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CONNECT WITH
THE BISHOP
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Looking for opportunities to connect with Bishop Hazelwood?
Check out these upcoming events:
April 20
Noon: Joy in Christ, Abington, MA
5:30 p.m.: Prince of Peace, Brockton, MA
April 21
9 a.m.: First, Brockton, MA (worship)
11:30 a.m.: Holy Trinity, North Easton, MA
April 25
6 p.m.: St. Peter, Holyoke, MA
April 26
7 p.m.: Installation of Matthew James, Trinity, Worcester, MA
April 27
9:30 a.m.: Old South Church, Boston, MA (Climate Revival)
April 28
8:15: Salem, Bridgeport, CT (worship)
April 30
6 p.m. Resurrection, Roxbury, MA
May 1
5 p.m.: St. John, Brooklyn, CT
May 4
9 a.m. Trinity, Worcester, MA (Faith Alive)
4 p.m.: Zion, Southington CT (worship)
May 5
10 a.m.: St. Michael, New Canaan, CT (worship)
3 p.m.: Zion, Stamford, CT
6 p.m.: St. John, Stamford, CT
May 6
6 p.m. Bethlehem, Georgetown, CT
May 7
5:30 p.m.: St. Andrew, Ridgefield, CT
May 8
6 p.m.: Christ, West Boylston, MA
May 12
Grace, Needham, MA
May 19
Commissioning of Sarah Huber
Sanctuary, Marshfield, MA
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 Again.
Violence again, this time in Boston. How much can we bear?
On Monday evening, while in Maine visiting some of our congregations, I stayed up late reading the psalms. I was looking for a particular psalm that would speak to this event, these times, this world we temporarily inhabit. I wanted just the right psalm. So, I began at 1, and then read 2 and on to 3, and kept reading, searching. I made it all the way to the beginning of Psalm 61:
1Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
2From the end of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is faint.
But, along the way, as I was reading those psalms, they each had a different response. Some spoke of sorrow and loss, others spoke of vengeance and retribution, others touched on the wonder and glory of God. I was looking for one psalm, but that is not the gift of those lyrics of old. The gift is in the whole body. Who does not feel rage in the aftermath of such violence, who does not feel sorrow for victims and families, who does not pause and wonder at the ways of God woven into the texture of the pain of life?
On Monday, April 15, while most were celebrating what makes us beautiful and amazing creations of God, a plan was unfolding to, in the words of one runner, conduct an "attack on the human spirit." The Boston Marathon, dating back 117 years, lifts up the qualities that we as a species celebrate - endurance, strength of body and character, compassion, and ritual. The violence on Boylston Street attacks the very heart of what is best about humanity. Yet, it reminds us that we are also a species capable of cruel and horrific deeds. We are indeed a broken people, yet we long for what is good and strong and hopeful in life.
Jesus hangs from the cross again this past Monday. God knows the wound, yet again. Again and again. How long, Lord? Somehow, I sense it may be too early to proclaim the other side of the cross, a part of me is reluctant to proclaim the resurrection. I don't want to go there, yet that is what we long for, hunger and desire. It's what we need to hear. That the suffering of this world is not the last word, that God comes in the midst of all these events - Sandy Hook, storms, marathons. Indeed, we cling to the ultimate marathon, for God is in this for the long haul, the long run, the long road of life and death and life again.
We in the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church stand with all who lost their lives, limbs and dreams on Monday in Boston. Congregations around our synod will open their sanctuaries this week, as places to pray, to console and to read the psalms and sing songs of pain and hope - for our city, our region, indeed for the whole world.
Bishop James Hazelwood
New England Synod - ELCA
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Climate Revival
April 27
Copley Square, Boston
Bishop Hazelwood will attend Climate Revival 2013 on April 27 at Boston's Copley Square.
The New England Regional Environmental Ministries are organizing a one-day Climate Revival event, which will be led by The Rev. Geoffrey Black, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, and The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.
Come together for an inspirational day of preaching, worship, prayers, and music in celebration of the splendor of Creation, mourn its desecration, and advocate for restoration and renewal. Led by national and international religious leaders, the gathering will call upon the Holy Spirit and rise up to stabilize the climate and to create a better future. Churches will have an opportunity to participate in an informational fair about their environmental work.
Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus South Africa, and Bill McKibben, author and environmentalist, will send video messages. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Old South Church, 645 Boylston St., and Trinity Church, 206 Clarendon St., in Boston.
Our chance for savings - Take the Portico Wellness Survey
Portico Benefit Services is offering us the opportunity to earn a 2% discount on ELCA health contributions again in 2013. Each congregation and organization in our synod will receive a 2% discount on health contributions if 65% of our eligible ELCA-Primary plan members complete the confidential Mayo Clinic Health Assessment by April 30.
With about two weeks to go, we still need 31 people covered by Portico health benefits (rostered leaders, lay staff, and covered spouses) to complete the Mayo Clinic Health Assessment before April 30.
For more information, click here.
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