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Farewell to summer at B-SAFE, Barbara C. Harris Camp
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Campers show off their "leap of faith" gear at session 3 at the Barbara C. Harris Camp.
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As summer begins to draw to a close, the diocese's summer programs for children and youth are also winding down another summer of fun, academic enrichment and faith formation.
It was a milestone summer for the Barbara C. Harris Camp, which welcomed 505 campers over the course of the summer, a 20 percent increase from 2014.
B-SAFE (Bishop's Summer Academic Fun and Enrichment) has just concluded its 16th summer of providing summer enrichment and community to kids in Boston's neighborhoods. B-SAFE had 624 children and young people registered, and employed 130 teens as counselors and junior counselors-in-training. B-SAFE serves children at six Episcopal church and school sites: St. Stephen's Church, Boston; the Church of St. Augustine and St. Martin, Roxbury; St. Mary's Church, Dorchester; the Church of the Holy Spirit, Mattapan; St. Luke's-San Lucas Church, Chelsea; and Epiphany School in Dorchester. More than 50 partner organizations (most but not all Episcopal churches) collaborated with sites to serve lunches, run field trips and provide other support. Read more. Bishop Gates grateful for "open and eager" youth across the diocese: Bishop Alan M. Gates has been out and about with young
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| | Bishop Gates at B-SAFE in Chelsea. |
people of the diocese as they enjoyed various summer opportunities.
At the diocese's Barbara C. Harris Camp in Greenfield, N.H., he joined new members of the Youth Leadership Academy and diocesan director of youth ministry, the Rev. H. Mark Smith. The students shared stories of their faith and participated in a high ropes course exercise, where the bishop--not fond of heights--exercised a ministry of encouragement and prayer from ground level. "If one can lead from behind, why not from below?" he said.
At St. Luke's-San Lucas Church in Chelsea and at St. Stephen's Church in Boston's South End, Gates visited two of the sites for B-SAFE, highlighting a diocesan ministry of safe and secure summer programming for children in urban communities. Children at St. Luke's-San Lucas sang of their hopes for a bright future, and at St. Stephen's, the bishop joined in an end-of-program awards celebration. Read more.
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Historic actions, mountaintop moments: Massachusetts at General Convention
This summer's triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church, held June 25-July 3 in Salt Lake City, will be remembered for its mountaintop moments:
The historic and decisive election of a new presiding bishop, one whose "We are the Jesus movement now!" message resounded across the convention as a clear call to action.
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| | Presiding Bishop-elect Michael Curry, Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, speaks to a packed House of Deputies after deputies confirmed his election as the 27th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Photo: Cynthia L. Black for ENS |
The church's explicit extension of marriage equality for all after some 40 years of study, discussion and provisional allowances.
A triennial budget that reaches into reserves to fund new evangelism and racial reconciliation initiatives, even as it reduces the income requested from individual dioceses so that more ministry money can, potentially, stay local.
Church structure and governance, prayer book and hymnal revision, creation care, socially responsible investment and numerous international and domestic social justice issues also made up the packed agenda that the convention took up during nine over-filled legislative days.
"We think we are a people meant to participate in transforming this world towards something that looks more like something God had in mind when God created it, and it's a long way from that vision of wholeness so we've got plenty of work to do," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said at an opening press conference on June 23.
At adjournment, 392 resolutions had been filed and acted upon.
The Diocese of Massachusetts was an active participant throughout the proceedings, with its bishops and deputies serving on legislative committees and in high profile leadership roles, and other Massachusetts Episcopalians by the dozens involved in advocacy and churchwide organizational work of all kinds.
"It's bananas!" Massachusetts deputy Edwin Johnson was overheard saying, more than once, and by his enthusiasm, it was clear he meant that in a good way.
On the last day, new presiding bishop-elect Michael Curry preached a rallying sermon. "We are the Jesus movement now!" he said, and gave the convention a one-word commission: "Go!"
