The Church That Children Built
St. Paul's Episcopal Church sits on Harris Hill Road in the town of Clarence, between Wehrle Drive and Main Street, directly across from Harris Hill Elementary School. The mailing address is Williamsville, NY 14221, but the parish belongs to Clarence and has been a fixture in this stretch of eastern Erie County since the years just after the Second World War. Neighbors know the parish by a phrase that has outlasted every renovation, every change of neighborhood, and every change of clergy: the Church that children built.
That name is more than a marketing line. St. Paul's began as an ecumenical Sunday school in the late 1940s, when adults and children from several Christian backgrounds gathered to teach and learn together in this neighborhood. The congregation grew out of that shared Sunday school, formally became an Episcopal parish in the same decade, and dedicated the current building in September 1949. Generations of Harris Hill children have since been catechized, baptized, married, and buried in the same walls, and the commitment to formation remains central. The parish's mission statement says it plainly: St. Paul's welcomes all to celebrate God's love and embody that in its relationships and through faithful actions.
That founding identity still shapes the program. Lego Club and Pokemon Club still gather in rooms once used by those first Sunday school classes. Each year on Trinity Sunday, the children of the parish take the 10:00 a.m. service as lectors, chalice bearers, and ushers. And every spring the kindergarten class from Harris Hill Elementary School walks across the street to celebrate the wedding of the letter Q and the letter U - a tradition Father Jason cheerfully honors, even when the bride's side gets stage fright and a stand-in Q has to fill in for the procession.
Sundays at Eight and Ten
St. Paul's offers two principal Sunday liturgies. At 8:00 a.m. a spoken Eucharist gathers the early risers in the sanctuary for a quieter service. At 10:00 a.m. a sung Eucharist fills the nave with hymnody, choral music, and organ under the direction of organist Rob Boccaccio and cantor Kerrykate Abel-Smith. Both liturgies use the rites of the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer, and both gather around the sacrament of Holy Eucharist as the central act of worship.
The 10:00 a.m. service is the parish's livestream service, broadcast each Sunday on the parish's Facebook page for members at home, faraway family members, and the curious. A weekly online bulletin accompanies the livestream, including the texts of the day's readings and prayers of spiritual communion for those watching remotely. Most Sunday sermons by The Rev. Dr. Jason M. Miller are posted to the parish website within days, complete with the lectionary citations from the day's readings and Father Jason's reflections on them.
The liturgical year is observed in full at St. Paul's. Ash Wednesday opens Lent with midday ashes. Holy Week begins with a Maundy Thursday liturgy built around foot washing and the institution of the Eucharist, continues through a Good Friday service of the Passion and a quiet Holy Saturday morning vigil, and culminates at the Great Vigil of Easter. Pentecost is given particular weight as well, with the day's sermon returning to the old English name Whitsunday - the Feast of White Garments and Holy Wisdom - and the parish calendar noting the historic connection to white baptismal robes.
The Priest-in-Charge and a Two-Parish Ministry
The Rev. Dr. Jason M. Miller joined St. Paul's in September 2023 as Priest-in-Charge. He continues simultaneously to serve as Priest-in-Charge at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Buffalo, and the two congregations are actively exploring what regional ministry can look like in this corner of Western New York. The hope is that shared resources, shared learning, and steady collaboration will strengthen both parishes and the wider Episcopal witness across the Buffalo metro area.
Father Jason's preaching centers on a small number of recurring concerns: the welcome Christ extends to everyone, regardless of background or doubt; the place of honest questions in a maturing faith; the daily practice of gratitude as a way of seeing God's presence; and the way mission flows naturally out of a settled identity in God. He often tells the Sunday story through a single image - the parable of the Sower, the wheat and the weeds, the Good Samaritan - or through an invitation: radical welcome in his own recurring phrasing, the Kingdom already taking root in another.
His Holy Week sermons are a particular signature. The Maundy Thursday sermon is preached in Peter's voice, recalling the night he refused to let Jesus wash his feet and then asked for his hands and head to be washed as well. Holy Saturday is heard from Joseph of Arimathea, the secret disciple who stepped forward to claim the body. Good Friday arrives in the words of the Good Thief crucified next to Jesus, who asks only to be remembered and is promised paradise. And on Easter morning a single preaching voice becomes Mary Magdalene's, weeping by an empty tomb before she hears her own name spoken aloud.
