The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

St. Paul's in Holyoke offering weekly lunches for veterans

By Don Treeger | dtreeger@repub.com on September 23, 2016 at 5:59 AM, updated September 23, 2016 at 6:01 AM For Gina Nelson, a meal is a stepping stone. She organized a weekly free lunch for veterans at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 485 Appleton St. in Holyoke in the hopes that a meal will foster […]

New sober home opens doors in Webster

By Craig S. Semon Telegram & Gazette Staff WEBSTER – Downtown Webster’s new sober home, Reconciliation House, officially opened its doors Saturday with a blessing and dedication ceremony. And if you listened to the Rev. Janice C. Ford’s inspiring words very closely, you would swear that it sounded like the doorman and security guard for […]

New leader at Leicester's Christ Episcopal looks beyond Sunday

Reverend Aileen DiBenedetto poses for a photo in front of Christ Episcopal Church in Leicester. Photo/Matthew Healey Posted Sep 17, 2016 at 6:00 AMUpdated Sep 17, 2016 at 11:00 AM By Winston W. Wiley Telegram & Gazette Staff LEICESTER — If there is an approach that will mark the Rev. Aileen E. DiBenedetto’s three-year term as priest-in-charge of Christ Episcopal Church, it may be her […]

Faith Matters: Reimagining the Church for the future

THE REV. CHRISTOPHER CARLISLE Director, Cathedral in the Light Friday, September 02, 2016 (Editor: The following is a submission to The Recorder’s weekly column titled “Faith Matters.” Each Saturday, a different faith leader in Franklin County offers a personal perspective in this space. For information on becoming part of this series, email religion@recorder.com or call […]

Mass. bishops invite youth, Episcopalians of all ages to a pre-election “walk and talk”

With the approaching culmination this fall of an election year that many have found to be especially vitriolic and divisive nationally, the bishops of the two Episcopal dioceses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are planning to come together as neighbors on Saturday, Oct. 22 to walk a route that stretches through both dioceses and to […]

Faith Matters: Warning: I talk religion and politics

By REV. HEATHER BLAIS Pastor, St. James Episcopal People do not know what to do with me at a party. And not just because my jokes are pretty lame and I insist Birkenstocks remain the latest hot fashion footwear. The real reason is because my two favorite topics are religion and politics. I loved them […]

Reconciliation House

VESTRY PAPERS / Buildings & Grounds [& Mission] Reconciliation House By Janice Ford, part of the Vestry Papers issue on Buildings & Grounds [& Mission] (July 2016) For the past four years I have been volunteering two days a month at the Worcester County House of Correction (WHOC) in West Boylston, Massachusetts, providing spiritual direction, […]

Episcopal Bishops Support Commonwealth's AG on Assault Weapons Law

Episcopal Bishops Support Commonwealth’s AG on Enforcement of Assault Weapons Law Healey is “working to remove weapons of war from our communities” July 29, 2016 [Springfield, Mass.] — The Episcopal bishops in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have issued a joint statement of support for Attorney General Maura Healey. In her Op Ed published in the […]

Bishop Makes Historic Appointment: Rabbi in Residence

Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro joins Cathedral staff With the Rev. Tom Callard I am pleased to announce the appointment of Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro as Christ Church Cathedral’s first “Rabbi in Residence” effective September 1. He will teach adult education classes, preach periodically at the Sunday liturgy and offer his wisdom on a host of […]

Statement from Bishop Fisher: Baton Rouge, St. Paul and Dallas

In Christ all things hold together. Colossians 1:17 During his lifetime, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. saw terrible violence and lost his life for speaking the truth to our nation. I find myself wondering what he would say to us today. His way of nonviolence – Jesus’ way – meant that we had to watch Selma […]

Episcopal bishop urges political engagement during election year

By Anne-Gerard Flynn | Special to The Republican June 23, 2016 at 1:09 PM, updated June 23, 2016 at 3:48 PM SPRINGFIELD – The Right Rev. Douglas Fisher, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, has issued a statement on the upcoming presidential election encouraging “our church leaders to urge people to vote, to […]

Bishop Fisher's Statement on Orlando Shooting

More death. More Words. And no action. They lurk in ambush in public squares and in secret places they murder the innocent; they spy out the helpless. Psalm 10:8 I write to you again in response to yet another mass shooting in America. Elementary schools, high schools, movie theaters, shopping malls, office buildings, churches […]

