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Coming up
March 3 Spring Learning Event: Registration is still open. This year's event will focus on global and local mission, and offer a model for mission based on the theology of accompaniment. Gather a team and go.
Diocesan Budget Hearings, March 6, 7, 28 & 29: These are open opportunities to give input and ask questions as part of the 2013 budget drafting process. There is also a hearing on March 27 devoted to diocesan-funded strategic ministries.
Pre-Confirmation Retreats, March 23-24 & 30-31: All young people considering Confirmation, and their adult mentors, are invited to the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center in Greenfield, N.H., to take part in these weekends of retreat and preparation, which include time with the bishops. Registration is open until March 19 or until the retreats fill up--whichever comes first.
Diocesan Clergy Conference, Apr 23-25: Watch for registration information by e-mail. |
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Also Coming up
Feb 15: Contemplative Eucharist, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 7 p.m.
Feb 17 & 18: Antiracism Ministry Team Conversation and Training, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston
Feb 18: Saturday Workshop: "The Pastoral Art of Hearing Confessions" led by Brother Curtis Almquist, Society of St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge, 10 a.m.
Feb 22: Ash Wednesday Services, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 8 a.m., 12 p.m., 6 p.m.
Feb 23: Diocesan Council, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 6 p.m.
Feb 24: "On the Authentic Life" Film Series, All Saints Parish, Brookline, 7 p.m.
Feb 26: B-SAFE Orientation Meeting for New and Returning Partner Churches, Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, 1 p.m.
Feb 26: Lenten Evensong with the Society of St. Margaret, Linden Ponds, Hingham, 3:30 p.m.
Feb 29, Mar 7, 14 & 21: "Glory and Temptation" Lenten Series, Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, 6:30 p.m. supper, 7 p.m. program
Mar 1, 8, 15,22 & 29: "Vision Glorious: Discovering the Episcopal Church" Lenten Series, St. Paul's Church, Malden, 7 p.m.
Mar 2-4: SSJE "Introduction to Silent Retreat," Emery House, West Newbury
Mar 3: Diocesan Spring Learning Event, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 9 a.m.
Mar 4: Evensong and Benediction, St. Michael's Church, Marblehead, 5 p.m.
Mar 5: "Essential Ingredients" Mothers' Group Gathering, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 7 p.m.
Mar 6: First Tuesday "Meal with Monks", Society of St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge, 5:30 p.m.
Mar 6: Diocesan Budget Hearing, Christ Church, South Hamilton, 7 p.m.
Mar 7: Diocesan Budget Hearing, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 7 p.m.
Mar 10: Safe Church Training, St. Anne's Church, Lowell, 8:30 a.m.
Mar 10: Eucharistic Visitor Training, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 9 a.m.
Mar 10: Congregational Business Practices Workshop, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 9 a.m.
Mar 11: Lenten Evensong with the Society of St. Margaret, Duxbury, 4 p.m.
Mar 17: Godly Play Training, All Saints' Church, Belmont
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Perfect freedom to begin anew:
A Lenten message from
Bishop Gayle E. Harris
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts...that we may obtain of you, God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness... .
from the Collect for Ash Wednesday,
The Book of Common Prayer
The word remission is not often used today except in reference to disease, such as cancer, and its response to treat
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ment. In matters of church and theology, remission denotes forgiveness or pardon of our disobedience to God, a cancellation of sins by God's grace. But as you know, disobedience to God's will, which is sin, is always around and in us, continually returning. Ash Wednesday begins the solemn season of Lent, and the collect for that day speaks of "perfect" remission, complete beyond our understanding or merit.
Read Bishop Harris's full message here.
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"Framework for Freedom": Each Lent in recent years, the brothers of the Society of St. John the Eva ngelist, through a blog site, have invited others into the spiritual practices of creating and living a rule of life. "Each year we have received incredibly grateful feedback for the way that it has enriched people's Lenten experience," said Jamie Coats, Director of Friends of SSJE. This year's offering has been expanded to include daily videos and readings, and weekly audio of sermons from the brothers' Tuesday night Lenten preaching series--all under the heading "A Framework for Freedom" that invites subscribers to watch, read, reflect and listen throughout the days of Lent. (Go to www.ssje.org/lent to subscribe.)
