The convention service of Holy Eucharist was livestreamed from the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. Screenshot from livestream

The climate crisis, racial justice and a renewed mission strategy were among the top agenda items at the annual Diocesan Convention, held online Nov. 12-13 under the theme “Members One of Another,” taken from Romans 12:5 and an invitation to celebrate and explore interdependence as members of the Body of Christ.

In his annual address to the convention, Bishop Alan M. Gates said the convention theme was an affirmation "as old as Paul's letter to the Romans" and "also fresh and new as any way in which we defy our illusions of separateness, and bind ourselves together in community. We are members one of another when we gather, even virtually; when we offer our common prayers, even in our separate churches; when we expand collaboration with our Western Massachusetts companions; when we wear those infernal masks; when we sacrifice our comfort for the security of another; when we commit to our common-share assessments; when together we face our past, for the sake of our future; when together we are agents in the search for our humanity."

About 440 participants logged on for Saturday’s business sessions, which followed a Friday line-up of guest speakers and workshops delving into the theme of interdependence and attended by about 240 people across the sessions. Friday guest presenters included the Rev. Lydia Kelsey Bucklin, Canon to the Ordinary for Discipleship and Vitality in the Diocese of Northern Michigan, and Dr. Catherine Meeks, Executive Director of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing in the Diocese of Atlanta. Bishop Douglas J. Fisher of the neighboring Diocese of Western Massachusetts was the preacher at the Friday evening service of Holy Eucharist, livestreamed from the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston.

“When we ask ourselves these days, can God set a table for us in the wilderness, can we figure out how to be the people of God in the midst of declining church membership and global pandemic and divided households and economic uncertainty and racism, we are turning to one another across this church and asking, how can we be one Body of Christ in a time such as this? And here again I think we turn to Baptism. …To do church in this mutual baptismal way means to look at the places where the gifts and the opportunities of us, its members, meet the world…and it means no longer squeezing our members and our structures into some Platonic ideal of the Episcopal parish.” Watch the video here.

“We are called to go to the other side of the sea, which is where Jesus is going, and we can’t not go because there might be storms along the way. …Isaiah tells us, those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint. …The mission is great. And Western Massachusetts is so blessed to be in this mission with Massachusetts. One Commonwealth, two dioceses, one mission. Together we are stronger when rowing against an adverse wind. Together our faith is stronger and our endurance, as St. Paul says, produces character. And character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” Watch the convention Eucharist here.

“First of all, I don’t think we are capable of making a beloved community. I think what we have the capacity to do is to say yes to the invitations that get presented to us in the ways that will help us to make space so that God can allow the Spirit to visit us and create a community of people who actually can be characterized as loving one another and being beloved. …I think one of the things we have to do is interrogate ourselves on a lot of levels, and we have to interrogate our presuppositions. We have to interrogate the ways in which we have constructed reality around us and the ways in which we understand what is true and what is false for us. And it’s not a one-time I’ve-done-it-once-and-I’m-done deal. …We keep being invited into this process.” Watch the video here.

Advent, the season of waiting and preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ nativity, begins on Sunday, Nov. 28. Here is a selection of devotional activities, programs and events for giving and getting ready in this holy season.

Cathedral observes extended Advent: The Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston observes an expanded season of Advent, beginning this year on Nov. 7 and affording more time and space in which to prepare more fully for the coming of Christ.

As part of the cathedral church’s observance, it is offering a contemplative time of prayer and reflection open to all each Tuesday from 5 to 6 p.m. in the sanctuary, followed by evening devotions at 5 p.m.

For details, visit www.stpaulboston.org.

Advent Quiet Day: "Make Your Home in Me": Jesus invites us to make our home in him, just as he makes his home in us (John 15:4). In a rapidly changing world, when so much that we took for granted has become unreliable or unstable, our old familiar “home” is gone. Weather is erratic; institutions we once depended on are shaky; households and communities are stressed. Is it possible to feel “at home” in the midst of a troubled world?

This online Advent Quiet Day on Saturday, Dec. 4, 9:30 a.m.-noon, invites participants to respond to Jesus’ invitation to come home to the One who loves us utterly. This time together will include silence and guided meditation, presentations and small group conversation, and free time for solitary prayer.

