March 2024

Preliminary bishop nominee slate announced;

petition period open through March 22

Brendan J. Barnicle; Jean Baptiste Ntagengwa; Gideon L. K. Pollach; Julia E. Whitworth

The Standing Committee of the diocese announced on March 15 that, after receiving the recommendations of the Bishop Nominating Committee, it has approved a preliminary slate of four nominees for election as the 17th bishop diocesan of the Diocese of Massachusetts. 

They are: The Rev. Dr. Brendan J. Barnicle, rector of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Wilsonville, Ore.; The Rev. Canon Jean Baptiste Ntagengwa, Th.D., canon for immigration and multicultural ministries in the Diocese of Massachusetts; The Very Rev. Gideon L. K. Pollach, rector of St. John's Church in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.; and The Rev. Julia E. Whitworth, rector of Trinity Church in Indianapolis, Ind.

More information about each nominee can be found at www.diomass.org/bishop-search/bishop-nominees.

A petition period remains open until March 22, during which anyone who meets the canonical requirements may petition to be added to the slate of nominees. The requirements and procedure for nomination may be found here.

Visit www.diomass.org/bishop-search for information and updates.

"The truth will make you free":

New history report from Reparations Subcommittee delves into diocese's connections to and wealth from slavery

Pocasset Wampanoag neighbors welcome Massachusetts Episcopalians making a March 7 pilgrimage

Diocese of Massachusetts Episcopalians made a March 7 pilgrimage to the land of the Pocasset Wampanoag, incorporated in the Freetown-Fall River State Forest, where the group of about 80 people from 24 congregations was welcomed to walk, talk and listen before returning to St. Peter's Church in Dartmouth for lunch, reflection and worship.

"We heard stories of the people, of their strength despite countless challenges, and were moved by their testimony and perseverance in the face of cruel laws and leaders," Bishop Carol Gallagher said.

Representing 24 congregations, those making the pilgrimage gathered at St. Peter's Church in Dartmouth for lunch, reflection and worship. Courtesy photo

"To quote from the Facebook post of one of our Pocasset Wampanoag guides on our journey: 'Despite the rain and the mud, people from all over the diocese came to be part of this diocesanwide pilgrimage to the Pocasset Wampanoag Reservation. They were guided by our historian and council members as we visited our tribal meeting circle, our elders memorial sitting area as partners along our walk… . So many feelings and emotions. We want you all to know we are honored that you would even want to share in our footsteps.'

"Everyone who came on this journey was moved and changed. We were so grateful for the welcome, the laughter, the tears and the honor it was to learn from our friends," Gallagher said.

The pilgrimage was organized by the Ministry of Immigration Partnership convened by the diocesan Office of Immigration and Multicultural Ministries.

In 2022, the Diocesan Convention adopted a resolution calling for education and exploration toward fostering right relationship with Indigenous Episcopalians and neighbors, and a designated day annually "to honor the people indigenous to the lands we now know as the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts as well as those Indigenous people currently living in our midst."

Gabriel Colombo helps lead the pilgrimage worship service at St. Peter's Church in Dartmouth.

Photo: Jocelyn Collen

"Mycorrhizal hope": Gabriel Colombo, a member of the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard, took part in the March 7 pilgrimage to Pocasset Wampanoag land and offers a written reflection, in which he observes:

"The Pocasset Wampanoag are figuratively and literally pitching tents at the edge of this wood, the semi-permanent trailers in which some of them dwell a living protest. Perhaps in standing with these fellow travelers on the land, even for a moment, we take a small step together in a mycorrhizal hope: not the bright, leafy-green kind painted in the dubious language of 'sustainability' but the ashen, rhizomatic kind of our subterranean fungal cousins, of Jesus’s sojourn in the desert and the tomb."

Read the full reflection.

Good Friday Offering, special online concert to support Middle East ministries: As The Episcopal Church’s Good Friday Offering prepares to mark 102 years, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has invited the whole church to an afternoon of sacred music and collective giving in support of churches, medical programs and schools in the Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East.  

Recorded at Christ and St. Luke’s Church, Norfolk, in the Diocese of Southern Virginia, the concert will air online at 3 p.m. Eastern on March 29 on The Episcopal Church’s Facebook page and website. Viewers will have the opportunity to make donations during the event to go toward the offering, also frequently gathered by churches during Good Friday services.

