Pentecost season opens with churchwide
virtual "Way of Love Revival Weekend"
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The Episcopal Church greets Pentecost with "One in the Spirit, a Way of Love Revival Weekend" designed to fan the flames of hope, celebrate difference, honor creation, foster beloved community and send people toward Jesus’ "Way of Love."
“Pentecost is the season when we celebrate the birth of the church and the Spirit landing on the glorious diversity of God’s people,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said in a publicity release. “Thanks to vaccinations and CDC recommendations, it’s also the moment when lots of our churches can finally open their arms more fully to the public. We want to mark this moment of renewal with a revival and pray that God would rain blessing, guidance and power down on all people.”
The Pentecost Way of Love Revival Weekend begins Saturday, May 22 at 6 p.m. ET with the first in a series of virtual Concerts for the Human Family and Conversations Across Difference. Filmed at Philadelphia Cathedral in compliance with COVID protocols, the May concert features a diverse team—including Nashville pianist and composer Kory Caudill and Baltimore-based hip-hop artist Wordsmith—offering original music inspired by the Prayer for the Human Family in The Book of Common Prayer.
The concert is followed by a virtual Pentecost Way of Love Revival Worship Service on Sunday, May 23 at 4 p.m. ET. The spirit-filled celebration will draw on the gifts, testimonies, songs and voices of Episcopalians in cathedrals and communities across the church, including St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle, Indigenous churches in Navajoland and South Dakota, Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, Washington National Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, Mo.
The Pentecost Way of Love Revival Worship Service will be aired on the Episcopal Church’s various web channels, including Facebook and www.episcopalchurch.org. |
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Local online Pentecost celebration to focus on "transcending walls and borders" |
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Locally, the Ministry of Immigration Partnership convened through the Office of the Canon for Immigration and Multicultural Ministries invites everyone to join virtually with Bishop Gayle E. Harris for a multicultural celebration of Pentecost and Shavuot on Saturday, May 22 at 5 p.m. Register in advance here to receive the online link.
Questions may be directed to the Rev. Canon Dr. Jean Baptiste Ntagengwa, Canon for Immigration and Multicultural Ministries ( jbntagengwa@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 400). |
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June 13 "Diaconate Sunday" celebrates servant
leadership of Diocese of Massachusetts deacons
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How do you know a deacon when you see one?
In church, the deacon will be the one wearing a stole crosswise over the left shoulder and taking particular roles during worship—proclaiming the Gospel, preparing the altar during Communion, dismissing the congregation to go in peace to love and serve the Lord—all symbolic of the deacon’s charge to be a servant leader.
Outside of church, you might also recognize them by their bridging ministries—as hospital chaplains, for example, or elder care advocates, ministers working outdoors with people experiencing homelessness, or a missioner leading teens on borderlands pilgrimages to learn about the plight of migrant people. Deacons are social workers, teachers, musicians, artists, community organizers, lawyers, health care and public safety workers—people called to ordained ministry from many professions to serve those most in need and to encourage others to do the same.
“We have made promises at our ordination that we will not be in the church but of the church, and that our ministry is out in the world, that we will translate the needs of the people back to the church,” the Ven. Christiaan Beukman said in a recent interview. “So we’re interpreters of the needs of the world, especially of the weak, the sick and the lonely. That says it all for us as deacons.”
Beukman serves as an archdeacon in the Diocese of Massachusetts alongside the Ven. Patricia Zifcak—he coordinating the assignment of deacons to congregations and she the formation program for those preparing to be ordained as deacons.
“A priest’s ministry is to build up the body of Christ in a particular place, and a deacon’s ministry is to gather people for ministry but beyond any one particular parish,” Zifcak said, during the same interview. “So our ministry is really about sending out into the world people who are members of a congregation to answer the needs of the world as the church has the ability to do, and it’s also to gather people who may not know the church in a way that welcomes them.”
The Diocese of Massachusetts has been ordaining deacons for 20 years, and although there are currently about 40 actively serving in congregations and ministries, the order of deacons and their role is still not widely understood, Beukman and Zifcak said.
So this year, the bishops have set aside June 13 as Diaconate Sunday and an opportunity to introduce more people to the life and work of deacons. Congregations have been invited to request a deacon to be with them and preach during services on June 13, when the church calendar celebrates St. Efrem of Syria, a deacon venerated in both Eastern and Western church traditions.
A video about the ministry of deacons is also being created for use on Diaconate Sunday and beyond.
