E-News for May 2016

May 21: Sol Y Canto Concert, Church of the Holy Spirit, Mattapan, 5:00pm

May 22: "The American Vocalist": Boston Camerata and Parish Choir Concert Celebrates Renovated Cathedral, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 3:00pm

May 22: Small Church Gathering, Christ Church, Quincy, 3:00pm

May 24: Clergy Safe Church Refresher Training, St. John's Church, Franklin, 9:00am

May 25: Reception for Dean of St. George's College, Jerusalem, Emmanuel Church, Boston, 4:00am

May 25: Panel Discussion and Book Signing: "Doing Good...Says Who?" Vineyard Haven Library, Vineyard Haven, 7:00pm

May 26: Contemplative Prayer, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 10:00am

May 26: Reception for Guests from Masakane Trust, South Africa, Church of the Holy Spirit, Mattapan, 6:00pm

May 28: Saying Goodbye Service, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 11:00am

Jun 1: Spirituality and Addiction Workshop, St. Peter's Church, Cambridge, 9:00am

Jun 2: Contemplative Prayer, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 10:00am

Jun 4: Ordination of Deacons, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 10:30am

Jun 4: Lynn Youth Pride Event, St. Stephen's Church, Lynn, 11:00am

Jun 5: Poetry Reading and Art Exhibit, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 3:00pm

Jun 7: Diocesan 2017 Budget Hearing, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 7:00pm

Jun 7: St. John's Beverly Farms-NuDay Syria Partnership Presentation and Dinner, St. John's Church, Beverly Farms, 7:00pm

Jun 9: Contemplative Prayer, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 10:00am

Jun 10: Retreat: "Reclaiming the Divine Feminine through Songs and Stories," Adelynrood Retreat and Conference Center, Byfield, 4:00pm

Jun 11: Retreat: "The Gifts of 12-Step Spirituality," Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 9:00am

Jun 11: Confirmation, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 10:30am

Jun 11: Mt. Hope-Buzzard's Bay Deanery Confirmation, Church of Our Saviour, Somerset, 10:30am

Jun 11: Cape and Islands Deanery Confirmation, St. Christopher's Church, Chatham, 10:30am

Jun 11: Boston Pride Parade, 12:00pm

Jun 14: Episcopal City Mission Night of Witness, Worship and Celebration, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 5:30pm

Jun 16: Diocesan Council Meeting, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 5:30pm

Jun 26: 2016 Summer Camp Session 1, Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, Greenfield, NH

Episcopal Church walks its witness at 2016 Mother's Day Walk for Peace

A little rain couldn't stop the 250 Episcopalians who joined B-PEACE and the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute for the 20th annual Mother's Day Walk for Peace on May 8. The B-PEACE team reports that it raised $1,500 and that the Trinity Church, Boston team raised $6,000 for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute's work. Twenty-two Episcopal churches and organizations were represented.

Wear orange June 2 to stand for reducing gun violence

Bishops United Against Gun Violence is urging Episcopalians to consider wearing orange on June 2 as a sign of their commitment to reducing gun violence in their communities.

Bishop Alan M. Gates and Bishop Gayle E. Harris of the Diocese of Massachusetts are members of the organization, a group of more than 60 Episcopal Church bishops that advocates violence prevention measures, including background checks on all gun purchases, and they support the "Wear Orange" effort.

It began in 2013 after Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old high school student, was shot to death on the south side of Chicago just a week after marching in President Obama's second inaugural parade. Her friends asked people to honor Pendleton by wearing orange--the color hunters wear for safety--on her birthday, June 2. Gun violence prevention groups around the country took up the cause and last year promoted the first National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Bishops United Against Gun Violence is asking Episcopalians to have their picture taken in orange garb on June 2 and post them on social media using the hashtags #WearOrange and #Episcopal.

Members of the clergy are invited to consider joining an additional effort, initiated by the Rev. C. Eric Funston and the Rev. Rosalind Hughes in the Diocese of Ohio, by wearing an orange stole on Sunday, June 5. Read more.