“We will not forget those caught in the crossfire between warring factions in the land where our Lord walked,” Curry said in his annual Lent letter to Episcopal churches. “As we mark our Lord’s passion and death on Good Friday, we remember those whom he loves facing injustice and oppression today, and remember the urgency of love—true, sacrificial love.”

The Good Friday Offering was first gathered in 1922 as an intentional response of The Episcopal Church to support Anglican ministries in the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East that were impacted by the devastation of World War I, the Spanish flu pandemic and social and political unrest affecting Armenian Christians, among others throughout that region.

“This is my last Good Friday letter to you as your presiding bishop, and I want to both express my gratitude for your gifts in years past and encourage you to give again to support God’s beloved in this area of the world,” Curry wrote. “This is what love asks of us.”

The Office of Global Partnerships offers downloadable resources—in English, French, Mandarin and Spanish—about the Good Friday Offering. Find them and more information here.

Noted environmental leaders to join Earth Day celebration on April 20: The Creation Care Justice Network is inviting everyone to join on Saturday, April 20 for an Earth Day celebration hosted at St. Mark's Church in Southborough. 

Registration is open to all, here.

It's being organized as a day of fellowship, learning and celebration to the mark the conclusion of the pilot phase of "An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice," a new initiative in development from the dioceses of Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts to equip churches for the deep and broad work in creation care. The next step for the "Path" program will be open enrollment for interested congregations around New England. 

The Earth Day celebration will feature presentations by Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-founder and co-director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, and, joining virtually, environmentalist and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben and Braiding Sweetgrass author Robin Wall-Kimmerer. The day will conclude with a celebratory Eucharist with Bishop Carol Gallagher of the Diocese of Massachusetts and Bishop Douglas Fisher of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. 

Registration is open for family and youth summer camps at the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center in Greenfield, N.H.: Families of all configurations can enjoy an extra-long weekend of activities, worship and family-oriented fellowship during the June 29-July 2 Family Camp session. The summer schedule also includes four week-long youth Overnight Camp sessions, running from July 7 through Aug. 2, for those completing 3rd through 12th grades.

Part of the mission at the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center is that no child or family be unable to participate in camp due to financial need; camperships are available for those who need them. For details and registration, visit bchcenter.org/bchcamp.

Hiring of summer camp staff is also underway: Counselors, lifeguards, nurses, adult volunteers--all positions are available and applications are invited to come spend the summer (or just a week) at camp. Apply here.

A 2022 Life Together celebration at

St. Mark's Church in Dorchester, whose rectory houses Life Together fellows. 

Courtesy photo

Life Together and St. Mark's, Dorchester partner for 2nd annual Community Resource Fair: Even as Life Together, the Episcopal Service Corps program in the Diocese of Massachusetts, begins preparing for its sabbath year from July 2024 to June 2025, the current 2023-2024 cohort of fellows invites the broader diocesan community to join them and their partners at St. Mark’s Church in Dorchester on Saturday, May 4, 1-4 p.m., for the second annual Dorchester Community Resource Fair, to be held on the front lawn of St. Mark’s Church. 

The Community Resource Fair will bring together a variety of local organizations to provide information and services to the entire neighborhood. There will also be food to enjoy and live gospel music performances by members of both the St. Mark’s congregation and the Life Together community.

Ed Cardoza and Steve Abdow

Courtesy photos

Staff transition for property stewardship announced: The Rev. Edward M. Cardoza, who has served as missioner for property stewardship in the Diocese of Massachusetts since September 2020, has been appointed priest-in-charge of Grace Church in Manchester, N.H. He will conclude his ministry on the diocesan staff on March 29 and begins his new ministry at Grace Church shortly thereafter.

“Ed Cardoza has brought a rare combination of talents to our common life, including extensive knowledge of restoration of historic properties and pastoral sensitivity to the church’s mission," Bishop Alan M. Gates said. "He is a dedicated priest whose gifts will be missed in our diocese, even as we rejoice in his return to parish ministry at Grace Church, Manchester.”

