Washington National Cathedral will host the presidential inaugural prayer service on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 10 a.m. Eastern time, to be livestreamed at https://cathedral.org.

Find more information here.

When the diocesan Hispanic Ministries Committee gathered via Zoom this past fall to discern its plan and vision for 2021, part of what members decided on as a goal was to have more joint services and experiences as a way to bring their gifts to the wider diocese and to try to bring people from the margins of society and the center closer together.

St. Luke’s-San Lucas Church in Chelsea has had a long-held tradition of a bilingual church service honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As part of the effort to have more services together, the committee joined St. Luke's-San Lucas in hosting a Spanish-language Martin Luther King Jr. service online on Sunday, Jan. 17.

The recording of the livestream is available at www.facebook.com/lukelucaschelsea.

The Rev. Edwin Johnson, the rector of St. Mary’s Church in Dorchester and a member of the Hispanic Ministries Committee, preached at the service. He explained in an interview how a big part of the committee's goal is work around asserting the place of Latinos within the larger structure and framework of engaging racial justice, an issue which seems more important than ever in the wake of the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on the Feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6.

“Oftentimes, when people think about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, they think about his impact in the United States and his impact within a movement that was African-American, and I think, for us, it’s important to do this to acknowledge that his work has had a tremendous impact on our Latino communities of all races, and that the time has come for us to engage with each other more about that and also to bring our gifts to the important work that we’re obviously needing to do right now around racial justice,” Johnson said.

The Rev. Edgar Gutierrez-Duarte, who serves as vicar at St. Luke’s-San Lucas and as a member of the committee, said in an interview that the joint service would seek to celebrate common heritage around Martin Luther King Jr., his legacy and prophetic voice, and be a statement of unity.

“It is a celebration of the struggles that we have together," he said, and "of our unity as the people of God. It is a celebration of that unity and that we have a common martyr, a common hero, who is Martin Luther King Jr.,” Gutierrez-Duarte said. “It’s a statement of unity that we are one people, very diverse and, needless to say, this brings the right note in the climate we’re in.”

“The Arc Toward Justice: Unfinished Business”: The annual Boston Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast—founded 51 years ago by St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church and Union United Methodist Church and the nation’s longest-running celebration of its kind—was an online event this year, in partnership with Northeastern University. The program highlighted socio-economic justice, political action and civic engagement as significant pillars of King’s legacy, and included a tribute to the late Congressman John Lewis. Among the many speakers were the Rev. Dr. William Barber of Greenleaf Christian Church and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, U.S. senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Representative Ayanna Pressley. Bishop Alan M. Gates gave the benediction.

The recording of the livestream is available for viewing here.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on and the number of positive cases around the country continues to grow, one of the populations most affected is older adults. Many are suffering from the effects of isolation, and many have trouble participating in things virtually due to technological limitations or cognitive decline.

In an effort to counter pandemic-related effects on this group, the diocesan Lifespan Ministry with Older Adults will present "Spirituality in Aging," an online discussion series. This interactive three-part program will be offered free of charge via Zoom on Saturday mornings, Feb. 6, 13 and 20, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Organizers and discussion facilitators are the Rev. Deacon Phil Flaherty and the Rev. Deacon Marilee Comerford, who serve as the missioners for the diocesan Lifespan Ministry with Older Adults. Flaherty--who currently hosts three Zoom events each week--said in an interview that in his experience so far, people are, more than ever, seeking connection and conversation with others.

“People are starving to talk, and they have a lot to share,” Flaherty said. “We ought to put a structure on it so we can have people walk away with an awareness of what their own potentials are, and start looking for where their personal and their parish ministries are headed, in terms of addressing the needs and the opportunities for older folks.”

The series will offer older adults, as well as those who work with older adults, an opportunity to share support and conversation as the pandemic continues into a second year. In addition to conversations about compassion and resilience, grief and loss, and meaning and connection, the series will offer spiritual and meditative practices, civic discourse resources and, more broadly, a chance to dream about the future.

“We want to offer some real hope about what the church can provide, being a place of hope and peace for right now, when it feels like everything is broken,” Comerford said in the interview. “As we’re faced with COVID and the time beyond, we don’t necessarily want to brainstorm about what we’re going to do during COVID, but when this is over and we get a chance to reinvent, what it looks like on the other side.”

Comerford, who, along with Flaherty, has worked as a nurse, said that at its core, this series and this ministry with older adults is about healing.

“One of the quotes I love about healing is that healing is holding a vision for someone else's wholeness that they might not be able to hold for themselves,” Comerford said. “At this time, it’s just being able to envision that things will be better for them in spite of this, and inviting them into that hope, that there are ways to heal."