Father Jason's contact information is printed in the parish bulletin. He welcomes conversations with anyone curious about St. Paul's, about the Christian faith, or about possible collaboration with other congregations in the diocese.
Grateful Living
For the current liturgical year, the parish has anchored its preaching and small-group work to one short verse from Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Father Jason returns to the verse again and again, drawing a careful line between giving thanks for all circumstances and giving thanks in all circumstances. The distinction is pastoral: gratitude, he insists, is not denial of pain, not performance of cheerfulness, and not a sentimental glow that papers over grief. It is a posture chosen in the middle of ordinary, painful, or confusing life.
Several practices accompany the theme. During Lent the parish offers a five-minute daily gratitude journal, structured around three steps: name three things for which you are grateful, three places where you sensed God's presence, and one act of generosity given or received. Another suggested practice is the Three Touchpoints rhythm: choose three ordinary moments in each day - turning on a light, washing hands, unlocking a phone, sitting down to eat - and at each one whisper, Thank you, God, for being with me right now. Parishioners are invited during this season to share in worship one short sentence beginning, This week, I gave thanks in ...
Lent and Holy Week at St. Paul's are marked by services that walk worshipers step by step from joyful entry to quiet waiting to resurrection. The parish collects Lenten brochures, suggestions for daily prayer, and the appointed daily readings on its website. A confirmation class is folded into the same season, with candidates walking the journey alongside the wider congregation and being asked the same questions the church has asked new Christians for centuries.
Beyond the Brick and Mortar
Father Jason writes that the parish's strength lies not only in our words, but also in the actions of our initiatives. We are a church beyond our brick and mortar. We strive to make a positive change across all of Western New York. Three steady outreach efforts give that vision durable form.
Buffalo School 6
Buffalo Public School 6 is one of the most financially challenged schools in the Buffalo Public Schools district. Many of the children enrolled there are among the region's newest refugee and immigrant families; classrooms routinely accommodate students speaking more than ten different languages. St. Paul's sees the school as both a calling and a learning opportunity. Parishioners serve as classroom volunteers, and the parish contributes backpacks and books for special occasions. Father Jason frames the work as a way to help care for hard-working children who need it the most while learning about the multiple cultures in Western New York.
Food Pantry Assistance
The parish makes regular donations to the Lancaster Food Pantry and contributes to the Clarence Food Pantry as needs arise. Donations range from canned goods to warm clothing, and the back of the sanctuary regularly holds collection baskets bound for local pantries.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
St. Paul's supports the work of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit that builds and delivers beds to children in the region who do not have one of their own. The parish hosts collection drives and serves as a build site for the local chapter.
These are not one-off projects. Each effort is sustained year to year, and parishioners can plug in through a simple online form. A weekly e-newsletter keeps the wider community informed of current needs and upcoming dates.
Ghosts of Roycroft and a Pub Crawl Through East Aurora
St. Paul's has built an unexpected public presence through collaboration with paranormalist and storyteller Mason Winfield, whose work draws on the strange history of the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora - the arts-and-crafts community founded by Elbert Hubbard in the 1890s - and the lore of the village's older buildings.
The Supernatural Roycroft Tour begins at the Roycroft Inn at 40 South Grove Street, East Aurora, and walks visitors through the campus and grounds while Winfield tells of ghostly encounters and eerie legends tied to the Hubbard legacy. The Haunted History Pub Crawl of East Aurora starts at Riley Street Station at 27 Riley Street and combines three bars, three hours, and a long set of strange local tales. Both events draw visitors who have often never set foot in the parish itself.
The collaboration has expanded into a deeper partnership. In addition to the standing walking tours, the parish has hosted a full one-day seminar on the paranormal, with sessions on what Holy Scripture has to say about the unseen world, an Anglican understanding of exorcism, the difference between hauntings and poltergeists, and the long history of public fascination with the supernatural. The program is grounded in theology - the seminar opens with Scripture and includes a luncheon and a closing communion - and uses ghost lore as a way to open a wider conversation about faith and fear. It is a distinctive way that a small Episcopal parish keeps its doors open to the surrounding community.
Lego, Pokémon, and Other Small Gatherings
St. Paul's maintains an unusually wide calendar of small-group gatherings, most of them aimed at mixing generations. The full lineup of recurring programs is published on the parish website and refreshed weekly in the e-newsletter.
