The Diocesan Discovery Series will kick off on Saturday, October 18 with Wine, Windows & Song, the first event of the once-a-month, six-event series. The series has been organized by Communication Officer Laurie Wozniak.

"Whenever I attend a diocesan gathering," comments Laurie, "I hear people say we ought to get together more often. This series is an attempt to offer just that—opportunities for people from across the diocese to gather. Each event is designed to offer a different type of spiritually related experience as well as some food, fun and fellowship."

The Rev’d. Deacon Polly Bowen, St. Matthias, East Aurora

The Hebrew word for faith is “aman,” and in its various forms it signifies the acceptance of something as trustworthy, firm, dependable. According to the writers of the Church Teaching Series, faith implies a deliberate and positive existential involvement; it precedes belief, which is an intellectual expression of faith. This echoes the Aquinian definition as “the act of the intellect when it assents to divine truth under the influence of the will moved by God through grace.”

But Aquinas is ponderous, and the writers of the Church Teaching Series can be challenging as well. So if you’ve bothered to read this far, let me say that in a simpler way: the difference between faith and belief is that faith is eternal, while beliefs are relative to our history and therefore bound to time and space.

Stacy Lampman, St. Andrew’s Burt

“We hold in trust something lent to us temporarily and we are accountable to Christ for everything. . .our life and time, our powers of body and mind and our material possessions” – Giving in Faith, 1988

Being a good steward of our time and talent and treasures is not a “simple” thing. It takes a conscious and intentional effort on our part.

The Rev. Robert Arnold    Trinity Church, Fredonia

In an op-ed piece in the New York Times, columnist David Brooks highlighted the thoughts of many researchers in fields of modern science, and noted how new learning is influencing a new debate on religion and science.

We still have a plethora of scientists that gain much pleasure in putting down religion (Tom Wolfe, “Sorry, but Your Soul Just Died,” 1996).

The Very Rev. Canon Barbara Price, Rector   St. Peter's, Eggertsville 

This week's mail brought one of the most extraordinary letters I have ever received. It was a gratitude list from someone who had experienced a recent traumatic event and resultant injury.

The Very Rev. N. DeLiza Spangler     St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo

A friend, who is both an Episcopalian and a musician, recently visited here in Buffalo. After attending both the 11:15 Eucharist and the Sunday Evensong [at St. Paul's Cathedral], she said, "Beauty is so important, so central to worship - at least for me."  In that statement, she spoke worlds about being an Episcopalian.