Read our in-depth coverage of the actions and celebrations at General Convention here.
Youth Observers document General Convention on video: Youth Observers Megan Lightcap and Michelle St. Francis, who traveled to Salt Lake City with the Massachusetts deputation, created several videos sharing moments and photos from their time at General Convention. All of these videos can be viewed here.
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Fall training opportunities now open
Many fall training and learning opportunities for congregation and ministry leaders are open for sign-up. Be sure to take a look at Coming Up (at left) and the online event page as calendars begin to fill up for the fall. |
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NewsNotes
Johnson Fund supports Mystic Valley students with college scholarships: Seventeen college students from Mystic Valley Episcopal churches received scholarships for the upcoming academic year, thanks to the Alice V. Johnson Fund managed by the Trustees of Donations.
The trust fund, administered by a scholarship committee of the Trustees of Donations, annually provides about $30,000 in scholarships for college students from Episcopal churches in the Mystic Valley. The trust's provisions give preference to students from Grace Church in Everett. Grace Church hosted a ceremony for the scholarship recipients on Aug. 16.
This year's recipients are: Karl Afrikian; Thomas Amisano, Teresa Arop, Rosa Colas, Philip Dut, Juer Mawien, Elizabeth Mayen, Taylor Newton, Dau Nun, Atem Yak and Akuol Yout of Grace Church in Everett; Martha DeNatale and Claire Haldeman of Emmanuel Church in Wakefield; Monica Elias of St. Luke's-San Lucas Church in Chelsea; Charles Elledge and Emily Leis of All Saints' Church in Stoneham; and Genita Johnson of Grace Church in Medford.
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Parish Circuit
St. James's, Cambridge celebrates 150 years : On Sunday, July 26, St. James's Church in Cambridge celebrated 150 years of ministry with a worship service presided over by Bishop Alan M. Gates.
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| | Architect's rendering of the proposed condominium-parish house project at St. James's Church, Cambridge. |
Charles Sullivan, Executive Director of the Cambridge Historical Commission, and architects Ricardo Dumont and Sarah Forrester offered a presentation on 150 years of Porter Square and St. James's Church history.
A new parish house for St. James's Church is part of a condominium complex to be built on and around the church.
According to the 150th anniversary publicity from the parish, the proposed project is a "smart growth" development to help the congregation sustain its "grand old lady" of a sanctuary while continuing to serve the community and world through its North Cambridge food pantry, outdoor church partnership, weekly women's meal and participation in the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization's advocacy work. Read more.
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Churchwide
First women consecrated bishops at Canterbury Cathedral: A wave of clapping and cheering greeted two
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Bishops Rachel Treweek (left) and Sarah Mullally (right) with Archbishop Justin Welby outside Canterbury Cathedral. Photo: Rob Berry/Canterbury Cathedral
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newly consecrated bishops as they processed through a packed Canterbury Cathedral on a historic day. The Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullally, Bishop of Crediton, and the Rt. Rev. Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, made history as the first women to be consecrated and ordained bishop in the historic heart of Anglicanism--Canterbury Cathedral.
Treweek is the first woman to be a diocesan bishop in the Church of England. In Canterbury she was joined by the Rt. Rev. Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of the Diocese of Waikato in New Zealand, and the Rt. Rev. Cate Waynick, Bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis.
To add to the sense of history they processed alongside Bishop Barbara C. Harris, the first woman to be consecrated a bishop in the Anglican Communion, in 1989. Read more.
Episcopal Church marks 70th anniversary of atomic bombing of Japan: This month marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Japan that ended World War II. Anglican Communion News Service reports on commemorative gatherings of the bishops of the Anglican Church in Japan, the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, in Okinawa and Hiroshima. "While the war ended with the defeat of Japan, about 20 million people in several Asian/Pacific countries including Japan were victims," the bishops said in a statement. "Pain and suffering brought by sacrifices and damage of this war have not yet healed even after 70 years. We especially bear in mind that our country has not been able to make reconciliation and peace with the countries we invaded. In this year of the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, we pray for those who were victims of this war and who are still feeling the effects of pain, suffering and sorrow, and we reaffirm our commitment to the future peace of the world." Read more.