In addition to celebrating the ministry of deacons in this diocese, a hope for Diaconate Sunday, Beukman and Zifcak said, is that it will inspire more congregations to explore how a deacon’s servant leadership among them might benefit their communities and outreach.
“Every congregation that requests a deacon feels like an opportunity for a deacon to use their many gifts in a variety of ways as they come in contact with the members of a congregation who might have a dream or a hope for a ministry and just need that sort of energizer or guide to help them to bring it from a dream to a reality,” Zifcak said.
She and Beukman also hope Diaconate Sunday will spur those wondering about their own call to ordained ministry to take the next step in their discernment.
“At this point we’re particularly interested in talking with people of color about the diaconate, and people who are bilingual, especially in Spanish and English and in Portuguese and English,” Beukman added. “We’d love to see the diversity growing.”
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Diocesan Youth Council recruitment is underway
for young leaders "making change in the church"
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From left: DYC members Alisha Gonzales, Amy Stephen and Cris Latorre. Courtesy photos
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The Diocesan Youth Council offers young people in the Diocese of Massachusetts a chance to grow as Christian leaders by organizing retreats, planning service projects and serving in positions of leadership in the diocese. Applications are now open for the 2021-2022 Diocesan Youth Council (DYC), which will look a bit different from past years, with new ways for members to cater to their individual interests and strengths.
The pandemic presented an opportunity to try something new, the diocesan missioner for youth and young adults, the Rev. H. Mark Smith, said in an interview, so DYC members this year have been able to choose to participate in one or more of the following groups within the DYC: One team focusing on organizing retreats and events for other young people; one focused primarily on church governance and being involved in Diocesan Council; and another working on social justice issues.
“This is an opportunity to build [something new] and we’re excited about that,” Smith said. “We try to create multiple ways for them to be involved according to their own passions, while as a group, embracing all of them.”
In interviews and by e-mail, three current members, Cris Latorre from Trinity Church in Boston, Amy Stephen from St. Dunstan's Church in Dover and Alisha Gonzales from St. Luke's Church in Fall River, recently shared what their DYC participation has meant for them over the past year as they served on Diocesan Council, organized events to help their peers further their faith journey and took on food insecurity as a social justice project.
“We actually spent time learning about the food system, we learned more about food waste and then we put together a project to help raise money and ended up raising over 500 pounds of food. I was just like, this is amazing. We have a certain power [as young people] and we are able to make change," Gonzales said.
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Cathedral's MANNA ministry receives UTO grant
for Hispanic/Latinx pastoral intern
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In April, the Cathedral Church of St. Paul’s MANNA (Many Angels Needed Now and Always) ministry of and with the homeless community in downtown Boston was awarded a United Thank Offering Grant of $14,049 for a Hispanic/Latinx pastoral intern to join its team. |
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The United Thank Offering (UTO) awards grants to support innovative mission and ministry throughout The Episcopal Church and provinces of the Anglican Communion, and this new addition to the MANNA team will help the program change in ways that its pastoral leaders believe will help them serve their community more fully.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, people were told to “stay home” to protect themselves and others, but for people experiencing homelessness, this wasn’t an option. The MANNA ministry had to change the way it does its ministry practically overnight as it dealt with an influx of people from different communities around Boston who were left without resources when the pandemic hit, said head pastor to MANNA, the Rev. Jennifer McCracken, in an interview.
MANNA went from serving one meal a week through its Monday lunch program to now serving five meals a week, with Sunday, Monday and Tuesday breakfast and an additional meal on Tuesdays for those participating in afternoon programming such as a writer’s group and meditation. Now feeding anywhere from 200-300 people a day, MANNA has also seen an increase in the number of people of color in its community as the pandemic disproportionately affects them, McCracken said.
“We applied for a Hispanic/Latinx intern specifically, because we can’t fully embrace our people just by speaking a different language,” McCracken said. “We need to fully embrace them by having someone that understands the culture and how we can change things at MANNA to embrace that culture—whether it’s with music or food or language or resources that we don’t currently have in other languages.”
In this time of pandemic, God has invited everyone to think creatively and reach further, and this is something MANNA's leaders believe is very much in line with diocesan mission strategy around embracing brave change and with the vision of the cathedral to become an anti-racist institution, McCracken said.
“MANNA—even with all its challenges—is feeling called to change, and that is scary for all of us,” McCracken said. “I think that that’s a message that every other church that is going to need to change needs to hear: ...Every time we try something new we have the potential to fail, but what folks at MANNA have taught me is that to find faces of resurrection, we do have to go through the anxiety and the challenges and the pain sometimes to get to a place of newness, and that’s what we’re being asked to do in this.”
