|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Keeping a holy
Lent
Image: Brad Zucroff In her Lenten message, the Episcopal Church's
presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori,
commends the traditional Lenten disciplines of
prayer, fasting and almsgiving as a kind of
tune-up for the spiritual life:
"Take an
hour to make an inventory-what mechanics know as
a squawk list. Which spark isn't as hot as it
might be? Which tire is going flat?
What kind of oil are you going to add this
time? And what are you going to do with
the old, dirty stuff? That's what the
altar is for, in a spirit of repentance and
return, and it's not unlike recycling the old so
it can be used for good."
Read
more>>
Looking for something to
take on or give up this Lent? The
Episcopal Peace Fellowship has some ideas,
including praying the Millennium Development
Goals, going on a 30-day carbon diet and adding
to the Rope of Hope peace witness.
Learn
more>>
|
|
"The Arc of History
Bends Toward Justice: The Civil Rights Struggle,
Then As Now"
U.S. Congressman John Lewis
Image:
Courtesy the House of
Representatives This year's Lenten series at the Cathedral
Church of St. Paul in Boston is underway and
focuses on "the civil rights struggle then as
now." Hosted by Bishop Barbara C. Harris,
the series features guest speakers who were
there during the intense days of America's civil
rights movement telling their stories and
engaging in discussion.
Series speakers
include Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), whom
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called "the
conscience of the U.S. Congress."
Boston
activist, educator and one-time mayoral
candidate Mel King opened the series on Feb. 14,
with what he summed up as "a sense of unfinished
business." His advice for today: "Get off
the sidelines and get in the game. Twenty
or 30 years ago more people were in the game of
change." (Read
more>>)
Noting how the power of
storytelling cuts across time and culture, the
cathedral's dean, the Very Rev. John P. Streit
Jr., writes of the series in February's
"Cathedral News": "It could be
life-changing, which is of course what we always
hope from the season of
Lent."
Discussions are Thursdays at 12:15
p.m. in Sproat Hall of the cathedral. Note below
the special day and time with Lewis:
- Feb. 21: Byron Rushing (Massachusetts
legislator)
- Feb. 28: Ed Rodman (Episcopal Divinity
School professor)
and Brian Kelley (priest
and activist)
- March 6: Jean McGuire (METCO program
director)
- *Special time - Monday, March 10 at 1
p.m.: John Lewis (U.S. Congressman and former
Freedom Rider)
- March 13: Howard Zinn (historian, author and
activist)
|
|
Marcus Borg event on
March 15 to be webcast
Marcus Borg
Image: Cyndy J.
Hubbard Excitement is building about the diocese's
spring learning event, Sharing Jesus:
Talking the
Talk, with bestselling author Marcus
Borg.
The event, which takes place March
15 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Boston University's
Sherman Union, will be simulcast on the web
through the diocesan web site.
Web
viewers will be able to access the web feed from
a link on the front page of the diocesan web
site, diomass.org. Viewers
must have javascript enabled for their browser
(the default) and they must have the latest
version of Adobe
Flash.
More about
this event>>
Register on
line>>
|
|
"The Church
Awakens"
Don't miss "The Church
Awakens: African-Americans and the
Struggle for Justice," an online multi-media
exhibit and web research project launched by the
Archives of the Episcopal Church. Using
photos, documents, videos and taped interviews,
it examines the story of how African-American
Episcopalians struggled to claim their rightful
place as full and equal members of the church
and community.
See the
exhibit>>
Read
more>>
The UBE turns
40
This month, as the nation observes
Black History Month, the Union of Black
Episcopalians (UBE) marks its 40th year.
It traces its beginnings to Feb. 8, 1968, when
black priests met in Harlem and formed the Union
of Black Clergy and Laity "to remove racism from
the church and society and to stimulate the
growth of black membership," according to a
historical account cited by Episcopal Life
Online (ELO).
"The purpose of UBE
today, as it was 40 years ago, is to serve God
and people of color in the Episcopal Church in
ways which empower them to do ministry," UBE's
president, the Rev. C. David Williams, tells
Episcopal Life Online.
Celebrating Absalom
Jones
Massachusetts' own Bishop Gayle
E. Harris travels to the home diocese of the
first African-American priest, Absalom Jones, to
be the guest preacher at Pennsylvania's Feb. 16
Absalom Jones celebration. What will she
preach? "Isaiah 61," she says. "'The
spirit of the Lord God is upon me. . .he has
sent me to bring good news to the oppressed. .
..' Well, guess what? That's what
Absalom Jones did his whole life. That spirit
that sustained him is the spirit of God's love,
and that love is power. God knows we need it,
and through it, we can find the unity, rather
than conformity, that is true Anglican
tradition."
