News

"At Christmas we greet the very heart of God made flesh.  Born 2,000 years ago.  Born again every time the vulnerability of human love fills the rocky trough of human cruelty.  It is in the very nature of love to be vulnerable. Precisely because God loves us was Jesus born, vulnerable to the needs of every helpless infant.  He grew, dependent upon the care of loving parents.  He preached and taught, vulnerable to the resentment of the religious establishment.  And he died, vulnerable to the cruelty of the Roman occupation.  He died every bit as vulnerable as the victims of warfare in Syria and Yemen; as vulnerable as the victims of terror in New Zealand and Sri Lanka, of massacres in Pittsburgh, El Paso and Jersey City.  He died as vulnerable as me and you."

A group of 22 pilgrims from the Diocese of Massachusetts embarked on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land Nov. 3-15, led by Bishop Gayle E. Harris and the Rev. Debbie Phillips, the rector of Grace Church in Salem. This was the eighth trip to the Holy Land that Harris has taken since 2009, and the third for Phillips. In addition to visiting holy sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and renewing baptismal bows at the Jordan River, the group had the chance to meet and learn from those in the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem that Phillips calls "living stones" of the Christian faith.

This interfaith family began when the two congregations started sharing facilities at Emmanuel in 2004.  Since then, the two congregations have gone beyond sharing facilities to sharing their faith journeys together through collaborative programming, which they facilitate through the Emmanuel Center, the programmatic partnership of Central Reform Temple and Emmanuel Church. Over the weekend of Nov. 15-17, the two congregations held ceremonies of affirmation during the Friday evening Shabbat service and the Sunday morning Eucharist, to raise up and celebrate their covenant agreement.

St. Peter's Church is trying a new kind of worship with its new "Dinner Church" program. This worship experience involves people gathering together to prepare and share a meal, along with a contemporary Eucharistic prayer and service...

The diocesan staff will be saying goodbye to two colleagues in upcoming weeks.