Renewal of Haiti cathedral begins: More than five and a half years after a catastrophic earthquake destroyed Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on July 20 workers began cleaning the site, sectioning off the work area, removing bricks, terracotta tiles, sections of the cathedral's walls and other remnants that eventually will be incorporated into the construction of a new cathedral. Read more about the cathedral's cultural and spiritual place in the lives of the city's people and the long path toward rebuilding here. Good Friday Offering celebrates milestone collection: The Episcopal Church's annual Good Friday Offering appeal, which gathers and distributes funds in support of ministries throughout the Anglican Communion's Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, is celebrating its most generous collection in 10 years. Funds collected from the 2014 Good Friday Offering and available for distribution this year totaled $377,663.51, more than $110,000 over the previous year and the largest offering since 2005. Read more .
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News Links
The Cape Codder: Cape Episcopal churches provide meals with Food for Kids program:
It's invisible, but something called a poverty line runs down the middle of Sisson Road in Harwich. On one side of the line lies something called a poverty zone, where more than 50 percent of families live below the federal poverty level. There, any child can walk into a Food for Kids site and receive a free meal. On the other side of the road, children must qualify for the USDA summer meal program.
At her desk in the parish hall at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Orleans, however, Food for Kids program director Ruth Campbell recently heard she'd gotten a federal waiver to allow Harwich Elementary School's Monomoy summer programming to be an considered "open."
No matter on which side of the poverty line, feeding as many Lower and Outer Cape children possible is the mission of Food for Kids.
And there are plenty of children for whom the meals are a welcome benefit. Read more.
St. Stephen's, Lynn teens write and direct film based on personal experiences:
Alyssa Peguero has a little filmmaking experience, but she never worked on a film with nine other young women until now.
"Putting our ideas together is so much fun. I feel lucky I get to do it," said the English High School student.
The teenagers spent a week at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church writing and filming what will be a several-minute-long film exploring their lives and their concerns. Boston media production worker and Salem resident Paulina Villarroel Cruz is guiding the girls through the filmmaking process.
"We're using film as a way to tell a story. We asked the teens to think of a challenge in their lives," Villarroel Cruz said.
Peguero picked race as the topic she wanted to explore, while Kenyan-born Peabody High School student Vyonna Mugo focused on acceptance and peer pressure. Under Villarroel Cruz's direction, the young women wrote narratives personalizing the topics they picked. The film team picked three of the narratives to work from and spent part of this week incorporating all of their ideas and experiences into a documentary plot.
Although some of the teens worship together with their families at St. Stephen's, most of the girls come from different high schools or got involved with St. Stephen's Oasis Film Institute through downtown-based youth program Raw Art Works. Read more. Dover-Sherborn Press: St. Dunstan's Dover hosts B-SAFE: St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in Dover hosted more than 80 children and counselors from the Bishop's Summer Academic and Fun Enrichment program on Friday, July 10, at the church. St. Dunstan's set up two large water slides in the church parking lot for cool fun, and the church also provided entertainment for the children from New England Reptile and Raptor exhibits, as well as games and a picnic lunch by Tex's BBQ Express, all of which were held on the Town Library lawn. Read more.
Sun Chronicle: Trinity Wrentham celebrates 150 years, welcomes new priest: Trinity Episcopal Church of Wrentham has had much to celebrate of late. The parish welcomed a new priest-in-charge this past January, the Rev. Elise A. Feyerherm. Trinity also celebrated a milestone anniversary recently: 150 years in Wrentham. The parish celebrated with a dinner in May at Luciano's Lake Pearl, attended by the Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris of the Massachusetts Episcopal diocese. Also in attendance was the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.
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