This joint online retreat with the Diocese of Western Massachusetts will be led by the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas.  Online registration is open here.

Creation care Advent calendar: The Rev. Maggie Arnold at St. Stephen’s Church in Cohasset created a hand-drawn Advent calendar for 2021, with a creation care theme. She invited people to send her a picture of nature from their church vicinity and combined them into a quilt-themed Advent calendar, now available here.

“Experiencing God’s gift of creation is one of the most powerful ways we can open ourselves to the work of the Spirit,” Arnold said of her project. “As we move through Advent, I love to think about how all of the natural world is waiting, and announcing Christ’s coming to us, if we would only take the time to look and listen.”

Two Diocese of Massachusetts congregations have participated in The Episcopal Church’s “Genesis II: Re-Vision and Renew”--a ministry redevelopment initiative strengthening parishes for what can be the challenging, yet exciting, work of launching new ministries in their neighborhoods.

“We have a particular focus on the practice of building relationships with fellow parishioners and with our wider community, the Genesis II webpage reads. “We believe that through these relationships we will discover the ways God is active in and around our congregations.”

Through coordination by the Rev. Canon Martha Hubbard, the regional canon for the Northern and Western Region of the diocese, Trinity Parish in Melrose and Trinity Church in Topsfield found their way into the program with “Coaching Cohorts for Redevelopment” in which small teams from each congregation came together on Zoom for 90-minute sessions under the leadership of a coach trained in group coaching and experienced in church leadership.

“It is a way of moving from our former paradigm of waiting for people to come through the doors of the church on Sunday morning to join us, to a paradigm of moving from our worship out into the world to join God and our neighbors in ministry that benefits everyone,” Hubbard said in an e-mail.

Miles Hapgood and Kathleen Gapp, leaders from Trinity Church, Melrose, spoke in a recent conversation over Zoom about how this process has been for them and what it’s all about. One of the first activities assigned to them was reading the book Having Nothing, Possessing Everything by Michael Mather, about the need to look out into the community for gifts that are available.

On Sunday, Sept. 19 Trinity Church in Melrose hosted a Blessing of the Backpacks for the community in time for the new school year. Courtesy photo via Facebook

“It turned my head around to really see what we were doing,” Hapgood said. “Redevelopment is going to come from looking outward and seeing what’s out there that we can tap into, rather than trying to lure people into the church with programs and whatnot that we’ve designed. That was a big takeaway for me: How do we partner with people in the community?”

The Rev. Rebecca Blair and lay leader John Wilson of Trinity Church in Topsfield explained, during a separate conversation, how they came to realize through the program that the grounds of their church were their biggest asset, and brainstormed ways to enhance them. In addition to adding cedar benches to encourage people walking by to sit and visit, they decided to build a small pond, complete with frogs, which they used as part of the church's vacation Bible school activities over the summer, drawing in about 20 kids, half of whom were not associated with the parish at all.

Trinity Church in Topsfield added a small pond to its church grounds after realizing the property is one of its biggest assets to offer the community. Courtesy photo

“It turns out that lots and lots and lots of people are on our grounds for different reasons, so this is really where we can do evangelism, it’s right here on our grounds,” Blair said. “That was an insight from this process that was really very helpful, because it’s scary for Episcopalians to leave their property to try to talk to people about our church, but the reality is, people come to our property.”

Canon Martha Hubbard commented on the value of such a program, especially in the extra challenging season of pandemic.

“I would recommend it to all parishes, but particularly to those whose leaders sense it is time for some new tools and ways of thinking--those who are wondering what renewed purpose God has for them in the communities where they are planted,” Hubbard said. “Those who want to create a flow between parish and community that allows us to be more in sync with our neighbors, so that the incredible riches of our faith and tradition can be shared.

“I believe the pandemic has ‘cracked us open,’ as Stephanie Spellers so aptly put it [in her new book and as a speaker at recent diocesan events], and Genesis II can provide tools for living into this new chapter of our life as church,” Hubbard said. “The church has had to reinvent itself over and over through the centuries, to be a strong witness of Christ’s love in new places and in changing times. I believe the tools provided by Genesis II are tools of reinvention that any parish can pick up.”