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Transitional deacons to be ordained on June 5: New transitional deacons will be ordained on Saturday, June 5 at 10:30 a.m. at Emmanuel Church in Boston, with Bishop Gayle E. Harris officiating. In-person attendance is by invitation; the service will be livestreamed from the Cathedral Church of St. Paul website at www.stpaulboston.org.
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"Alive in the Spirit" online retreat: This June 12 morning retreat via Zoom will explore ways of prayer that make us available to the healing and enlivening power of the Holy Spirit. The first part of the retreat will focus on our inner lives; the second part will focus on how our outer lives can create the conditions for experiencing what Joseph Campbell called “the rapture of being alive.” The time together will include presentations and guided meditation, with options for solitary reflection and small group conversation.
This retreat will be led by the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas for the people of both Episcopal dioceses in Massachusetts; all are welcome. Register online here. |
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Registration open for Family Camp Weekends: Prevented by the pandemic from hosting groups since March 2020, the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center announced in February its plans to re-open June 1 and to offer “Family Camp Weekends,” beginning in July, instead of traditional overnight summer camp this summer. Individual families or “neighborhood pods” will be able to have their own lodging and participate as a group in traditional camp activities. Visit https://bchcenter.org/familycamp for Family Camp Weekends information and registration. |
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Episcopal leaders call for peace, urge support for Al Ahli Hospital: As violent conflict continues into a second week between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry urged in a May 13 statement that “the violence must stop, regardless of where it comes from and to whom it is directed.”
“One more time The Episcopal Church encourages the government of the United States and others who have influence, who are of goodwill and who genuinely seek peace to be partners in peacemaking, to bring about a negotiated settlement to the longstanding conflict which has consumed both Israelis and Palestinians,” Curry said. Find the full statement here. |
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Gaza City, on May 12, 2021
Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Shutterstock.com
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The newly installed archbishop in Jerusalem, the Most Rev. Hosam Naoum, called for an end to the violence in a May 17 statement, and made an appeal for support for the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem’s Al Ahli Hospital, saying that “the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem is continuing its Christian mission of bringing healing to the wounded, relief to those who have lost their homes and livelihoods and comfort to those who mourn the loss of loved ones. Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza has been on the frontlines of these relief efforts, becoming a beacon of hope to those trying to remain alive under such dire circumstances.” |
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The American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem has also put out an appeal for Al Ahli Hospital, along with a litany for restoration of peace in the Holy Land, available here. |
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Episcopal bishops will mark anniversary of George Floyd’s murder with
May 25 virtual memorial service: [Episcopal News Service] A group of bishops, including Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, will hold a virtual memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the murder of George Floyd on May 25. The multi-diocesan effort will include prerecorded liturgy, messages and music, including a prayer of lament filmed in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. The service is intended to honor the memory of Floyd as an individual, but also as one of many people of color who have been killed by police in the United States, and also to honor the national movement to end police brutality and systemic racism. Read more here.
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New Episcopal Relief & Development guide invites “sacred reading”: Episcopal Relief & Development has created a new Scripture reflection guide, “Lectio Divina,” designed to be used individually or by congregations. Each reflection contains a short video featuring program partners who work with Episcopal Relief & Development across the globe. These partners share their personal reflections for each Scripture reading from the context of their life and work. New meditations will be added regularly.
Visit episcopalrelief.org/lectio-divina to learn more. The Rev. Jay Jordan and Martha Gardner, Missioner for Networking and Formation ( mgardner@diomass.org), are Episcopal Relief & Development contacts in the Diocese of Massachusetts and are available to congregations for adult forums (via Zoom for now). |
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CRECHE tells us something good: The Charles River Episcopal Co-Housing Endeavor (CRECHE), a network of mixed-income, intergenerational co-housing communities in the Diocese of Massachusetts, is featured in Episode 2 of “Tell Me Something Good,” the Episcopal Church web series that launched last fall to highlight positive stories from around the church through conversations with a variety of guests. The CRECHE episode digs into what it means to equip all the baptized and to root faith in home practices. Find it here. |
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Our Saviour, Arlington wins national energy savings award: The Church of Our Saviour in Arlington is one of the five national winners of the Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) 2021 "Cool Congregations Challenge"—receiving the Energy Saver Award for replacing the rectory’s old oil furnace with new heat pumps, annually saving 15 tons of carbon dioxide and $1,700 on its energy bill, according to a recent press release from IPL. The annual "Cool Congregations Challenge" accepts applications from religious congregations around the United States that are addressing global warming by reducing their carbon footprint as they create models of sustainability within their communities. |
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The Rev. Malia Crawford and the new heat pumps at the Church of Our Saviour
Courtesy photo
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In 2019, the congregation collaborated with a group of Arlington faith communities and climate justice organizations to host an Interfaith Carbon Fast Supper, and it was the relationships that formed out of this that led the Rev. Malia Crawford, the rector of the Church of Our Saviour, to learn about the "Heat Smart" incentive program to help switch to cleaner heating and cooling systems at a discounted cost.