After a year of repairs and 'tens of thousands' of dollars, St. Paul's Episcopal Church organ is good as new (video, photos)

By Rebecca Everett | reverett@masslive.com on June 02, 2016 at 10:37 AM HOLYOKE — Playing the organ is no simple feat; in addition to two keyboards, there are a set of pedals that can be played like a keyboard, pedals to change the volume and swell, and many other buttons to change the how the […]

Episcopalians #WearOrange to raise call for action against gun violence

By ENS staff | June 2, 2016 [Episcopal News Service] Episcopalians across the church wore orange shirts, orange ribbons and even orange liturgical stoles June 2 as a sign of their commitment to reducing gun violence in their communities. The Wear Orange movement began in 2013 after Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old high school student, was […]

16 clergy members arrested at West Roxbury Lateral gas pipeline protest

By Julie M. Cohen jcohen@wickedlocal.com ROSLINDALE Singing songs and reciting prayers as their legs dangled over a deep trench, 16 clergy members were arrested while protesting Spectra Energy’s West Roxbury Lateral gas pipeline along Grove Street in West Roxbury on Wednesday. Participating religious denominations included American Baptist, Buddhist, Episcopal, Hindu, Jewish, Presbyterian, United Church of […]

Episcopal Cathedral fund-raiser to help children in Syria

By Anne-Gerard Flynn | Special to The Republican Email the author | Follow on Twitter on May 24, 2016 at 9:31 AM, updated May 24, 2016 at 5:06 PM SPRINGFIELD – The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts’ Christ Church Cathedral is sponsoring an inter-faith fund-raiser to aid children in war-torn Syria. The June 5th event, […]

Faith Matters: Ministry in a time of transition

By REV. DR. MOLLY SCHERM Priest in Charge, St. Andrews Episcopal Church Friday, April 29, 2016 The parish I minister in, as well as my previous parish — and, in fact, virtually all mainline Christian congregations today — look quite a bit different from the church I grew up in. The pews are much less […]

Church hopes to harness faith in fight against addiction

Logan LeavittPublished: April 15, 2016, 6:06 pm Updated: April 15, 2016, 6:44 pm GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A Greenfield church believes spirituality can help stop addiction. The Second Congregational Church hosted a workshop attended by faith-based leaders, treatment providers and professionals who work with the addiction community. The featured speaker, Rev. Janice Ford, talked about how […]

Sober House in Webster featured in The Living Church

Lenox Episcopal churches enter into shared-services partnership

By Clarence Fanto cfanto@yahoo.com @BE_cfanto on Twitter POSTED: 03/29/2016 05:07:10 PM EDT | UPDATED: 2 DAYS AGO LENOX — A new shared-services partnership at the town’s two Episcopal churches is yielding financial savings, efficiencies and a unity of purpose and mission. The formal covenant between Trinity Church downtown and St. Helena’s Chapel in New […]

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St. Paul's in Holyoke offering weekly lunches for veterans

New sober home opens doors in Webster

New leader at Leicester's Christ Episcopal looks beyond Sunday

Faith Matters: Reimagining the Church for the future

Mass. bishops invite youth, Episcopalians of all ages to a pre-election “walk and talk”

Faith Matters: Warning: I talk religion and politics

Reconciliation House

Episcopal Bishops Support Commonwealth's AG on Assault Weapons Law

Bishop Makes Historic Appointment: Rabbi in Residence

Statement from Bishop Fisher: Baton Rouge, St. Paul and Dallas

Episcopal bishop urges political engagement during election year

Bishop Fisher's Statement on Orlando Shooting

After a year of repairs and 'tens of thousands' of dollars, St. Paul's Episcopal Church organ is good as new (video, photos)

Episcopalians #WearOrange to raise call for action against gun violence

16 clergy members arrested at West Roxbury Lateral gas pipeline protest

Episcopal Cathedral fund-raiser to help children in Syria

Faith Matters: Ministry in a time of transition

Church hopes to harness faith in fight against addiction

Sober House in Webster featured in The Living Church

Lenox Episcopal churches enter into shared-services partnership

Mission Matters

21st Century Congregations

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