In the News

The Rev. Timothy Schenck took a seat in the small chapel at St. John the Evangelist Church in Hingham a few minutes before 10 a.m. Sunday. He blinked at the bright, studio-style lights set up before him, and helped himself to one more jolt of caffeine from a large thermos. “I hope you’re in your…

Retired Bishop Barbara Harris, the first woman to be ordained and consecrated as a bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion, died on Friday (March 13). She was 89. Harris died at a hospice house after a recent hospitalization. “Our hearts are truly heavy at the loss of one who has been a…

Barbara C. Harris, the first woman to be ordained a bishop in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion, died Friday in Massachusetts. She was 89. She was elected as a suffragan, or assistant, bishop in September 1988. On Feb. 11, 1989, Harris was consecrated as a bishop in the…

Along the spiritual road to her groundbreaking role in the Episcopal Church, Barbara Clementine Harris was a volunteer prison chaplain who spent so much time praying with those behind bars that she could have tallied a two-year jail sentence of her own. It wasn’t enough for her, though. “I was…

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…

Street artist Dennis Boylet hasn’t had an easy winter. Since mid-December, he’s slept every night at a Boston shelter and spent days walking the streets, often with nowhere to hunker down and ply his craft as a painter. Even so, “Sidewalk Dennis” has had a place to paint, pray and enjoy two meals…

Overall, Massachusetts is one of the biggest destinations in the U.S. for people from Brazil. And Brazilians are among the most-represented immigrant groups throughout communities in Central Massachusetts. In general, Brazilian-born Massachusetts residents earn considerably less than their native…

David Nolasco lives in El Ocotillo, a small village in San Fernando, El Salvador, with streets fashioned out of dirt and stone and a local school that educates roughly 50 children. He describes the neighborhood as a “caserio” — similar to a hamlet. The “caserio” knows its priorities: strengthening…

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church celebrated Scout Sunday on February 2. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Cub Scouts took part in every aspect of the service, and senior Girl Scout Joleen Ricci delivered the sermon. The community also thanked all of the congregation’s adult Scout leaders for volunteering…