News

March 14, 2020 Dear People of the Diocese of Massachusetts, Yesterday I looked out at the city park beneath my window.  The usual Friday afternoon bustle was nowhere in evidence.  A surreal and eerie quiet had descended there, as it has on so much of our lives.  Two lonely…

"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…

In our own backyard, across the country and around the world, faith communities are working together to help curb climate change. On Cape Cod, the Faith Communities Environmental Network is actively working together to take action. They now number over 25 faith communities strong. Currently co-led…

Amory Houghton Jr. made a habit of welcoming new challenges at ages when many people think their life’s most significant work is in the past. Elected to Congress at 60, he served for 18 years and for a while counted among his interns one with an unusual resume: the Right Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, the…

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…