|
|
Mission Matters
News from the
Episcopal Diocese
of Western Massachusetts
CELEBRANDO LA ABUNDANCIA DE DIÓS
|
|
National Cathedral to host interfaith prayer service Nov. 1
Holding Onto Hope: A national service for healing and wholeness
Presiding Bishop Curry, Fr. James Martin
|
|
[Episcopal News Service] As the United States struggles through a time of turbulence and tension, Washington National Cathedral will host a national interfaith prayer service on Sunday, Nov. 1 – two days before Election Day – featuring Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and other spiritual leaders. The service, titled “Holding Onto Hope: A national service for healing and wholeness,” will be livestreamed on The Episcopal Church’s Facebook page in English and Spanish from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.
|
|
Braver Angels encourages dialogue, non-violence |
|
Train to serve as Poll Chaplain |
|
Poll Chaplains: Tuesday, October 20 at 12:00 noon EST, Working with Lawyers & Collars organization to train Episcopal clergy to be near polls, providing prayerful presence and ensuring people can access vote safely. [The Episcopal Church’s term for this role is “Poll Chaplains.”] Learn how to provide a calm and loving presence in the way of love, the way of peace, the way of justice, and
reconciliation -- that is affirmed on Election Day. As Lawyers and Collars says: “All people are created in the image of God. Protecting the right to vote affirms the divine image and inherent value of all of God’s children.”
|
|
Presiding Bishop, in House of Bishops sermon, promotes voting, Christian love over divisions |
|
[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, in an opening sermon for the Sept. 16 online meeting of the House of Bishops, urged Episcopalians to vote in the upcoming elections and to “encourage others to vote as their conscience leads them.” And he affirmed that The Episcopal Church’s positions on political issues, though nonpartisan, should not be confused with “moral neutrality.”
|
|
Bishop and Diocesan Leadership Urge Faithful to Support Voter Registration, and #VoteFaithfully |
|
Dear friends in Christ,
The November election gives Americans a precious opportunity to support candidates and policies that will build up communities, protect public health, encourage racial and social justice, and restore the web of life. This election will set the course on climate change and other critical issues that are central to our faith. Many of us consider it the most significant election of our lifetime.
We encourage every eligible voter in our diocese to ensure that they are registered and, if possible, to vote early (in person or by mail), thereby avoiding long lines at polling places.
Taking part in elections and casting a vote is an important way for Christians to express our values and priorities. As Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has reminded us, “It is a Christian obligation to vote.”
|
|
Delegates can now Register for
the 119th Diocesan Convention
|
|
November 2-7, 2020.
Convention this year will be conducted entirely online, and portions will take place over the week of November 2-7.
|
|
Ministerio hispano
Latino/Hispanic Ministries
|
|
Estoy emocionado de compartir que daremos la bienvenida a una nueva congregación a nuestra diócesis durante nuestra convención diocesana este año. El Ministerio Hispano en San Marcos en Worcester será recibido como misión de la Diócesis de Western MA. La congregación comenzó el 11 de septiembre de 2016 en la Iglesia de Todos los Santos, Worcester con cinco personas. En estos cuatro años, hemos crecido a una asistencia dominical promedio de 33, hemos realizado varios retiros de liderazgo, bautizamos a 12 niños, confirmamos y recibimos a 11 personas en la Iglesia Episcopal, y participamos en un programa de discernimiento de 10 meses a través de Episcopal City Mission con el Diócesis de Massachusetts.
Durante ese discernimiento, descubrimos que Dios nos estaba llamando a extender la mano y estar en relación con la comunidad de Main South en Worcester. Nos mudamos a San Marcos, Worcester en enero de 2020 y estamos listos para trabajar en el nuevo Centro Comunitario que se está construyendo. Nos sentimos honrados y humildes de ser una misión de nuestra maravillosa diócesis y alabamos a Dios porque, incluso en medio de una pandemia, Dios continúa llamando al pueblo de Dios a ser las manos, los pies y el corazón de Cristo en el mundo. Nos gustaría agradecer al obispo Doug Fisher, Steve Abdow y nuestra diócesis por su constante apoyo y alentar estos últimos cuatro años. Además, agradecemos a la Iglesia de San Marcos, Worcester por su amor y hospitalidad. ¡Estamos muy emocionados de trabajar contigo!
Misa Dominical
La Catedral: 12:15pm en personal o por Facebook Live
Ministerio Hispano en Worcester: 12:00pm en persona los primero y tercero domingos del me o en nuestro sitio web ministeriohispanoworcester.org.
Oración Vespertina
La Catedral: Todos los martes y jueves a las 6pm por Facebook Live
Ministerio Hispano en Worcester: Todos los martes a las 6:30pm por WhatsApp.
|
|
I am excited to share that we will be welcoming a new congregation to our diocese during our diocesan convention this year. The Hispanic Ministry at St. Mark’s in Worcester will be received as mission of the Diocese of Western MA. The congregation began on September 11th, 2016 at All Saints Church, Worcester with five people. In these four years, we have grown to an average Sunday attendance of 33, held several leadership retreats, baptized 12 children, confirmed and received 11 people into the Episcopal Church, and participated in a 10-month discernment program through Episcopal City Mission with the Diocese of Massachusetts.
