New co-pastors Rev. Barb Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay will be at the church office on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 9:00am to noon. Please feel free to call or stop by to meet them!

The Hospitality Committee is also hosting outdoor and virtual events for the congregation to get to know Mitch and Barb. People can reserve a spot for any of the gatherings, on Thursdays at 7pm or Saturdays at 10 am. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 8 guests and will have individually packaged food offerings. Fill out this survey to sign up for a gathering you'd like to attend or contact Kathy Hess at kmhess@mit.edu for more information.

The Church Council has voted to allow more people to attend worship on Sunday mornings. In making this decision the church used an analytical tool developed by MIT, which you can also access by going to https://indoor-covid-safety.herokuapp.com/ .  The analytical tool, with data for our sanctuary and worship, showed that making this decision was a very cautious and safe step toward the journey of opening fully. If you are interested in attending a Sunday morning worship service, you must go to this google form - https://forms.gle/rjbQPEzZnGdSGXjeA - and register your interest. We will then assign people to Sundays and be in touch relative to the date for attendance. Masks and social distancing are required for all attendees and there will be no singing by attenders in worship. Please keep this process in your prayers and and let us know if you have any questions at office@harvardepworthchurch.org

We're kicking off this season's SUP devotional series - summer video devotionals where you can join Rev. Natalie to reflect on faith and life from the back of a paddleboard. New episodes are available each Monday at the Circuit YouTube channel!

During the "online reality" that we find ourselves in, it is difficult for new people to get a sense of who we are as a church. Therefore, the Welcome and Evangelism committee is inviting people to submit a video (30 seconds or less) that introduces themselves and says what they find special about our church. We are hoping to put together a number of these short videos and release them in the coming weeks and months. This will be a great way for people to get a sense of this ministry we share in together. Please consider recording a short video and emailing it to Erin Lee, our Welcome & Evangelism Chair, at erinism614@gmail.com. Thank you in advance for being a part of this important opportunity of welcome! 

Harvard-Epworth is making a commitment through this crisis we find ourselves to provide opportunities to connect each day.  Look for an email tomorrow that will outline program and support opportunities for next week. To see this week's programs and opportunities, click here.

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/93538291213

You can also join by phone at 1 929 205 6099. The meeting ID is ID 935 3829 1213.

All young adults are invited to the events hosted by the group, which usually range from engaging discussions to outings and meals.

If you are a young adult and you have a few minutes, take a look at this short survey and share your thoughts on our current and potential programming for the summer. This is a quick and easy way to gauge what everyone would be interested in and comfortable with as summer begins and social distancing requirements loosen up, but if you have questions or want to talk more at length about programming, you can reach Sarah Harbaugh at sarah@harvardepworthchurch.org.

These life groups meet weekly on Sundays at 7:00pm. If you would like to join the life groups or learn more, please email Sarah. If you have a moment, please consider filling out this brief survey to check on how Lifegroups has been helpful this past semester and how it should continue this summer.

Neighborhood Text Groups: Connect with Your HEUMC Neighbors! As vaccines roll-out and weather improves, several young adults have volunteered to coordinate neighborhood group texts. Find someone to go for a masked walk, share info of interest for your neighbors, and check-in with your church family near you.

Right now we have Clara coordinating a group in JP, Janie connecting folks in Cambridge, and Bailey organizing people in Brighton. If you would like to join one of these group texts, please email Sarah with your phone number and your neighborhood. Is your neighborhood not represented? Connect with Sarah to set up your own group text. Please reach out with any questions.

Here's the link: https://zoom.us/j/91661255884

If you would like to take a tour of Harvard-Epworth join Rev. Taylor as he gives a brief visit to the building by going to https://youtu.be/Lp1YeyzDP84 or clicking the image below!

If you'd like to learn more about Harvard-Epworth, you can watch this video from the Harvard Square Business Association's (HSBA) "Sacred Spaces and Good Works" project by clicking on this link. 

Thanks to all those who have donated to the Stained Glass Window Project. We have raised over $30,000 of our $35,000 goal, so are hopeful that we will reach it soon. Please help ensure the light of God shines bright and that these stained glass windows continue to inspire for decades to come.

   This individual giving, plus funds available within the church and a grant from the Cambridge Historic Commission combine for us to accomplish this $125,000 project to restore and refurbish the stained glass windows which have not yet been restored. This project will include the large windows behind the altar, as well as 15 other windows in the sanctuary and vestry hall. As you can see in the photo below, the stained glass windows have already been taken out and work has begun on them. We took photos of the windows people could see on the worship livestream and hung these posters in front of the weather tight wood structure that replaced the windows

Please send in a check to the church (1555 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138) or go to http://harvardepworthchurch.org/giving/ and click on Give Now so you can be a part of this important effort. Note on your gift that this is for the Stained Glass Window Project.(This picture is from Easter, 2017.)

Friday Cafe will now works in a bag-lunch format, offering lunches provided by caring neighbors like you! With the help of Doing Good Together, Friday Cafe has set up an online signup  where you can commit to making 10 or more bagged lunches each week. Sign up to make sandwiches once, or once a month, or every week, if you want to! This is a great activity to do with kids, if you're home with family and looking for things to do. Lunches can be dropped off curbside on Fridays from 12:30-1:00: You don't even have to get out of your car. Just text Rev. Kate Layzer, Director of the Friday Cafe, at (617) 851-5074, and she'll come to you.

Remember that we have a Harvard Epworth Church Member Online Directory.  You can log in to the directory by going to directory.harvardepworthchurch.org by clicking on the link in the menu on the church website (it's next to the live stream link).

Current users can reset their password with the "Need a password" button on the directory login. If you don't have a directory account or access to it, email office@harvardepworthchurch.org  and we will be in touch with login information for you.