Boston University Marsh Chapel
|
|
Greetings!
We send a prayer for grace and peace to one and all, along with some points of information for this season.
First, please carefully note the Lenten schedule and opportunities for regular and special worship services. In the last few years, Ash Wednesday (2/22/23) has become a very fully observed day, among our student population. Our Lenten Bible Study with Bill Cordts begins Sunday, March 12th at 12:30PM, in the Thurman Room. Palm Sunday (4/2/23), as was the case last year, is a traditional Litany of the Palms liturgy (with the Passion readings reserved for services later in the week. The Good Friday service (4/7/23) features special music and speakers this year. Our Easter Vigil service (4/8/23) again includes baptisms and the sermon from our beloved former Dean, Rev. Dr. Robert Cummings Neville. We continue with three Easter Sunday services on 4/9/23. We hope you will be able to join us for as many of these services as possible! Our Lenten Devotional series is now in its tenth year, and we are endlessly grateful for the work that the Rev. Dr. Jessica Chicka, and Al Carrol, and our devoted writers, invest in this project. If you would like to join the email list to receive these daily meditations, click here.
Second, later in the spring we will be shifting our broadcast through WBUR, from live radio to virtual, audio-visual livestream, beginning on June 1, a bold expansion into the digital age. In the coming months, you can expect to receive further information about this change, including guidance for use and access, and special phone and email contact points for those who would like assistance. For those who currently listen through the WBUR website there will be very little difference, except for the addition of video. For our radio listeners, these technical upgrades may necessitate shifting to one of our online platforms on the WBUR website or the Marsh Chapel website. We are also working to establish listening options for those who do not have internet access. The University and WBUR have together decided to move in this direction, at this time. In addition, the University is generously investing in equipment and infrastructure that could allow for direct livestream viewing of additional services and events (potential livestreamed events may include Bach lectures, weekday worship services, special events, and other planned services), at a high level of excellence in broadcast. Our senior staff has begun dreaming about and working on all this. There is a great deal of excitement and optimism about how this will position us, and expand the reach of the pulpit and voice of Marsh Chapel, over the next several decades. I have asked my senior colleague and dear friend Dr. Scott Allen Jarrett, Marsh Chapel Director of Music, to help guide our work on this project, with leadership in the area of Arts and Cultural Engagement. Please ‘watch this space’ over the next several months regarding potential ‘pilot’ events, and for further communication.
Third, with joyful excitement I am delighted to share with you the arrival of our Associate Chaplain for Student Outreach. Mr. Jonathan Byung Hoon Lee is a graduate of Davidson College and Yale Divinity School. Jonathan brings a personal, energetic commitment to this new position, meant to engage students with invitation, welcome and outreach, for Sunday worship and support for the many weekday events we currently offer. He will work within the Ministry Department, reporting to University Chaplains, the Rev. Dr. Jessica Chicka and the Rev. Dr. Karen Coleman. Jonathan will be an additional face of personal connection on the campus, meeting with religious life groups and expanding our physical presence at university events and gatherings. We are so pleased that Jonathan is coming our way! He begins on March 6th, so please make a point to introduce yourself to him and help him get to know the names and faces of this vibrant community.
Finally, and of special note, Marsh Chapel was dedicated in March of 1950, 73 years ago this coming month. The 75th Anniversary of the dedication will thus arrive in 2025. We are looking forward to making plans for a festive celebration of that milestone in 2025, with the exact date yet to be determined--a mere and brief two years from now!
The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill
Dean, Marsh Chapel
Professor, New Testament and Pastoral Theology
Chaplain to the University, Office of Religious Life
Boston University
617-358-3394
|
|
Ash Wednesday Offerings at Marsh
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
|
|
Repentance, Reflection, and Renewal: Lent Devotions 2023 |
The season of Lent calls us into a time repentance, reflection, and renewal. Starting on Ash Wednesday, we are reminded of our mortality, and the ways in which we may have fallen short in our relationship with others and God. Lent invites us into self-reflection on what is of value in our lives, ways we can make changes, and how to remove obstacles that keep us from meaningful experiences with the Divine. Finally, we find renewal in the promise found at the end of our journey of Lent, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This year, our Lenten devotional series will examine repentance, reflection, and renewal through prophetic voices found in the Bible. The prophets provide a lens through which the human experience and human relationship with the Divine can be explored. We will start with the prophetic writings in the book of Isaiah and end with the prophetic teachings found in Jesus' ministry.
Throughout the season, Marsh Chapel staff, students, and friends will provide daily reflections based on scripture passages, culminating on Easter Sunday. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Marsh Chapel devotion series for Lent.
If you have received our devotions in the past, you are already enrolled in our email list. If you are new to our devotions and would like to receive them, please enroll HERE.
|
|
|
|
Lenten Bible Study with Bill Cordts |
Sundays, March 12, 19, & 26th. 12:30PM. Thurman Room. On three Sundays this Lent, Bill Cordts will lead a community Bible Study after worship. This year's Bible Study will explore connections between the New Testament story of Jesus's death and resurrection and the Old Testament Book of Isaiah. What connects these two sources, written hundreds of years apart? Why did early Christians call Isaiah the "fifth gospel?" Come learn and discuss together!
|
|
Marsh Chapel Choir to sing Beethoven's 9th at Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall |
The Chapel Choir along with our Director of Music, Dr. Scott Allen Jarrett have been asked to join the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus Pro Musica in their performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. They will perform the piece at Boston's Symphony Hall on Friday, February 24th and then at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Sunday, February 26th. The Sunday performance will be livestreamed. Tickets for the livestream and more information can be found by following this link. |
|
|
|
|
The InnerStrength Gospel Choir is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this April and they need our help!
Here is a section taken from their crowdfunding campaign:"We are celebrating our 50th anniversary with a reunion celebrating 3 past directors and 1 current, with alumni from over the last 40 years. The goal is to ensure that the ISGC legacy lives on, encouraging and inspiring the Boston community for years to come. Fostering community through song and fellowship, we hope to empower students to go to their future communities with a desire to continue modeling service and community."
The funds they raise will go toward expenses for the 50th Anniversary events.
|
|
Weekly Programming for BU Students |
|
|
|
Boston University Marsh Chapel
735 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
|
|
Copyright © 2023. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
