Diocesan News

Following the Racial Justice Commission's annual work retreat in February, its co-chairs report progress on two key projects adopted at recent Diocesan Conventions, and they commend the commission's five subcommittees for undertaking an evaluation of the mandates that have guided their work since their formation four years ago--with an eye toward updating those mandates to meet the moment.

In 2019, the Rev. Cristina Rathbone decided to leave MANNA, her Cathedral Church of St. Paul-based ministry among unhoused people in Boston, in order to spend a season on the U.S.-Mexico border at a time when migrant families, including asylum seekers, were being apprehended and separated under the first Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy. The Asylum Seekers: A Chronicle of Life, Death and Community at the Border, her new book about that experience and the people she encountered, is just out from Broadleaf Books, along with a reader's guide from Episcopal Migration Ministries.

The Bishop John M. Burgess Massachusetts Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians, together with the diocesan Office of Immigration and Multicultural Ministries, offered on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, a festival service for the diocesan community that celebrated the life and ministry of the Rev. Absalom Jones--the Episcopal Church's first African American priest.

The Office of the Bishop has issued the following pastoral announcement:

Communities for Spiritual Vitality, a ministry for interparish formation born from a collaboration between the dioceses of Vermont and Massachusetts, is compiling, for a second year, an interdiocesan Lent-Easter devotional. This year’s devotional focuses on the prophet Isaiah and will feature daily prayers and readings alongside individual reflections from members of all seven Episcopal dioceses in New England, as well as artwork from Christian artists.

Bishop Julia E. Whitworth of the Diocese of Massachusetts and Bishop Douglas J. Fisher of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts issued the following joint statement on Jan. 24, 2025, in support of Diocese of Washington Bishop Mariann Budde and her Jan. 21 sermon at Washington National Cathedral focusing on unity and calling on President Trump for mercy toward immigrants and refugees, and LGBTQ+ people.

Bishop Julia E. Whitworth issued the following statement to clergy and diocesan and congregational leadership on Jan. 17, 2025, regarding diocesan ministries to and with immigrants.