Bishop's Annual Appeal invites generous giving | | |
The 2025 Bishop’s Annual Appeal has launched, and is an invitation to give generously to strengthen and expand the work to which God calls us. Congregations have been invited to designate March 30 (or another Sunday) as Bishop's Annual Appeal Ingathering Sunday.
"In the time since I was ordained as your bishop on Oct. 19, I have been inspired both by your passion for the ministries in your congregations and your commitment to our common life in the Diocese of Massachusetts," Bishop Julia Whitworth writes in her appeal letter. "We are blessed as a diocese to benefit from the generosity of our forebears whose legacy continues to support our witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ. Each of us, in this generation, is called to give to the witness of the Church in our own time, both locally in our worshiping communities and collectively in our diocese to strengthen and expand the work to which God calls us."
In this year’s appeal, Bishop Whitworth highlights three areas of diocesan life which will be strengthened by gifts to the Bishop's Annual Appeal: strategic curacies; collaborative ministries; and equipping congregations for growth.
Watch her video message (linked above) to learn more, and visit www.diomass.org/bishops-appeal for more information and campaign materials and to make gifts online.
| | Listening sessions underway as part of vision discernment | | |
Bishop Julia Whitworth is eager to hear from clergy and lay leaders in the worshiping communities around the diocese as part of a process toward articulating a vision for our collective work together as a diocese.
In partnership with Ministry Architects, a week of listening sessions is underway in locations throughout the diocese, and registration is still open for several of the remaining sessions on March 19 and 20. Find the schedule and sign up here.
| | Racial Justice Commission moves forward on key projects and reviews mandates to meet the moment | | |
The Rev. Will Mebane, with the Rev. James Hairston and Deborah Gardner Walker, gives the Racial Justice Commission's report at the 2024 Diocesan Convention, where a new antiracism formation program was approved for trial use.
Photo: Tracy J. Sukraw
| | |
Following the Racial Justice Commission's annual work retreat in February, its co-chairs report progress on two key projects adopted at recent Diocesan Conventions, and they commend the commission's five subcommittees for undertaking an evaluation of the mandates that have guided their work since their formation four years ago—with an eye toward updating those mandates to meet the moment.
"It was a very rich time," the Rev. Carol Morehead said, by Zoom, of the work retreat with Bishop Julia Whitworth that was held on Feb. 22 at Grace Church in Medford, "and time very well spent in that it's invited us to dig deeply into the work we've been called to do and ask what is required for the time that is right now." Morehead is the rector of Grace Church and co-chairs the Racial Justice Commission with the Rev. Will Mebane, the rector of St. Barnabas's Church in Falmouth.
The commission's five subcommittees are currently active, they said, around issues of equity in diocesan structures and systems, finances, supporting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) individuals and communities, forming antiracist Episcopal communities, and reparations.
| | |
Diocesan Convention in November 2024 approved trial use of a new antiracism formation program for the diocese as a whole, developed by the Racial Justice Commission's Subcommittee on Forming Antiracist Episcopal Communities. Work continues on refinements to that proposed program ahead of a roll-out plan, the co-chairs said, and they expect to be able to report on next steps later this year.
Additionally, they said, the Racial Justice Commission is working with the Commission on Ministry, through a joint task force, to implement the 2022 Diocesan Convention's call to add cross-cultural learning, practice and peer support components to the formation process for postulants and candidates for ordination, toward the goal of better "equipping ordained leaders for the work of becoming Beloved Community," in the words of the resolution.
The task force has solicited and is reviewing proposals from organizations and educators around program development and implementation, with a goal of launching it with an initial cohort by the end of the year.
The co-chairs described the current work as necessarily deliberative in pace, and as more relevant than ever before.
"Given the state of matters in our country at this particular time, it is obvious to me, as a co-chair of the Racial Justice Commission, that the work is needed and has a sense of urgency that perhaps did not exist several months ago," Mebane said.
The Racial Justice Commission invites inquiries and participation. The co-chairs can be reached by e-mail at RJC@diomass.org.
Coming soon: Update on the work of the diocese's
Reparations Fund Committee
| | New history display launches Lenten Preaching Series | | |
All are invited to deepen their Lenten practice by joining “From Hearts of Stone to Hearts of Flesh,” this year’s Lenten Preaching Series, in person and livestreamed, at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, underway on Wednesdays at 12:15 p.m. through April 9.
The sermons are offered as part of noonday prayer, ending by 1 p.m. A light lunch and conversation with the preacher follow. No sign-up is required. Upcoming preachers are:
• March 26: The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Kittredge, Scripture scholar, poet and Dean Emerita of Seminary of the Southwest;
• April 2: Matthew Bell, Editor and Correspondent at GBH’s “The World” and member of Grace
Church in Medford; and
• April 9: The Rev. Mark V. Scott, Violence Prevention Program, Boston Public Health Commission, and President of the Board of the MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
| |  | |
At the opening service of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's Lenten Preaching Series on March 19, Dean Amy McCreath was joined by members of the cathedral church's History Committee to dedicate a new history display that focuses on the founding of St. Paul's as a parish, its meaning as a physical structure and its transformation into a cathedral church.
