All Saints

in the Sanctuary

Sunday, November 1st at 10:00 am


The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz, preaching & presiding


Motet: Purcell Nunc Dimittis & Peace I Leave with You

Cantata: Bach Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen, BWV 49




The Emmanuel Church website has subway and parking garage suggestions. Directions can be found here.



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All Saints Observed

Sunday, November 1st

It is our custom at Emmanuel to pray by name for all those in and around our community who have died since last All Saints' Day. If there are names that you would like to have included in the prayers on November 1, please email them to Becky Lightcap at lightcap@emmanuelboston.org by Thursday October 29.

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Bible Study with the Rector

Every Tuesday Morning in November:

First Meeting in November is the 3rd at 7:30am

November is an odd-number month and Bible Study with Pam is back. This is a weekly Zoom happening throughout November and is scheduled for every Tuesday at 7:30am. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 3rd. All are welcome to participate in an always lively discussion of the upcoming Sunday scripture reading(s). To obtain the Zoom link, please contact the parish office via email (info@emmanuelboston.org).



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Join Election Night Compline

Tuesday, Nov. 3rd at 8:00pm

As polling places close on the East Coast on Nov. 3, join other Episcopalians in a prayerful service of compline, hosted by the church’s Division of Public Policy, Partnership, and Witness in collaboration with the Mission Program team.

The Rev. Sarah Shipman, director of the church’s Migration Ministries, will officiate. Prayers and readings will be offered in a variety of languages, and participants will be invited to share personal prayers in the chat.

Spanish interpretation will be available. Register here.

Vote Your Faith Values on Nov 3!

ECM Endorses "Yes on 4" and "No on 5" Ballot Questions

As mid-term elections approach on November 3, we know that staying on top of 9 different ballot questions this year can be daunting. That's why we've focused on just two that strongly align with our values: YES on 4 (Election Day voter registration) and NO on 5 (A "no" vote protects the Fair Share amendment). We also support the Diocese of MA's decision to endorse YES on 9, a gun control measure. We also encourage you to check out the fantastic and thorough voter resource guide from the MA Episcopal Network for Justice and Joy (ENJJOY).

For our community members interested in housing justice and its related policies, ECM endorses a YES vote on Question 4, which would allow for Election Day voter registration. Since low-income tenants are forced to move most often, same-day registration on election day increases voter enfranchisement, allowing those who have not had access to stable housing to vote even with a Nov 1 move-in date.

Recognizing the connection between housing justice and Election Day voter registration, our partners at Homes for All MA (who led to Rent Control campaign) are recruiting volunteers for phone-banking to support this critical questions! Get involved here. 

In 2022, Episcopal City Mission organized support for the “Fair Share Amendment” which won the vote and added a 4% income tax on individual income only after the first million dollars. With this new $6 billion generated in revenue, MA has been able to offer free community college tuition to anyone without a degree, free school lunches, and invest heavily in transportation infrastructure. 

Now the ultra-wealthy in MA have invested $2.4 million into a campaign to get a question on the ballot for Nov 3 that could back-track all of these wins. Question 5 would place a revenue cap on state tax collections, which would trigger a return of tax money with much of it going to those with wealth, at the expense of essential public services. Learn more at the “No on 5” Campaign website.

ECM encourages all Episcopalians and other people of faith to vote against this measure to save programs that supports the most vulnerable and the common good.

Please use ECM's Episcopal "No on 5" Toolkit (https://tinyurl.com/ECMNoOn5) and share on social media. It includes a flyer to post at your parish, a church bulletin message, guidance on writing letters to the editor, and strong biblical grounding for taking this position. There is also an interfaith version (https://tinyurl.com/FaithNoOn5) for a wider reach beyond the Episcopal community.

If you would like to help ECM with the “No on 5” campaign, including holding signs at your polling place on election day, sign up here.

A busy weekend at Emmanuel Church . Amidst the concerts, shows and other doings, we had John Dilworth's sister, Louise, visit from County Down, Northern Ireland, with her husband and children. It was such fun to have them in attendance at Sunday service and to see them witness John's stellar contribution to our worship.