One component of this year's Lenten offering is the "Brother, Give Us a Word" daily e-mail devotional begun last Lent. It now has more than 3,000 subscribers who receive a word--"prayer," "abide," "remember," "trust"--that can be used as a focus for prayer each morning and a simple sentence or two of observation about it from the brothers. People write to say that having these "words" accompany them in their travels and show up first thing in their newsfeeds and inboxes helps them get the day off to a right start, Coats said. "It's been a great learning experience with less is more," he said. (Sign up at www.ssje.org/word.)
Other Lenten Resources
Those who sign up for the 2012 Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast get daily e-mail suggestions for activities that reduce carbon footprint. Additionally, beginning on Ash Wednesday, each day's fast activity will be posted on a public Facebook page at www.facebook.com/carbonfast.
You can also sign up for daily Lenten meditations by e-mail from Episcopal Relief and Development, here, where other Lenten materials are available to order and download.
Eco-Palms for Palm Sunday: The Episcopal Church's Mission Program Office recommends that churches consider ordering their palms for Palm Sunday from environmentally responsible harvesters such as Eco-Palms. To order or learn more, go to www.ecopalms.org; credit card orders need to be placed by March 14. |
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 And now for something completely different: Lent Madness is about to begin, so get your brackets ready and join everybody who is anybody with time on her or his hands in asking: Who will win this year's Golden Halo?
Now in its third year, Lent Madness is an online devotional and the, dare we say it, brainchild of the Rev. Tim Schenck, Rector of the Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Hingham, who does not believe that Lent need be dreary and devised Lent Madness as a fun way for people to learn more about the saints of the church.
Here's how it works: 32 saints go into a tournament-style, single-elimination bracket. Each pairing remains open for a set period of time and people vote for their favorite saint. Sixteen saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Final Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the coveted Golden Halo.
The fun gets fancier this year, with Forward Movement Publications getting in on the action, a dedicated Web site and celebrity bloggers--including the Rev. Adam Thomas of St. Stephen's Church in Cohassett.
The thing has gone "global bordering on viral," Schenck said, by which he means a lot of people have visited the Web site so far.
And why not: "Mary Magdalene? Joan of Arc? Paul? Come on, some big names are involved," he said. "The thing I love about Lent Madness is the unpredictability. I always look at the brackets and think I know who is going to win or advance and they never do."
Given that, he wouldn't make any predictions, but did say this may at last be the Year of the Woman (George Herbert beat out Julian of Norwich last year).
We'll see.
Get your brackets going here. |
Families kick off cathedral's 100th year
The Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston kicked off its 100th anniversary year on Feb. 11 with a first-ever event that was partly a birthday party and partly a well-organized free-for-all of fun activities to help people of all ages learn about cathedrals and what they do.
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Everyone helped make the altar cloth out of remnants from across the diocese and decades. It featured 100 doves. (PHOTO: Katie Ernst) |
Families and youth groups from around the diocese gathered to write and share prayers, plant seeds, sing, build cathedrals, draw and create beautiful things to inspire others and come together around shared tables for food and fellowship. They also learned about how cathedrals are homes to living history, with Bishop Barbara C. Harris on hand to tell stories about growing up in the Episcopal Church and becoming the Anglican Communion's first female bishop, 23 years ago to the day, on Feb. 11, 1989.
With a scavenger hunt, paper airplanes flown from the balcony and a big birthday cake wheeled in at the end of a lively closing worship service, the day sent everyone back home with an experience of having had fun in church.
See more photos here. |
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More fun to come: Camp sign-up is open
Summer--yes, we said summer--camp brochures are in the mail to congregations and camp families, announcing th e 2012 schedule of programs at the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center in Greenfield, N.H. Registration is open for the six one-week sessions from June 24 to Aug. 4, along with specialized camp programs that include the popular Family Camp weekend with Bishop Bud Cederholm, June 21-24.
Find registration and more information at www.bchcenter.org.
Read a letter of invitation from summer camp director Matt Lindeman here.
