ABUNDANT Times -- APRIL 2017

A publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

Sharing Our Stories

APRIL 2017

From Bishop Fisher

Books Shape How We Think, Act and Pray This issue of Abundant Times includes interviews with local authors about their new books. I’ve decided to reflect here on books which have had an impact on my life. This is not an exhaustive list. For instance, I am not including the Bible for this column. You might remember hearing about that book (actually, the Bible is a library of books) at other times. I have been an avid reader since our parents read Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and Little Men to my sister and I when we were very young. And in my early years in grammar school I devoured the entire We Were There history series.

After I read The Grapes of Wrath as a teenager, I knew I had to read everything John Steinbeck ever wrote. Many years later, when my son was a teenager, he read everything Kurt Vonnegut ever wrote. Steinbeck gave me a desire for social justice. And he gave this middle class suburban kid a glimpse into another world beyond my experience. As did The Autobiography of Malcom X. Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird modeled for me the character of a hero. Still does. A Separate Peace by John Knowles was the “coming of age” novel about morality, loss of innocence and ultimate forgiveness that has become truer the older I get.

Of the 63 books written by monk Thomas Merton, the one I reread the most is New Seeds of Contemplation. Rosemary Haughton in The Transformation of Man taught me that much of our lives is given to formation – as in making ourselves better people and developing a relationship with God. But transformation cannot be mapped out. We cannot transform ourselves.

Transformation can only happen when something in our life falls apart. That is when we have the possibility of being a “new creation” through grace and we rely on the language of our formation to make sense of it. Now that I am well into the second half of life, Richard Rohr’s Falling Upwards inspires me to find ways to “give away” the self, which formed in my first half of life. I’m fascinated by personal development and change. The author who taught me the most about it is Robert Kagen in The Evolving Self and In Over Our Heads.

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“Rosemary Haughton, in The Transformation of Man, taught me that much of our lives is given to formation – as in making ourselves better people and developing a relationship with God.”

The Jesuit scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s The Phenomenon of Man and The Divine Milieu helped me get a cosmic view of humanity and evolution.

It gives me hope that despite evil in the world, we are moving toward the “Omega Point.” The end of the world is not destruction, but fulfillment.

Another Jesuit, Karl Rahner, helped me see that we are made for God. We all have a “supernatural existential” – we are hardwired for God. Of his many books, Foundations of Christian Faith is the best.

Like many preachers, I have taken sermon ideas from Barbara Brown Taylor.

All of her books are wonderful, with Bread of Angels at the top of my list.

For preaching social justice, I constantly turn to Walter Brueggemann who convinces me the Church has a counter-narrative to consumerism, militarism and nationalism. Preachers are to proclaim a “subversive message” to a “community of subversives.” My copies of The Prophetic Imagination and Mandate to Difference have many dog-eared pages.

My understanding of Jesus has been shaped by many authors, but books I often return to are Rabbi Jesus: The Jewish Life and Teachings That Inspired Christianity by Bruce Chilton and The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright. Here is a “liberal” and “conservative” view of Jesus, both of which are true.

There may be no greater issue of our time than climate change. The foundational work to understand this is Bill McKibben’s The End of Nature.

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance woke me up to an often overlooked culture in our county. Just as The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander unveiled the harsh truth of continuing racism.

These are some of the books that have influenced me. I am grateful for these sources of wisdom and inspiration. What are the books that have shaped the way you think, and act, and pray? +Doug

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Sharing Stories Leads to a New Chapter Something New is Emerging in Sutton and North Grafton St. Andrew’s, North Grafton and St. John’s, Sutton entered into a liminal space this past December when a joint vestry retreat resulted in a clear mandate to walk together. This will not be a merger or an acquisition of one by the other. Both communities will bring their stories, their traditions, and their gifts for ministry to the table, and a new congregation will be born in the sharing and in the letting go. What is emerging between them is yet unseen. “Emerging” is their descriptor of choice. God is doing something new and both congregations are moving toward that new reality.

St. John’s and St. Andrew’s already share a history. St. Andrew’s (1890) was a mission of St. John’s (1825) before it became an independent congregation. When these congregations were founded, folks came to church via horse and buggy. Neighborhood congregations sprouted throughout New England during that age. Being able to walk or ride to church was essential. That was over one hundred years ago. Today, 21st century congregations are realizing that most people drive to the church. Sharing a mission, sharing resources and leadership make sense in the post-modern world.

How did this shared discernment take place? It was the “Recasting Assets” program, offered locally by the Episcopal Church Building Fund, that opened their eyes to the possibilities. “Recasting Assets” invited lay and ordained leaders to come together to examine resources in the light of stewardship, and to look realistically at the trends in attendance and pledging. “We started the ‘Recasting Assets’ process together in January of 2015 and very quickly after that started, sort of rediscovered each other,” said the Rev. Lisa Green. “Laura and I had been doing some stuff together…clergy colleague stuff. We had to, as part of Recasting, do a presentation of our demographics, and our pledges and budgets and we were like twins.” It became clear to all involved that together these two congregations would be better equipped for mission. The Rev. Laura Goodwin remembers, “When we started the conversations we weren’t sure what it was we were talking about. Let’s see what we can do together to share. Let’s spend some time sharing worship and talking about mission. We did some governance things. We had a couple of vestry retreats together – with no sense of ‘we want to merge.’ We said, ‘Let’s see what this feels like.’”

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The Rev. Lisa Green (left) and the Rev. Laura Goodwin.

Lisa and Laura are clear that God has been leading them in this sacred process. The two have forged a wonderful working relationship and recognize each other’s gifts.

This is helping both congregations to imagine something new. “Our teams decided to walk together during 2016.

Our vestries started meeting together in April,” Lisa said.

Both communities shifted from building to building to celebrate the Sunday Eucharist as one. Laura and Lisa developed a way to share the sermon. There has been a palpable energy in the midst of change that leads both rectors to believe that they are on the right track.

When the two vestries went on retreat in December, something unexpected happened. “What came out of it ultimately was a sense of shared vision, but also - and this was surprising, because we had not planned on this happening - there was a move to vote to say ‘yes,’ to officially say we are going to merge or, as we put it, to ‘emerge’ as one new congregation in the near future – details to be figured out later,” Laura said. “It was one of the most unusual movements of the Holy Spirit I’ve ever seen. We’d been in this conversation for over a year.”

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But this kind of change is very hard work. “At each stage anxiety comes up,” Lisa said. “Which building? Which clergy person? Those questions became front and center.

Counterintuitively, what the Spirit seems to be saying is, ‘Come together. Trust that decision.’ Say you’re one and then you’ll decide.”

“It’s not what most people want to do,” Laura responds.

“They want to figure out the details and know exactly what it’s going to look like, then they’ll decide if they’re in or out.

Wouldn’t I like it that way? That’s not the way God works, in my experience. There’s also been dealing with loads of anxiety – our own as clergy and among the people. It’s been difficult because you’re in a conversation for a year or so, and there are people who just disappear because they can’t take the uncertainty. It’s too much. And that’s really hard.

But what we’re really dealing with now is pretty solid core communities in for whatever’s next.”

One of the challenges is changing the narrative. Being a mission church and yoked together with one priest is part of the past. Moving away from competition and into relationship requires a new story. Andrew was the disciple of John the Baptist. Mining this biblical narrative has provided a different perspective.

“Right now,” Lisa reflected, “there is this beautiful kind of trust.”

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(Above) An image these two congregations have used for contemplating a shared-future. Photo: WMA

A Sunday sharing on liturgy led participants to explore their “holy envy” of the other congregation. Differences emerged, gifts were raised up. “Right now,” Lisa reflected, “there is this beautiful kind of trust.” The choirs are paving the way with a willingness to wear the robes of each congregation – blue at St. Andrew’s and red at St. John’s. Compromise is critical.

What’s also clear is that these two congregations are choosing this path. They are choosing to let go of some things in order to gain other things, integral to mission and vitality. Lisa credits her senior warden. “I tease him about being Moses. He has been the visionary. Very early on in ‘Recasting’ he just saw our communities as one.

