"Pieta" by Janet McKenzie On display in Holy Week, on Wednesday and Good Friday, at Bethany House of Prayer in Arlington

"Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace." (from The Liturgy of the Palms, The Book of Common Prayer)

As Holy Week approaches and Good Friday and Earth Day coincide, the Episcopal Church has compiled liturgical, educational and other resources for incorporating earth-care themes into services and celebrations, available here. 

At the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, the Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas will offer a series of three creation-themed meditations during the Good Friday service, 1-3 p.m.  Solemn Collects, rewritten for the day by Bullitt-Jonas, the Rev. Canon Steven Bonsey and the Very Rev. Jep Streit, are available here.  "We did this with an eye toward our belief that when Christ told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, our neighbors are not simply other humans," Streit explains.

The schedule for Holy Week at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul is available at www.stpaulboston.org.

Also of note: 

"Pieta" (pictured above), a new painting by Vermont artist Janet McKenzie, is having its first public showing at the Bethany House of Prayer in Arlington during Holy Week.  It will be on display for contemplative viewing during the Eucharist on Wednesday, April 20 at 7 p.m. in the chapel of the Order of St. Anne-Bethany (181 Appleton Street), and on Good Friday (call 781-648-2433 or e-mail bethanyretreats@verizon.net for hours).    

On April 8, the one-month anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Christ Church in Plymouth hosted an ecumenical service of prayer and remembrance for all who were affected, but particularly for Shichigahama, with which Plymouth has a longstanding sister-city relationship.

Shichigahama (which means "southern beaches") is on the coast and was close to the earthquake's epicenter; though loss of life was relatively low, about a third of the city was "wiped out," according to the Rev. David Fredrickson, Christ Church's rector.

Members of Baptist, Lutheran, Unitarian and Congregational churches joined with Episcopalians to form a congregation of about 60 for the service of psalms, prayer and song, and an offering of $430 was taken up to add to the $80,000 that Plymouth has raised for relief efforts.

"We were quick to act, doing what Americans do well, but I felt it was important for us to be in prayer as a way to be in solidarity with people who are in pain and suffering, and also to create lines of empathy that are sustainable.  Reconstruction can take generations, and prayer keeps something like this in our consciousness well beyond the news headlines," Fredrickson said.

There's evidence that praying together is building bridges close to home, too, he said:  churches with differing theology have invited Christ Church to take part in their Easter sunrise service. 

Also for Japan:  A portion of the proceeds from the April 30-May 1 Spring Fair at the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill will go toward relief efforts in Japan; and St. John's Church in Jamaica Plain is hosting a benefit concert on May 6.

For updates or to contribute to Episcopal Relief and Development's work in Japan and elsewhere, go to www.er-d.org.

Attending the March House of Bishops meeting from Massachusetts (from left):  Bishop Gayle Harris, The Rev. Arrington Chambliss, Bishop Barbara Harris, Bishop Bud Cederholm, Bishop Tom Shaw, The Rev. Stephanie Spellers and Jason Long.  (Photo courtesy of Ellie Rolfes Rencher/College for Bishops)

The Diocese of Massachusetts was well represented when the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops met last month for a retreat meeting in North Carolina, addressing several themes, including the relationship between Christianity and Islam, the proposed Anglican Covenant and how to reach out to young adults.

Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE was among those making presentations during the house's discussion on Christianity and Islam, sharing the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's experience of partnership and hospitality with the Muslim congregation that prays there on Fridays.

The Rev. Arrington Chambliss and Jason Long, who direct the diocese's Life Together intern program, led a day-long session, sharing insights from their work with young adult leaders through Life Together and leading the bishops in exercizes to help them imagine and share with one another what God's dream for young adult evangelism might look like in their individual dioceses.  They also worked to raise awareness about the Episcopal Service Corps, of which Life Together is a member.

"The bishops were very responsive across the theological spectrum," Chambliss said in a post-meeting report for the Episcopal Service Corps.  "There was a line of 15 or more bishops offering testimonials about what was happening in their dioceses or memories of when they were a young adult and what encouraged their spiritual journeys or asking questions."

Episcopal News Service's summary report of the meeting is here. 

The Rev. Stephanie Spellers

Also in the House:  The Rev. Stephanie Spellers, priest to The Crossing, the emergent worship congregation at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, was recently named one of two chaplains to the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops, a two-year appointment that she shares with the Rev. Canon Simon Bautista, Latino Missioner in the Diocese of Washington (D.C.).  Fresh from her first meeting with the House of Bishops in March at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, N.C., she shared her thoughts on what it means to be a pastor to the pastors, what the house looks like on the inside and the need for a little shock therapy.  Read the interview here. 

New archdeacons: The Rev. Geof Smith and The Rev. Pat Zifcak

The bishops have appointed two deacons, the Rev. Geof Smith and the Rev. Pat Zifcak, to serve as archdeacons, assisting with the formation, deployment, supervision and support of those ordained to and preparing for ordination to the diaconate in this diocese.

"Our deacons and deacons in formation will greatly benefit from the experience and gifts Geof brings to Massachusetts from the dioceses of Chicago and Maine, along with Pat's many years of faithful and wise leadership in the diocese with our deacons and many congregations.  We are grateful for their willingness to serve," Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE said in his March 24 announcement of the appointments.

The new archdeacons will be officially installed at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston on during the Holy Tuesday, April 19 service at 11 a.m.  