"Our programs bring amazing people together in a close, camper-centered community that emphasizes relationship with one another, a discovering of self and others, and more importantly, a deepening relationship with God," he writes. |
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Harvard Law School team takes on diocese's health benefit deliberations
Routinely, at diocesan budget committee meetings and hearings, the question gets asked: Why is it diocesan policy that clergy and
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Meet the team: Harvard Law students Karl Jun, Felicia Cote and Theodore Hart
(Courtesy PHOTO) |
lay church employees receive full payment of their health insurance premium as a compensation benefit when this is not the norm in many other professions, especially as compensation costs have become burdensome for a growing number of congregations?
When a preliminary recommendation--that clergy and lay employees begin to pay a percentage of their premiums--was floated for discussion last year, the conversation that followed became divisive.
A team of Harvard Law School students is now on the case, following the diocese's successful application to the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program.
Read more and meet the team here. |
NewsNotes
Green grants applications now available: Applications are now being accepted for grants through the diocese's Creation Care  Initiative (launched as the Green Grants Initiative in 2010). The initiative exists to encourage, challenge and support all of the congregations of the diocese as they carry out their responsibility to care for God's creation.
The initiative comprises three separate programs: Simple Acts Grants, of $500 to $1,000, which support congregational activities and programs that focus on the environment and conservation and are built on appreciation of and gratitude for blessings; Green Improvement Grants, in amounts up to $10,000, which assist congregations in funding their purchase of energy-saving equipment and supplies; and the proposed Green Loans, a program still under development, that will help congregations make energy-efficient changes to their buildings.
Completed grant applications are due April 22. More information and application materials are available here. |
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DioMass Film Project hits the Merrimack Valley: Five churches in the diocese's Merrimack Valley Deanery are getting their video storytelling proj ects going as part of the DioMass Film Project. St. James's Church in Amesbury, Trinity Church in Haverhill, St. Paul's Church in Newburyport and All Saints' Church in West Newbury gathered at St. James's Church in Groveland on Feb. 12 for a workshop on storytelling and filmmaking basics, offered through the film project by request.
The project invites churches in the diocese to capture and share their stories in 2 to 3-minute videos and submit them by May 4 for the DioMass Film Festival on May 19 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. Vist the project's blog for rules of entry and more information, or contact Katie Ernst to set up a workshop (kernst@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 232). |
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Follow ERD to Ghana: Constance and Dain Perry of Trinity Church in Boston will contribute to an Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) blog while in Ghana on a study tour, Feb. 19-26, to visit sites and programs funded by ERD. They invite the diocesan community to follow along at http://blog.er-d.org. Constance is vice chair of ERD's board of directors. |
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ParishCircuit
Grace keeps "greening" in Medford: Grace Church in Medford organized a letter-writing campaign on Feb. 12 to pro  test proposed MBTA fare increases and service cuts. The church's "Greening Grace" environmental group has been working on reducing energy usage at church and doing environmental outreach in the community, and the letter-writing campaign seemed a natural extension of that ministry, explained member Catherine Smith. "We were aware that many, many people in Medford rely on MBTA service to commute to work and get around without cars. The service cuts would be devastating to our community," she said. Following a presentation of information from the MBTA Web site, the group wrote and signed letters to the MBTA and state legislators. Parish children decorated the envelopes. "We set up a few laptops but otherwise relied on pen and paper," she said, adding that there was plenty of pre-Valentine's Day chocolate to keep everyone motivated. "If other churches are interested in doing this, it was very easy to organize and could be a good coffee hour event," she said. |
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On the radio: Beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 21, the Rev. Barbara Smith-Moran, Priest-in-Charge at Grace Church in Everett, will be doing a half-hour radio show at 1:30 p.m., in English, with Creole translation, on Haitian Radio WNTN, 1550 AM. It's called "Neighborhood is Family"/"Vwazen se fanmi." "I'll be talking about Grace Church wanting to be a good neighbor to the Haitians in Everett, with opportunities for spiritual and educational growth: Sunday worship, Tuesday Bible study, Creole literacy classes and English conversation and Gardening Club--these last two programs to begin in April at Grace," she reports. |
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