"Building stronger relationships with our interfaith neighbors enabled us to work for a healthier planet for those who will live in this town a hundred years from now," Crawford said in the release. "We hope it will inspire even more people to work for climate justice.”
Working with Mass Save, the congregation improved the efficiency of the rectory and qualified for a rebate on the heat pumps. They raised about half the cost from current members of the congregation and the remainder came from an unexpected bequest from the estate of a beloved parishioner who had recently passed away.
"Church of Our Saviour is a terrific example of people of faith embodying love of creation in concrete action, from greening our buildings to advocating for environmental justice," said the Rev. Fred Small, Executive Director of Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light, in the news release. "When a congregation reduces its carbon footprint, it has a powerful ripple effect as members take pride in their achievement and start to wonder what might be possible in their own homes."
“The Church of Our Savior and the other four national winning congregations are casting a vision for the kind of world in which they want to live, and then carrying out that vision with practical actions that make a real difference in creating lasting solutions to climate change,” the Rev. Susan Hendershot, President of Interfaith Power & Light, said in the release. Read the full story here. |
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Plants at the All Saints' Chelmsford sale to raise funds for its Memorial Garden. Courtesy photo via Facebook
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All Saints' Chelmsford raises over $600 from plant sale: On Saturday, May 15, the Memorial Garden Committee of All Saints' Church in Chelmsford held a plant sale outside the church to raise funds to pay for upcoming repairs and upgrades to the Memorial Garden at the church.
Members of the congregation and friends donated plants for the sale and, in addition to offering several varieties of astilbe, hosta, rhubarb and other sun-loving plants, there were succulents potted for indoor use as well as a table of bestseller books priced at $1 each. According to a recent post on Facebook, the church was able to raise over $600, with a few plants left over. "Thanks to all who supported us!" read the post.
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Scout honored after building accessible ramp for St James's Church, Groveland: St. James's Church in Groveland had a longstanding accessibility lift into the church which had lived a long and fruitful existence, but needed replacing. Thomas Flynn, a member of Scout Troop 51 in Georgetown and a longtime member with his family at St. James's, suggested replacing the lift with an ADA-compliant accessibility ramp in the front of the church. |
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Flynn—along with help from his troop, family and mentor Michael Bonia—spent much of the winter of 2018-2019 planning the project, fundraising for it (along with help from the vestry), securing donations of in-kind materials from local vendors and working closely with Michael Hinchliffe, the St. James's Property Chair, about how the ramp would fit in the space allocated.
Flynn then spent the summer of 2019 working on Saturdays, Sunday afternoons and the odd evening constructing the ramp and making changes along the way. He was slated to be elevated to Eagle Scout in May 2020, but because of the pandemic, the celebration was delayed until May 1, 2021, when the congregation was able to gather and offer their support to Flynn as he received his badge.
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Thomas Flynn offers his remarks during a long-overdue Eagle Scout ceremony held on May 1, 2021. Courtesy photo
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"We had a wonderful celebration of Thomas and his spirit of service," said the Rev. Kit Lonergan, the rector of St. James's Church. "In his remarks to the crowd, Thomas said to us, 'Do your best, not someone else's best.' Our ramp will be blessed this summer." |
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Donations were collected for the Stoughton Food Pantry outside of the church during a recent food drive. Courtesy photo
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Trinity, Stoughton continues fighting local food insecurity: Following the success of a Shrove Tuesday Pancakes To-Go Supper that delivered 82 meals to people in need, Trinity Church in Stoughton recently held a pasta dinner "to-go" event on May 16 for 105 people, delivering meals to local people confined at home, including 40-plus to the town’s women's and family shelter. All of the supplies and food were donated by Trinity parishioners and a crew prepared and delivered the meals. Vouchers were provided for the clients of the Stoughton Food Pantry, which were redeemed for meals, and the congregation also held a successful food drive for the pantry the day before, the Rev. Harry Walton, the rector of Trinity Church, reported in an e-mail. |
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"Judy Ceven, a parishioner, noted, 'We yearned to serve our church community with events to bring us together in faith, and in the process learned more about how to serve our town community and individuals in need,' " Walton recounted. |
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Falmouth Enterprise: St. Barnabas's archiving team safeguarding church records: Paul R. Gentile, the coordinator of the St. Barnabas's Church record-archiving team, is working to protect and safeguard the records of the church by creating a digital archive.