"We have done a lot of work over the past several years to begin to answer the larger call to the church to learn more about how we benefitted from the slave-based economy and perpetuated ways of being that exclude people of color, and some of that is included in the new display," McCreath explained prior to its unveiling.
"There's more to discover, and we hope that making this work known will incentivize more congregations to explore and re-investigate their history, regardless of when they were founded," she said.
The display will be on site through the Easter season. Additional historical information is available here on the cathedral's website.
| | | |
Local priest's new book chronicles life, death and community at the border: In 2019, the Rev. Cristina Rathbone decided to leave MANNA, her Cathedral Church of St. Paul-based ministry among unhoused people in Boston, in order to spend a season on the U.S.-Mexico border at a time when migrant families, including asylum seekers, were being apprehended and separated under the first Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy. The Asylum Seekers: A Chronicle of Life, Death, and Community at the Border, her new book about that experience and the people she encountered, is just out from Broadleaf Books, along with a reader's guide from Episcopal Migration Ministries, available here.
In a recent interview on Zoom, Rathbone talked about how a tent encampment's story intersected with her own story to become The Asylum Seekers, her ongoing quest to figure out what it means to be a person of faith in a broken world, and how accompaniment can lead to transformation, even in turbulent times.
Read the interview here.
| | |
Evangelism Working Group offers "New Models of Episcopal Evangelism" series: The Evangelism Working Group of Diocesan Council is hosting a new series of monthly presentations via Zoom that celebrate creative examples of evangelism happening in the congregations and worshiping communities of the Diocese of Massachusetts.
The featured ministries are being described as “real, not ideal,” and are being shared to inspire, encourage and connect the people of God in the collaborative work of evangelism.
Upcoming sessions are "Small Church as a Laboratory for Experimentation" on Wednesday, March 26, featuring the Church of Our Saviour in Arlington and its small-size-enabled experiment to custom-tailor a service for families with toddlers that has grown into a youth group supporting tweens and teens (register here); and Tuesday, April 8, with "Welcoming the Community In Outside of Sunday Morning" featuring St. Dunstan's Church in Dover and its "Dover Unplugged" community series (register here). Both online sessions run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and all are welcome.
| | |
"What Does It Mean to be Asian American in the Church and Our Society?": Asian Pacific Islander American Episcopalians of the diocese are hosting this celebration during Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month, to take place on Saturday, May 17, 3-7 p.m., at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston.
The program will include a keynote and panel discussion featuring Bishop Suffragan Allen Shin of the Diocese of New York; the Rev. Jo Ann Lagman, Episcopal Church Missioner of Asia American Ministry; and Dr. Eunil David Cho, Associate Professor, Boston University School of Theology. Holy Eucharist and dinner will follow the program. All are welcome! Registration is requested by May 10 here.
| | |
Deanery grant-supported volunteer honored for excellence: Last year, the Merrimack Valley Deanery made a diocesan Sending Serving Grant to Trinity Church in Haverhill for its partner organization, Urban Bridges, to hire an interpreter so that Haitian families from the nearby shelter could participate in the two community programs that the nonprofit offers—one serving immigrant women and families, and the other a free afterschool arts program for children and youth.
That interpreter, Taina Mathurin Janvier, was honored at the State House on Feb. 28 with a Black Excellence Award, sponsored by the Massachusetts Black and Latino Caucus, in recognition of her volunteer efforts.
"At the time Urban Bridges hired her for a few hours a week, Taina and her family were themselves residents at the Emmaus Family Shelter. Nevertheless, Taina was actively volunteering with several programs in our community, and working hard to inform, connect and assist other vulnerable people," Urban Bridges Board President the Rev. Alice Mann said by e-mail. "Taina now has contracts to do similar work for other organizations, but she is grateful to Urban Bridges as the very first organization to offer her payment for valuable services she was already providing. And all of us at Urban Bridges are grateful to Trinity Church, the Merrimack Valley Deanery and the Diocese of Massachusetts for providing resources to make such outstanding ministry possible."
Taina Mathurin Janvier is pictured above, center, with her award, flanked by the Rev. Alice Mann (front left), State Senator Pavel Payano and State Representative Andres Vargas (back center) and leaders from MakeIT Haverhill, another local nonprofit where Taina volunteers. Courtesy photo
| | | |
|
Hanover priest joins Lenten vigil: The Rev. Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, the rector of St. Andrew's Church in Hanover, is among those joining Bishop Mark Beckwith in standing vigil on Lenten Wednesdays at noon with a sign bearing words from Micah 6:8. Parishioners helped make and road test her sign before she stood with it at a post along Route 53.