Diocesan staff announcements

The Rev. Karen Montagno

The Rev. Karen Montagno has been named director of congregational resources and training, having served as such in a part-time interim capacity since March 2010.  The position becomes full-time when she completes her term as interim priest at St. Cyprian's Church in Roxbury this spring.  She will administer diocesan grant programs and coordinate training, learning events and other resources to congregations.  She can be reached in the diocesan offices at 617-482-4826, ext. 413 or kmontagno@diomass.org.

Sam Gould

Bishop Shaw has appointed Samuel J. Gould to the diocese's youth ministry staff, effective June 13.  He will assist the Rev. Kit Lonergan, Director of Youth Ministries, and will serve this summer as assistant camp chaplain at the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center in Greenfield, N.H., where he has been a staff member for the past six summers, most recently as head counselor.  Gould graduates in June from Stanford University.  He is a member of St. Stephen's Church in Lynn and is a Massachusetts deputy to the Episcopal Church's General Convention.

Congratulations, Bishop Bud:  Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light will honor Bishop Bud Cederholm with an achievement award during the organization's annual meeting and "A Greener Faith" celebration on Sunday, May 1, 1-5 p.m.  Roger Gottlieb, author of A Greener Faith, Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet's Future, will be the guest speaker.  There also will be workshops on sustainable sacred space and finding funds to go "green."  For information see www.MIPandL.org.

New Dreams-New Visions:  The Diocese of Massachusetts is among 5 dioceses newly chosen to join the expanded New Dreams-New Visions Pilot Project that pairs retired clergy with small, under-resourced congregations.  Read more here.

New dean of students:  The Rev. Miriam Gelfer, Rector of Grace Church in Newton and Dean of the Charles River Deanery, has been appointed the new dean of student and community life at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge.  Read the announcement here.

Congregational Development Grants:  The Congregational Development Grants Committee invites applications for grants to support programs that build the vitality and viability of individual congregations and congregational partnerships.  The application deadline is Tuesday, May 17.  E-mail Lynn Smith at lynn@diomass.org by May 1 about online application; the materials are posted here.   

Jubilee Celebrates Africa:  This annual event celebrates and raises money for the diocese's Jubilee Ministry mission partnerships in East Africa.  It takes place on Saturday, May 21 (time to be announced) at the Church of Our Redeemer (6 Meriam Street) in Lexington.  For more information contact the Rev. Maggie Geller at 617-482-4826, ext. 351 or mgeller@diomass.org.

PB to keynote ECM Annual Meeting:  The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will help Episcopal City Mission and its supporters and friends celebrate the year's good work during its annual meeting on Tuesday, June 7, 5 p.m., at the George Sherman Union at Boston University.  Seating will be limited, so purchase tickets by May 13 at www.episcopalcitymission.org.
 

"Voices United!" on Pentecost Eve:  Join the bishops on Pentecost Eve, June 11 at 7 p.m. for "Voices United!"--a musical and liturgical celebration at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston.  What's it all about?  Every member of the diocese is part of "a vibrant conversation," explains the Rev. Karen Montagno, Director of Congregational Resources and Training for the diocese and part of the organizing team.  "That conversation is one of the gifts of a diocese with a diversity of peoples.  Pentecost is the perfect time to come together celebrate the movement of the Spirit which brings us together.  Whoever you are, join us at this Eucharistic celebration of the people, communities, cultures and generations in our diocese."

Bishop Bud Cederholm and The Rev. Moses Sowale, priest to the Grace Chapel congregation housed at First Lutheran Church in Brockton.  (PHOTO:  Jim Belmont)

New ministry "brewing" in Brockton:  Grace Chapel, a ministry that began at the now-closed St. Paul's Church in Brockton, has found a new home at First Lutheran Church at 900 Main Street, and Bishop Bud Cederholm celebrated a big first with Grace's English-speaking, multicultural Episcopal congregation and the people of First Lutheran at a joint service on Feb. 20:  the service was a first for Episcopalians and Lutherans in Brockton and coincided with the 10th anniversary of full communion between the two denominations.  (See the New England Synod's coverage here.)

Bishop Cederholm believes it might well be a first in the Diocese of Massachusetts.  "Praise God!," he said.  "This is giving us a real experience of living into communion together, and it says to us that something is brewing here, possibly something unique.  I  hope everyone in the diocese will pray for this ministry and for these developing relationships."

More good news:  Meal service at The Table lunch program has continued without interruption from St. Paul's Church, even since its closing at the end of last year.  The program has been taken on by Father Bill's and MainSpring, and will officially move operations one block, from the church building to MainSpring House at 54 North Main Street in Brockton, by the end of May.  The program serves 30,000 meals per year, six days a week to people in need.

While strolling in Wayland:  On April 3 members of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Wayland participated in a religion and nature family retreat, "Meeting the Sacred in Nature:  Look What I Saw!  Did You Hear What I Heard?"  On behalf of the RUAH Interfaith Spirituality Program of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, Rabbi Katy Allen of Wayland's Ma'yan Tikvah community led the retreat in the Hamlen Woods, near the Church of the Holy Spirit on Rice Road.  Among those participating were Holy Spirit's warden Matthew Chafe and daughter Emily, the Rev. Kim Hardy, Rachel Moser-Hardy and the Rev. Fred Moser, Holy Spirit's rector.  So, what did they see?  This spring turtle who, Moser reports, took a good look at the group as well.  (Read about the Church of the Holy Spirit's carbon fast under "NewsLinks" below.)