25th Sunday after Pentecost

in the Sanctuary

Sunday, November 15th at 10:00 am


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


Motet: Herr, du bist unsre Zuflucht, op. 79, no. 2

Cantata: Bach Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140




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



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This Sunday

Organ Recital at Church of the Advent 

with John Dilworth

Our organist, John Dilworth, will perform an organ recital round the corner at Church of the Advent on Sunday (November 15) at 4:30pm. The program includes: Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E, BWV 566; three preludes on psalm tunes by Charles Wood, Irish Anglican composer (1866-1926); and John's transcription of Amy Beach's Invocation, op. 55 (prepared for the statue dedication on November 1). The organ recital is followed by a service of Choral Evensong at 5pm.

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Bible Study with the Rector

Every Tuesday Morning in November:

First Meeting in November is the 17th 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 17th. 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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Help us Green Emmanuel's Sanctuary

Sunday, December 20

Volunteers are needed Sunday, December 20 to help green Emmanuel's sanctuary. Join us immediately after Sunday's service in the sanctuary. Pizza, soft drinks and salad will be available. Many hands make light work or at least make things more entertaining. It is always a good time! Please, text or email Mary Blocher if you can help.  617 512 1575 or blocher.mary@gmail.com



Elizabeth (Betsy Bunn)

It is with a full heart that I write to tell you of the death of Betsy, long-time Emmanuelite and spiritual guide to many. Betsy served for many years with extraordinary wisdom, skill, and compassion in many aspects of our life together at Emmanuel, including Senior Warden. 

Betsy died peacefully on Thursday, November 5 after a long illness. A service honoring her life and love will be held Sunday, December 13 at 2 pm in our sanctuary, with a reception to follow in the parish hall.

We extend our deepest condolences to Frank and their children and grandchildren. May Betsy’s soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace and rise in glory.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: accept our prayers on behalf of your servant Betsy, and grant her an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the communion of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Faithfully,

Pam

CRT and Emmanuel will be planting 500 daffodil bulbs in the front garden at Emmanuel, this Saturday, November 14th at 11:30am, right after our morning Torah Study. With volunteers helping, the preparation and planting should take about 2 hours. It is a lot of fun to get your hands dirty with friends - the last chance for gardening before the winter is here.

Bring your gardening gloves and a trowel (if you have either). Otherwise, we will have tools. You don't have to plant - you can just come to cheer the planters!

*The Daffodil Project is a worldwide initiative with the goal of planting one and a half million bulbs in memory of the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust.

The Ethos serving crew is unstoppable. Pat and her helpers - Nancy Lee and Elaine Delaney - are serving lunch today at in the Parish Hall as they have every Thursday for many, many years. The Ethos mission is to provide a nutritious, full course meal to senior men with HIV and to support guests in a community setting in which it can they enjoy each others company and share not only a meal but the many and varied challenges that mark their lives. Kudos to the servers who make it happen Thursday without fail. God love ya!

Good morning!

Liz Levin, the chair of Emmanuel's Pledge Campaign, first asked us to make a pledge pitch many weeks ago. We didn't say yes, and we didn't say no. 

That went on for many weeks before we finally agreed to speak. 

We weren't sure what we could say that was inspiring.

You see, we are old: we’ve been at Emmanuel for so long, and we've pledged to Emmanuel for so long that we can't remember when we started. 

And we've increased our pledge a bit each year. We tried to think back to what it was like for us before we made a yearly pledge,

And we decided to tell this through an extended metaphor. 

So here is The Parable of the Thirsty

There once was a Magus, a person of great power and wisdom, and a guide to all the people of the land. One day while walking in the garden of All things bright and beautiful, the Magus saw people thirsting, listless and tired. And they said to the Magus. "Give us something to quench our thirst - and make it sweet on the tongue."

The Magus heeded their pleas – And created Coca Cola.

The people of the land were happy with the new beverage.

Day and night they drank it in bottles and cans and cups from soda dispensers.

They gave it to their children and their children's children.

And lo, their dental bills rose. (But that's another parable) 

Times began to change in the realm, and the people became unhappy with the drink created for them by the Magus, for it no longer suited their lifestyle.  

Some even stopped drinking it.

So once again, a great gift was offered to the people -

For the Magus created Diet Coke. 

And many rejoiced. 

But then a great divide grew in the realm - between those who drank Classic Coca Cola, and those who drank the new Diet Coke. People who drank the original saw many of their friends and relatives cross through the veil of sugar and into the land of diet soda. How can such a choice be made they wondered? After a while, the people who dared cross over to Diet Coke discovered they liked it; some drank more deeply. Few returned to their previous choice, for it had become a part of their identity. They occasionally called or coaxed others who had not made the same choice to join them.  

And the Magus saw all this - and wondered at it. 

Now perhaps our parable doesn't sit right with you - because you don't drink soda, or you can't imagine drinking Diet Coke. But we ask you to ponder its message, not the particular creations of the Magus. 

Deciding to pledge is a move from one state to another - perhaps done with wariness, and even some worry. But it's our experience that once you make that move, whether it's from being a pre-pledger to a pledger, or from making the same pledge each year to increasing your pledge - it not only gets easier next time, it becomes a piece of you – a part of who you are.

And a deeper part of who Emmanuel Church is. For we need Emmanuel, and Emmanuel needs us. 