New mission strategy team begins drafting process

The Mission Strategy Drafting Team has begun its work in discerning a draft of a new mission strategy for the Diocese of Massachusetts that reflects God's call for the diocese's work in the world.

The drafting team is to write a draft mission strategy that responds to the findings in the revised report issued in early May by the listening team that gathered input from the diocesan community over the past several months. The drafting team's work will also be informed by demographic and other data and material relevant to the diocese and the wider Episcopal Church, as well as previous iterations of diocesan mission strategies.

The team has expressed its gratitude to everyone who participated in the listening process, which provided perspectives from many different voices from around the diocese, as well as to the listening team that spent many, many hours in lifting up those voices.

Working with the bishops, the team now at work will develop a draft of the new mission strategy by early August, in time to invite feedback from the diocesan community before the Diocesan Council approves the proposed mission strategy that will be presented at Diocesan Convention in November for final approval.

During this intensive process, the drafting team asks for everyone's prayers for guidance in bringing forth this statement of how the Diocese of Massachusetts will be directed and apply its resources in the coming years.

More information about the mission strategy process, including a link to the revised listening process report, is at www.diomass.org/new-mission-strategy.

NewsNotes

Summer camp at the BCH Center: The summer camp staff at the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center report that they are excited to be experiencing a 25 percent increase in camper enrollment for this year, but that means space is filling up quickly. Families are encouraged to register their campers soon to ensure they get the week and the program of their choice. Register online by June 15 here.

Campership (financial aid) deadline is June 1: The BCH Center is committed to making camp possible for every child, regardless of the family's finances. Campership guidelines ask the family to pay 0ne-third ($200/week), the parish to pay one-third and the BCH Camp financial aid program to pay one-third. When a family or a parish is unable to pay its suggested portion, the BCH Center will ask for an additional letter outlining financial circumstances. As of the first week of May, there were still generous funds available for camperships. Families may apply for a campership during the online registration process.

UBE scholarship deadline approaching: The deadline is coming up for 2016 high school graduates to apply for scholarships from the Massachusetts Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians. "To be considered, a student must be an African American/Caribbean Episcopalian in good standing," according to the UBE's announcement. Applications are due May 27 and are available by calling St. Cyprian's Church in Roxbury at 617-427-6175.

Boston Pride 2016: Episcopalians of the Diocese of Massachusetts, coordinated by The Crossing, will again be

participating in the annual Boston Pride Parade. All are invited to join! The parade is Saturday, June 11 and starts at noon in Copley Square. The church's presence in the parade is an opportunity to proclaim and embody God's love for all people and celebrate the LGBTQ community in one of Boston's largest annual public events. Bishop Alan M. Gates will celebrate Eucharist following the parade. For more information contact Paddy Cavanaugh at The Crossing by e-mailing cavanaughj@diomassintern.org.

News from Youth Ministry:

Lynn Youth Pride: The first BE YOU Youth Pride Event will take place at St. Stephen's Church in Lynn on June 4, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The day will include information booths, music, food, a "larger-than- life" art project and young spoken-word artists. All are welcome for this festive event. Visit the Facebook event page here.

2016 Acolyte Festival: Acolyte teams of all ages from across the Diocese of Massachusetts will gather for a morning of workshops, a shared meal and a festival Eucharist at the Diocesan Acolyte Festival on Saturday, May 21, 9:30 a.m., at the Church of the Advent in Boston. This is a great opportunity to meet other acolyte groups and witness their rituals. Workshops include "Playing with Fire" (a thurifer primer); "The What-cha-ma-thing" (intro to eucharistic paraphernalia); "Writing Prayers" and a scavenger hunt tour of the Church of the Advent. Register here.

DYC applications now being accepted:The Diocesan Youth Council (DYC) is a group of young people who represent the youth of the diocese at Diocesan Convention and work ultimately to make the church a nurturing environment for the spiritual growth of young people in Christian community. The DYC plans and runs youth retreats throughout the year. Membership in the DYC is by application, with membership running throughout the academic year. Deanery representatives with voting privileges at Diocesan Convention are selected by their deanery assembly from among the DYC members. Attendance at a number of planning overnights is required. To learn more about how to apply, download the flier from www.diomassyouth.org, or contact the Rev. H. Mark Smith at hmsmith@diomass.org.

