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This Week at
Emmanuel Church
January 27 - February 3
Read below about some of the things that are important to us...
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Sunday afternoon: The Diocese of Massachusetts' B-PEACE for Jorge Campaign
has joined the national Do Not Stand Idly By campaign, which aims to use the purchasing power of local and state governments to encourage gun manufacturers to insist on high standards of security for all their dealers and to invest in development of "smartgun" technology to create safer guns. A local training to learn more about Do Not Stand Idly By, including how individuals and congregations can support the effort, will be offered Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, from 2 to 5 p.m., at The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 138 Tremont in Boston.
Next Sunday, February 7th we will hold our Annual Meeting
in the Parish Hall following the
church service. Read the block below for more details about the meeting. This Sunday draft copies of the Annual Report will be available to prepare you for the meeting on the 7th.
SUNDAY PARKING
- the Back Bay Garage on Clarendon Street - address: 500 Boylston St., Boston 02116. Pink tickets are available during coffee hour. Your ticket is good for a 3 hour period on Sunday between 8:00am to 8:00pm. The price for 3 hours is $5. Beyond that the regular rate applies.
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Upcoming Events & Important Information:
Thank you
to the 17 Emmanuelites who represented us at Arlington Street Church last Sunday for the Stop Hunger Now. 20,000 meals (of about 4 servings each) were prepared and boxed for shipping in about two hours with help from people of all ages. We're already looking forward to doing it again next year!
February 7th: Annual Meeting -
The Annual Meeting of Emmanuel Church will be held next
Sunday, February 7th in the Parish Hall following the
church service. Officers and vestry members, as well as other representatives will be elected and the state of the parish will be reviewed. A simple lunch of salad, quiche and dessert will be served. Plan to be there. It's fun! Really! Pick up your draft copy of the Annual Report this Sunday in the Parish Hall.
DioMass Mission Strategy Development
It's time to create a new mission strategy for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. A mission strategy is a plan for our future. It identifies our priorities, so we know how to best use our financial, staff and other resources. Our mission strategy is a response to the particular gifts of our diocese and the changing needs of our communities in eastern Massachusetts. It identifies the ways that we hope to answer Jesus' call to be disciples together across our Diocese.
We need your voice in the listening process.
Make a plan to attend one of the open forums or to complete a survey by phone or via the diocesan website. Encourage other members of our congregation to take part with you. Pray that together we will be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit.
* Attend an open forum discussion: Feb 13, 2016 - 3:00-4:30pm at St. John's Church, Beverly Farms, MA or Feb 27, 2016 - 10:00-11:30am at Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, MA
* Take the online survey: http://www.diomass.org/new-mission-strategy
* Take the phone survey: The toll-free number is 855-208-5877.
2016 Pledges - Please make a pledge! -
To date we have received 96 pledges, including 18 pledges from new members of the Emmanuel community. We are most grateful for the generosity and timeliness of so many individuals and families. Last year we received a total of 111 pledges, and we hope this year to exceed this number in our collective goal to offer the special and unique Emmanuel welcome to very many again this year. We hope that the large majority of pledges will be received by mid-January so that the vestry can approved the budget for
2016 with as much information about income as possible.
An
Evening with John Philip Newell, Friday, Feb. 5
Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Perspective ~ Listening with the Earth.
6:00-9:00 pm
.
Join John Philip Newell, internationally renowned practitioner of Celtic Spirituality and former Warden of the Iona Abbey in Scotland, for an evening of prayer, fellowship and discussion. Nurture your own personal prayer life and build relationships with fellow seekers from across Boston's faith communities.
6:00 pm
~
Contemplative prayer led by John Philip Newell
,
6:45 pm
~
Dinner & Discussion
Hosted by Trinity Church, Copley Square. Prayer free and open to the public. Register for the dinner and discussion; $10 for adults, $5 for students, at trinitychurchboston.tix.com
. Supported by the Boston/Cambridge Intentional Community Mission Hub, The Crossing, Emmanuel Church, Old South
Church in Boston, MIT Lutheran-Episcopal Chaplaincy, Unite Boston, and the Beacon Hill Friends House.
Lenten Series: Preparing to be made new.
This year's Lenten Supper Series for three Thursdays in Lent:
February 18, February 25, and March 3 from 6 pm - 8 pm. Local artist and educator, Hannah Burr, is returning to Emmanuel to collaborate with Pam Werntz in an exploration of prayer practices involving collective art-making. A simple vegetarian soup supper will be provided. Come for one, two or all three Thursday sessions as you are able. Space is limited. Register by emailing Pam at
[email protected].
I Win, We Lose is the title of a new book of selected writings of John Hall Snow, who was professor of theology at Episcopal Divinity School for nearly two decades.
Congratulations to
The Rev. Dr. Rick Stecker for editing the work and getting it to press! We will plan a reading and forum in the near future!
Congratulations also to
Betsy Bunn who has just published
Another Look: Growing up in The Jim Crow South. Our former rector, Bill Blaine-Wallace has written the foreward, and parishioner Meg Abbey has contributed the artwork. Betsy will do a book reading on
Sunday, March 13 after our worship service.
More fruits of our labor
- Catherine Healy was our seminarian in 2014-2015 and was ordained to the transitional diaconate in the Diocese of Oregon this past June. Here is the invitation to Cat's priestly ordination. Our rector will be preaching.
