New Leaders installed for Western New York area of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
A major leadership change for the Buffalo area of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was announced at The Semi-Annual Conference of the Buffalo Stake of the Church held in Amherst on November 12th and 13th. Elder Keith Edwards and Elder W. T. David Murray, General Authorities from the headquarters of the Church in Salt Lake City presided as Nathan D. Pace, Bishop of the Lockport Ward of the Church was called to be the new President of the Buffalo Stake, an area organization including nine congregations of the Church in Western New York. Jeffrey Williams and Neil Munro of East Aurora were also called as counselors to President Pace in the three man presidency which leads church affairs in an area that extends from Niagara and Orleans Counties on the North to Northe rn Chautauqua County on the South, and Wyoming County on the east.
Those who lead the church serve as unpaid volunteers who also pursue full time work in their professional or business roles. President Pace is a private attorney with an active Western New York practice, Jeffrey Williams is the Manager of Physical Facilities for the Church in Western New York and Northeast Pennsylvania, and Neil Munro is president of Munro Products a manufacturer and installer of kitchen and bath products. This change in leadership marks the first time that the presidency has consisted entirely of Western New York natives. This fact is a sign of the growth and maturity of the church in this area
The new Buffalo Stake Presidency succeeds a leadership team consisting of Stephen Free, Jeffrey Williams, and Merril Dayton who have led the church in Western New York for the last decade, and who were released honorably in a seamless transition that occurs every nine or ten years. They will continue to serve in new church assignments in the area. Periodic rotations of local leadership are the norm for governance in the Church.