During that discernment we discovered that God was calling us to reach out and be in relationship with the Main South community in Worcester. We moved to St. Mark’s, Worcester in January 2020 and are ready to work in the new Community Center that is being constructed. We are honored and humbled to be a mission of our wonderful diocese and praise God that, even in the middle of a pandemic, God continues to call God’s people to be the hands, feet and heart of Christ in the world. We would like to thank Bishop Doug Fisher, Steve Abdow and our diocese for their constant support and encourage these last four years. Also, we thank St. Mark’s Church, Worcester for their love and hospitality. We are so excited to be working with you!
|
|
From The Episcopal Church |
|
General Convention Task Force invites
Episcopalians to participate in survey
“Social Justice and the Episcopal Church:
A Call for Stories”
|
|
Responses requested by: November 5, 2020
"In the work of contemplating the theology of social justice advocacy in The Episcopal Church, the Task Force recognizes that different people have vastly different perspectives and experiences. For some, social justice advocacy may seem somewhat peripheral to their spiritual lives in the church; for others, social justice may have become an important focal point of their theology over time; for still others, the struggle for social justice is fundamental to and inseparable from their experience of what it is to be a Christian.
The members of the Task Force would like to gather stories and deeper perspectives to support their work on behalf of the Church and invite Episcopalians to consider sharing their experience by completing the survey, 'Social Justice and the Episcopal Church: A Call for Stories'."
|
|
Virtual Conference October 23-24 |
What grounds for hope, faith, and perseverance might we find to sustain us during this troubling period, when an accelerating climate crisis, together with a global pandemic and renewed challenges to racial justice in the U.S. have left many engulfed in what’s been called “a tsunami of sadness”?
How, in the face of all that, might we embrace an earth-hearted hope that includes our nonhuman neighbors?
During this two-day online event, you’ll experience:
- Presentations by leading thinkers on faith, hope, and environmental concerns
- A focus on embodied spirituality and ecological contemplation
- Time for dialogue and reflection
- Earth-grounded worship
|
|
Get the Creation Care Network newsletter in your inbox every 1st of the month
|
Read this month's newsletter
|
Missioner for Creation Care
|
|
Social Justice Commission |
|
Two Virtual Events sponsored by Bishops United Against Gun Violence |
Bishops United Against Gun Violence announces two online events to be held this month in response to the epidemic of racism and gun violence in the U.S. and the tensions surrounding the 2020 election.
On Monday, October 19 at 1 pm Eastern, join Bishops United Against Gun Violence in an online conversation with key gun violence prevention partners. Together we’ll explore how the intersection of racism, gun violence and the COVID-19 pandemic informs our Christian obligation to vote faithfully. Learn more and register here.
On Tuesday, October 27 at 6 pm Eastern, join Bishops United Against Gun Violence to lament the continuing gun violence epidemic in our country and take action by pledging to follow the path of nonviolence. Bishop Mariann Budde of @Washdio will preach. Learn more and register here.
|
|
|
Beloved Community Commission |
|
Interfaith Event To Mark 400 Years Since Landing of English Colonists on Native Lands |
Live online gathering on Sunday,
Oct. 18th 2:00 pm
An interfaith / intercommunity project of listening, connecting, and acting for justice during this 400th year since the 1620 landing of English colonists on Native lands in the Northeast.
|
|
|
 |
Virtual Episcopal Latino Ministry Competency course |
Oct 12-16, 2020
Jan 25-29, 2021
“Combining academic learning with hands-on experience, the purpose of this multi-faceted intensive course is to provide cultural competency of the history, culture, socio-demographic, and religious aspects of the Latinos/Hispanics in the United States,” explains the Rev. Canon Anthony Guillén, Episcopal Church missioner for Latino/Hispanic Ministries.
The five-day VELMC includes 20 hours of online classroom presentations, worship services, and group dialogue, with comfortable breaks and an ample lunch time factored in from 11:00am to 5:30pm (EDT) each day.
|
|
|
|
Nurturing Clergy Resiliency, Creativity & Wellness
with Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund
|
Jan 26-27, 2021
Zoom
Pastors & Chaplains, when was the last time you found time to take a deep breath and tend to your body and your spirit? With the extra demands of ministering in the midst of a pandemic, many ministers are in need of respite and self-care. Join us for presentations, workshops and conversations around building resiliency, attending to mental wellness, and nourishing the spiritual life of faith leaders.
|
|
|
|
Find a Sunday service online |
|
Keep an eye on the calendar here.
|
|
|
|
The unsubscribe link below will remove you from EVERY diocesan mailing list.
If you would like to be removed from the Mission Matters distribution, but continue to receive other communications, please email: agamache@diocesewma.org.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