Episcopal delegates to COP26 climate conference share lessons of hope and struggle with the church [Episcopal News Service]: Delegates representing Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and The Episcopal Church at the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference presented a summary of their work to the church on Nov. 12, saying they felt empowered by their presence even though the ultimate outcome of the conference remained uncertain.

Delegates said they were frustrated to witness political leaders’ ongoing obstructionism, but proud of the voices and religious conviction that they brought to the table. Part of the delegates’ mission was to learn about the state of the climate crisis and efforts to address it, and to bring what they learned back to the wider church.

Read the full Episcopal News Service story here.

"The Blessing of the Light" for these early-darkening days: Now comes this 3D video of "The Blessing of the Light" and not a moment too soon, with darkness falling earlier upon us each afternoon. The worship draws on ancient evening lamp-lighting rituals of early Christianity, and has been filmed in 3D in a trial new approach to online worship. The seven-minute act of worship, filmed at the parish church of St. Stephen Walbrook in the City of London, can be accessed on any computer or device, without special VR equipment. People are able to experience "standing" among the choir and can explore in 360-degree vision during the worship.

It is led by the Rev. Tosin Oladipo, Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, with music from St. Martin's Voices, the professional ensemble from St-Martin-in the-Fields in London.

View it on the Church of England's YouTube channel, here, and take a moment to "look up" at the church's dome--Christopher Wren's prototype for the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Ministry Discernment Conference for inquirers set for Feb. 5: Registration will open online in December for the annual Ministry Discernment Conference hosted by the Commission on Ministry, to be held on Saturday, Feb. 5, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., and currently planned as an in-person event at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. (The snow date is Feb. 12.)

The conference will provide an in-depth look at the 2022 edition of the Ministry Discernment Handbook, and gives potential inquirers an opportunity to learn about the ordination process in the Diocese of Massachusetts as they consider whether their call is to ordained ministry or committed lay ministry. Any person considering applying for admission to the ordination process in 2022 is required to attend the conference, along with a sponsoring priest and at least one member of their parish discernment committee.

For more information, contact the Rev. Canon Edie Dolnikowski, Canon for Ordained Vocations, at edie@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 514.

Priesthood ordination services scheduled: The diocesan community’s prayers and virtual presence are invited for these upcoming ordinations to the priesthood:

Please contact each hosting congregation or community directly about service details; livestream links are posted on the diocesan Events calendar.

MANNA to participate in project for "Trauma-Responsive Congregations": The MANNA community at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston is one of seven congregations--four in the Boston area and three in San Diego--named by the Boston University School of Theology to participate in “Trauma-Responsive Congregations: Equipping Thriving Urban Congregations to Respond to Collective Trauma.”

Members of the MANNA team at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul have been working through the COVID-19 pandemic to provide food and other resources to members of the homeless community in downtown Boston. Courtesy photo

According to a Nov. 3 news release, the four-year project, now entering its second year, "is designed to help urban congregations respond to trauma from theologically informed and spiritually integrative perspectives, as their congregants are continually shaped by and are reacting to the compounding of domestic and global traumatic events."

Each congregation selected for this project is represented by a task force of three leaders who will participate in a process of collaborative learning and will design a project that will support and bolster their congregation’s efforts to respond to trauma.

The project is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Thriving Congregations Initiative.

MANNA (Many Angels Needed Now and Always) is a ministry of and with the homeless community in downtown Boston.

"We worked hard to get this grant and feel strongly it is vital to the well-being of our community as we emerge from pandemic trauma in the midst of all the day-to-day trauma we experience. It is important congregational research going forward and MANNA has been invited into that work," MANNA's pastor, the Rev. Jennifer McCracken, said by e-mail.

The news release says the program's aim is to "build upon the strengths that these congregations already bring to caring for communities, and the strong ties to chaplaincy and spiritual care in the program will help achieve that goal. Many leaders engaged in the program are bi-vocational--working both as congregational leaders and as chaplains. The program’s partnership with Chaplaincy Innovation Lab provides a national network of spiritual care professionals that can support congregational efforts as the program progresses."

