especially as it pertains to the youth of the church that he ministered to on a daily basis. 

“Joining with others for the prior 19 years now, I’ve been helping to lead – with our youth leaders and sometimes paid staff – our out-of-district Mission trips that travel to various sites where we are very much needed,” Pastor Buddy said. “We’ve gone all over the world.” 

Mission is a socially intensive outreach initiative designed primarily for high school freshmen and college students. It finds these young people traveling to distant places throughout the world, seeking to help relieve the anguish and heartache felt by those who have fallen upon hard times caused by natural disasters or other such calamities brought upon through no fault of their own.  It is based on a four year cycle, where the first year is a local destination then an out trip, most likely within the state, the second year would take place about 10 hours away, the third year is a flight to another region in the country and the final year is meant to highlight a global experience. 

All in all, Pastor Buddy surmises that in the 19 years that he has organized the trips, he has taken almost 160 young men and women on various sojourns designed to improve the social welfare of humankind. 

Pastor Buddy has been happily married to the former Jan McGuckin.  Jan is also an ordained minister herself, currently serving her ministry as a vested Methodist minister serving the United Methodist Church congregations in Western New York. 

Together, the Hubbard’s have two grown children, Bethany and Daniel.  

In May, 2016, Pastor Buddy received his doctorate in ministry from the Louisville Theological Presbyterian Church in Louisville, KY. 

Running is now a lifetime hobby of Pastor Buddy.   He finished his first marathon when he was 50-years-old, running in the Buffalo marathon.  He has completed seven and is planning an eighth in the near future. Another goal is to run a half or full marathon in each state.  He is up to 18 states at this time.

Two other outreach programs that Langdon’s church has immersed itself and his congregation in involves developmentally disabled adults and the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LBGT) communities in Western New York. 

As you may know, Pastor Buddy recently retired in February of 2022.  Best Wishes Buddy in your retirement.  

Thank you so much Pastor Buddy!