Bishop Beckwith recently issued an open invitation for others to join him in making public witness, as well as fasting from food, economic activity and news media on Wednesdays during Lent. He is the retired bishop of the Diocese of Newark and currently serves in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts as the missioner for spirituality and leadership. Photo via Facebook
| | |
Lowell Sun: Underground Railroad's path through Lowell and St. Anne's Church: Lowell's early history was inextricably linked to slavery through its many cotton mills where young women from rural New England and immigrants from Europe wove what Black people from slave-holding states in the South picked.
One vehement opponent of slavery was the first rector at St. Anne’s Church, the Rev. Dr. Theodore Edson, who offered the church as a stop on the Underground Railroad in the pre-Civil War era. Edson and his work with the abolitionist movement was the topic of a discussion held Feb. 23 in the chapel at St. Anne’s.
In a presentation titled “Freedom Seekers, the Underground Railroad and St. Anne’s Lowell,” Jacquelynn Coles, representing the Black Lowell Coalition, and Robert Forrant, a professor of history at UMass Lowell, explored the role the church played in the abolitionist movement. Read the article here.
| | |
Cape Cod Times: Sandwich church thrift store has new plan but same mission: The thrift shop at St. John's Church in Sandwich, open for nearly 50 years, has undergone a redesign, renaming and will now offer consignments, as well. St. John's Thrift Boutique, as the shop is now known, is at 163 Main Street. It's open year-round from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The grand reopening was Feb. 11.
"It's a continuation of a long history of St. John's thrift shop," the Rev. Alan Hesse said. The mission of the shop is to help people who need things and offer volunteers opportunities at the shop for anyone who wants to get out of their house and be with the public, Hesse said. Read the article here.
| | |
Mar 19 & 20: Visioning 2025: Diocese-wide Listening Sessions, In-person at various locations
Mar 19: Province I Indigenous Peoples' Justice Network Book Discussion, via Zoom, 7:00pm
Mar 20: Diocesan Council Meeting, St. Peter's Church, Weston, 7:30pm
Mar 25: Clergy Professional Development Day, St. Andrew's Church, Marblehead
Mar 25: St. Dunstan's Church, Dover Lent Study Series "White Christian Nationalism: How Did We As a Nation Get Here and What Can We Do About It?" Tuesdays through April 8, via Zoom, 8:00pm
Mar 26: Lenten Preaching Series: The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Kittredge, scripture scholar, poet and dean emerita of the Seminary of the Southwest, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 12:15pm
Mar 26: New Models of Episcopal Evangelism Series: Small Church as a Laboratory for Experimentation, via Zoom, 5:30pm
Mar 29: Rhythms of Grace: Worship and Faith-Formation for People with Neurodivergence Workshop, Parish of the Epiphany, Winchester, 10:00am
Mar 29: Episcopal Community of Oscar Romero Patronal Feast Celebration, The Allston Abbey, Allston, 4:00pm
Mar 30: Bishop Whitworth visits St. Michael's Church in Marblehead
Apr 2: Lenten Preaching Series: Matthew Bell, Editor for GBH's "The World," Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 12:15pm
Apr 5: Workshop for Wardens and Vestry Members, via Zoom, 9:30am
Apr 6: Bishop Whitworth visits Christ Church in Waltham
Apr 8: New Models of Episcopal Evangelism Series: Welcoming the Community In Outside of Sunday Morning with Dover Unplugged, via Zoom, 5:30pm
Apr 9: Lenten Preaching Series: Mark Scott, President of the Board of MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence & Violence Prevention Coordinator, Boston Public Health Commission, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 12:15pm
Apr 11: Stations of the Cross, St. Anne's Chapel, Order of St. Anne--Bethany Convent, Arlington, 4:45pm
Apr 15: Renewal of Ordination Vows and Blessing of Holy Oils, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 12:00 p.m.
Apr 17: Maundy Thursday at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 6:00pm
Apr 18: Good Friday Liturgy with Veneration of the Cross at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 5:15pm
Apr 18: Lantern Service Commemorating 250th Anniversary of Lantern Signal, with guest speaker Heather Cox Richardson, Old North Church, Boston, 7:00pm
Apr 19: Holy Saturday at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, with Easter Vigil hosted by The Crossing, 7:00pm
Apr 20: Easter Day at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, Bishop Whitworth preaching and presiding, 10:00am
Apr 24: Diocesan Council Meeting, via Zoom, 6:00pm
Apr 26: Eucharistic Visitor Training, Grace Church, Medford, 9:00am
Apr 27: Bishop Whitworth visits St. Mark's School in Southborough
Apr 27: Confirmation Service, Trinity Church, Concord, 5:00pm
Apr 28-30: Clergy Conference, Devens Common Center, Devens
| | Stay connected with our diocesan community: | | | | |
