Ordinary Note September 8, 2025

Installation of Canon to the Ordinary, the Value of "Welcome," and What is Coming Up

Beloved of God -

Blessings at the end of the first week of September. I love this time of year—with the crisping of the air, the buying of school supplies, the launching of church programs. It is a time of anticipation and of hope. I have also found that returning to work in the diocese after time away has provided me with a deepened sense of familiarity and affection. Several of you had wonderful “welcome back” gatherings in your congregations this weekend. I hope they were stunning.

Yesterday, after a beautiful morning visitation at the Church of the Advent, I installed the Rev. Chris Wendell as Canon to the Ordinary of this diocese at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. Chris+ is a well-known priest of this diocese, and his tremendous gifts of intelligence, faithfulness, optimism, kindness, and strategy are already shining through in his work as both Chief of Staff and CTO. The event drew a large crowd of clergy and laity alike, who gathered to pray and celebrate this wonderful leader in our diocese. It was so fun to be with so many wonderful people throughout my day yesterday. Congratulations and blessings, Canon Chris!

Update on Our Visioning Process

Last month, we released an update of our diocesan visioning process—with values, a refreshed mission, and strategic priorities for this next period of our life together. Today, I want to take a moment to reflect with you about one of our core values “Welcome.” I will be reflecting with you on other values and priorities in the coming weeks, as we begin to live into the vision we collectively created.

Welcome

This simple word emerged through many ideas and phrases during our visioning process: Radical Hospitality. Expansive Inclusion. Invitation and Incorporation. Evangelism. Sanctuary. 

We are called to all these concepts and these practices, in the name of Jesus Christ.

A quick search through Christian and Jewish Scripture turns up over 20 verses commanding us to exercise kindness and compassion—welcome—to the stranger in our midst. God gives us many reasons why to do so: because of a shared experience of exile and estrangement, as an act of worship and obedience to, or because Jesus identified first with the stranger, the outcast, the vulnerable. As Matthew 25 reminds, in welcoming the stranger, we welcome our very God.

In our diocese, we are called to do this in many ways.

We stand with the vulnerable. We welcome the stranger.

First, considering increasing ICE presence in our communities and a federal lawsuit against the City of Boston regarding its sanctuary policies, we can redouble our efforts to stand with immigrants and refugees. Thanks to all of you who came out on August 15 to support an asylum-seeking Salem parishioner in grave danger of deportation. There will likely be more opportunities to stand with her and others in coming weeks. For information on how to equip your congregation to stand with immigrants in our midst, please see the diocesan website.

We welcome in our churches.

This is a key season for “church shopping.” I encourage you to be thoughtful about how your congregations and worshipping communities are exercising welcome—and evangelism! Together, we will be working on ways to develop our spirit of gracious invitation and hospitality across our diocese. This can be practiced in so many ways:

• introducing Invite-Welcome-Connect to your parishes,
• guiding and contextualizing our liturgical practices through clear leadership and formation,
• working on accessibility and inclusion in our buildings, words, witness, leadership, and actions, and
• enhancing our visibility and “street appeal,” whether in person or online.

We welcome in our Diocese.

I’m very excited that our search for a Canon for Communication, Witness, and Engagement is proceeding well. This role will be critical in our strategic priority to “cultivate a culture of evangelism rooted in hospitality, justice, and relationship.” We have such good news to share! Our call is to share it abundantly.

Last week, our Regional Canons kicked off the first of our new “Welcome Wagon” series, designed to welcome priests who are new to our diocese. It was a wonderful opportunity to flex our hospitality muscles at 138 Tremont and to introduce our terrific staff to new colleagues.

These are just a few ways we are living into our value of “welcome” in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. There will be many more. This week, I invite you to share your thoughts, images, and stories that reflect what welcome means in your local contexts. Check our Facebook page and join the conversation.

My next missive will focus on another of our diocesan values: Courage!



Until then, please find a few notes about what’s coming up for me and for our diocese:

• Tomorrow, I leave for the fall gathering of the House of Bishops. This year we are meeting in the Dominican Republic to learn more about the challenges and opportunities of that diocese of the Episcopal Church. Our days will include times of theological reflection on the notion of being remnant communities of practice, witness, and resistance during a time of instability. We will have workshops on the bishop’s voice and leadership in our current political contexts, tending to our properties, and the challenges as well as opportunities in numerical decline. It should be a rich and full week.

• Saturday, September 20, the Diocesan Council is gathering for a retreat/working day to do deep work on our vision and our 2026 budget. I am especially grateful for the careful work of our Budget Committee, led by our Treasurer Ted T’so and Director of Finance Deb Thomas, and supported by our amazing finance team and Canon Chris Wendell.

• Diocesan Convention is coming! We are having a two-day convention in order to gather and deepen our bonds as a community of faith, learning, and love. Registration is open. Please be sure to look at the amazing workshops available on Friday, November 14. There will be a keynote address by the Most Rev. Melissa Skelton on Friday evening, as well as some time for joyful celebration, before attending to the governance matters of the next day. Don’t miss it!

• Our deacons are gathering for a time of rest, reflection, and renewal at a retreat at Bethany House at the end of September. I’m very much looking forward to having dinner and conversation with them on September 26.

• Finally, some great news! The congregation of St. John St. James Church has regathered in St. Luke’s chapel in Roxbury after several years leaving the neighborhood because water damage at Ionic Hall rendered it unusable. St. Luke’s, a historically important building designed by Ralph Adams Cram, was significantly renovated through a partnership between St. John St. James, the diocese, and Historic Boston Incorporated, Spencer Preservation, and the City of Boston through the Community Preservation Act. It’s a gem of a building, for a gem of a congregation.

With faith in God’s abundant welcome for us all,

The Rt. Rev. Julia E. Whitworth

Bishop Diocesan

Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts