Morning Prayer for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: June 28, 2020
We invite you to join our service on Sundays at 9 a.m. on Facebook. We look forward to “seeing” you there.
Here are the Scripture passages for the day.
Download the bulletin here.
Join us for service here or on Facebook.
Sign up for B-LOVE for B-Safe!
Read a pdf of the sermon.
June 23, 2020: Today’s edition of Beloved Spaces comes to you from the magnificent Te Deum window high above the Highland Avenue entrance to the Church. Te Deum is shorthand for the Latin phrase, “We praise You, oh God.” Watch the video below, or on our Youtube Channel.
The window depicts Jesus ruling the earth in majesty. Of note are the figures representing various races comprising our common humanity. While they may seem a bit ham-handed, they remind us that in our glorious diversity, we are equally loved and treasured, and take our significance from the Lord who created heaven and earth and all that is therein.
To help us grow in appreciation of our God-given diversity, join in the facilitated town wide conversation “At My Neighbor’s Table” on Unpacking Racism, Wednesday at 6 p.m. Register here.
Then, join our Watch Party of the documentary “13th” on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. Please email the office for the link to join (office@ccneedham.org).
We invite you to join our service on Sundays at 9 a.m. live on Facebook. We look forward to “seeing” you there.
Morning Prayer for the Third Sunday after Pentecost: June 21, 2020 (Fathers’ Day)
We invite you to join our service on Sundays at 9 a.m. on Facebook. We look forward to “seeing” you there.
Here are the Scripture passages for the day.
Download the bulletin here.
Join us for service here or on Facebook.
BELOVED SPACES: THE CHAPEL – 12-year-old Jesus, Fathers’ Day, and Parenting
June 14, 2020: Welcome to another edition of Beloved Spaces. Today we’re in the Chapel, where we are refinishing the hardwood floors we discovered under the fraying carpet. The Chapel has a beautiful set of windows depicting the life of Christ, starting with Gabriel’s encounter with Mary and ending with his Ascension. Today we look at the window featuring Jesus as a twelve year old, based on a section from the Gospel of Luke. It is the only passage in the Bible that describes Jesus at a time of his life other than when he was an infant or a grown man. It seemed a good window, and Bible passage, to look at in light of the approach of Fathers’ Day this coming Sunday.
Watch the video here.
Beloved Spaces was featured in the Parish Circuit section of Diomass eNews! Link to the newsletter here and scroll down until you see a picture of Nick in green.
The Second Sunday after Pentecost: June 14
We invite you to join our service on Sundays at 9 a.m. live on Facebook or here. We look forward to “seeing” you there. If you would like to receive the bulletin, please email the office (office@ccneedham.org) to get on the mailing list.
Here are the Scripture passages for the day.
Download the bulletin here.
Watch the service below or on our Facebook page.
Sunday, June 7: Trinity Sunday
We invite you to join our service on Sundays at 9 a.m. on Facebook. We look forward to “seeing” you there. If you would like to receive the bulletin, please email the office (office@ccneedham.org) to get on the mailing list.
Here are the Scripture passages for the day.
Click here for the bulletin.
Watch the service below or on our Facebook page.
Read the sermon here.
***PLEASE NOTE: The sermon was challenging to hear due to technical glitches. Scroll down to the second video to watch the rerecorded sermon here, or click here to watch on Facebook.
The service:
The rerecorded sermon:
The bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts issued on June 1, 2020, the following statement to the diocesan community.
June 1, 2020
Dear People of the Diocese of Massachusetts,
Yesterday afternoon we stood in Boston with other religious leaders as “Clergy United in Prayer, Protest, Peace, and Justice.” Sponsored by the Black Ministerial Alliance and the Massachusetts Council of Churches, the demonstration’s speakers called “for the swift prosecution of those perpetuating violence on black bodies and killing; for justice in our nation and in our neighborhoods, in…a pandemic that exposes the massive injustice of unequal access to basic physical and mental health care which communities of color have had to endure.”
The demonstration included prayer for the dead, and for the living, “for the broken-hearted and those losing hope.” In devastating wordlessness, we held silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds – the length of time it took to snuff out the life of George Floyd with a knee to his neck.
That afternoon protest was peaceful, as were several other large demonstrations throughout the day. When night fell, however, the protests turned violent, with significant destruction to property in the area surrounding our Cathedral Church of St. Paul.
We decry every manifestation of violence. This includes the destructive violence which followed peaceful protests in Boston this weekend. If we experience these events as extraordinary, however, we must recognize that acts of violence done to black and brown bodies are anything but. The recent, appalling deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery are but the latest in our nation’s 400-year history of violence against people of color, manifestations of our sin of racism and the culture of unexamined white supremacy. Until we understand and acknowledge all of these forms of violence as integrally connected, we can never hope to make our prayers for peace anything more than wishful thinking.
We commend to you Dean Amy McCreath’s letter earlier today [available here ] reporting effects of last night’s violence surrounding our cathedral, and reflecting upon ways to respond.
We commend to you also yesterday’s essay in The Washington Post [available here ] by our presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, who issues this call:
“I see us channeling our holy rage into concrete, productive and powerful action …. Love looks like making the long-term commitment to racial healing, justice and truth-telling – knowing that, without intentional, ongoing intervention on the part of every person of good will, America will cling to its original, racist ways of being. … Now is the time for all of us to show – in our words, our actions, and our lives – what love really looks like.”
Faithfully yours,
The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates
The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris
Christ Episcopal Church, Needham
1132 Highland Ave., Needham, MA 02494 · 781-444-1469
Contact Us · Map & Directions · Privacy Policy · Sitemap · Login
© Copyright
