Priest in Charge: The Rev. Cathy Dempesy-Sims

Cathy Dempesy-Sims has been a priest since 2008. She has spent her entire priestly career in WNY/NWPA serving first as an associate at St Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo, then as rector of Good Shepherd, Buffalo and Priest in Charge at Ascension, Buffalo. In 2016 Bishop Bill Franklin called Cathy as the Canon to the Ordinary for Western New York. Cathy remains on Bishop Sean Rowe’s staff as the Canon for Pastoral Care and Congregational Support. As part of that position she was deployed to serve St. James, Batavia in late 2021. 


A native of Chicago and Wisconsin, Cathy’s first profession was as a psychotherapist, specializing in addiction care. She supervised the development and expansion of several specialized programs focusing on women’s mental health and addiction, with a special focus on single mothers. 


In her spare time Cathy loves baseball (a life-long Cubs fan who also has a great allegiance to the Toronto Blue Jays and Buffalo Bisons), her two dogs (who you will see often in her office at St. James), and her donkey and goat who live on a farm in Eden, NY. Most of Cathy's family lives in the midwest except her step-son, Patrick who lives in Buffalo. A widow, Cathy has lived in WNY for 20 years." 


Our Deacon  ~ The Rev. Deacon Diana Leiker

Deacon Diana is the first permanent deacon assigned to St. James in all of its 200 year history!  We are thrilled to begin new ministries together and to learn about the call and work of a deacon.


Deacon Diana was ordained to holy orders in December 2016 and was assigned to St. James in January of 2017.  A retired art teacher, she brings creativity to all of her work, teaching and outreach effort.  She is an EfM mentor and engages in sharing her faith, her experience and her wisdom in our adult education classes.  


Please click here for more information on EfM, (Education for Ministry).


"We hear God's message and experience God's love and grace through worship, study, and outreach within the church. We will live, die, and rise with Christ. These opportunities will feed our spirit and fill our cups to the brim. But, we will also spend much of our time with our families, friends, and in the secular world. It is here in the outside world that we can take the message of God's unconditional love for ALL His people to the streets because we have the hope and truth of the resurrected Christ to share." Deacon Di.


Read a message from Deacon Diana

on the second page of every Newsletter.

St. James Parish Staff

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