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Coming up
Regional Learning Days begin in January: The Together Now campaign is making more resources available to congregations for mission, ministry and partnerships. These Regional Learning Days will help congregations prepare for accessing and using these new resources. Bishop Shaw and Bishop Harris invite every congregation to participate in this mission strategy work. Sign up here. |
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Also Coming Up
Dec 19: Annual Messiah Sing-Along, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 12:15 p.m. Dec 19: Contemplative Eucharist, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 7 p.m. Dec 24: Christmas Eve with Bishop Shaw at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 7:30 p.m. Dec 25: Christmas Day at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul with Bishop Shaw, Communion on Boston Common, 10 a.m. Dec 25: Christmas Day Choral Eucharist, Society of St. Margaret, Duxbury, 10 a.m. Jan 1: Choral Eucharist, Society of St. Margaret, Duxbury, 10 a.m. Jan 6: Epiphany Service, Society of St. Margaret, Duxbury, 4 p.m. Jan 6: Epiphany Evensong, St. Barnabas's Church, Falmouth, 7 p.m. Jan 12: Regional Learning Day, Christ Church, Andover, 8:30 a.m. Jan 12: Ordination Service, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 10:30 a.m. Jan 19: Safe Church Training, St. Christopher's Church, Chatham, 8:30 a.m. Feb 1-3: "Walking with Women in Scripture: A Winter Retreat," Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, Greenfield, N.H. Feb 1-3: High School Retreat, Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, Greenfield, N.H. Feb 2: Ministry Discernment Conference, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 8:30 a.m. Feb 3: Candlemas Celebration, Society of St. Margaret, Duxbury, 4 p.m. Feb 5-7: Pre-Lenten Clergy Retreat, Notre Dame Mission Center, Ipswich Feb 9: Regional Learning Day, St. Mary's Church, Barnstable, 8:30 a.m. Feb 10: Union of Black Episcopalians Absalom Jones Celebration, St. Bartholomew's Church, Cambridge, 4 p.m. Feb 23: Regional Learning Day, First Lutheran Church/Grace Chapel, Brockton, 8:30 a.m. |
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Prayers extended at a time of tragedy
 | | Advent candle lit for hope at St. Paul's Church in Natick |
Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE and Bishop Gayle E. Harris, on behalf of the Diocese of Massachusetts, offer their prayers for all affected by the Dec. 14 shootings in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school: "May our gracious God bring comfort to all who sorrow and give strength to all who suffer in the aftermath of this unspeakable and senseless tragedy. "We are grateful for the ways that so many of our churches have offered themselves as places of prayer and have made resources available to families for talking with their children in the wake of this tragedy. May not only our prayers but also our hands and voices continue to reach out to those who are linked to us in the love of God in the midst of great sadness."
"Silent Night"
Massachusetts faith leaders shared responses in this Dec. 16 Boston Globe story, including the Rev. Liz Steinhauser of St. Stephen's Church in Boston, who says of the recent violence: "It contributes to the feeling that it's happening all the time, and all around us, and it doesn't make any sense." The St. Stephen's community planned to sing "Silent Night" as part of its Monday evening peace vigil in the neighborhood. The carol's assurance that "all is calm, all is bright" seems especially like a prayer just now. |
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Diocese to undertake 2013 book study
 Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE is inviting everyone in the diocese to join in reading a book together in 2013, The Rich and the Rest of Us by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. He describes it as a book that "asks us to re-examine some of our assumptions about poverty" and commends a diocesanwide study of it "as a way to begin to educate ourselves about poverty, one of the root causes of violence." Diocesan Convention in November created a task force in memory of Jorge Fuentes, a young leader at St. Stephen's Church in Boston who was shot and killed on the street last September. Shaw said the book study project is a way to start a broader conversation within the diocesan community as the task force's work gets underway. "It is my hope that groups and individuals in every congregation of our diocese will take up this book study project, either in Lent or at some other time during the upcoming year, and start a conversation that, with the Holy Spirit's leading, will invite us into meaningful action that will help bring Christ's peace and healing into this world," Shaw writes in his introduction to the study guide produced for the diocesanwide project. Read more and download the study guide here. |
 A Christmas storyIn this new video posted on Bishop Tom Shaw's blog, he shares a story about how the church "wrecks" Christmas.
