PREAMBLE We thank God for our part in the noble past of the Diocese of Western New York from which we have been informed and in which we have had our place, and, prior to its formation in A.D. 1838, our participation in the Diocese of New York; for our spiritual descent from the Mother Church of England before the independence of these United States of America and for our origin and part in the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ to which we yield our allegiance.