Like, ‘I have seen the promised land.’”

There is more work ahead – buildings, naming this emerging community, leadership. The leadership question comes up a lot when people ask about this process.

“We’re modeling a sacrificial understanding of this,” Laura said. “It’s not about us.” Lisa adds, “We’ve gotten the sense of best practices. Ultimately, if what happens is a new congregation, then that new congregation should call new leadership. It’s real. We don’t know yet. It’s part of trusting the process. And I trust that will come clear – what’s best for the congregation and best for the two of us.”

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Sharing A Sacred Story The Rev. Cricket Cooper Talks About Her Book, Chemo Pilgrim The Rev. Cricket Cooper, rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Pittsfield, has written about the sacred experience of illness and the God who meets us there.

Editor: I want start with some factual background around your illness.

Cricket: In 2011 I left my parish in NH and went to graduate school at the University of VT for a two-year MA degree in speech pathology and audiology. I had just finished one year of the MA program - literally a few days before - when I found out that something was off. So I was one year into the MA program and it was also the week of my 51st birthday, so it was all tangled up in both that mid-life pivot point, and an odd time for a priest where you’re not really in a parish. I was in school, but I was actually done with for the summer with school, so I was in between communities. I could tell there was something wrong. There was something in my chest. I didn’t know what it was. I ended up in the ER. Anyway, that was May 29, 2011. The ER said we’re going to have to do some biopsies. It took a week to get in because they had to do a sedation biopsy with a CAT scan machine, and so it was a week for the biopsy and another week for the diagnosis. So the diagnosis was June 4 of 2011. Started chemo June 21. Did six rounds of chemo, had a month off, started radiation during December and finished radiation first week of 2012. Two weeks later classes started again. I skipped the fall semester so I came back into the winter semester. The first day of classes I also came down to Northampton to have lunch with Ed Farrell about some job openings here in Western Mass.

Editor: How hard was it – the decision to write about this experience?

The Rev. Cricket Cooper, rector of St. Stepehn’s Episcopal Church, Pittsfield. Photo: Episcopal WMA

Cricket: Not at all. Immediately after I was diagnosed, people started giving me cancer books – “inspirational” cancer books. And pretty quickly the theme for me was that all the authors were dead. I would take the books from friends and well-meaning family and say, “thank you so much,” and I would flip to the back cover and if it said, “lost her brave fight,” or “courageously” whatever. If the author was dead I wouldn’t read them. I had to stay so focused on not seeing that as the end of my journey. And I thought within a week or two of my diagnosis - first of all I thought about taking pilgrimages, and then I thought to myself, if I can help other people take a time that seems like it’s going to be ugly or diminishing of their life, and say what if this were a time to open up your options because of the cancer? If I could help people do it that way that would give the cancer a meaning or a purpose.

Editor: The pilgrimages…

Cricket: I suddenly thought, because I have a long history of visiting monasteries anyway, I thought what if I took this time and for each round of chemo, and there were six, picked a different place to go to. First of all

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just soak up any kind of healing or ministry, but also, quite honestly, to distract myself because I was living alone and I was afraid that I would just obsess about myself and my side effects and my illness, and I knew I needed something else to get me out of my brain. So planning field trips to monasteries was perfect.

Editor: Can you tell us what those six sacred places were?

Cricket: First was Weston Priory, a Roman Catholic monastery in VT where I had been long before, so it was sort of a little homecoming at the beginning. The second was New Skete, an Orthodox monastery in upstate NY – famous for their books on raising German Shepherds, so I’d wanted to meet them for a very long time. It gave me an excuse to do that.The third place was Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Woodstock, NY. Very old school. Most of the teachings are given in Tibetan so it was a very unusual experience. Next I went to Zen Mountain Monastery, interestingly, also in Woodstock, NY, but a very Americanized Zen monastery – just Western philosophy.