Locally, the
Massachusetts UBE chapter will remember and
celebrate the life of Absalom Jones, on Sunday,
March 2, 4 p.m., at St. Cyprian's
Church (1073 Tremont Street) in
Roxbury. The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston,
Dean of Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge,
will be the guest preacher. A highlight of
the service is the presentation of lay
leadership awards to persons of color nominated
from parishes around the diocese. The
day's offering supports the chapter's
scholarship fund. All are welcome.
|
|
Martin Luther King's
legacy celebrated at annual
breakfast
Bishop Shaw delivers the invocation and is
joined in prayer by other community leaders,
including Governor Deval Patrick (far left) and
Mayor Tom Menino (fourth from left).
Image:
Maria Plati
Governor Deval
Patrick delivered opening remarks, followed by
Boston Mayor Tom Menino, Attorney General Martha
Coakley and other elected leaders. Mayor Johnny
Ford of Tuskegee, Ala., was the guest speaker,
inspiring the audience with recollections of
King's legacy in the movement for racial and
social justice.
Citing the impact that
King's life and legacy continues to have on
justice efforts in the U.S. and abroad, the
event's sponsors called the breakfast "an
opportunity to recommit to the dream of a just
society."
Read more,
see more
photos>>
|
|
Interfaith climate
action campaign sends message to
legislature
Bishop Bud Cederholm speaks out at the
MICAN day of prayer and advocacy.
Image: Tim
Kinnel Bishop Bud Cederholm held up a picture of his
grandchildren to call attention to the
importance of preserving the planet for future
generations as he joined with other religious
leaders, legislators, environmental activists
and members of the diocese at the Massachusetts
Interfaith Climate Action Network (MICAN)
Day of Prayer and Advocacy at the State House on
Jan. 29.
MICAN members organized the
event to urge legislators to support a set of
principles to deal with climate change and
energy issues; after hearing from speakers, they
lined up to sign an Interfaith Pledge for
Climate Action. They were joined by State
Senator Marc Pacheco (D-Plymouth), chairman of
the Senate Committee on Global Warming and
Climate Change, who said climate change is the
most pressing issue facing policymakers today.
Read more,
see more
photos>> |
|
Coming
up
Feb.
15: Coltrane at the Cathedral Church
of St. Paul, Boston, 7:30 p.m.
Feb.
15: Folk Friday with singer/songwriter
Jake Armerding, Church of the Advent, Boston, 8
p.m.
Feb. 20, 27,
March 5, 12 & 19: "Jesus the Enigma: Who
Is Your Jesus?" Lenten series continues,
co-sponsored by the Episcopal Chaplaincy at
Harvard, The Memorial Church, Harvard
University, 8 p.m.
Feb. 21, 28,
March 6, 10 & 13: "Arc of History
Bends Toward Justice" Lenten series continues,
Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston 12:15
p.m.
Feb. 21, 28,
March 6 & 13: "Finding God in the
Questions" Lenten series continues, St. Paul's
Church, Malden, 7 p.m.
Feb.
23: Lenten Day of Prayer, St.
Margaret's Convent, Boston, 9 a.m.-3:30
p.m.
Feb.
24: MagnificatBoston sings Evensong,
St. Paul's Church, Bedford, 4 p.m.
Feb.
24: St. Andrew's Church in Marblehead
sponsors lecture by Three Cups of
Tea author Greg Mortenson, Marblehead
Veterans Middle School, Marblehead, 7 p.m.
Feb.
26: "Greening Your House of Worship"
how-to event, St. James's Church, Cambridge,
7:15 p.m.
Feb.
27: Radical Welcome Circle, Cathedral
Church of St. Paul, Boston, 6:30 p.m.
March
2: Millennium Development Goals
benefit concert featuring Sol y Canto, Church of
the Holy Spirit, Wayland, 3 p.m.
March
2: Union of Black Episcopalians
Absalom Jones Service, St. Cyprian's Church,
Roxbury, 4 p.m.
March
4: Refreshment Day, Bethany House of
Prayer, Arlington, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
March
7-9: "Toward Resurrection," Province I
Conference on Stewardship, Evangelism and
Congregational Development, Doubletree Hotel,
Westborough.
March
8: Ecclesia Ministries' "Keys to the
Kingdom" conference on welcoming newly housed
neighbors into communities, Church on the Hill,
Boston, 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
March
8: Winter Creativity Workshop, Bethany
House of Prayer, Arlington, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
March
14: Lenten Quiet Evening, Spiritual
Life Center, Trinity Church, Wrentham, 6
p.m.
March
15: "Sharing Jesus," diocesan spring
learning event with guest speaker Marcus Borg,
Boston University, 9 a.m.-1
p.m.
| |
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/subscribe.
You are receiving this
newsletter from the Episcopal Diocese of
Massachusetts because you subscribed or are in
our leadership database. To ensure that you
continue to receive e-news from us, add
enews@diomass.org to your address
book. |
|
Episcopal
E-News
The
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
| | |