Episcopal City Mission Night of Witness: Join Episcopal City Mission (ECM) on June 14 for a night of prayer, celebration, food and fellowship, as it welcomes its new executive director, the Rev. Arrington Chambliss. This Night of Witness, Worship and Celebration is this year being held instead of the organization's annual fundraising dinner. It will include a gallery of grant recipients and a worship service, with a reception to follow.

The evening's service will honor leaders of justice-based movements from many generations. The Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, minister at Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain, former youth organizer and executive director of Project HIP-HOP, will preach.

Following the service there will be a celebratory reception with displays from ECM's grantees, showcasing this year's work and looking into the future deepening of ECM's social, economic, racial and eco-justice witness in this diocese and the world. The event is free, but attendees are asked to RSVP online here.

Parish Circuit

Dinah's House opens as center of hope in Haverhill: It's like a living room, a recent visitor said of Dinah's House, the new storefront ministry now open on Emerson Street in downtown Haverhill, "a living room within our busy city where women feel at home, safe and supported." Sponsored by nearby Trinity Church, the new drop-in center's founders describe it simply as a center of hope for women and children.


	Bishop Alan Gates blesses the newly opened Dinah's House in Haverhill. Photo by Patricia J. Bruno

"It's a comfortable, fun space. That's what I hear every time people come," said the Rev. Gay Cox, the deacon serving at Trinity Church and the one who first envisioned how a place like Dinah's House could help women in oppressive situations find their way forward.

"Eventually we hope to reach through Dinah's House those who are trafficked and sexually exploited," Cox said. "But before that can happen, my heart says this: that unless women of all ages can come somewhere where they can be loved and cared for without any conditions, without any hoops that they have to go through, without anything they have to change first, we may never know what their needs are. We may never find them."

With limited initial start-up funds, donated furniture and a cadre of volunteers, Dinah's House has been up and running now for a couple of months, hosting open houses, twice-a-month family fun days and regular drop-in hours over several days each week.

Read more.

St. Dunstan's Church, Dover, signs on to Paris Pledge: St. Dunstan's Church in Dover has long been one of the Diocese of Massachusetts' standard-bearers for creation care initiatives, and now the parish has signed on to a national commitment to further reduce the size of its carbon footprint.

The St. Dunstan's vestry voted in late April to sign on to the Paris Pledge, an initiative of the national organization Interfaith Power & Light that asks signers to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050.

Interfaith Power & Light is encouraging as many member organizations as possible to join the Paris Pledge. The resolution passed by the St. Dunstan's vestry in fact has an even shorter timeline than the Paris Pledge, expressing the intention to be carbon neutral by 2025, according to Jim Nail, the president of Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light and a member of St. Dunstan's.

Nail led the effort to get the parish to sign onto the Paris Pledge, presenting it to the vestry and hosting conversations for parishioners. The parish plans to accomplish its goal by installing new heating and air conditioning equipment, purchasing additional solar electricity and buying carbon offsets.

Read more.

NewsLinks

PBS Newshour: Last November, the Most Rev. Michael Curry became presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, one of the oldest Christian denominations in the U.S. Curry's ascension comes at a time of crisis and change, and the church, like most mainline Protestant congregations, is facing declining membership. Judy Woodruff talks to Curry about how he plans to tackle these challenges. View the interview here.

MV Times: Grace Church, Vineyard Haven seeking interns for summer of farming and prayer: Back in the late 1970s, Brian Murdoch, now the parish priest at Grace Church, wanted to live the Benedictine model of work, study and prayer.

This summer, Murdoch's notion comes to fruition in a collaboration between Grace Church and Norton Farm. The island institutions will co-host a summer internship from June 1 to Sept. 2 that will combine work (at the farm) and study and prayer (at the church).