Religion Notes / News of area faith groups
Woman to head Ohio seminary
Wendy J. Deichmann Edwards, a member of the Western New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, will be inaugurated on Tuesday as the eighth president of United Theological Seminary, which is located in Dayton, Ohio.
Deichmann Edwards formerly was academic dean and vice president, and she served as director of the seminary’s Buffalo program, which closed in 2005.
She is the first woman to serve as president of a freestanding United Methodist seminary in the United States.
Church marks 125th year
Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3143 Eggert Road, Town of Tonawanda, will celebrate the congregation’s 125th anniversary at 10:30 a. m. Oct. 12.
First established by Swedish immigrants in a small church on Chenango Street in Buffalo, the congregation moved to Tonawanda in the 1950s. A luncheon will follow worship.
Prayers for East Side
Corpus Christi Church, 199 Clark St., will hold its second outdoor candlelight procession at 7 p. m. Tuesday. Participants carrying candles and lights will walk through the immediate neighborhood and end at a statue of the Blessed Mother dedicated as the patron saint of abandoned houses.
The Rosary will be prayed in several different languages with prayer intentions for the transformation and revitalization of the East Side.
Pro-life events held
The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo will observe “Respect Life Sunday” with a 10:30 a. m. Mass on Sunday in St. Joseph Cathedral, 50 Franklin St., with Bishop Edward U. Kmiec. Mass will be followed by a blessing of families, babies and expectant mothers.
Alveda C. King, author, minister and niece of Martin Luther King Jr., will address youth in the diocese afterward with a talk, “Can You Hear Me Now,” highlighting abstinence, peace and pro-life.
The annual Western New York Life Chain also will take place from 2 to 3 p. m. Sunday along Niagara Falls Boulevard, from Main Street in Buffalo north toward Niagara Falls. Life Chains also will be held in Attica, Delevan, Jamestown, Olean and Perry.
For information on both events, call the diocesan office for pro-life activities at 847-2205.
30 years of ministry
St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, 1475 Orchard Park Road, West Seneca, will celebrate its pastor’s 30 years of ministry at 10 a. m. on Oct. 12.
The Rev. Hope Harle-Mould was ordained in 1978 and served as a pastor in Dayton, Ohio, before moving to St. Peter’s in 1999.
Healing workshops offered
The Church of the Living Spirit in Lily Dale has scheduled workshops that are open to the public.
Beginning this Wednesday and continuing every Wednesday through Nov. 12, a “Spiritual Healing” course will be held at 6:30 p. m. in the Assembly Hall. Cost is $150, or $75 for healers already certified by the church. Register by Monday by calling Colleen Vanderzyden at 673-1606 or e-mailing colleen@netsync.net . “The Angel Path to Mediumship and Healing” workshop will be held at 1:30 p. m. Oct. 26 in the Assembly Hall, with Sherry Lee Calkins as facilitator. Preregistration is $24 or $29 at the door. Call Suzanne Hamilton at 296-8971 to register.
