Note: On Wednesday, March 2nd, I traveled to Niagara Falls, New York, with a group from Saint Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church and Saint Timothy Lutheran Church to visit Temple Beth El. Since the closing of Temple Beth Israel in 1995, Temple Beth El has been Niagara County’s only Jewish congregation. Ellen Franke serves […]

It’s time for an update to the 366-day photography project. It was a busy week for me and interesting to document. On Sunday, February 28th, Father Earle was surprised with a gift: enough money to buy special vestments befitting an honorary canon, a great title that does not come with extra income. An honorary canon

The change of seasons is a beautiful aspect about life. Each season has its joys and its difficulties. We are nearing the end of winter, a season that is beautiful, but cruel. The snow sparkles and glitters beneath the sun, but it also bites with coldness. The ice coats trees with a transparent layer, but

Dr. Donald Birdd has been entertaining students since 1981. He doesn’t just teach science; he lives science. His students are so entertained that they don’t even realize how much they are learning. Dr. Birdd becomes scientists from the past, such as Galileo, or he becomes something of scientific interest. On Friday, February 26th, Dr. Birdd

Note: On Saturday, February 20th, I was feeling much better. I felt almost recovered from the one-two punch of cold followed by flu shot failure. My friend Amy and I went to tap dance, where we started learning the steps for the dance that we will do at the June 4th recital. After coming home, I

The Rev. Canon Earle King, pastor of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Grand Island, N.Y., put together a program for Lent. Anyone interested could visit four different houses of worship, representing four different faiths. He called the series, “Beyond Our Doors: Understanding Others’ Religions and Cultures.” The program started with a seed of an idea

Sung Ho Lee has been the pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church since July 2015. At the February 25th Lenten luncheon, he shared the story of how he came to become a United Methodist pastor, which is a second career for him. He also talked about overcoming fear of the future, and he used his

It was Valentine’s Day. It was cold and snowy outside.I was still healing from the sudden attack of influenza. It was to be my last day of my self-imposed quarantine. Fortunately, I was feeling better and my appetite had returned. My sister Diane brought me these carrots. One of them looked like a mutant, and I

Note:  This is a series of five blog posts, based on a weekly series of talks at the Lenten luncheon series, sponsored by the Grand Island Minsterium. Each of the five churches that belongs to the Grand Island Ministerium was asked to provide a lunch and to provide a speaker to talk about aspects of

Sunday, February 7th, in Cleveland, at North Presbyterian Church.  The service was full of music and hope. Pastor Charlie Hurst shared the story of Ida B. Wells (1862-1931). Ida Wells was a journalist, sociologist, suffragist, and an early leader in the Civil Rights movement. She had many accomplishments. One of them was to help bring