Also, Sara Lightfoot Larence modeled her turquoise necklaces and matching attire, and Margaret & Peter Johnson made the last Pulpit Pitch for stewardship in the form of an allegory about the creation of Coke & Diet Coke.

At our next movie night we will discuss the 1983 film Silkwood.



SUMMARY: The movie Silkwood tells the true story of Karen Silkwood, a worker at a plutonium processing plant who becomes a whistleblower after discovering unsafe working conditions and contamination at the facility. As she gathers evidence to expose the plant's violations, she faces increasing harassment and danger, culminating in her mysterious death in a car accident while en route to meet a journalist. The film highlights themes of corporate malfeasance and the personal cost of standing up for justice.

All are welcome to join the conversation. If you are interested in attending, please let us know at info@centralreformtemple.org so we can ensure that you receive the Zoom link.

Available on Amazon or at Your Local Library



October 15, 2026

In the October 1-7, 2026, edition of this newsletter, The Rev. Isaac Everett, Executive Director of CRECHE, wrote to the Emmanuel Church community about CRECHE’s (Charles River Episcopal Co-Housing Network) gratitude for being approved as the first designee for our vestry-voted reparations

payment (see Isaac's note in the section below this one). We are here with some background about the process that preceded this reparations news.

Last year, the vestry approved a $10,000 reparations line item in the 2026 budgeting process. The Racial Justice Working Group (RJWG) was then charged to summarize the considerations for allocating these funds. Further, the RJWG was asked to recommend whether CRECHE, who is seeking funding to pay

down the construction loan taken for Jubilee House (the fifth house in the CRECHE network and shown in the pic above), would be the recipient of our reparations funds. At its September 15, 2026, meeting, the vestry voted unanimously

to approve that disbursement for 2026.

Emmanuel Church has had a relationship with CRECHE for over ten years. As the partner church for Emmanuel House (Allston), we continue to deepen our commitment to spiritually-grounded intentional community. With supporting Jubilee House financing, we are also affirming the importance of affordable

housing, community engagement, and neighborhood relationship-building. Our vestry definition of reparations emphasizes that meaningful financial, material and spiritual amends for harms done should be “guided by those who are harmed.” We may then “take action to repair racial injustices and help shape

flourishing communities in which everyone’s dignity is honored.”

Jubilee House and its partner church, New Roots (Dorchester) share a deep vision for justice and service. In presenting its report, the RJWG proposed that this first step on the journey brings us closer to creating a culture of repair in our parish along with meaningful reparations in our outward-facing work.

--Mary Beth Clack for the RJWG: Joel Anderle, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Ben Ericson, Pat Krol, Liz Levin

Debt retired, equity built!

Emmanuel Church has committed 1% of its parish budget to help retire the mortgage on Jubilee House, our first-ever partnership with an African Methodist Episcopal congregation, and home to an intentional community made up entirely of people from Africa and the African Diaspora.

Debt retirement doesn’t come with a ribbon-cutting, but it’s one of the most powerful, quietest ways to build real wealth. Every dollar paid down permanently lowers the cost of living for everyone who will call Jubilee House home in the years to come.

This gift carries extra weight because of how Jubilee House is structured: Creche holds an equity-sharing agreement with New Roots AME Church, so debt paid down today converts into real equity for a Black-led church. That’s reparations, structurally.

Grateful to Rev. Pam Werntz and the whole Emmanuel Church community for putting repair into the budget, not just a statement.

Isaac Everett

Executive Director, Creche

https://www.creche.community

he/him

After placing collection bins on countertops in food prep areas and a five-gallon container in the first-floor kitchen in April of 2025, here are the updated totals to date for the past year plus (yes, we're closing in on 5 tons!!!):

9,740 lbs. diverted!

This is the total weight collected so far.

64 seedlings planted!

Composting has a huge impact on the environment. From a greenhouse gas equivalency standpoint, our composting efforts are equivalent to 4.9 urban trees seedlings grown for 10 years.

9,662 miles offset!

The composting efforts are equivalent to not driving 739 miles.

438 gallons of gas!

