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Coming up
Feb 11 Family Day: The Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston begins its 100th year with a day of fun and learning for children, youth, parents and educators, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Come shake off the winter doldrums and join the fun: time with Bishop Barbara C. Harris and Bishop Tom Shaw; scavenger hunts, arts, crafts, songs and worship. No advance sign-up required.
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Also Coming up
Dec 17: Advent Service of Lessons and Carols, St. Peter's Church, Cambridge, 6:15 p.m.
Dec 18: Blue Christmas Service, St. Barnabas's Church, Falmouth, 4 p.m.
Dec 18: Boston Jewish Spirit's "A Light Through the Ages" Cantata, Emmanuel Church, Boston, 4 p.m.
Dec 21: Advent Evening Prayer, Church of St. Mary of the Harbor, Provincetown, 5:30 p.m.
Dec 21: Contemplative Eucharist, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 7 p.m.
Dec 21: Blue Christmas Service, Emmanuel Church, Boston, 7:30 p.m.
Dec 22: Carols by Candlelight, Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, 7:30 p.m.
Dec 24: Christmas Eve at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, Bishop Gayle E. Harris presiding, 7:30 p.m.
Dec 25: Christmas Day at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE presiding, 10 a.m.
Jan 3: First Tuesday "Meal with Monks," Society of St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge, 5:30 p.m.
Jan 6: Twelfth Night Service and Feast, Trinity Church, Rockland, 6:15 p.m.
Jan 8: Evensong for Epiphany, Society of St. Margaret, Duxbury, 4 p.m.
Jan 14: Sustainable Houses of Worship (SHOW) Workshop, Grace Church, Medford, 9 a.m.
Jan 21: Eucharistic Visitor Training Course, St. John's Church, Holbrook, 9 a.m.
Jan 21: Saturday Workshop: "The Gift of Gratitude," Society of St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge, 9 a.m.
Jan 22: MECA Workshop and Dinner for Clergy and Clergy Spouses and Partners, Christ Church, Needham, 3 p.m.
Jan 27: Leadership Development Initiative 3.0 Launch Event, Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, 6 p.m.
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Advent reflections offer hope for healing
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PHOTO: Katie Ernst |
Four gifts in this season: weekly reflections on hope for healing in Advent from members of the diocese ministering in less-than-traditional settings: The Rev. Cristina Rathbone, who, as associate minister at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, serves with people who are unhoused; the Rev. Moses Sowale, who is building a new Episcopal/Anglican community from the ground at First Lutheran Church in Brockton; Sasha Grullon of St. Peter's Church/Iglesia San Pedro in Salem, whose compassion for cancer patients is leading her into a nursing vocation; and, coming up, Rachael Pettingill, who is reviving a campus ministry at Tufts with the help of Grace Church in Medford. Their Advent offerings are posted here.
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Cathedral opens doors to Occupy Boston
 As Occupy Boston protesters regroup following the recent close of their Dewey Square encampment, the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts' Cathedral Church of St. Paul has offered them meeting space for their general assemblies, beginning Tuesday, Dec. 13. The general assemblies are open meetings through which local Occupy participants come to consensus about future actions. The evening meetings take place on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. The cathedral church has offered to host the meetings on a week-to-week basis, as needed, and is doing so not to endorse a particular point of view but instead "to endorse the conversation," according to the cathedral's dean, the Very Rev. Jep Streit. "The issues raised by the Occupy movement are important to be discussing in society, and so I'm happy to offer our cathedral to provide hospitality and a venue so those conversations can continue," Streit said, noting he felt that attention had of late shifted to controversy over the protesters' encampment and away from the economic and social justice issues at hand. |
Film project invites sacred storytelling
 Congregations looking for a new way to tell their stories and let others know about the good work they are doing have a creative opportunity before them.
"The DioMass Film Project: Capturing Our Stories" is now underway, a project that's part workshop training and part film festival, all dedicated to empowering and equipping congregations of the diocese to capture their stories on video and then showcase them for the diocesan community and beyond.  | | Katie Ernst |
"Video is a great way to share your congregation's story with your community and also to the larger community through your Web site and social media," explained project organizer Katie Ernst. "Also, if you've wanted to find a project that gets youth and adults working together and having fun, creatively, this is your opportunity to do that."
Read more about the project and an interview with Katie Ernst here.
