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Coming up
Apr 16: Bethany House of Prayer Contemplative Evening Eucharist, Order of St. Anne Bethany Chapel, Arlington 7:00pm Apr 17: Maundy Thursday at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 12:00pm Apr 18: Good Friday at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 12:00pm
Apr 18: Good Friday Concert: Mozart's Requiem, St. Michael's Church, Milton, 7:30 pm
Apr 19: Easter Vigil at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 7:00pm Apr 20: Easter Day at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 10:00am Apr 20: Annual Old North Lantern Ceremony, Old North Church, Boston, 6:30pm Apr 21: New York City Youth Mission Experience Apr 25: "Chasing Ice" Film Screening, Church of the Good Shepherd, Acton, 7:30pm Apr 26: Eucharistic Visitor Training , Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 9:00am Apr 28: Diocesan Clergy Conference 2014 Apr 29: Sherrill House Spring Event: "Healing Art of Music Therapy", Trinity Church, Boston, 5:30pm Apr 30: History and Heritage of an Early New England Community: Architecture of St. Michael's, Marblehead, 7:30pm May 1: Diocesan Budget Hearing, Emmanuel Church, Boston, 7:00pm May 3: Safe Church Training, St. James's Church, Cambridge, 8:30am May 3: Diocesan Altar Guild Annual Meeting , St. John's Church, Saugus, 11:00am May 3: Angelica Center Speakers Series: Amy-Jill Levine, Church of the Holy Spirit, Orleans, 2:00pm May 6: Clergy Safe Church Refresher Training, Christ Church, Quincy, 9:00am May 6: Bethany House of Prayer Refreshment Day, Arlington, 9:30am May 9: "Carbon Nation" Film Screening, Church of the Good Shepherd, Acton, 7:30pm May 10: Parish Historians Society Annual Meeting, St. Michael's Church, Marblehead, 8:30am May 10: Framingham Community Health Fair, St. Andrew's Church, Framingham, 10:00am May 10: Life Together "Love Matters" Celebration and Silent Auction, Christ Church, Cambridge, 6:00pm May 15: Diocesan Council, Location TBD, 5:30pm May 24: Adelynrood Open House, Byfield May 30: Adelynrood Retreat: Call to Personal and Global Transformation, Adelynrood, Byfield Jun 7: "Building a Handsome Church": St. Michael's Church, Marblehead Tercentenary Symposium, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem 9:00am Jun 9: Adelynrood Retreat Week for Individuals, Adelynrood, Byfield Jun 9: The Nature of Spiritual Companioning, Adelynrood, Byfield Jun 10: Episcopal City Mission Annual Fundraising Dinner, George Sherman Union Boston University, 6:00pm Jun 11: Adelyrood Quiet Day: Claire of Assisi, Saint, Sister and Companion, Adelynrood, Byfield, 8:30am Jun 14: Old South honors Bishop Shaw during Pride Morning Worship, Old South Church, Boston, 10:00am Jun 14: Cederholm House Blessing, Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, Greenfield, NH, 2:00pm Jun 14: Angelica Center Speakers Series: Frank Griswold, Church of the Holy Spirit, Orleans, 2:00pm Jun 16: Adelynrood Wellness Week, Adelynrood, Byfield Jun 19: Spiritual Spa Day, Adelynrood, Byfield, 9:00am Jun 19: Diocesan Council, Location TBD, 5:30pm Jun 20: "Finding God in Your Body": Retreat , Adelynrood, Byfield, 4:00pm Jun 21: Celebration and Picnic Honoring Bishop Tom Shaw, Location TBD Jun 26: Family Camp 2014, Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, Greenfield, N.H. Jun 27: Retreat: "Called to Be Crazy Christians" , Adelynrood, Byfield, 4:00pm
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Also Coming Up
Thank your customer, tell them how valuable they are to you, but don't go overboard. Insincerity is easy to spot. |
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The Rev. Alan Gates elected bishop of Massachusetts
 The people of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts have elected an Ohio parish priest to be their next bishop.
At the special electing convention held on Saturday, April 5, clergy and lay delegates elected the Rev. Alan M. Gates, the rector of St. Paul's Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, to succeed the Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE as the 16th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The electing convention took place at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. A gallery of photos from the April 5 electing convention is now available on the diocesan website. The news was picked up by local and national news outlets, including the Boston Globe and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Bishop Douglas Fisher of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts sent a message of support and congratulations to Alan Gates and the Diocese of Massachusetts. It can be read here.
Gates's election must now receive consent from a majority of the Episcopal Church's diocesan bishops and a majority of its dioceses. Pending that consent, the bishop-elect's consecration is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Agganis Arena at Boston University, with the presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding.
Gates, 56, has been the rector of St. Paul's Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, since 2004. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and undertook graduate studies at Georgetown University. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1988 and served congregations in the Episcopal dioceses of Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts and Chicago prior to his call to Ohio. He and his spouse, Patricia J. Harvey, live in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and have two children.
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Solar panels, grants and more Earth Day news
Solar powered stewardship: More and more churches in the diocese are discovering that solar energy can be a cost-effective part of their stewardship of parish resources and of the environment.
 | | Bishop Bud Cederholm blesses solar panels at Christ Church, Needham. |
With the rise of new leasing and payment models, solar energy is more accessible than ever before, and many Massachusetts churches are an active part of the trend. These include nine churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts: St. Dunstan's, Dover, St. Bartholomew's, Cambridge, St. John's, Westwood, St. Paul's, Hopkinton, St. Paul's, Brookline, Grace Church, Medford, St. Andrew's, Framingham, Christ Church, Needham and St. Barnabas's, Falmouth.
