News

Come and See
Diocesan News
The Episcopal Church in eastern Massachusetts invites you to come and see what makes our faith communities meaningful to the people who call them home. 
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Episcopal Church News

WCC Commission on Education and Ecumenical Formation focuses on relevance of theological education
United Methodists redefine marriage, end official condemnation of homosexuality
Latest issue of WCC interreligious journal focuses on gender justice
Anglican primates embark on Rome pilgrimage, meet with Pope Francis
Israeli-Palestinian conflict dominates General Convention International Policy committees’ hearings
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Diocese and Parish News

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In the News
Episcopal Bishop Barbara C. Harris, the first woman consecrated a bishop in the Anglican Communion, has passed away at the age of 89. Harris, an African-American, devoted decades to supporting social justice causes. According to the Episcopal Archives, she was with the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr…
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Newly ordained priests
Diocesan News

The diocesan community's prayers and congratulations go with the latest cohort of newly ordained priests, pictured here with Bishop Alan M. Gates, colleagues, family members and friends.

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In the News icon
In the News
Barbara C. Harris, the first African American woman to be ordained as a bishop in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion, died on Friday in Massachusetts. She was 89. Harris, who grew up in Philadelphia, became the first woman and the first African American woman, to ascent to…
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In the News
In the middle of Women’s History Month, the Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris, a barrier-breaking heroine, the first woman to be ordained and consecrated a Bishop in the global Anglican Communion, died, March 13, in Lincoln, Massachusetts, following a hospitalization in Boston.  She was 89. Harris…
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In the News icon
In the News
The Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris, who was the first woman to be ordained a bishop in the Episcopal Church of the United States — indeed, in its parent body, the worldwide Anglican Communion — an election that caused a furor among conservatives, died on Friday in Lincoln, Mass., outside Boston. She…
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Gayle Pershouse with Bishop Alan Gates at February 2020 ordination
Diocesan News
The Rev. Gayle Pershouse’s ordination to the transitional diaconate this past November was an occasion for inspiration and redemption for many in the diocesan community and beyond, given the circumstances of her decades-long journey toward ordination.  (Read the Dec. 18 story here.) …
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St. Paul's, Bedford online church-goers at home
Diocesan News

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.

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In the News
The Right Rev. Barbara C. Harris, a public relations executive who marched for civil rights before finding a midlife calling in the ministry, becoming the first woman ordained as a bishop in the Episcopal Church and worldwide Anglican Communion, died March 13 at a hospice center in Lincoln, Mass…
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Diocesan News icon
Diocesan News
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.&nbsp…
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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…
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