Virtual gathering with Bishop Gates: Youth & Young Adults and Immigration & Multicultural Ministries: Join on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 5 p.m. for an online discussion with Bishop Gates about two key ministries for our diocese: Youth and Young Adult Ministries, and Immigration and Multicultural Ministries. These areas of work have grown and deepened over the last two years, and have made exciting progress, with more to come. Registration is required to receive the link to join the gathering. Register here. Direct any questions to Bliss Austin Spooner, Director of Development, at baustinspooner@diomass.org.

H. Mark Smith to retire: The Rev. H. Mark Smith has announced that he will be retiring as missioner for youth and young adult ministries for the diocese, effective Jan. 30, 2022.

Smith served the diocesan Office of Youth Ministries as deacon for five years before joining the diocesan staff in 2014 as director of youth ministries. During his tenure, the scope of the office has expanded to include young adult ministries as well.

While the different age cohorts each have unique pastoral needs, Smith has noted, the driving mission of his service to both has been raising up prophetic, social-justice-focused young leaders for the church and world.

Read the full announcement here.

A section of the new "Chelsea Resilient" mural depicting Chelsea residents and landmarks across 400 years of its history. Courtesy photo

St. Luke's-San Lucas vicar makes public witness to church's mission in "Chelsea Resilient": What was formerly a blank brick wall on the Fifth Street side of 472 Broadway in Chelsea is now a colorful procession through the community's history.

There is the Revolutionary War's General Israel Putnam, wading into Chelsea Creek to call on the British to surrender. There are Winnisimmet women digging for mussels on that same creek's shores. And there's Fanny Fairweather, a woman enslaved by a prominent Chelsea family, the Carys. No one now living knows for sure what she looked like, but here we see her in her older years, smoking a pipe. We see two Polish-American girls who have strayed over from the Polaski Festival in Chelsea Square. Armando Anthony "Chick" Correa is there, tickling the ivories in front of the Walnut Street Synagogue. Behind a woman making Salvadoran pupusas are members of the Chelsea Somali community in traditional clothing.

And there, just below the blue folds of the Salvadoran dancer Carmen Villalta's costume, we see the Rev. Edgar Gutierrez-Duarte, the vicar of St. Luke's-San Lucas Church. He's wearing his COVID mask and helping other members of the community distribute food to hungry neighbors.

They've all been brought together in "Chelsea Resilient: Call and Response Through the Ages," a new 80-foot mural by David Fichter that traces Chelsea's history across four centuries.

"I love the fact that all of us, whichever our ethnicity or race is, can find ourselves represented there, and not only on one particular side of the historical progression of the mural but all over it; from the beginnings of this community until the present time, it shows our diversity with the richness of colors and occupations that have left a mark in this community," Gutierrez-Duarte said by e-mail. "It also shows us in the best possible way: helping one another, doing what we do best, facing adversity in a collaborative way."

The Rev. Edgar Gutierrez-Duarte, pictured with his mural image: "That image of me represents us, St. Luke's, our Episcopal Church and other people of faith who are such a vital part of this community and who work tirelessly for the well-being of our population. Courtesy photo

Honoring all the saints: Many congregations across the diocese held services to honor loves ones who have passed on for All Saints' Day at the beginning of the month, including: (From left): St. Anne's in-the-Fields Church, Lincoln; St. Peter's Church-Iglesia San Pedro, Salem; and Christ Church, Plymouth.

Newburyport Daily News: From guns to garden tools: The Rt. Rev. James E. Curry brought a hammer and tongs to the backyard of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Sunday to show a small crowd how to bang and bend shotgun barrels into garden trowels and spades.

As he fired up a portable forge to turn seven-inch lengths of gun barrels white hot, Curry talked about how his experience working with victims of gun violence and seeing the devastation caused by firearms brought him to the Swords to Plowshares Northeast program.

Curry, a retired Episcopal bishop in Connecticut, co-founded the program with Steve Yanovsky, the communications director of Newtown Action Alliance/The Newtown Foundation, and several others. The effort grew, in part, from the massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

Read more here.

Boston Globe: Newton’s Grace Church to receive key grant for bell tower restoration: Grace Episcopal Church in Newton will receive a grant of up to $250,000 from the National Fund for Sacred Places, a major milestone in the church’s effort to raise funds for its historic bell tower.

