Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE

Noting that he is now in his 19th year as bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, the Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE on Jan. 15 announced his call for the election of a bishop coadjutor to succeed him upon his retirement.  The proposed date for the electing convention is April 5, 2014.

"I love being your bishop and it is an honor to serve you," Shaw said in a letter announcing his decision to diocesan clergy and leadership.  "These years have been some of the richest years of my life.  All of you and this work have taught me much about myself and the nature of our loving God for which I will always be grateful.  I am full of gratitude for all that God has given us to do:  the challenges God has offered us, the opportunities and all the experiences of God's abundance which we have experienced in our life together." 

Oversight of the election process is the responsibility of the diocesan Standing Committee, which issued this Jan. 17  letter.  

The consecration of the new bishop likely will take place in the fall of 2014.  Following that, Shaw and the new bishop will work together for a period of time before Shaw's retirement, the date of which is still to be determined.

Read more here.  

The Rev. Sara Irwin administers Communion at St. James's Parish Church in Amboni. (PHOTO:  Colin Johnstone)

A Diocese of Massachusetts delegation spent two weeks in December traveling in Tanzania and Uganda to visit mission partners there and see firsthand how health care and orphanage projects supported by this diocese are making a difference.

The travelers helped bless a new health center in Kizara, Tanzania, made possible by a group of Massachusetts parishes and the $96,000 they've raised.  They also visited the site for a new hospital in Kasese, Uganda, to be built with the help of $250,000 from the Massachusetts' Together Now campaign mission tithe.

"The trip offered us a glimpse of the power of what is being done as well as igniting our passion for what needs to be done.  Our hearts were broken and healed again 10 times a day--what a privilege it is to be part of a global church!" the Rev. Sara Irwin said.

Read more here.  

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

Bishop Gayle E. Harris and the Rev. Thomas Brown, Rector of the Parish of the Epiphany in Winchester, are leading 14 fellow travelers on a Holy Land pilgrimage Jan. 14-25, visiting holy sites and learning more about ministry in the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.  They are spending time in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth, and will make a special visit to St. Luke's Hospital in Nablus.

The travelers are from parishes in Foxboro, Andover, Medford, Needham and Watertown, in addition to Winchester.

"One of the great things about our Anglican Communion is being part of a worldwide community, bearing one another's burdens and sharing each other's joys.  Our trip is both a pilgrimage to enhance and enrich our faith, and it's a mission trip to understand the situation of the church in the Holy Land," Harris said prior to the group's departure.  "If we do not continue to support the Christian presence of the church there, we will one day be visiting ruins instead of living stones."

She invites others to join her on a subsequent pilgrimage, planned for Nov. 11-22.  More information is available by contacting Diane Pound at dianep@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 349.  

  

Not quite rock solid:  This is Bishop Tom Shaw's assessment, in a recent blog post, of popular support in the U.S. for the Israeli government.  Pray and witness for peace in the Holy Land, he writes.  Read more here.

As gun violence--and how to end

it--remains much in the news nationally, Episcopalians locally are joining the conversation through a book study project this Lent.

Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE has invited everyone in the diocese to join in reading the book The Rich and the Rest of Us by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West.  It's one way, he says in the introduction to the study guide produced for the diocesanwide project, "to begin to educate ourselves about poverty, one of the root causes of violence." 

"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. 

  

Download the study guide here.

Diocesan Convention in November voted to establish an antiviolence task force in memory of Jorge Fuentes, who was shot and killed on the street last September.  He was a leader in the B-SAFE youth program supported by the diocese at St. Stephen's Church in Boston.  The task force's work  is underway, and the Diocesan Council will hear a first proposal when it meets at the end of January.  

  

  

Praying Our Lives:  Join the brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist on a daily journey into the heart of God in prayer. Subscribe to "Brother, Give Us A Word" to receive during Lent a short daily video via e-mail:  www.ssje.org/prayer.

  

Healing a hurting world:  Daily Lenten meditations by e-mail also are available from Episcopal Relief and Development, along with other Lenten materials, in English and Spanish, for download or for ordering in quantity for the price of shipping. 

  

Catching Lent Madness:  The countdown clock is running and the 2013 bracket is up.  Created in 2010 by the Rev. Tim Schenck, Rector of the Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Hingham, and now an offering of Forward Movement, Lent Madness is a decidedly undreary "discipline" that delves in the church's calendar of saints:  32 of them go into a tournament-style single-elimination bracket, and people vote online for their favorite in each pairing.  The last saint standing at the end of Lent gets a golden halo, and everyone else comes away inspired by the example of the lives of the saints.  The Rev. Adam Thomas of St. Stephen's Church in Cohasset is part of the madness as a celebrity blogger.  Find out more at www.lentmadness.org.

Regional Learning Days continue "Transforming Congregations Together":  

Joyce Harrington leads a small group discussion in the Mission Institute workshop where vestries learn to take a project from beginning to end.  (PHOTO:  Amy Cook)

Eighty people from 17 congregations turned out for "Transforming Congregations Together" on Jan. 12 in Andover--the first in a series of five Regional Learning Days that continues in February and March.

The diocese's $20-million Together Now campaign is making more resources available to congregations for mission, ministry and partnerships.  The Regional Learning Days are set up to help congregations begin to access and use these new resources. 

Workshops share information about how congregations can participate in collaborative ministry with one another through mission hubs, and how they can develop their leadership capacity through the Mission Institute being formed as a joint venture between the diocese, Episcopal Divinity School and Episcopal City Mission.  There are also sessions on how to apply for matching funds for global mission projects through the campaign's mission tithe and "green" grants through the campaign's Creation Care Initiative.

"There was a lot of energy and engagement and a lot of helpful information for taking next steps, regardless of where a congregation is starting from," the Rev. Sam Rodman, Manager for Campaign Initiatives, said of the Jan. 12 event hosted by Christ Church in Andover.  "Don't miss this opportunity to strengthen the life of your congregation and its mission," he said.

Upcoming Regional Learning Days take place on Feb. 9 in Barnstable, Feb. 23 in Brockton, March 2 in Framingham and March 16 in Cambridge.  Sign up here.  

Five women ordained for the church:  Bishop M.

(PHOTO:  Michelle Porche)

Thomas Shaw, SSJE ordained five women to the priesthood on Jan. 12 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston.  They are (from left) the Rev. Meghan Sweeney of All Saints' Church in Attleboro, the Rev. Margery Kennelly of the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill, the Rev. Audrey O'Brien of the Parish of the Epiphany in Winchester, the Rev. Lisa Fortuna of Christ Church/Iglesia de San Juan in Hyde Park and the Rev. Jessica Flaherty of St. Mark's Church in Burlington.