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Christmastime is a good time for alternative shopping
Tinka Perry describes herself as someone with "passion for justice and outreach," and as the newly appointed diocesan representative for Episcopal Relief & Development, she plans to channel some of that passion into connecting eastern Massachusetts Episcopalians with the organization's mission of "healing a hurting world."  She's starting with Christmas presents and coffee. "December is a perfect time of year to get involved with Episcopal Relief & Development by doing some alternative shopping through their online Gifts for Life catalog," she said. Shoppers can choose from a range of public health and poverty-alleviating projects and designate their donations in honor of friends and family--$175 for a community garden, for example, or $85 for a goat. Mosquito nets to help prevent malaria are $12 each. Perry also is recommending Bishops Blend, the fair-trade coffee that Episcopal Relief & Development sells online. "I'd like to see every cup of coffee at every parish coffee hour supporting Episcopal Relief & Development," she said.
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NewsNotes
 "Truckin' to New Jersey": On the Saturday of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, retired bishop suffragan Bud Cederholm, the Rev. Jane Bearden and Betty Ann McCarthy of Trinity Church in Haverhill and the Rev. Michael Hamilton, the deacon who coordinates disaster response for this diocese, drove a U-Haul truck filled with donated clothing and supplies to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in South River, N.J., which has been serving as a staging stop for people still suffering in the aftermath of November's superstorm Sandy. In her blog post "Truckin' to New Jersey," Bearden asks: Why would anyone want to get up at 4:30 in the morning, hit the road in a rented truck at 6, drive 280 miles, deliver 100 hot lunches to complete strangers, unload the truck in a remote distribution center and drive back home arriving just after 10:30 at night? Here's why, she goes on to say: "We make these trips because when you live looking for the activity of God here and now, you begin to see it." Read the full post here. |
Burgess Urban Fund grants are up: Episcopal City Mission presented $282,000 in Burgess Urban Fund grants to 21 community organizations during a Dec. 13 gathering at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. The total amount distributed this year was up 17 perecent over last year, with minimum grants also increased from $5,000 to $10,000. "It is evident within Massachusetts and within our own communities that there is an overwhelming need for organizing and advocacy to right the injustices of many," Katie Campbell Simons, Associate Director of Community Partnerships and Public Policy, said.
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Life Together, the 10-month fellowship program and strategic ministry of the Diocese of Massachusetts which matches emerging young leaders (21-35 years of age) with mission-based nonprofit organizations and churches, is accepting applications for the 2013-2014 program year. Applicants can send a resume and cover letter to apply@diomassintern.org or visit www.lifetogethercommunity.org for more information.
 | | LDI's "Taste and See" event at Grace Church in Medford |
Still time for LDI in the new year: The Leadership Development Initiative (LDI) kicked off its training year with more than 80 people attending its "Taste and See" event on Nov. 17. As a follow-up the LDI will be giving a free online webinar on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 7-8:15 p.m., focusing on the process of creating an effective team project. There will also be time to speak with teams from previous years and those in the process right now. For more information contact Duncan Hilton at duncan@diomassleads.org. There is still time for those who are interested to get involved in this year's program: the first official training will be held Jan. 25-26. To help congregations get started, the LDI can send a staff person or alum to speak to congregations and answer questions, after a Sunday service or at a vestry meeting. The LDI is a rigorous hands-on, six-month training that aims to develop the spiritual leadership of congregations and interchurch teams.
Mark Engelhardt, former organist and director of music at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, has been named the new organist and director of music at St. Peter's-by-the-Sea in Bay Shore, N.Y., in the Diocese of Long Island. He leaves his current position at Grace Church in Salem to take up this new music ministry on Jan. 1, and goes with the good wishes of many friends and colleagues in Massachusetts. Read the full announcement here.
"Collective prayer": An essay on daily collects, written by the Rev. Karen Montagno, Director of Congregational Resources and Training, was included in the December issue of Vestry Papers, here. It first appeared in Stories of Transformation: Worship, Witness and Work in the Black Community. |
 Parish CircuitPreparing the way: Congregations around the diocese have been busy preparing the way this Advent season. Thank you to all for sharing these photos via Facebook (this is a public page that everyone can view). |
 The bells are back in Holbrook: After years of silence, bells are ringing again at St. John's Church in Holbrook. A new carillon bell system was dedicated on Dec. 9. Parishioners there report that the new digital bell system sounds like real bronze bells. "The beautiful bell music once again rings out familiar hymns in celebration or remembrance of loved ones and special occasions or events," they say. The original bell system was installed in 1975 and was given by a parishioner in memory of his father. After about 25 years, the bell system started needing constant repair and eventually fell silent.
"Neighbors and other members of the community have expressed gratitude and joy for the return of the bells to St. John's. We are also excited and thankful that the carillon bells at St. John's are once again a focal point and part of the community life of Holbrook." |
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