Our VISION
Worship the Lord. Serve the Poor. Proclaim the Gospel.
our Story
January 2017: Fr. Bryan Wandel and his family moved back to Buffalo after a decade away and felt the Lord was drawing them here to start a new church: liturgical in form and evangelical in heart. They bought a home on the West Side and began connecting with people. In addition to Bible studies, cookouts, and parties, Fr. Bryan started The Nickel City Forum, a public gathering of people with extremely diverse ideas (atheist, humanist, spiritual, believers of various stripe) for lectures and debates about important questions in culture and life.
December 2017: A small group around Fr. Bryan started a Sunday worship service.
2018: The church began to connect and serve asylum-seekers in Buffalo.
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2019: The church moved its sanctuary to North Buffalo and began outreach in its current neighborhood.
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2020: A new work has begun of having Arabic speaking Anglicans join our community and launching a new service.
Today: we are "seeking spiritual rhythms to renew our souls and sustain our city." We are building rhythms of life that will draw us more deeply into God's work of atonement through Jesus and being sent out to love our neighborhoods. We hope you can join this story! Come be one with us as we are one with the Lord.
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MINISTRIES: Renewing our souls
Anglican Worship
We all have liturgies - patterns of behavior, words, rituals - that influence who we are. Our greatest desire is to love Jesus and other people, so each Sunday we participate in patterns of behavior (kneeling, standing, bowing) and words (praying, listening, speaking) that help us to love God.
Everything in our worship directs us to Jesus, the one who renews all people, as we see him revealed in the Bible and the Eucharist.
Small Groups
God did not make us to be alone but to love and be loved by others in his church. We believe in community, hospitality, and sacrificing ourselves for the good of others. In our community, small groups renew our souls through following Jesus in the practices of intentional community, discussing our faith, and praying for one another.
Our vision
Listen in on our most recent Vision Meeting:
Worship the Lord. Serve those in Need. Proclaim the Gospel.
The first few minutes are testimonials as to what Atonement has meant to three regular attenders.
Listen Here:
Ministries: SustainING our city
Arabic Service
Our Anglican communion is a global church. God has brought a diaspora of recent Anglican immigrants whose mother tongue is Arabic to become part of our community. As a result, Atonement has two services, one in English and one in Arabic, and we joyfully nurture relationships between the two communities.
Nickel City Forum
We love Buffalo and want to promote good discussion about the most important things in life!
The Nickel City Forum is a monthly gathering to learn about and discuss big ideas: culture, life, theology. We think that friends, a stimulating topic, and some goodwill can go a long way.
our Leaders
Bryan
I am a Buffalo native, raised in Tonawanda. I live on the West Side with my wife, Kacy, and 4 children. Growing the church of Jesus is my passion, but my day job is accounting.
I am a runner. Writing is my creative outlet. If you gave me a week off, I would be backpacking.
I'd love to meet you for coffee; I'll have tea, thank you.
Fr. Bryan Wandel
Rector, Lead Pastor
Matt
I'm from Florida, so at least my dog likes the snow. I recently called Chicago home, where I studied at Wheaton and TEDS.
Now, my family loves small city life in North Buffalo.
I enjoy hanging out with friends, reading, and being outdoors. If you gave me a week off, I would be traveling.
I'd love to meet you for coffee; I'll have a pour over, thank you.
Dcn. Matt Traylor
Curate, Pastoral Resident
Jonathan
Jonathan Moran
Music Director
TESTIMONIES
Friendly people, vibrant service, easy to follow, sound teaching.
- AK
This church is great at community and outreach.
- Hannah
A wonderful place to worship God and enter into community.
- Kati
I love Church of The Atonement:
Every service is full of beautiful and meaningful prayer that honors the Lord and leads the congregation into communion.
The leadership is strong and kind. They do their best to care about each member of the congregation.
It's interactive! Both the leaders and the congregation actively participate in the liturgy.
- Micaela