In 2019 the team of three started digitizing historical and ecumenical records such as baptisms, deaths, confirmations and marriages dating back to the founding of the church in 1888.
“These are historic as well as legal documents,” Gentile said. “It’s really broken down into two projects. It’s a digitizing effort and it’s also taking the digitized materials and putting them into a document management system, so it can be retrieved and stored in the cloud,” he said. Read more here. |
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Saugus Advocate: Helping the Hungry: A pastor is giving up his stimulus money to help fight food insecurity right in his own backyard. St. John's Church Rev. John T. Beach broke ground April 24 on a community garden where harvested food will go toward fresh vegetables for the Saugus Food Pantry and needy. Only a few planters are from the church, according to Beach.
The age category ranges from young adults to seniors. Approximately 25 volunteers began the groundwork by cultivating soil, removing grass and planting vegetables in the backyard of 276 Central Street—the St. John's Church rectory where Beach lives.
"It will be harvested this fall," Beach said. "I hope it will be an inspiration for others, including elementary school students who are planting seeds in their classrooms."
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Boston Globe: Walk for Hunger raises money to address a crisis worsened by the pandemic: With food insecurity elevated in Massachusetts due to the pandemic, the annual Walk for Hunger raised more than $1 million as the event took place virtually again this year, according to organizers.
For one group of walkers on Sunday, the event is their opportunity to give back to a program that helps support them.
“There was so much desire from our folks to do something,” this year, said Kevin Neil, chaplain of MANNA, a community organization of people experiencing homelessness or unstable housing based at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul across from Boston Common.
For at least the past six years—with the exception of last year, when the virus was tearing through the community—the group has raised money and walked as part of the event. Read more here. |
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Herald News: Fall River Buddhist temple hosts COVID vaccine clinic, part of Baker's 'targeted outreach': All three monks got their vaccines on Sunday. The same held true for the sole female nun who also resides at the Khmer Buddhist Temple on Highland Avenue. “I’m happy,” said Lompha Riph.
A total of 68 people, most of them members of Fall River’s Cambodian community, came through the doors of the three-story dwelling to get a first-round shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
The Rev. Susan Lee, who serves as rector of St. Luke’s Church on Warren Street, helped organize the one-day vaccine clinic.
Lee noted that her church has been involved with the city’s Cambodian community since the first two families arrived in 1979. Read more here. |
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May 19: Creation Care Webinar: "Act," 7:00pm
May 20: Diocesan Council Meeting via Zoom, 6:00pm
May 22: Online Multicultural Celebration of Pentecost & Shavuot, 5:00pm
May 23: Bishop Gates visits the Church of Our Saviour in Somerset
May 23: "Bach and Friends Celebrate Easter" Concert, St. Andrew's Church, Marblehead, 7:00pm
May 25: Online Finance Forum for Congregational Leaders, 5:30pm
May 26: Creation Care Webinar: "Advocate," 7:00pm
May 27: Children's Formation Online Gathering, 3:30pm
May 30: Bishop Gates visits St. Christopher's Church in Chatham
June 2: Online Practical Aspects of Congregational Leadership Seminar: Managing Investments and Endowments, 9:00am
June 3: Youth Ministry Workers Online Gathering, 3:00pm
June 5: Online Practical Aspects of Congregational Leadership Seminar: Managing Investments and Endowments, 9:00am
June 5: Ordination of Transitional Deacons, 10:30am
June 6: Bishop Harris visits St. Gabriel's Church in Marion
June 10: Children's Formation Online Gathering, 3:30pm
June 12: "Alive in the Spirit" Online Morning Retreat, 9:30am
June 12: Online Forum: "Regathering as an Age & Dementia-Friendly Church," 9:30am
June 12: Car Trunk Sale at St. Barnabas's Church in Falmouth, 10:00am
June 15: Clergy Professional Development Day Part I, 12:30pm
June 17: Diocesan Council Meeting, 6:00pm
June 19: Juneteenth Online Celebration with Bishop Harris
June 20: Bishop Harris visits St. Andrew's Church in Edgartown
June 22: Online Finance Forum for Congregational Leaders, 5:30pm
June 23: Clergy Professional Development Day Part II, 12:30pm
June 24: Children's Formation Online Gathering, 3:30pm
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