In the News

For worshipers at San Lucas Episcopal Church, the last two years have been just as painful as they feared. All of it falls heavily upon the shoulders of the men and women who gathered in a living room on Cherry Street on a recent rainy evening. It was the first night of Las Posadas (The Inns)—nine…

St. Stephen's Youth Programs (SSYP) and the Blackstone Elementary School kicked off their ninth year of a formal partnership and readers of all ages celebrated their love of books. One of the signature projects of SSYP is the school library, which [the school] was without for almost a decade before…

With dwindling attendance at religious services among young adults in the U.S., according to data from the Pew Research Center, the topic of church revitalization remains a concern at many houses of worship. Data from the Pew Research Center’s “Religious Landscape Study,” indicates nationally,…

Fashion models are often viewed as anorexic creatures who seem more like human coat hangers than strong women. Yet for a group of women in Haverhill this month, taking part in a fashion show became an act of empowerment. The “Belle Americana” fashion show featured women who have faced adversities…

The Chelsea Collaborative hosted its annual Thanksgiving Dinner on Nov. 15 at its headquarters at 318 Broadway. Collaborative president Gladys Vega and her staff welcomed members of the community, who enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner and desserts. There was also a cotton candy station for children…

The day after Thanksgiving in 1998, Rita Hester was murdered in Allston — just two days before her 35th birthday. Hester was — by all accounts — glamorous, brilliant, and driven. She was also a transgender woman. Her murder has yet to be solved. Twenty years later, roughly 300 people gathered…

The solemn martial music of a bagpipe and a bugle wafted through the serpentine lanes of the North End Saturday morning, Nov. 17, as veterans, clergy, congregants and passersby paid tribute to the fallen from the nation’s latest wars. The group of about 50 gathered behind Old North Church for…

Columbia Gas on Monday announced a targeted effort to replace condemned appliances in the approximately 8,000 Merrimack Valley homes affected by September's gas explosions and fires with energy-efficient models, where possible, at no cost to customers. The announcement comes more than six weeks…

An effort to combine science and religion to move Cape Codders and Islanders to act, given the potentially catastrophic worldwide warming of the atmosphere, began in an intimate church sanctuary on Main Street. “Those manifestations of climate change may not be apparent but they’re there,” said…

The bishops of the two Episcopal dioceses in Massachusetts are among the religious leaders issuing statements of support to the victims of Saturday's attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue during a baby-naming ceremony that killed 11 people and injured six, including four police officers. The statement…