St. Peter's, Henrietta, New York
1972-1977

(Shaker Shop photo June 2009)

Henrietta is a working class suburb furthest away from the employment centers at Xerox and Kodak (read:inexpensive). Father Charles Bollinger was the founding priest and had to live through the turbulent 1960's in Rochester which split the community on issues of race.

The congregation was about 50% former Roman Catholics when I resigned in 1977. We were no threat to the two neighboring Roman congregations both of which had over 2,000 families each. In one year a major Xerox migration to Dallas, TX took 35% of the congregation and 50% of the income. We recovered the money and people within 18 months and the flat roof still leaked.

The clerk of the vestry from 1970 is still the clerk in 2009!