I got really sick after that round of chemo – the next round. I was going to go to SSJE – the Episcopal monastery of St. John the Evangelist. I had a reservation there but then I was sick and I was nervous about leaving town. So for the fifth round of chemo I walked a labyrinth that was nearby, and used that ancient pilgrimage symbol. For the sixth round the final round - I actually went to Rhinebeck - the NY State Sheep and Wool Festival – which, as a fiber artist, is also one of my personal holy places, plus I was meeting up with friends from all around the country there to celebrate the end of chemo.

Editor: God was with you throughout, but where was God in your face?

Cricket: For me it was that incredible domino effect of little miracles all along the way. I never really had a big expansive time in which I really got to come first in my own life, and I would not have given myself permission if I’d been working, and the fact that I was in graduate school but it was summer. We were all supposed to be working in hospitals that summer, doing an internship in swallowing as part of speech pathology - working with people after strokes. I was supposed to be at a hospital in Maine all summer, and the program had just fallen through. I literally had no plans for the summer and then I got diagnosed with cancer. There was something for me very holy about being able to turn to my own life - especially as a priest, where we’re so outwardly focused. I can’t imagine how hard that would have been if I were working fulltime. Over and over again there were just little moments, signs, where impossible things happened. I knew that, in a sense, it was God’s hand slipping in mine saying, “We got this.”

Editor: Who should read this book?

Cricket: Nobody who knows me (laughter). It was a very personal experience to write this book. I hope that people with cancer at any stage will feel like it’s an encouraging journey. The author, as of today, is still alive. I wanted a book to be out there that was hopeful.

Cricket’s book is available from Church Publishing and Amazon. Find out more on www.cricketcooper.com.

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Being Different Is the Story

Tanya Lewis teaches children about the dignity of every human being

Tanya S. Lewis Photo: The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

Tanya Wallace, member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Shrewsbury, has written an e-book for children called, Everyone Is Not The Same, And That’s OK! Editor: Where did the idea come from? How did it take shape in your mind?

Tanya: I have MS. After having ayden, my youngest child I didn’t return back to work. I needed to find what my purpose was after that. What can I do? I have three children. That’s a job in itself, but I still needed something more.

I always wanted to write. Things would come up, I’d see a commercial about a child who was paraplegic, or someone who was deaf – random things you see every day but that touched me more. I needed to make a story out of it.

With my son having a Mom who does have a disability, I wanted him to feel it’s OK – don’t feel ashamed or out of sorts. So I think that’s where the first page came from.

The story begins: Tom’s Mom runs and jumps and Jake’s Mom walks with a cane.

Everyone has something – incorporating all of the possible differences that people can have, to let children know that it’s OK.

Tanya’s iBook is available through iTunes.

Editor: How did your kids feel about the book? How did they respond when they saw it on your iPad?

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Illustrated by: Danielle M. Williams Photo: Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

Tanya: They were all involved in some way, shape or form. I incorporated their names specifically. Cayden is just very interesting. He uses the title to his advantage. Whenever he does something I don’t approve of, he says, “It’s OK, Mom. Everyone is different.” (Laughter) Editor: There can be no better message for our children – difference is good.

Tanya: I think it couldn’t have happened at a more opportune time.

Editor: Very often people will point to their faith in God’s love as being helpful, as they accept a major event in their life. Would you say that’s true for you?

Tanya: Absolutely, absolutely. That’s the only thing that’s helped me get through. That’s the reason why I wrote that story for the church [Trinity, Shrewsbury], “When Did You Find God?” When it got to a point where my condition started to became difficult for my life, I needed something to hold onto, I needed something to believe in. I needed some form of faith because I couldn’t do it by myself. It’s not something I could have pushed through with my own strength. I’ve always turned to God. Growing up, I went to St. Peter’s Church in Springfield.

Editor: You’re from Springfield originally.

Tanya: I am. Father Dwyer, I loved him. I received my first Communion and I was confirmed under Fr. Dwyer. We would go on retreats… I started off as a “book girl.” I was the “book girl” for a long time and my brother was the thurifer, and then I rose up to become an acolyte. It was just such an awesome experience. I can say that was one of the happiest memories of my childhood - being in the presence of Fr. Dwyer.