“From Many, One: Conversations Across Difference”: The Episcopal Church launched “From Many, One” on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 18. The campaign invites Episcopalians and their families, friends and neighbors to engage in the spiritual practice of listening and honest conversation across the many differences that may be a cause for division, starting with four simple questions: What do you love? What have you lost? Where does it hurt? What do you dream? Visit https://episcopalchurch.org/from-many-one to learn more.

“Epidemic of gun violence now threatens our democracy”: Following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and in the lead-up to Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, Bishops United Against Gun Violence--a coalition of more than 100 Episcopal Church bishops, including Bishop Alan M. Gates and Bishop Gayle E. Harris of the Diocese of Massachusetts--issued a statement calling for prayer and advocacy to end gun violence, which they characterize as an epidemic that “now threatens not just individual Americans, but also our democracy.” Find the full Jan. 15 statement here.

Episcopal Church launches 2021 Absalom Jones Fund campaign to assist Episcopal historically black colleges and universities: Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry has invited Episcopalians to dedicate offerings at observances of the Feast of Absalom Jones (Feb. 13) and make individual donations to support St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C., and Voorhees College in Denmark, S.C., two historically black Episcopal institutions of higher education.

The two schools were founded in the late 19th century to provide educational opportunities to formerly enslaved persons. “These schools bring educational, economic and social opportunity to often resource-poor communities, and they offer many blessings into the life of The Episcopal Church,” Curry said in a Jan. 6 Office of Public Affairs news release. Read more here.

New priests ordained: The diocesan community's prayers and congratulations go with the latest cohort of newly ordained priests, pictured here at their ordinations, from top left: The Rev. Melissa Howell on Jan. 6 at Grace Church in New Bedford; The Rev. Luke Ditewig, SSJE on Dec. 12 at the monastery of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge; (bottom) The Rev. Tammy Hobbs-Miracky on Dec. 19 at All Saints Parish in Brookline; The Rev. Lauren Lukason on Dec. 17 at St. Paul's Church in Brookline; and (far right) The Rev. Lawrence Civale on Dec. 12 at St. Paul’s Church in Chester, Penn. View on the diocesan website here. Courtesy photos; Civale photo courtesy of Diocese of Pennsylvania.

Epiphany-Three Kings celebration: On Jan. 5, the Ministry of Immigration Partnership convened through the Office of the Canon for Immigration and Multicultural Ministries hosted a virtual, multicultural Epiphany-Three Kings celebration which featured musical offerings and speakers from across the diocese, including both Bishop Gayle E. Harris and Bishop Alan M. Gates. Watch a recording of the Zoom event here.

Granting programs get underway for 2021: Congregational Development Grants are one way the diocesan budget supports worshiping communities in strengthening community vitality and deepening relationships with God. The program challenges congregations to try new programs and prayerfully reflect on current and proposed programs that nurture and reimagine congregational life. Congregations intending to apply in 2021 are invited to submit a letter of intent by March 1 via a new online form, available here. Find a brochure summarizing all diocesan grant and loan programs here.

Margaret Bullitt-Jonas to serve as creation care advisor: Effective Jan. 1, the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas is serving as creation care advisor for the Diocese of Massachusetts, in addition to her ongoing role as missioner for creation care for the Diocese of Western Massachusetts and the Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ.

“To meet today’s challenges, collaboration is essential,” she said in the January issue of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts’ Creation Care E-News. “I am glad to reconnect with the diocese where I grew up and was baptized, confirmed and ordained, and where I devoted the first 16 years of ordained ministry. I hope that my new role will make it easier for Episcopalians across Massachusetts to share in the struggle to protect the Earth entrusted to our care.”

“We are thrilled that Margaret is bringing her expertise and experiences to share with us in the Diocese of Massachusetts,” Missioner for Networking and Formation Martha Gardner said by e-mail. “We are especially looking forward to her utilizing her gifts of teaching and preaching, and helping to connect us with others in the Commonwealth who are concerned about care of creation.”

The Creation Care Justice Network in the Diocese of Massachusetts currently meets on the first Wednesday of the month at noon by Zoom and is open to anyone. Contact Dawn Tesorero (rangerdawn@gmail.com) to get connected.

"Lent and the Longing for God": This morning retreat, to be conducted online on Saturday, March 6, 9:30 a.m. to noon, and led by the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, will invite participants to explore their own desires, as well as the desires of the One “to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.” The retreat time will include presentations and guided meditation, with options for solitary reflection or for small group conversation. This retreat is co-sponsored by the dioceses of Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts, and open to the people of both. Find more details and registration here. 

