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Listen to our Christmas radio ads on WBUR and WCRB
beginning Dec. 19 that help raise awareness for the
"Gifts from the Heart" programs for victims of
Hurricane Katrina. Listeners are asked to purchase a
merchandise gift card for someone in need on the
Gulf Coast from participating department stores this
holiday season.
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Last Sunday, Dec. 10, as more than 200 people
gathered at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul to
celebrate the Episcopal Boston Chinese Ministry’s
25th anniversary, it became apparent that it’s taken
great faithfulness and the strength of many to build
this ministry from zero.
The Rev. Canon Thomas P.K. Pang remembers some
hard first years.
When he arrived from Hong Kong 10 years ago to
became the new vicar of the Chinese Ministry at the
cathedral, he had a congregation of 40 people.
Among them were five youth members. They were
his Sunday school. They were his choir. They were
his youth fellowship. And in between, they had to
eat.
“Because I am the only person to do everything,
every Friday I even had to cook for them,” he
recalls. “I am so exhausted and frustrated one night
in the kitchen, telling myself, Are you a priest? With
everything you learned in seminary, how did you end
up here in the kitchen?
“Then God seemed to answer me in my heart, saying,
This is the best moment for you, because this is your
most close moment with me. That’s the time I really
relied on God and that helped me to realize that you
are unable to finish the task by your own strength
only.”
Today there are 100 people in the Chinese
congregation on a Sunday, nearly two-thirds of them
young people. There are three choirs, a Sunday
Chinese school for children and numerous small
fellowship groups that help members maintain
relationships. And, the ministry now reaches out into
neighboring communities by partnering with other
Episcopal parishes in Quincy and Allston.
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“The shortest distance between God and us is the
story,” said the Rev. Mark Bozzuti-Jones. He and
fellow convocation presenters Kathy Bozzuti-Jones
and Masankho Kamsisi Banda creatively wove
together storytelling, prayer, meditation, music and
dance to carry the theme that God’s story and the
human story are part of one eternal story.
Plenary sessions, worship, workshops and activity
spaces designed to appeal to Episcopalians of all
ages drew over 200 participants from the seven New
England dioceses to the annual Province I
Convocation at the Doubletree Hotel in Westborough,
Nov. 17-18.
The Province I Education Network planned “God’s
Story, Our Story: At All Times and in All Places” as
the first intergenerational convocation in the more
than 20-year history of the annual provincial event.
Susan Ohlidal, who was formally commissioned as the
new provincial executive director at the closing
Eucharist, said the reaction to the inclusion of all
ages was so positive that future convocations would
follow the trend.
A nurturing center offered a quiet place for very
small children, and creative play opportunities in
the “discovery center” included weaving, candle
decorating and making "Beeple People” with Bishop
Geralyn Wolf of the Diocese of Rhode Island.
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“The Longest Night: A Liturgy of
Light in the Midst
of Darkness,” Dec. 20 at 7 p.m., at Christ
Church in Needham.
Handel’s “Messiah” Sing,
featuring the Cathedral Choir conducted by Ed
Broms, with Baroque Strings, Dec. 20 at noon, at the
Cathedral Church of St. Paul in
Boston.
“Married with Children”
and “Romance Amidst the
Responsibilities”: Two Sunday forums with Dr.
David
Treadway, Jan. 14 and 21 at 9:30 a.m., at St. Anne’s-in-the-Fields Church in
Lincoln.
¡Todos están bienvenidos!
First
ever Spanish-
language service, Jan. 21 at 12:30 p.m., at Grace
Church in Salem.
Learn about services, forums, concerts and outreach
projects offered at an Episcopal Church near you:
Go to diomass.org and
see “Parish Circuit” under “News.”
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Spread the word! Forward E-News to your fellow
parishioners, family, friends and seekers and let them
know they can sign up for future issues at: www.diomass.org/elist.shtml.
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
email:
enews@diomass.org
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