Children and Youth
Lego Club and Pokémon Club are designed for elementary-aged children, and the parish makes space for both because, in Father Jason's words, kids remind us that faith is not complicated. It is joyful. It is curious. It is trusting. It is full of wonder. On Trinity Sunday each year, the parish holds a Youth Sunday, when young people take the visible roles in the 10:00 a.m. Eucharist as lectors, chalice bearers, and ushers, and Father Jason preaches a sermon that the children themselves can carry home. The annual visit of the kindergarten class from Harris Hill Elementary School is another beloved tradition: each spring the children walk across Harris Hill Road to celebrate the marriage of the letter Q and the letter U, with U waiting at the church steps like a good groom while the children - sometimes a stand-in Q - process the alphabet down the aisle. The parish joyfully obliges, even when Q never quite makes it inside.
Families
Family Game Nights are held a few times each year. Parishioners bring a favorite board or card game and gather in the parish hall for an evening of unhurried play.
Adults
Evening Bible Study meets on a regular weekday, gathering in person at the parish for prayer, conversation, and engagement with the lectionary texts for the following Sunday. The parish also offers a Spiritual Gifts workshop to help participants identify and put to use the gifts God has given them. The Seeing Buffalo Like a Tourist outing takes adults out for a guided day of exploration of the region's landmarks and neighborhoods - aimed at longtime residents who have lived in Western New York for years but never really slowed down to look.
Older Adults
Rockin' Seniors is the parish's recurring gathering for the young at heart. A few times a year the church hosts a meeting where the focus is good food and good company, and the only requirement is a sense of humor.
Times of Loss
Grief Support meets regularly throughout the year for those who have lost a loved one. The annual Pet Memorial Service is held in November to honor the companion animals who have died. Parishioners and neighbors gather to decorate a rock that will be placed in the parish Memorial Garden, then share an hour-long ecumenical service remembering pets by name.
The Memorial Garden and Columbarium
St. Paul's maintains both a Memorial Garden and an on-site Columbarium for the interment of ashes, intended as quiet places for prayer and remembrance. The Memorial Garden offers inscribed bricks for $100 or $200; commemorations may mark a loved one, or they may mark an event in the donor's own life - a birth, a baptism, a wedding, a graduation. Each brick is a contribution that will outlast the giver.
The Columbarium offers single-urn niches for permanent interment. Parishioners may purchase exclusive rights to a niche for a one-time cost of $400; non-parishioners may purchase one for $2,000. After an individual's death, a bronze nameplate is added to the front of the niche so that the resting place can be located by family members. Brochures and order forms are available on the parish website, and gifts may be made by check or through the parish's online giving portal.
St. Paul's also accepts planned gifts - bequests, designated funds, memorial contributions - and works with parishioners on the kind of legacy giving Father Jason describes as expressing your personal values ... even after your mortal body has passed away.
What a First-Time Visitor Finds
The church is at 4275 Harris Hill Road, Williamsville, NY 14221. The parish office phone is (716) 632-8221, and visitors are warmly welcomed at the doors on Sunday mornings. The sanctuary is wheelchair-accessible, with a parish parking lot on site and additional parking available at the Baynes building (just past the house on the Main Street side of the church) and along the driveway of the Harris Hill Elementary School directly across the road. Dress ranges from casual to business-casual; everything from jeans to suits shows up at the 10:00 a.m. service. Children are welcome in the liturgy, and a parish hall provides space for those who need to step out.
Those who cannot make it in person can join the 10:00 a.m. service online via the parish's Facebook livestream. A downloadable online bulletin accompanies the broadcast with the readings, the prayers, and the order of worship, and includes the texts of two spiritual communion prayers for those receiving the broadcast from home. Sunday sermons are posted in text form on the parish website within a few days of each service.
The parish office can be reached at office@stpaulsharrishill.org during the week. Father Jason can be reached directly at jason@stpaulsharrishill.org, and welcomes pastoral conversations by appointment or after Sunday services.
The Parish Mission in Its Own Words
St. Paul's mission is short and direct: the parish welcomes all to celebrate God's love and embody that love in its relationships and through faithful actions. Father Jason underlines the verb. We don't welcome others because we are nice, he has preached. We welcome because God welcomed us first. We don't open our doors because it's trendy. We open them because God's love is expansive, enduring, and meant to be shared. The parish sees itself as a community that has work to do - in the sanctuary, in the food pantry, in a kindergarten classroom at Buffalo School 6, in the haunted corners of East Aurora - and that work begins, week by week, in the liturgy of Word and Sacrament at the altar where Q and U, and three generations of Harris Hill children, have been married into the life of God.