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Esperanza Academy, a new
tuition-free
Episcopal middle school for girls in Lawrence, officially
opened its doors on Sept. 6 to its first 42
students. “We started with a dream three years
ago, and it has become a reality, thanks be to God,”
reports the Rev. Jeffrey Gill, member of the school’s
board and the rector of neighboring partner parish,
Christ Church in Andover.
The school’s board and
supporters raised just more than $2 million before
opening day and completed a thorough capital
renovation of the building at Grace Church in
Lawrence where the school has a 10-year
lease. “We’re eager for people across the diocese
and beyond to share in our joy at this work of the
Spirit here in the poorest city in our diocese,” Gill
says.
View a video
clip about Esperanza Academy.
Learn more about this “School of Hope” at Esperanza’s Web site.
Esperanza’s “Opening Doors to Learning” benefit
dinner and auction takes place on Oct. 13 at the
Wyndham Andover Hotel. Information is available by
calling 978/686-HOPE.
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Classes are also back in session for the 80 students
at the Epiphany School in
Dorchester. Epiphany’s
director of development, David Foster, reports that
students and faculty spent the two days before
classes started on Sept. 7 at “a hugely successful
retreat” at the Barbara C. Harris Camp and
Conference Center in Greenfield, N.H., “getting
to
know one another through games and activities
designed to help people share their stories with
others.”
July was also a busy month for Epiphany
students, with seventh and eighth graders
experiencing life at a boarding school via the Summer
Intensive Program at the Groton School, and
incoming fifth graders spending their days at the
Epiphany schoolhouse in Dorchester in the B-SAFE
(Bishop’s Summer Academic Fun and Enrichment)
program. As always, head of school John Finley
encourages visitors to tour the Epiphany School and
meet its energetic students and dedicated teachers.
Epiphany, also an independent, tuition-free middle
school in the Episcopal tradition, serves children of
economically disadvantaged families from Boston’s
neighborhoods and is a pioneer in this diocese.
Epiphany opened its doors in 1998 in space donated
by the Parish of All Saints in Dorchester and moved
into its own brand new schoolhouse at the end of
2001.
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Episcopal Divinity School (EDS)
and the Diocese of
Massachusetts welcome all to a viewing of “An
Inconvenient Truth”—lauded by the New York Times
as “the most important film of the year”—on
Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Washburn
Lounge on campus (99 Brattle Street) in Cambridge.
The viewing is courtesy of Spotlight on Global
Warming, a national project of Interfaith Power and
Light. Following the film, there will be a
debriefing
opportunity facilitated by Professor Norman
Faramelli.
Admission is $5, with all proceeds benefiting diocesan
Hurricane Katrina relief work.
Refreshments will be
offered in the auditorium for a small charge.
Participants are encouraged to take public
transportation, as parking is limited.
Also on view through Oct. 12 at EDS is the
exhibit “The Gift of Art for AIDS,” sponsored by the
Church of Our Saviour in
Arlington, the diocesan Jubilee
Ministry and the Arlington Center for the Arts. Go to
www.eds.edu for information on
these and other EDS offerings.
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Do you care about issues such as immigration,
housing, or wages and the growing wealth divide?
Then join forces with other concerned Christians at
Episcopal City Mission’s
Advocacy Convocation on Saturday, Oct. 7, 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m., at St. Stephen’s Church (74 South
Common Street) in Lynn. There will be workshops, a
panel discussion and practices for building a strong
social justice team with others. The cost is $15, and
registration can be made by phone (617/482-4826,
ext. 225) or e-mail to Kate
Paradise.
Episcopal City Mission’s Public Policy Network
organizes Christians in Massachusetts whose faith
leads them to seek just and compassionate public
policies. Learn more here.
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A “Time Poverty Fact Sheet” available from the
Massachusetts Council of
Churches reports more
work (80 percent of men and 62 percent of women
put in more than 40 hours a week on the job) and
less play (Americans have the shortest paid
vacations in the industrialized world) taking a toll on
families and children. So member denominations of
the Massachusetts Council of Churches (MCC) are
encouraging participation in the national Take Back
Your Time organization’s efforts to do just that,
starting on Take Back Your Time Day, Oct. 24.
The project encourages individuals and families to
resist a relentless pace of life, reclaim time from long
hours at work, school or extracurricular activities and
choose four windows of time between Oct. 24 and
Dec. 31 to rest and recreate balance. Some
suggestions:
- Make restorative time a once-a-week or once-a- month family commitment. Learn more from the MCC’s Take Back Your Time
materials, available online here.
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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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