The number of gallons of gasoline offset by diverting food scraps from the landfill.

Many thanks to the people and organizations whose buy-in made all this possible. You're stars. Yay Emmanuel!!

*Statistics based on CO2E (Carbon Equivalency). This number allows for translation of abstract measurements into concrete terms, such as the emissions from cars, households, or power plants. To learn more visit the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.



Happy Summer!

We have some important wireless network updates to share with you all.

There are new WiFi access points and passwords available to building users. Please find them outlined below:

EML-Visitor                  

For parishioners, Temple members, visitors, and guests. The passcode is EmmanuelCares and will be posted throughout the building.

EML-Group                  

For ongoing group use: tenants, AA, etc. The passcode will only be given to those groups and periodically changed with notice to the affected groups. If you are part of a group that rents space in the building, please contact the parish office for the password.

EMM

For Emmanuel Music Staff use. Please contact the parish office for this password. Guests of Emmanuel Music should use the Visitor password noted above.

EML-Staff

Clergy and Vestry should contact the Parish Office for the password.

Please contact us with any questions or concerns!

Yours in faith,

The Parish Office of Emmanuel Church

The leadership of Central Reform Temple (CRT) and Emmanuel Church (the Board and the Vestry) have been engaged in conversations together over the last several weeks about the horrific events of October 7th and the subsequent war in the Middle East. This has given us the opportunity to express our love, care, and support for one another as covenant partners, and our anguish for the wider human family, as well as consider how we might engage together at this time.

Our covenant relationship provides a deep foundation for us to talk about our thoughts, feelings, and concerns about the people of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, rising anti-Semitism here in the US and around the world, rising Islamophobia, and the impact on our communities. These thoughtful conversations have enabled us to examine our values, spiritual disciplines, and what we might consider our religious responsibilities as communities of faith.

To that end, it is our desire to widen the conversation to our whole community about possible programs, educational courses, volunteer and advocacy opportunities, and the varied ways that CRT and Emmanuel can work and pray separately and together. We believe that our criteria for advocacy must be to support those seeking a resolution to this conflict between peoples, highlighting peacemakers and assisting those bringing humanitarian aid and sustenance to all who have been affected in the region. This will be how we prioritize our choices about our learning and action.

Our first program was ‘Music Speaks’ highlighting the work of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, a combined Israeli and Palestinian choir and their work to build bridges between High School Youth of conflicted communities which was attended by close to 100 people last week.

We hope that as we begin to post information in our weekly e-newsletters and on the bulletin board in the lobby, you will find a project, program, course, organization to support, or place to volunteer that is meaningful to you.



Want to learn or brush up an ancient language? Join one of Emmanuel's Reading Groups. We currently offer



• Greek Reading Group - Thursdays at 9AM
• Hebrew Reading Group - Wednesdays at 9AM
• Latin Reading Group - Fridays at 9AM

Beginners are always welcome. Email Parish Office for the Zoom link.

Do you know someone who is in the hospital, or confined at home? The Care Commission provides pastoral ministry by writing notes, making visits, and more. Pastoral care needs are being coordinated by Deacon Bob Greiner. If you have a need, please contact him.

For all people struggling with or in recovery from any form of addiction, Join us on Zoom on Fridays at 3:30 pm. This service draws from the wisdom of the 12 Step program and the liturgies of the Episcopal Church. Contact Susan Ackley for more information and/or a Zoom invitation.

Founded in 1860, Emmanuel Church is located on land once used by the matriarchal Massachusett Tribe for fishing in the estuary of the Quinobequin (now the Charles River). Acknowledging this is an expression of our appreciation and a small, first step on the Way of Love, toward respect and accountability to Indigenous or First Peoples, who continue to suffer as a consequence of genocide and forced removal perpetrated by white ancestors of European descent.

Our next steps have to do with actions to end violence directed toward them, which occurs when their histories are erased, cultures are trivialized, labor is exploited, and resources are seized. As the current occupiers of this territory, we must amplify First Peoples’ voices, honor their dignity, and repent of our complicity in their oppression.

Read more about our Land Use Acknowledgment.