"[Solar] is a way to use our building as a tool for ministry, and a way for us to be good stewards of our finances as well as the environment," said the Rev. Julie Carson, Rector of St. Andrew's, Framingham.
Read more.
Applications for Green Grants due April 22; Green Loans now available : Green Improvement Grants of up to $10,000 help congregations identify, fund and accomplish important energy efficiency improvements to their facilities, such as lighting and window upgrades, weatherization, on-demand hot water systems and replacement of old, inefficient boilers or furnaces. Learn more and get applications on the Creation Care page. Green Loans are now available and application is on a rolling basis. For an application or more information, please contact Esther Powell (epowell@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 421) or Dana Courtney (dcourtney@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 553).
2014 Justice and Advocacy Fellowship for Environmental Stewardship
The Episcopal Church has created a fellowship program that will provide financial support for service-oriented professional development and education for persons committed to directly engaging poverty alleviation and environmental stewardship. Fellows will spend two years providing leadership around key environmental issues, gain hands-on experience with pressing environmental topics and receive professional training to develop their leadership in these fields.
The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is interested in working with a potential fellow on applying for an environmental stewardship fellowship. For more information, please contact Esther Powell (epowell@diomass.org or 617-482-4826, ext. 421) no later than April 22 for more information.
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Episcopalians lobby at State House in support of raising minimum wage
With economic justice for low-wage workers on their minds, about 60 Episcopalians marched up the hill from the Cathedral Church of St. Paul to the State House on April 9 to ask their legislators to vote for an increase in the minimum wage and earned sick time for all workers. | | Bishop Shaw and ECM Executive Director Ruy Costa lead Episcopalians to the State House |
Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE led the way and gave a blessing in the capitol's Gardiner Auditorium before the marchers dispersed to become lobbyists for a day.
The effort was part of Episcopal City Mission's annual Lobby Day, this year in support of Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition of community, labor and religious groups working together to get minimum wage and sick-time initiatives on the 2014 ballot.
Because this Lobby Day was Bishop Shaw's last before his retirement later this year, it took on a poignant aspect. A video and several speeches during the morning program honored his activism over the years on a range of issues, including homelessness, immigration reform and marriage equality.
Shaw credited Episcopal City Mission and those gathered "for moving into the future in a creative way that has so formed my ministry and whatever effectiveness there's been."
"You've not only done hard work but taught me a lot about how God's work can happen. I have nothing but gratitude for that," Shaw said.
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Season of Service and Celebration in honor of Bishop Tom Shaw
Lobby Day marked the official kickoff of the diocesan Season of Service and Celebration, in honor of Bishop Shaw's nearly 20 years of episcopal ministry. Between April 9 and June 21, all congregations and organizations of the diocese are invited to plan a service event during this season in his honor or participate in one already established (such as the Mother's Day Walk for Peace, the Walk for Hunger, a community clean-up day, food pantry collections, etc.)
Everyone can collaborate and share stories and photos of their service activities on the Season of Service and Celebration Facebook page.
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NewsNotes
Mother's Day Walk for Peace
Join B-PEACE in making a witness against gun violence by walking the Mother's Day Walk for Peace in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood on May 11. Last year 650 Episcopalians were part of over 10,000 walkers in this annual fundraiser for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute.
 The walk begins and ends at Town Field Park at 1520 Dorchester Avenue in Dorchester. Day-of registration begins at 7 a.m. Opening remarks will be at 8 a.m., and the walk will kick off around 8:30. Following the walk and closing ceremonies, Bishop Shaw plans to hold a service of Holy Eucharist in Town Field Park. More information and resources are available on the Mother's Day Walk for Peace website. There is a B-PEACE for Jorge team for participants to join. Congregations who are planning to bring a large team are welcome to create their own teams on the registration page. To join the team, choose "B-PEACE for Jorge" when you register. Click to register.
 Welcome to Melissa Robinson, youth mission coordinator at Plymouth, Cape and Islands Mission Hub The Plymouth, Cape and Islands Mission Hub welcomes Melissa (Mel) Robinson as its newly hired, full-time youth mission coordinator. A Utah native, Robinson has worked as an environmental educator and is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School. She will be based at St. John's Church in Sandwich, and can be reached at 385-214-7421 or pciyouthmission@gmail.com.
Bishop Tom Shaw visits Epiphany School
Bishop Shaw joined the students and teachers of Epiphany School for Eucharist on April 2. Epiphany School, located in Dorchester, is an independent middle school in the Episcopal tradition, offering tuition-free education to students from economically disadvantaged families. Epiphany shared several photos from the day on their Facebook page. |
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NewsLinks
Massachusetts clergy lobby in support of low-wage workers
Massachusetts faith leaders are urging legislative negotiators to raise the $8 an hour minimum wage and index it to inflation.
Clergy members visited the State House Thursday to meet with legislative staff, carrying a message to Senate President Therese Murray to remain firm in support of indexing the wage and telling House Speaker Robert DeLeo to adopt the measure that would enable the wage floor to rise with inflation. Read more.
Travel Channel: Stories from Old North Church: The Travel Channel show "Church Secrets and Legends" recently featured Boston's Old North Church. Most people have heard the story of Paul Revere's lanterns--one if by land, two if by sea--but have you heard of John Childs, the man who "flew" from the steeple in 1757? Click here to watch the video clip.
NPR: Massachusetts priest pits saints against each other in "Lent Madness" : The weekly discipline of reading about the saints and voting for their favorites on the Lent Madness site can help people live out their faith, said founder Tim Schenck, rector of St. John's in Hingham. Listen here.
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E-News
The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
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