September 3rd 2023 - SERVICE - Rev. Dr. Todd Leach

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

Rev. Richard W. Neal

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1080 Main St., Buffalo

The Rev. Richard W. Neal serves as intentional interim pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Buffalo, New York.  He has more than forty years of experience as a pastor in Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, and United Methodist congregations in Southern Illinois, New Jersey, Vermont, and New York, including eight terms as an intentional interim pastor.  Rich believes every change is an opportunity to enrich life.  “Change happens all the time,” he says, “and we don’t have a choice about it.  But we can choose whether to resist change or embrace it as an opportunity for discovery and growth.  When you embrace change creatively, a richer life is possible.”

Rich came to parish ministry after a career in scholarly publishing as a book designer and production director.  In addition to nurturing individual and congregational growth through creative change, he particularly enjoys the ministries of preaching, spiritual guidance, and adult education.  He lives in Snyder, New York, with his wife Sheryl.

Thank you so much Rev. Richard Neal!

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 40 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!

Sr. Denise A. Roche

Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Sr. Denise A. Roche to join us at this week's Sunday Service.

Sister Denise Roche is a member of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic congregation of women religious.  She currently serves as president of the Grey Nuns and works out of the central office of the congregation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States.

Sister Denise, a native of Buffalo, New York, entered the Grey Nuns in September 1961.  After teaching in an elementary school for two years, Sister Denise pursued graduate education, and received her doctorate in sociology from the University of Massachusetts in 1976. She then taught sociology at D’Youville College in Buffalo, New York.

In 1979, Sister Denise became president of D’Youville College – now D’Youville University – and continued to serve in that capacity for 37 years.  When she retired, Sister Denise became Chair of the Board of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) and completed her term five years later.  By that time, Sister Denise had been elected president of the Grey Nuns.  She is a member of the Board of the WNED Foundation. 

Sister Denise has a great fondness for Canada, because of her many experiences there during her years in Buffalo and also because St. Marguerite D’Youville, foundress of the Grey Nuns, lived and worked in Montreal in the 1700’s.  There are now four congregations of Grey Nuns in Canada and one in the United States. 

Thank you so much Sr. Denise A. Roche!

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!

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Venerable Dr. John Course to join us at this week’s Sunday Service.

Venerable Dr. John Course

Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Fonthill, Ontario.  

The Venerable Dr. John Course is in his forty-third year of ordained ministry in the Anglican Diocese of Niagara where he has served as rector in four of its parishes.  

He has a PhD in Ancient Near-Eastern Language and Literature and has taught the introductory course to the Old Testament at Trinity College, Toronto.  

He is currently the Archdeacon of Brock and rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Fonthill, Ontario on a part-time basis.  

His outside interests include downhill skiing, golf, and woodworking.

Thank you so much Dr. John Course!

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.

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

Thank you so much Rev. Brian Rotach!