Welcome to St. Paul's Cathedral!
Cathedral Address:
139 Pearl Street, Buffalo, NY 14202
Office & Mailing:
4 Cathedral Park, Buffalo, NY 14202
Phone: 716-855-0900
Fax: 716-855-0910
Office Hours: 9 am - 5 pm, M-F
9 am - 4 pm, M-F Summer Hours
(Memorial Day - Labor Day)
Email: office@spcbuffalo.org
Sunday Services at 10:00 am are available through our Live Stream
Starting, May 9th, the Sunday service will start at 10:15 am.
St. Paul’s to Resume In-person Worship Inside the Cathedral
As long as the COVID-19 test positive rate is reasonable, St. Paul’s will gather in the context of physical community to praise God for the first time in over year! The target date is May 9th . Although we can rejoice that we are at this point, we have to proceed safely and cautiously – COVID-19 remains a threat to public health. For that reason, the plan to resume in-person worship indoors incorporates a number of precautionary
measures as articulated in the reopening guidelines published by the partnership dioceses, including mask wearing and social distancing measures. Read the guidelines here.
We will begin by offering one indoor service at 10:15 am. This service will be live streamed for those unable to be physically present. Additional indoor services will be offered in the future. Throughout the summer, some outdoor worship opportunities will be offered in addition to the indoor option. At first, we can accommodate around 90 people – this is twenty-five percent of the space’s capacity factoring in social distancing measures.
For contact tracing purposes, all in attendance will be required to provide pertinent contact information. To help facilitate that, we will implement a registration process for people to sign up for a service. A limited amount of space will be reserved for
visitors/walk-ins; however, they will be required to provide contact information prior to entering the Nave.
The 10:15 am service will follow the format of The Holy Eucharist, Rite II in The Book of Common Prayer. To reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, some of our common practices will be altered. Specifically, music will be offered by cantors and instrumentalists. Congregational and significant choral singing will resume in the future once the pandemic wanes. Holy Communion will be distributed using self-contained units to be consumed after leaving the building.
Although we will be eager to see and interact with one another, we want to do so as safely as possible. For that reason, please refrain from visiting while inside the Cathedral. All are invited to visit one another in Cathedral Park following the service.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will I register?
We will be using the registration platform in Planning Center, St. Paul’s communication and database hub. Links will only become available the week before the worship service. In the event of a worshipper tests positive for COVID-19, the registration will serve as a contact tracing list. In addition, the registration system will help us honor a capacity limit of twenty-five percent. If you are unable to register online, please contact Teresa Carter (855.0900) the week before worship to reserve your spot.
What about children?
At this time, we are working on a plan for childcare and children’s programming during worship. You are invited to bring your child to worship. As more information becomes available about children’s programming, we will be sending out that information via the weekly eletter and the SPCKids distribution list.
What can I expect when I arrive to worship?
Please plan to arrive by 10:00 am to ensure you can be checked in and seated prior to the 10:15 am service. All participants will be welcomed by greeters at the Pearl Street entrance who will check if you have registered, take your temperature, and give you a bulletin if requested (all will be encouraged to download a copy of the bulletin on an electronic device at SPCBuffalo.org/livestream). Please follow all directional signs. After
checking in, you are to proceed directly to your pew.
For those who need to use the elevator, please indicate that upon registration and you will have access to the Walker Room entrance. The only available restroom will be the handicapped unisex restroom off of the Walker Room.
Will I have to wear a mask at services?
Masks are required for all services, whether inside or outside and regardless of vaccination status.
What are the seating arrangements?
As part of the registration process, you will be assigned a pew number. This ensures we accommodate household units correctly and safely. To honor social distancing measures, unavailable pews will be roped off.
Can you say more about bulletins?
Yes! Participants are encouraged to download an electronic version of the bulletin at SPCBuffalo.org/livestream on their smartphone or tablet. Also, hard copies will be available as part of the check-in process.
How will Holy Communion be celebrated and distributed?
To comply with guidelines, only one ordained person will be at the free-standing Altar located in the Crossing. After the elements have been consecrated, the ushers will invite participants to come forward via the center aisle, pew by pew, to take one of the all-in-one, self-contained units from the Altar. Please only touch what you plan to take. You will proceed to a station where you can deposit a monetary offering before exiting the Nave. To honor the mask requirement, please refrain from consuming the elements until you are outside or at home. The bulletin will include a post-Communion prayer for you to pray wherever you are and instructions for disposing the container reverently.
How can I serve at this service?
For each service, we will need a lector, an acolyte and at least two ushers. Anyone involved in Sunday worship will need to participate in a short training session. Worship leaders will sign up via Planning Center. If you are not already a lector, an acolyte or usher and you wish to serve in one or more of these roles, please contact Dean Derrick (derrick@spcbuffalo.org).
What if I or someone else who attends later develops COVID-19?
If you test positive for COVID-19 after attending a service, please contact the Cathedral Office at 855.0900 or teresa@spcbuffalo.org. We, in conjunction with the Erie County Health Department, will contact the other participants to disclose the potential exposure. Confidentiality will be honored.
If I feel unwell, should I attend worship?
Because COVID-19 presents in a variety of ways, we ask that if you feel at all ill- particularly have a fever, cough, headache, body aches, difficulty breathing, or lack of taste/smell, that you refrain from attending worship and join virtually at SPCBuffalo.org/livestream.
Mission Statement
The people of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral
strive to be a beacon of God's love
in Western New York through
transformative worship, inclusive fellowship,
and active service in partnership
with the wider community.