Visit the project's blog site here. |
Missioner for Hispanic ministries named
 | | Ema Rosero-Nordalm |
Ema Rosero-Nordalm has been named missioner for Hispanic ministries, to serve four hours per week in the diocesan offices. She is a candidate for ordination to the diaconate and is a me mber of St. Peter's Church/Iglesia San Pedro in Salem. Her work will include Spanish language and cultural translation for trainings, including Safe Church, Eucharistic Visitor and antiracism trainings. She also will be gathering and documenting best practices in congregations where there are Hispanic ministries, acting as a liaison with the diocesan Hispanic Ministry Committee and working with that committee, the Rev. Karen Montagno, Director of Congregational Resources and Training, and others to develop and implement strategy for Hispanic ministry in the diocese. "Hispanic ministry is an area of fast growth and so it is wonderful to have Ema here to help develop a strategy for and with the diocese. She brings a wealth of personal experience and knowledge from her work in local congregations and the wider Episcopal Church," the Rev. Canon Mally Lloyd, Canon to the Ordinary, said of the appointment. Ema Rosero-Nordalm can be reached at the diocesan offices on Thursday and Friday mornings at 617-482-4826, ext. 414 or erosero@diomass.org. |
| NewsNotes
Middle School Youth Retreat: Thanks are in order, diocesan youth ministries director Sam Gould says, to everyone who came to the Nov. 18-20 Middle School Youth Retreat at the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center in Greenfield, N.H., and to everyone who made the retreat possible. There were 180 people there, representing 34 churches from Newburyport down to Edgartown. "The Diocesan Youth Council and I want to thank everyone for their energy and excitement which made the weekend amazing," Gould says. "We're already getting excited about the High School Retreat coming up, Feb. 3-5."
Enjoy photos from the retreat (or relive the fun if you were there) posted on the diomassyouth.org site, here; contact Sam Gould with feedback or to report any lost stuff ( sgould@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 215).
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PHOTO: The Rev. Ollie Jones |
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John Woodard is "Consultant of the Year":
 | | Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE congratulates Consultant of the Year John Woodard. (Courtesy photo) |
The diocese's volunteer Congregational Business Consultants named John Woodard of St. Paul's Church in Dedham their "Consultant of the Year" at their Dec. 13 meeting. Coordinator Chris Meyer says Woodard has been a dedicated consultant since the group's beginning in 2004 and was recognized "for his unflagging and deep commitment to the consultants' work."
The consultants are business professionals with expertise in church operations who volunteer to serve other congregations, and their work includes advising on everything from budgets, audits and financial planning to property matters and parochial reports. This year the consultants fielded questions from and took on projects with 129 of the diocese's congregations, Meyer reports.
The consultants also offer an annual Congregational Business Practices workshop that is especially helpful for new parish treasurers, wardens, clergy and others with responsibility for church finances and operations. The workshop will be offered on four Saturdays in 2012: March 10 in Boston; March 17 in Weston; March 24 in Buzzards Bay; and March 31 in Lynnfield. Online registration will be open soon; check the Events calendar at www.diomass.org for links.
Meyer welcomes inquiries from anyone with general business and parish leadership experience who is interested in volunteering as a consultant. He can be reached at cmeyer@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 305.
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 Epiphany Papers: The annual series of Epiphany Papers, offered as a downloadable resource in preparation for the diocesan Spring Learning Event to encourage individuals and church groups to read, study and discuss a specific topic during the season of Epiphany, are now available.
This year's Spring Learning Event on March 3 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston will focus on global and local missions, and offer a model for mission based on the theology of accompaniment.
The Epiphany Papers are available here in two formats: as bulletin inserts for photocopying and in a full-page size suitable for e-mail attachments. Questions may be directed to Amy Cook in the diocesan Resource Center at acook@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 645. |
NewsLinks
The Rev. Jeremi Colvin and the Church of the Holy Spirit in Fall River are helping to lead outdoor church in Kennedy Park, the Herald News reported on Dec. 15. Colvin also speaks to the need for churches to support returning veterans, in this Nov. 9 Christian Century feature.
St. Stephen's Church in Boston helps take on the lunch system at the Blackstone Elementary School, the South End News reported on Dec. 13.
The Foxboro Reporter on Dec. 8 featured the Rev. Kim Hardy as St. Mark's Church welcomes her as its new priest-in-charge.
The Church of the Good Shepherd in Watertown made a community impression as it opened its doors for a standing-room-only public forum with State Senate candidates on Nov. 29 moderated by Jim Gammill and the Rev. Amy McCreath.
Christ Church in Quincy continued its proud tradition of hosting the annual Father Bill's Community Thanksgiving Dinner, which draws volunteers back year after year, the Patriot Ledger reported on Nov. 25.
BU Today on Nov. 18 featured the Rev. Cameron Partridge as a role model in his new role as chaplain.
Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham on Nov. 3 featured people who are part of Ecclesia's Boston street ministry as they made a November walking pilgrimage to West Newbury.
Community life and outreach was the focus of the 140th-year celebration at the Parish of the Messiah in Auburndale, covered by the Newton Tab on Nov. 24.
The historical display that was part of the 165th anniversary celebration at Grace Church in Lawrence helped share the community's immigrant history with a new generation of newcomers, the Eagle-Tribune reported on Nov. 19.
A cache of Colonial-era sermons were on display as part of the 200th anniversary celebration at St. Andrew's Church in Hanover, the Patriot Ledger reported on Nov. 5.
St. Paul's Church in Brookline put out an appeal last month to meet increased need at the emergency food pantry it houses; visits there were up 65 percent, according to this Nov. 2 boston.com article. |
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