LEADERSHIP TEAM

Father Ward has served as the Rector of St. Bartholomew's since 1998. He received his B.A. in History from SUNY at Buffalo; a M.A. in Practical Theology from Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA; and a M. Div. from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, VA.

Fr. Ward and his wife Kathleen have two adult children, Arthur and Alyssa. 

Fr. Thebeau serves as the Curate for the parish. Before coming to St. Bart's he spent two years at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (where he met his wife Rebecca) before transferring to Trinity School for Ministry to receive a Master of Divinity. 

Fr. Thebeau and his wife have three precious boys: John-Paul, James and Jonah.

Deacon Reitz serves as the Building Engineer for St. Bart's. He oversees multiple Bible Studies for married couples and adult men. Before becoming a minister he worked in the transportation and IT industries. 

Deacon Reitz and his wife Cathy have two loving daughters, five awesome grandchildren and one beautiful great granddaughter.

Deacon Bush was raised at St. Bartholomew’s and confirmed in 1992.  He graduated from SUNY Fredonia in 2001 with a B.S. in Mathematics, and received his M. Div. from Northeastern Seminary. 

He met his wife, Alana, at SUNY Fredonia, and were married shortly after graduation. They have six children: Emily, Autumn, Malachi, Hadassah, Ephraim and Eden. Malachi went home to be with Jesus in 2011.

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Deacon Wisniewski serves as the treasurer of St. Bartholomew's. He has also worked professionally as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for more than 30 years.

Deacon Gary has been married to Elaine for several years. They live on Grand Island.

Liz Burkett started serving as the Director of Christian Education in January of 2018 and has been working as a Children and Youth Director for almost 10 years in the WNY area. She received her B.A. in Family Life Education, with a concentration in Youth Ministry, from Concordia University.

Liz and her husband Laird Joshua have been married four years and enjoy cooking and traveling together.

Jim has been on staff at St. Bart's since 2012 where he oversees the contemporary music ministry team and manages custodial maintenance as the church sexton. He is also an accomplished musician and songwriter and loves to play old time banjo. 

Jim and his wife Kristie have two young children, Khloe and Eli.

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Terry serves as the parish organist and the adult choir director. Beyond music he enjoys stamp collecting (philately), long distance walking and reading. 

Terry has been married to Mary for more than 40 years and has two adult daughters (Sherrie and Laina) and six grandchildren.

Eileen Arnold has attended St. Bart's for over 20 years and began directing the junior choir in 2015.  She also directs the contemporary choir and coordinates the youth music ministry. Outside of church, Eileen teaches Latin, piano and voice.  

Eileen and her husband Jon have three adult children and are looking forward to grandchildren soon.

St. Bart's is blessed to have an amazing team of secretaries to answer your calls and assist you during office hours (M-F, 9am-5pm).