Steve Abdow will serve part-time as a consultant for property stewardship moving forward during the time of transition in diocesan leadership. Prior to his retirement, Abdow was the canon for mission resources in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, overseeing financial and property resources. He was instrumental in the launch of Human to Human, a funding and programmatic initiative of that diocese to help the church innovate in addressing poverty through sustainable local partnerships. Among its programs is Building Bridges, a ministry with veterans. Read the full announcement.

Berkeley Beacon: 'Fight poverty, not the poor': Poor People's Campaign marches on state houses in Boston, across the country: Massachusetts Episcopalians were part of the Poor People's Campaign march and rally at the State House on March 2, part of a nationwide day of assemblies organized to bring directly to lawmakers the demands of poor and low-wealth people for living wages, healthcare, housing, education, environmental justice and voting rights. The Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston was open as a welcoming and warming place before and after the assembly. Read more about the day in the Berkeley Beacon here and masslive.com here.

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is a faith-based movement to end the interrelated injustices separating people from achieving justice and mercy for all of humanity and creation. The 2022 Diocesan Convention voted to urge congregations to engage with the movement.

The Massachusetts Episcopal Network for the Poor People’s Campaign (MAPPC@gmail.com) is working to connect local Episcopalians to the Poor People’s Campaign movement and to foster a supportive community among those doing justice work in the Diocese of Massachusetts, and can provide more information on the many ways to join the ongoing campaign.

Mar 20: Province I Book Discussion: "The General's Son," via Zoom, 7:00pm

Mar 21: Diocesan Council Meeting, via Zoom, 6:00pm

Mar 23: Lenten Quiet Day, All Saints Parish, Brookline, 9:00am

Mar 23: Palm Sunday Eve Ministry of Immigration Partnership Gathering: "Where There is Hatred, Let Me Sow Love," with Bishop Carol Gallagher, St. John's Church, Saugus, 5:00pm

Mar 24: Bishop Gates visits St. Barnabas's Church in Falmouth

Mar 26: Holy Tuesday Services for Renewal of Ordination Vows and Blessing of Chrism, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 12:00pm and 6:00pm

Mar 28: Maundy Thursday at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 6:00pm

Mar 29: Good Friday at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 7:00pm

Mar 29: Good Friday Cantata, Wyman Memorial Church of St. Andrew, Marblehead, 8:00pm

Mar 30: Holy Saturday at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 10:00am

Mar 30: Easter Vigil Confirmation Service: All Deaneries, Organized by The Crossing, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 7:00pm

Mar 31: Easter Day at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 10:00am

Mar 31: Colossal Easter Egg Hunt, St. Andrew's Church, Ayer, 10:45am

Apr 3: Installation of The Rev. Jeremy Froyen,CFC at Grace Church, New Bedford, 7:00pm

Apr 6: Confirmation Service: North Shore Deanery, Wyman Memorial Church of St. Andrew, Marblehead, 10:30am

Apr 7: Bishop Gates visits Trinity Church in Boston

Apr 7: Absalom Jones Service, St. Cyprian's Church, Roxbury, 4:00pm

Apr 7: What's Going On/Motown for Peace Concert, Trinity Church, Boston, 5:00pm

Apr 13: Confirmation Service: Charles River Deanery, All Saints Parish, Brookline, 10:30am

Apr 13: Confirmation Service: Cape and Islands Deanery, Church of the Holy Spirit, Orleans, 10:30am

Apr 14: Bishop Gallagher visits St. David's Church in South Yarmouth

Apr 14: Bishop Gates visits St. John's Church in Gloucester

Apr 18: Diocesan Council Meeting, 6:30pm

Apr 20: Creation Care Justice Network Earth Day Celebration, St. Mark's Church, Southborough, 9:00am

Apr 21: Bishop Gates visits Christ Church in Harwich Port

Apr 21: Bishop Gallagher visits St. James's Church in Groveland

Apr 21: Installation of The Rev. Lisa Faber Ginggen at St. James’s Church, Groveland, 3:00pm

Apr 27: Third Pan-African Conference, St. Thomas's Church, Taunton, 3:30pm

Apr 28: Bishop Gallagher visits Emmanuel Church in Boston

Apr 28: Bishop Gates visits St. Anne's-in-the-Fields Church in Lincoln

Apr 29-30: Clergy Conference, Devens Common Center, Devens