One last pitch: 

Transform these two slogans:



From



It's the Pause that Refreshes ... to ... It's the Pledge that Refreshes

And

Things Go Better with Coke ... to Things Go Better…with Emmanuel

I'm writing again on behalf of A Faith That Does Justice (AFTDJ), an all-volunteer interfaith nonprofit here in Boston, to ask whether Emmanuel Church, Boston would include our volunteer insert in an upcoming bulletin. I am delighted to tell you because of our announcement 3 members of a Back Bay church, Pam, Mary Ann, and Susan, have volunteered with us. They each bring help, commitment, and humor to the volunteer effort of preparing and distributing lunch to those with food insecurities. If you published the opportunity, thank you. Please consider doing so again

Through the AFTDJ Grab & Go program, volunteers prepare and hand out fresh, bagged lunches every Tuesday to about 70 neighbors facing hunger in Back Bay and downtown. We prepare lunches at Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street and distribute them near Park Street Station, Downtown Crossing, and along Boylston Street including Copley Square. We're looking for parishioners who can help, whether one time next Tuesday, some day in the future, or on a regular basis.

Volunteers Needed: AFTDJ Grab & Go Program. Every Tuesday we serve lunch to 70 neighbors facing hunger. Help prepare lunches at Emmanuel Church (10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.) or distribute them downtown and along Boylston Street (12:00–1:00 p.m.). One-time volunteers welcome! Sign up: bit.ly/4qoZeMk. Questions: Bill Sheehan, wsheehan@faith-justice.org. Or donate: faith-justice.org/donate

Bill Sheehan

Director of Operations (Volunteer)

wsheehan@faith-justice.org

November 5th, 2026

The Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) Burgess Chapter held its senior luncheon last week. We joined forty members of the organization, which is open to all, for a gathering that included adiscussion of the upcoming Massachusetts ballot questions. We welcomed the opportunity to meet members of other parishes who have supported UBE over the years and to learn more about their ongoing work.

The UBE began when seventeen Black priests met at St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Harlem on February 8, 1968. They formed the Union of Black Clergy and Laity (UBCL) to combat institutional racism and discrimination in hiring, placement, and deployment of Black clergy. Among the key Black clergy and lay leaders who attended the subsequent conference in July 1968 at St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, NC, were the Rev. Tollie L. Caution, trusted mentor and elder statesman, and the Rev. Barbara C. Harris, who advocated for women’s inclusion and lay leadership. Their work built upon the roots of black participation in the Church traced to, among many others, Absalom Jones, the first African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church (1802) and James Theodore Holly, first AA Bishop in the Episcopal Church who founded the Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting the Extension of the Church Among Colored People in 1856 to fight slavery and discrimination.

In June 1971, the UCBL became the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE),

which has continued to work to strengthen black leadership and spiritual identity. In 1975, Bishop John Melville Burgess co-founded the Bishop John M. Burgess Massachusetts Chapter of the UBE, along with twenty-eight clergy and lay people including Rev. Edward W. Rodman, the Rev. Richard Tolliver, Edrick Bain, Leon Brathwaite, and Byron Rushing. Bishop Burgess was elected

as a suffragan (assisting) bishop in Massachusetts in 1962, and in 1970 he became the first Black diocesan bishop in the U.S. He set up medical clinics, fought for prison reform, and played a significant role in Boston School desegregation.

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

Make Your Own Celebration Costume for First Night's 50th!

Celebrate First Night Boston’s 50th year!

Nov. 29 Workshop at Emmanuel Church

This annual celebration of collective energy and creative joy started in Boston and spawned many other new year celebrations in the US and internationally.

Join us at these free costume-making workshops! Create a festive caftan to wear in the First Night parade on New Year's Eve! We invite you to arrive in your costume and join the parade starting at Copley Plaza and concluding on the Boston Common. Parade is from 5:00-6:30 PM. Following the conclusion of the parade, stay for an informal dance party near the corner of Beacon and Charles Streets - open to all - prior to the family fireworks at 7:00 PM on Boston Common.  

What to expect:

o Design and decorate your own celebratory caftan, made to fit right over your warm winter layers

o Take your creation home and wear it in the First Night Procession. 

o All supplies, advice, and inspiration provided at no cost

o Workshops led by Artists for Humanity, with support from the First Night 50th Team

Who can join: Everyone! Individuals, families, and kids are all welcome. No experience needed, just bring your imagination. All supplies, advice, and inspiration provided at no cost. No experience needed, just bring your imagination. 

Schedule of Workshops:

1. Thursday, November 19, 6-9 PM at Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue

2. Sunday, November 29, 2-4 PM @ Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street

3. Sunday, December 13, 2-4 PM @ Union Church, 485 Columbus Avenue

4. Wednesday, December 16, 7-9 PM @ Artisans Asylum, 96 Holton Street

Register Here:  Costume Workshops | First Night® Boston. Advance registration is encouraged, but drop-ins are welcome too. Note there will also be opportunities to work with large and small puppets led by Puppeteers Cooperative.

Learn about the history of First Night at these special exhibits:

o   December 5 - January 4 at Boston Public Library, Gallery J, 700 Boylston Street

o   December 7 - January 1 at Boston City Hall, Scollay Square Gallery, 1 City Hall Square 



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!!!):

9,890 lbs. diverted!

This is the total weight collected so far.

65 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.

9,810 miles offset!

The composting efforts are equivalent to not driving 739 miles.

445 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.



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



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

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.