Diocesan News

The following is a message from the Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, which appeared in the Sept. 13 consecration liturgy booklet. A French proverb attributed to Jean Massieu says that “Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”My heart is full of recent memories of the untold hours offered by those who have…

The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates delivered his first sermon as the bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts on Sept. 14 at the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Boston, where the congregation of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul is worshiping while the cathedral church is under construction.  The…

Bishops signed and set their seals to the ordination certificate. Matthew Cavanaugh Bishop-elect Alan M. Gates and Bishop Gayle E. Harris before the service. Matthew Cavanaugh Leon Brathwaite, Secretary of…

[Episcopal Divinity School Release]: In a matriculation ceremony held on Sept. 8 in historic St. John's Memorial Chapel, Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) officially welcomed seven new residential students to the Cambridge-based seminary and theological graduate school. The Rev. Alan M. Gates, a 1987…

Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE sent on Aug. 25 the following message to clergy and parish and diocesan leadership:My Sisters and Brothers,As my date of retirement nears, I want to be in touch with all of you and to thank you for your continued expressions of care and concern.  We have known since…

Boston University’s Agganis Arena will be transformed from sporting to sacred space on Saturday, Sept. 13 as the Episcopal Church ordains and consecrates a new bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.Some 4,000 participants and guests—including 28 bishops—from around the country and…

Courtesy Celebrating B-SAFE with ice cream. When B-SAFE began in 2000 as a safe haven for about 30 children in a neighborhood plagued by violence, the Rev. Tim Crellin says he could not have imagined that it would grow to the size and…

Eleven young people from the Diocese of Massachusetts and their adult mentors, including Bishop Gayle E. Harris, traveled to Philadelphia for the Episcopal Youth Event (EYE) held July 9-12 at Villanova University.Held every three years, the event gathers hundreds of young Episcopalians from across…

In June the Diocese of Massachusetts launched two new mission hubs to serve the North Shore and Boston's Metrowest area.The new hubs join three existing mission hubs serving the Merrimack Valley, the South Coast and Plymouth, Cape Cod and the islands and are part of the Mission Hub Initiative…

About 500 Episcopalians gathered under one of the bluest of June's skies to sing, pray and give thanks together with Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE as he prepares to retire after 20 years as the bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts.The June 21 celebration at Jamaica Pond in Boston was the…