By the Grace of God and the people consenting, The Right Reverend Alan MacIntosh Gates, Bishop of Massachusetts will ordain Catherine Healy to the Sacred Order of Priests in Christ's One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, on behalf of the Bishop of Oregon on Saturday, February 27 at 10:30 am at St. Andrew's Church in Wellesley. Your prayers and presence are requested. Clergy: Red stoles
Bible Study this month -
Bible Study meets in odd-numbered months each Tuesday morning from 7:30-8:30 a.m. in the Emmanuel Room (on the other side of the kitchen). Come whenever you are able to join us for this lively conversation.
The Orpheus Singers
, directed by James Olesen, will have their next concert, "Across the Centuries - A Song Recital for Many Voices," on Saturday, Feb 27 at 8:00 pm in the Lindsey Chapel. This concert of choral songs is like an anthology of poems, gathered together from many ages to form one volume. The poems these songs set bear relevance in all times without regard to fashions or trends. Reverence for music; the ever-abiding concern for the soul; the present relevance of writing from the past; being in nature at the break of day or longing for summer as winter approaches; and thoughts at the end of a day, either meditating on meaning, anticipating the dawn, or experiencing deep quiet are all in this concert's pieces. Admission is by donation. Flyer below:
Two
Pre-Confirmation Retreats
will be held this spring for adults who are considering confirmation in the Episcopal Church: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016, and Saturday, April 2, 2016. Locations are still being decided. Either Bishop Alan M. Gates or Bishop Gayle E. Harris will be with present for part of each retreat day. FOR INFORMATION: Amy Cook, Congregational Resources and Training
(617-482-4826, ext. 645
or
[email protected]
).
Fruit of the Vine at Communion
- Our trial use of adding grape
juice at communion has been declared a success! Both grape juice
and wine will be served at the communion station in front of the baptismal font. The grape juice will be in the ceramic chalice. Only wine is available at the rail. Our offering of non-alcoholic fruit of the vine is in response to recent calls within the Episcopal Church for Episcopalians to re-examine our relationship with alcohol, and because of our heritage of the Emmanuel Movement (forebear of AA). As a matter of theology, the Episcopal Church teaches that receiving only bread or only wine constitutes full communion. However, just as we began to offer gluten-free bread, we add non-fermented grape juice to our sacramental offering to extend the hospitality of the sacrament.
Name Tags for All -
Because it's always nice to be able to attach a name to a face, we encourage you to wear a name tag. You may find them along the wall in the Parish Hall, alphabetized by FIRST name. And in our efforts to make Emmanuel Church a more welcoming and inclusive community for all, we invite you to put your pronouns (he/him, she/her, etc.) on your name tag. By doing this, we help make Emmanuel Church a more welcoming place for transgender worshippers. If you don't see a name tag along the wall in the Parish Hall, and would like to have one, please find Penny Lane at coffee hour or email her at [email protected] with your name and pronouns.
Have you ever wondered about the stories behind Emmanuel's beautiful building? Today, it is home to thriving communities from Emmanuel Church and Central Reform Temple, to Twelve-Step programs and ministries to the homeless, and to dozens of music and performing arts events from Emmanuel Music and others every year. We are excited to announce that Emmanuel Church is starting to offer free, guided tours of its historic Sanctuary and Leslie Lindsey Chapel. For a taste of Boston's 19th century history and an eyeful of Boston's best architecture in the oldest building on Newbury Street, call Christen Mills at (617) 536-3355 x21 or email at
[email protected] to schedule a tour.
"This Week at Emmanuel"
E-News & Updates
"This Week at Emmanuel" is a weekly e-mail digest of announcements and upcoming events at Emmanuel. If you'd like to receive these, simply e-mail Amanda March at [email protected].
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Musings from the Margins...
Hello everyone! After a refreshing winter break, it is amazing to be back at Emmanuel again! I was both anxious and gleeful to be able to see people again after being gone for almost a month. The thought that people might be resentful of my absence or that I would need to re-earn some trust made me slightly worried about returning, but I was energized by the idea of reconnecting with the amazing communities at common art, Cafe Emmanuel, and Art and Spirituality once again. Upon returning to common art, I was warmly greeted by many members of the community, which was amazing and so positively affirming for me. However, one interaction I had with a common art member sticks out to me the most because it was both deeply touching yet also humbling. One woman came up to me and said, "it's good to see you back again!" Her statement was intentional and warm, and I responded, "thank you, it's great to see you too!" She then continued, "when you first left, I missed you, but then after a little while I forgot about you." After this statement, she let out a little chuckle, and I couldn't help but laugh in return; her honestly was not meant to convey malice but instead the humor of the situation. Whether or not she realized it, she was demonstrating her resilience to change and loss through her humor. It's funny how quickly she went from noting my absence to not remembering me at all (I mean it had only been a month!), and this reminded me that, as a volunteer, I am merely one of many faces that the people I serve come into contact with on a weekly basis. To say that I am merely one of many faces is not meant to demean the importance of volunteering and serving the needs of others, but it is meant to be a reminder - to myself if anyone - that I am not inherently important to a person just because I assist them. People may or may not connect with me; they may or may not feel assisted by me; they may or may not miss me when we eventually part ways. Some people will remember me and the ways I have affected or influenced them forever, and some people will forget me in a month. Life and people are funny in that way, and I think it's beautiful to be reminded to not take myself too seriously and to stay humble.
- Briana Heller
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Amanda March,
Parish Operations Manager
617-536-3355, x 10
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