The nearly 150-year-old tower’s masonry has been cracking for years and is at risk of collapsing.

“It was just a great vote of confidence in our project,” said the Rev. Dr. Regina Walton, rector of the church. “We’re pretty overjoyed by it.” Read more here.

Salem News: Beverly woman serving as delegate to U.N. climate conference: The United Nations climate conference features heads of state, government representatives, climate activists and concerned citizens from around the world.

The global event also has a decidedly local angle in Susie Faria.

Faria is a 25-year-old Beverly resident who was selected as a delegate for the crucial climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, she attended virtually from her home in Beverly.

“It’s a big honor,” she said.

Faria is one of 24 delegates representing The Episcopal Church at the annual conference, known as COP26. She applied for the position and was selected by Bishop Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church. Faria is the daughter of the Rev. Manny Faria, the rector at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Beverly. “That’s been a second home to me my whole life,” she said. Read more here.

Dartmouth Week: Mothers unite to develop Facebook page, family festival: What started as an online effort to bring local mothers together has morphed into an in-person family fall festival that organizers hope will further unite the community.

The inaugural festival was held Saturday, Oct. 23 outside St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 351 Elm St. The festivities included a costume contest, touch a truck with Dartmouth police and fire vehicles, a bounce house, pumpkin painting, cookie decorating, a performance by Toe Jam Puppet Band, face painting and a photo booth, among other offerings.

The effort began through the formation of a Facebook page about a year ago, inspired by St. Peter’s rector, the Rev. Scott Ciosek. Read more here.

Nov 21: Bishop Harris visits St. Paul's Church in Hopkinton

Nov 21:Bishop Gates visits Christ Church in South Hamilton

Nov 21: "Rheinberger’s Requiem" Concert, St. Andrew's Church, Marblehead, 7:00pm

Nov 23: Online Finance Forum for Congregational Leaders, 5:30pm

Nov 23: Installation of The Rev. Eric Fialho at St. Gabriel’s Church, Marion, 7:00pm

Nov 28: Bishop Gates visits the Church of the Holy Nativity in South Weymouth

Nov 28: "Rheinberger’s Requiem" Concert, St. Peter's Church, Cambridge, 8:00pm

Dec 1: Installation of The Rev. Derrick Muwina at St. Peter’s Church, Cambridge, 7:00pm

Dec 2: Diocesan Council Meeting, via Zoom, 6:00pm

Dec 4: Practical Aspects of Congregational Leadership Seminar: Year-End Financial Closing Issues, via Zoom, 9:00am

Dec 4: Christmas Fair, St. Barnabas's Church, Falmouth, 9:00am

Dec 4: Online Advent Quiet Day: "Make Your Home in Me," 9:30am

Dec 5: Bishop Gates visits Grace Church in New Bedford

Dec 7: Poor People's Campaign Network Inaugural Meeting, via Zoom, 7:00pm

Dec 8: Global Mission Commission Network, via Zoom, 4:00pm

Dec 8: Installation of The Rev. Joseph Mumita at St. Thomas's Church, Taunton, 6:00pm

Dec 9: Food Security Network Meeting, via Zoom, 5:00pm

Dec 9: Gathering with Bishop Gates: Youth & Young Adults and Immigration & Multicultural Ministries, via Zoom, 5:00pm

Dec 15: B-PEACE Network Meeting, via Zoom, 2:00pm

Dec 15: Ordination to the Priesthood: Marcia Chanta Bhan, All Saints Episcopal School, Fort Worth, Tex., 2:30pm

Dec 15: Messiah Sing, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 5:00pm

Dec 18: Ordinations to the Priesthood: Lauren Banks and Hailey Jacobsen, All Saints Church, Richmond, Va., 10:30am

Dec 18: Ordination to the Priesthood: Rowan Larson , Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, 11:00am

Dec 18: Ordination to the Priesthood: Kevin Neil , St. John the Evangelist, San Francisco, 7:00pm

Dec 19: Bishop Gates visits the Church of the Good Shepherd in Reading

Dec 21: Online Finance Forum for Congregational Leaders, 5:30pm

Dec 24: Christmas Eve at the Cathedral, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 7:00pm

Jan 2: Christmas Poems and Carols, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 10:00am

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