News

Diocesan News
Nov. 7, 2024 Beloved of God in Massachusetts, In the deluge of emotions and words after Tuesday’s election, it was a challenge to find more which might add meaning yesterday. Perhaps those of you pastoring congregations, schools, and other communities, church or otherwise, felt the same way…

Diocese and Parish News

Diocesan News

With two families of Darby Vassall descendants watching from front-row folding chairs amid a standing crowd of parishioners, guests and curious passers-by, the 11-minute film had its outdoor debut on the anniversary of Vassall's death, in 1861, and as part of a multimedia installation created by researcher and artist Nicole Piepenbrink, it is putting a public spotlight on some historical facts that many at the 1759 church became aware of only recently.   

Diocesan News
Racial and economic justice actions top the voting agenda for the upcoming Diocesan Convention--including the creation of a Reparations Fund "as a part of our effort to address our legacy of the wealth accumulated through the enslaved labor of Africans and Afro-Caribbeans." Taking place Oct. 28-29…
Diocesan News
After nearly 20 years of service in the Diocese of Massachusetts, Bishop Suffragan Gayle E. Harris has announced her upcoming retirement.  She plans to complete her work in the diocese as of Dec. 31 of this year and then take sabbatical time ahead of her official retirement date of March 31,…
In the News
On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 25, more than 50 residents turned out to watch as leaders of the Marblehead Racial Justice Team, a local advocacy group, unveiled a new replica of the original headstone placed for Agnes, an enslaved woman who died in 1718 and was buried in her enslaver's family plot on…
In the News
"Nearly 50 volunteers on Martha’s Vineyard who helped shelter and feed the Venzuelan migrants flown to the island last week gathered for a time of shared reflection on Thursday. Many who gathered at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Edgartown, the same shelter where the 48 migrants stayed for two…
Diocesan News

The Office of the Bishop has issued the following notice:

Diocesan News

From July 26 to Aug. 8, Diocese of Massachusetts Bishop Suffragan Gayle E. Harris and Bishop Carol J. Gallagher, who serves as a regional canon in the diocese, participated in the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference of some 650 bishops from across the Anglican Communion, convened by the archbishop of Canterbury.  In a recent interview with Director of Communications Tracy Sukraw, Harris and Gallagher reflected together on their experience at--and exclusion from--Lambeth when it last met in 2008; where and how they found Jesus present at Lambeth this time around; and their side-trip pilgrimages to Gravesend and Turville.  

Diocesan News

St. Andrew's Church in Edgartown opened its doors to provide emergency shelter overnight to 43 men, women and children--all reported to be migrants from Venezuela--who unexpectedly arrived on Martha's Vineyard by plane late in the day on Sept. 14 with no notice to island officials.  The migrants themselves seemed to have been uninformed, or misinformed, according to some reports, about their destination.

Diocesan News

In the Diocese of Massachusetts, memorial activities at Old North Church in Boston are the focus for public expressions of remembrance and worship, and Bishop Alan M. Gates and Bishop Gayle E. Harris join Old North Vicar-in-Charge Matthew P. Cadwell in raising prayers and offering condolences on behalf of the diocese.

In the News
Correspondents Diane Bair and Pamela Wright take a tour of Old North Church, established in 1723 as Christ Church in the City of Boston and now both a national historic landmark operated by the Old North Foundation and an active Episcopal Church congregation.