Editor: What is your biggest hope for the book?

Tanya: I want it to go big. I do. Not for monetary purposes. Not for personal recognition. To put it out there to help children feel comfortable with who they are, and comfortable with whomever they come across… I want children to see the book and say, “Wow! That looks like me.”

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Shame Is Never the End of the Story

Bishop Rob Hirschfeld Explores the Biblical and Spiritual Dimensions of Shame

We include the Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, Bishop of New Hampshire, in our WMA author series. Many of you remember that he served as rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst, for 11 years. Many of Rob’s stories in this book come from his years in parish ministry.

Editor: Where did the idea to write a book about shame come from?

Rob: There is a line in the Preface for Advent: “…that when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing (Proper Preface for Advent, Book of Common Prayer, 361, 378).” It’s been sort of nagging me for years. I’ve been thinking about the Church’s need to be evangelists. I find that one growing edge of our evangelism is to help people with their sense of shame, which I think is an almost universal human experience, and it can be debilitating and it can really shackle us. And, I don’t think that’s what God wants for us. I think part of being an evangelist is to help people address, and work through, and heal those feelings of shame which I write about in this book. I kind of define shame as that experience of not only having done something wrong, but actually being something wrong. It’s a much more existential emotion; really gets to the core of our being.

I’m coming at it from an explicitly biblical and Christian framework. I really explore a lot with liturgy in that book.

Grace Church, Amherst, really formed my understanding, my thoughts about shame because of the Maundy Thursday service. It’s really about uncovering our shame and allowing God to transform it, because Jesus takes on shame.

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The Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, Bishop of New Hampshire Photo: Episcopal Church in New Hampshire

Editor: Shame is deeply personal, and much of what you share in this book is deeply personal. How does that feel now that the book is out there?

Rob: There’s a lot that I don’t share (laughing). There are a lot of shameful things, that I’ve said and done and participated in, that I’m not ready to share in public. These are places that I’ve worked through and there is a sense of healing or closure. There’s enough scar tissue on it… When you hear preachers just talk about themselves and their own battles, if those battles aren’t really well-enough healed or behind them, if there’s not enough distance between those events and their current time, than it can be kind of scary for people. I share issues with my alcoholic Dad. And there are some stories about parish ministry - mistakes that I’ve made - that make me feel not only remorseful, but actually shamefilled. I just don’t know, apart from AA, apart from 12-step meetings, I don’t know in what other society within our society, we’re allowed and encouraged to work through these things in a context of safety and of God’s love. Where else can you do that? You’re not going to do it at the Rotary. Maybe, your hairdresser? Maybe, your barber? Probably not.

That’s kind of the founding reason for Church. It’s a Church book.

A few people have written me and said, “I’ve had these visceral reactions.” They’ve unlocked or they’ve dislodged some memories of their own. Then, I think, I’ve done my job to say, “it doesn’t end there.” God loves you. It’s not about keeping up appearances.

Editor: You’re a wonderful writer. Will there be another book?

Rob: Having talked about shame, I’m thinking now of talking about rage or wrath. As Doug Fisher will tell you, I’m not the life of the party. I tend to go towards the dark side. But these are just things I seem to know something about - having struggled and lived with these things. Those passages in the Psalms, where people are contending with their rage, which sometimes is a state we move into, that’s part of evangelism, too. We’re living in a culture that’s in many ways dominated by shame and rage. I think Jesus doesn’t want us to stay in it, doesn’t want us to be enslaved by these emotions.

Bishop Hirschfeld’s book is available through Church Publishing and Amazon.

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The Rev. Laura Everett’s Story: Holy Spokes A Woman, Her Bike and God’s Abiding Presence in the City The Rev. Laura Everett (left) is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches. Her new book looks at the practice of riding her bike - by choice - through her beloved city - Boston. From that vantage point, the author becomes a bridge between the cycling community and Church.

Editor: The book teaser says that you name each chapter for a part of the bicycle. Tell us about the chain.

