With the wave of closures and restrictions sweeping aside daily routines and business as usual--all in the attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Massachusetts--congregations are rising to the occasion in all kinds of ways, as they move worship services online, find ways to stay connected with their people, strategize about physically distanced outreach to the vulnerable in their communities and settle in for what public health authorities say will be a long haul.
This message from Bishop Alan M. Gates and Bishop Gayle E. Harris was issued by e-mail on March 16 to clergy and wardens.
March 16, 2020
Dear Colleagues in the Diocese of Massachusetts,
Thank you for your faithful leadership and care for your respective congregations in these past few days. …
This page collects Diocese of Massachusetts updates and information regarding ongoing COVID-19 response.
Guidance and messages from our bishops & leadership
The most recent updates and guidelines are linked below. Find a complete list of …
"Bishop Harris was not large of physical stature. In fact, the opposite. But she was larger than life. She was larger than life because she lived it fully with her God and with us. She did it by actually living the love of God that Jesus taught us about. She did it walking the lonesome valley of…
It has been said that God's time and ours met on Feb. 11, 1989, when Barbara C. Harris became the first woman to be ordained a bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion. On that day, while the world watched, a woman donned the symbolic regalia of the church's highest order for the first time…
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts Photo: David Zadig
The Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris, at her historic consecration service on Feb. 11, 1989.
The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, announced on March 13,…
Bishop Alan M. Gates issued the following pastoral guidance on March 12, 2020, which supplements directives issued on March 11, posted here. A Spanish-language version is attached as a PDF below. See a growing list of congregations live-streaming and podcasting services here.
March 12,…
Bishop Alan M. Gates and Bishop Gayle E. Harris issued the following directive on March 11, 2020, effective immediately and until further notice. It replaces previously issued guidelines. A Spanish-language version is attached below. See a growing list of congregations live…
Bishop Alan M. Gates issued the following update on March 11 to the diocesan community.
Dear Friends,
This is just a brief note to let you know that Bishop Barbara Harris has been transferred to a residential hospice facility. She is comfortable and receiving excellent care there, and…
Bishop Alan M. Gates and Bishop Gayle E. Harris issued on March 5, 2020, the following message regarding response to the emergence and spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
