February 6, 2024

Greetings EDOR!

We write to you today to say Thank You for your response to the Diocesan Tour and the Meet and Greets with our three candidates. While the weather outside throughout the week may have included snow, drizzle, and fog (lots of fog), the weather inside our Host Churches was warm, inviting, and exciting.

378 of you physically attended the six Meet and Greets, 180 of you watched them live, and many of you said you had or were going to watch some of the other sessions. Your considerable participation speaks volumes about your love and enthusiasm for the church and the diocese. We invite you now to make sure you share your thoughts about the candidates with your parish clergy and delegates prior to the Election Convention on February 24. Some parishes are having parish-wide gatherings to discuss which candidate they feel the Spirit is calling to be our next Bishop.

We need to thank so many people who made the Diocesan Tour such a success. First, we start with our three spectacular candidates, The Rev. Canon Lauren Holder, The Very Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer, and The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton. It was a grueling week which consisted of six two-and-a-half hour sessions answering our questions plus hours sitting on a bus driving around the diocese and experiencing life in EDOR, one village after another. We drove past almost every parish in the diocese.

Many thanks also to the sub-committee that planned the tour: The Rev. Patti Blaine, The Rev. Gretchen Ratterree, Dan McLaughlin, Kristy Estey, and Steve Richards. This group spent a tremendous amount of time and effort to make the tour a success. Many thanks are owed to The Rev. Michael Laver, The Rev. Shanna Hawks, and The Rev. Sandy Cordingly for their assistance as moderators and to The Very Rev. Virginia Mazzarella for her service as chaplain during the tour. Thank you to the Host Parishes and their clergy for providing wonderful dinners for the tour team and for opening up their beautiful churches to all of us for the sessions: The Rev. Keith Patterson and St. Luke & St. Simon Cyrene, Rochester; The Rev. David Hefling and St. John’s, Canandaigua; The Rev. Gretchen Ratterree and St. Mark’s, Newark; The Very Rev. Troy Preston and Christ Church, Corning; The Rev. Michael Laver and St. Michael’s, Geneseo; and The Rev. Josh Stibb and St. Peter’s, Henrietta.

We also want to remind everyone that best practices put forward by the Episcopal Church, invite us (clergy and laity) to refrain from having contact (emails, phone calls, social media) with the candidates until after the Election Convention on February 24. Candidates have been asked not to accept any “friend” requests at this time. Instead, pray for them, and pray for EDOR: “Send us your Spirit, O Lord.”

The Rev. Don Schranz, Chairperson, Transition Committee
Liz Salamone, President, Standing Committee