St Peter's Church

"Has a wonderful inviting feeling."

"Cazenovia has a small downtown of buildings that preceded the Erie Canal, which is old for this part of the country. The stagecoach hotel took its place on the corner of Main and Hill in 1835, followed the canal by ten years. I'm not sure what drives commerce in Caz, short for Cazenovia, but I found three coffeehouses, two Irish Pubs, a handful of restaurants and all too many pizza shops. Dropping by the one coffeehouse house, the collections of teas sold by the pound marked it as a tea shop more than a coffeeshop. I have always liked the names of teas, and I wonder why no one has created a story with characters named after tea varietals. On the window, I learned of a concert at four in an Episcopal Church on Mill Street. The program started at four, featuring the resident organist from Colgate College. The programming focused on long compositions by John Sebastian Bach and a fellow named Buxetude. The pipes installed in 1880 and renovated in 1954 had to be taken for a spin again after a restoration just this year. I sat in a row before the family who had funded the restoration, the restoration work performed locally by a firm in Syracuse. A reception followed afterwards, a nice event where all the food went pretty much to waste. A beautiful yard with a patio awaited and no one unlocked the double doors for the grounds to be enjoyed. For a church event, the pews seated a good turnout, but still half the capacity went unused. Most of the audience went straight home after the last composition. The rector was taking jug after jug of lemonade to the chapel. A youth group scheduled to start called for a delicious beverage to quench thirst. I have always wondered who are these people who rush right home after a concert and skip gatherings in the fellowship hall? I have also wondered about the people who form circles in conversation that might as well be circles of covered wagons. I was taught, by my fraternity, to extend the right hand of friendship. Fortunately, the social media minister took pictures of everyone, and that broke the ice. I showed her the page Google maintains on St Peter's Episcopal Church, and demonstrated for her by adding forty pictures I had taken of the stained glass. The doors had been open to the garth, a garden space out front, and she found that picture through the open doors remarkably beautiful."

"All are welcome here! Priest, vestry and members doing all the right things to bring this parish to a top-notch leadership role in our Cazenovia community. Try it, you'll like it!"