LEADERSHIP TEAM

Church Staff

Fr. Arthur Ward

SENIOR PASTOR / DEAN & RECTOR

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. Jacob Bush

Deacon / YOUNG MARRIED COUPLES

Father Jacob serves as the Associate Rector of St. Bartholomew's.  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.

Deacon Gary Wisniewski

Deacon / TREASURER

Deacon Wisniewski was ordained in 2014 and works part time in ministry here at St. Bartholomew's

Deacon Gary met his wife, Elaine, at St. Bartholomew's and they were married in 2015.

Liz Burkett

Director of Christian Education Ministry

Liz Burkett started serving as the Director of Christian Education in January of 2018 and has been working in youth ministry since 2009. She received her B.A. in Family Life Education, with a concentration in Youth Ministry, from Concordia University.

Liz and her husband Laird Joshua were married in 2014 and enjoy cooking and traveling together.

James Kibby

Building and Media Operations

James is a lifelong member of St. Bartholomew's and has been on staff since 2012. He currently oversees building and media operations as well as the contemporary music ministry. James and his wife Kristie met through campus ministry at the University at Buffalo and have two beautiful children, Khloe and Eli.

Cathy, Karen, Joan, & Debbie

Church Secretaries

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-3pm).

Our Vestry

The board of trustees for the Church shall be known as the vestry (the "Vestry") and shall consist of nine individuals, three of which shall be elected each year at the annual meeting of the Church to serve for a term of three years. For purposes of the New York Religious Corporation Law, the Vestry shall be the trustees of the Church, and shall be responsible to hold all property of the Church in trust for the members of the Church, and as such shall exercise authority over the temporal and financial affairs of the Church.

Your 2023 Vestry Members:

M.J. Brzeczkowski - Senior Warden
Jim Thompson - Junior Warden

Molly Sammarco
Mike Brylinski

Donna Daniele
Adam Kowalyk

Rich Heer

Not Pictured: John Hillestad, Jeff Westerman