Ordinary Note August 14, 2025

Moving, Mourning, and Ministry of the Steps

August 14, 2025

Feast of Jonathan Myrick Daniels

Beloved of God,

I write to you from the porch of St. Marina’s Guest House, at the Duxbury convent of the Society of St. Margaret. I am so grateful to the Sisters, and especially their superior Sister Kristina Frances, for inviting me and my family to have a week of respite here. When I accepted, I had no idea how very chaotic our summer was going to be. It’s a balm to be here, as my family vacations and I begin to catch up on my work and prepare for the fall ahead. 

In the last three weeks, we completed our move to Massachusetts. I am so grateful to be all together at last. I am also grateful for the beautiful home in Newton where we have landed. Owned by the diocese, our residence fulfills just about every hope cast by the Standing Committee when we set out to find it: large enough for a family of five plus a guest room, commutable distance to Boston (by car or T) with easy access to other parts of the diocese, strong school systems for future bishops’ families, ample parking, and well appointed for entertaining. I look forward to hosting some diocesan gatherings there in the future (when more boxes are unpacked). 

Several of you reached out to express your condolences at the passing of my father-in-law, Ray Neufeld, Sr., two weeks ago. His funeral was last Friday, in Floral Park, NY. “Big Ray,” as some called him, was a funeral director, an EMT, and Chief of the Floral Park Fire Department He was the third eldest in a family of ten siblings, and father to four in a tight-knit, predominantly Roman Catholic village on Long Island. As you can imagine, the wake and funeral were ample and dignified. I was struck by the healing power of a community gathered in love and, of course, of our resurrection faith. Thank you for your prayers and expressions of support. 

Speaking of a community gathered in love and resurrection faith, I was privileged to be with the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mattapan twice recently. On July 27, I was Celebrant at the final Sunday service with the Rev. Zenetta Armstrong as Rector. “Rev. Z” served at Holy Spirit for over 30 years. It was a joyful day. The following Saturday, I presided over the funeral of a young Holy Spirit parishioner, Reidon Ford. Reidon grew up in Dorchester, went to high school in Bedford, and was a student at Salem State University. The church, parish hall, and parking lot were chock full of people gathered to remember, grieve, and celebrate his joy-filled life, cut far too short by gun violence. Please pray for his family and all who grieve.

Last week I also was able to participate in the Ministry of the Steps at our Cathedral Church of St. Paul. It was wonderful to spend time outside of our building, with our enormous banners proclaiming “Welcome, Courage, Justice, Joy” above us. I was glad to participate in “Ask a Bishop” with passers-by. There was a particular Holy Spirit moment, when a mother asked me to give a blessing to her toddler, who was about to have open heart surgery. Imagine our delighted surprise when we realized we have the same tattoo (the mom, not the child!). 

Here’s what’s going on now, and coming up soon: 

+ Staff Searches

Last Friday marked Laura Simons’s last day on diocesan staff. She will be missed by many, especially me! Our search for a new Executive Assistant to the Bishop is in full swing. I am interviewing semi-finalists this week from Duxbury (thank you, zoom). Thanks to our HR manager Nathaniel Fasman and Margaret Lias, Coordinator for Governance and Grants and Assistant to the Canon to the Ordinary, for their tremendous assistance in this search. Margaret is also helping me with my calendar until a new EA is in place, and administrator David Ames is staffing my office. For calendar requests, please use the following email: bishopdiocesan@diomass.org

We had a tremendous outpouring of interest in our Canon for Communications, Witness, and Engagement posting in June. I am grateful for a top-notch review committee assisting me in this call process: Joy Howard, Angela Johnson, the Rev. Patrick Ward, and the Rev. Canon Chris Wendell. Interviews continue next week.

+ Diocesan Visioning Process

Next week, you will receive a large communication detailing the outcomes of our diocesan visioning process, with core values, a refreshed mission statement, strategic priorities, and some core capacities we are working on as a staff and diocese. This represents a tremendous amount of work, led by Canon Chris Wendell and our consultants from Ministry Architects. And you! Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this time of reflection, analysis, and planning for our diocese. 

+ Action for Justice, Tomorrow

This week, I received word for the first time that a member of our Diocese has been summoned by ICE to a field office and anticipates being detained at that appointment. Given her particular circumstances, we are concerned that immigration detention may be extremely dangerous for her. Her clergy and others supporting her case are inviting clergy and other people of faith to be present at the ICE field office on Friday to bear witness to our concern for her dignity and safety in this process. If you feel called to join the Rev. Dr. Jean Baptiste Ntagengwa, our Canon for Immigration and Multicultural Ministry there, you can find information from our ministry partners at Episcopal City Mission, here. I encourage you to join ECM’s Emergent Action Network to learn of similar calls to action as quickly as possible, as we seek to bear witness to God’s dream of justice in our world: https://www.episcopalcitymission.org/emergent-action-network

+ Upcoming Schedule

My visitation schedule resumes in September. Hooray! It is as follows:

Sept. 7 Church of the Advent, Boston

Sept. 21 Church of the Holy Spirit, Fall River

Sept. 28 Parish of St. Paul, Newton Highlands

September 9-16 I’ll be traveling to the Dominican Republic for House of Bishops. 

September 27 is Ministry Discernment Day for the diocese. You may recall that we have moved this earlier in the program year, to allow more time for aspirants for Holy Orders and their parish discernment committees to do their holy work of listening for God’s call. Please join us, to learn about many ways to serve God and God’s people! You can register here.

October 1 is Clergy Day at our Cathedral. The Rt. Reverend Rob Wright, bishop of Atlanta, will be our guest speaker. Clergy can regsiter here.

+ Feast of Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Today

Many of you know that today, August 14, is the Commemoration of Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a martyr of our Church. He was a seminarian at Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge who answered Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s call to join civil rights activists in Selma, Alabama in 1965. After the passage of the Voting Rights Act, he worked to organize and register Black voters and was jailed alongside other nonviolent protesters objecting to whites-only spaces. After their release, he gave his life by shielding Ruby Sales, an unarmed Black teenager and fellow activist, from a racist attack by a deputy sheriff. Many attribute his death to a larger awakening in the Episcopal Church to our call to engage more fully in the Civil Rights Movement.

Please join me in honoring his memory, in action and in prayer: 

O God of justice and compassion, you put down the proud and mighty from their place, and lift up the poor and the afflicted: We give you thanks for your faithful witness Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who, in the midst of injustice and violence, risked and gave his life for another; and we pray that we, following his example, may make no peace with oppression; through Jesus Christ the just one, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

With blessings, and love, 

The Rt. Rev. Julia E. Whitworth

Bishop Diocesan

Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts