BUFFALO — Before we talk about this city, and football, and effigies, and Tom Brady, Donald Trump and buttocks beer-luges, let’s talk about God.
On Sept. 25, the Episcopal Rev. Will Mebane Jr. stood before the congregation at 128 Pearl Street in the 165-year old red Medina sandstone landmark, wearing not his standard black-and-white vestments but a red No. 7 jersey he’d bought for $100 on NFL.com. Rev. Mebane is one of only a handful of black deans of Episcopalian churches in the United States. The church’s membership is 99% white. The Reverend planned to read a lesson of compassion from the Book of Amos.