B-SAFE will B-BACK: St. Stephen’s Youth Programs at St. Stephen’s Church in Boston warmly invites B-SAFE summer program partners--new and returning--to gather on Sunday, March 7, 1-2:30 p.m. (Decision to be made by Feb. 1 as to gathering details.)

The gathering will celebrate the successes of last summer and plan for B-SAFE 2021--the program’s 22nd summer. Together with more than 50 partner churches, B-SAFE creates a loving and learning-filled community each summer for hundreds of youth and teens who live in the Boston neighborhoods of the South End, Lower Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan.

For more information and/or to RSVP, contact the Rev. Liz Steinhauser, SSYP Director of Community Engagement (liz@ssypboston.org or 617-851-6680).

Lights at St. Barnabas's Church will remain lit to honor frontline workers: A display of lights around St. Barnabas's Church in Falmouth was lit at the start of Advent, and scheduled to be extinguished with the beginning of the Season of Epiphany.

The lights around the church will remain lit until Ash Wednesday. Photo: Will Vaus

Instead, after members of the congregation encouraged church leaders to keep the lights burning, the church decided to do so in honor of those on the frontline of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Many members of the parish began to place candles in windows at the beginning of the pandemic and will keep them on while the lights burn on campus.

“Epiphany is the time when the Church acknowledges Jesus as the light that has come into the world," said the Rev. Will Mebane, the rector of St. Barnabas's, in a Jan. 13 news release. "Our hope is that the lights on the campus will be a source of inspiration and joy that is much needed in the midst of the darkness around us.”

Jan 20: Online Climate Emergency Discussion Series, St. Barnabas's Church, Falmouth, 7:00pm 

Jan 21: Youth Ministry Online Gathering, 3:30pm 

Jan 24: Bishop Harris visits the Wyman Memorial Church of St. Andrew in Marblehead

Jan 24: "Facing Our Racism: Becoming Conscious Partners" Online Workshop, 12:00pm 

Jan 26: Good News Gardens Network Webinar, 5:00pm 

Jan 27: Online Climate Emergency Discussion Series, St. Barnabas's Church, Falmouth, 7:00pm 

Jan 31: Bishop Gates visits St. John's Church in Sharon

Jan 31: Bishop Harris visits St. Mark's Church in Burlington

Feb 3: Diocesan Clergy Conference, via Zoom, 3:00pm 

Feb 3: Food Security Network Online Gathering, 5:00pm 

Feb 3: Online Climate Emergency Discussion Series, St. Barnabas's Church, Falmouth, 7:00pm 

Feb 4: Clergy Epiphany Devotions with Bishop Harris: Southern Region, 10:00am 

Feb 4: Children's Formation Online Gathering, 3:30pm 

Feb 6: Ministry Discernment Conference, 9:00am 

Feb 6: "Spirituality in Aging" Discussion Series: Part One, 9:30am 

Feb 7: Bishop Harris visits the Church of the Good Shepherd in Dedham

Feb 7: Bishop Gates visits the Parish of the Epiphany in Winchester

Feb 9: Clergy Professional Development Day Part I, 9:30am 

Feb 9: Clergy Epiphany Devotions with Bishop Harris: Northern & Western Region, 7:00pm 

Feb 10: Clergy Epiphany Devotions with Bishop Harris: Central Region, 3:00pm 

Feb 11: Children's Formation Online Gathering, 3:30pm 

Feb 13: "Spirituality in Aging" Discussion Series: Part Two, 9:30am 

Feb 14: Bishop Harris visits the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill

Feb 14: Bishop Gates visits Christ Church in Andover 

Feb 14: Chinese New Year Celebration, Episcopal Chinese Congregation at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 3:00pm 

Feb 16: Practical Aspects of Congregational Leadership Zoom Seminar: Leadership Roles & Responsibilities, 9:00am 

Feb 18: Youth Ministry Online Gathering, 3:30pm 

Feb 18: Diocesan Council Meeting, via Zoom, 6:00pm 

Feb 20: Practical Aspects of Congregational Leadership Zoom Seminar: Leadership Roles & Responsibilities, 9:00am 

Feb 20: "Spirituality in Aging" Discussion Series: Part Three, 9:30am 

Feb 21: Bishop Harris visits St. Andrew's Church in Wellesley

Feb 21: Bishop Gates visits the Church of Our Saviour in Arlington

Feb 25: Children's Formation Online Gathering, 3:30pm 

Feb 25: Building Bridges Veterans Ministry Network Gathering, 5:00pm

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