Laura: Happily! The bicycle chain has a critical function.

Chains hold tension and transfer power. Without chains, modern bicycles wouldn’t exist. Historically, the “penny farthing” or high-wheelers had direct drive mechanisms: pushing the pedals in the front turned the front wheel.

The safety bicycle we know today requires a chain-drive to transfer the motion of the pedals to propel the rear wheel. In fact, without the development of the rolling, linked chain, bikes, cars, and most modern machines wouldn’t exist. Chains are a brilliant way to get metal to bend and move.

Chains also are a part of the subtle initiation into a bicycle way of life. We mark our bodies as signs of belonging.

Many religions have practices of marking the body: Christians smudge our foreheads on Ash Wednesday; Hindus mark their heads and hands with the red-paste tilaka. And the Church of Cycling initiates new converts with the chainring tattoo.

This chainring tattoo is an easily identifiable marking of a bike commuter, a physical reminder of how we travel.

Cyclists learn to walk the bicycle with the chain-side facing out, but invariably the chain or ring “tattoos” a line of black grease on our legs, pants, or skirts. In theory, the chainring tattoo is the mark of a novice cyclist, who should be keeping their chainring clean of the grease and gunk that stains. In reality, we bang around, knocking our bodies and our bikes together. The contact leaves a distinct mark.

There’s something vaguely affirming in the chainring tattoo. Moving by car makes no impression on our bodies; walking might give us a blister. But for the 12

most part, our modern transit options don’t require much engagement from our physical bodies. Chainring tattoos become the physical reminder that our bodies are involved and invested in our transportation.

I think Christians get this idea of the chainring tattooan outward sign of an internal reality, like the distinct sacramental practices that order our lives. My dual hope with Holy Spokes is for Christians to recognize the deep spirituality of folks who may never go to church, but find community and spiritual discipline in practices like bike commuting, and for cyclists to see their intentional decision to move through the world by bike, as having a connection to a rich spiritual life as well.

Editor: What are ghost bikes and how, if at all, has this urban funeral rite changed your perspective on liturgy?

Laura: The cycling community has its own ritual of visibility and grief: the ghost bike. Chained to a tree or lamppost near the location where a cyclist was killed, the white-painted ghost bike is a visible sign of a life lost, a dangerous intersection, and the need to be seen.

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In the past, it seemed like ghost bikes would pop up overnight, the work of the underground guild of mourners unknown to those who would pass by. As the cycling community has grown and matured, the act of creating and installing ghost bikes has become more standardized and more visible. Creating ghost bikes is to cyclists what making Jell-O salads is to church ladies: rituals of grief for the good of the community. As observant Jews gather to “sit shiva,” observant cyclists gather to mourn at the location of death marked by the ghost bike.

A few years ago, I started participating in the installation and dedications of ghost bikes. I have a pretty extensive collection of prayer books, but not one has a liturgy for dedicating a ghost bike. So we had to create it. I learned quickly that the words, hymns and some rituals that worked inside a church wouldn’t work on the street. The cyclists are a spiritually diverse group, so we needed a liturgy and a language that reflected us. We don’t share a common musical tradition, so whatever we sing has to be taught. As much as leading ghost bike liturgies challenged most of what I learned presiding inside a Church, I learned our basic human impulses are the same - to gather, to grieve, to mourn, to sing, to confess, to lament, to weep, to hope. I think I’ve learned to be more attentive to the particularity of the context for leading people in prayer and dedication.

buds on the trees—and because the Department of Corrections van begins parking along the bike path, with men in matching uniforms performing their enforced community service by raking the dregs of last year’s leaves. By bike, I actually see people and places that I simply didn’t notice when I rode by car and by train.

The action of regularly riding my bicycle gives me the head space for my contemplation of the city around me and my own heart. In The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence opines, “There is no manner of life in the world sweeter or more delicious than continual conversation with God.” Moving my body at a regular cadence seems to create the possibility for a continual conversation of God. If Brother Lawrence can converse with God while peeling potatoes, I think it’s possible to converse with God while riding a bike!

Editor: You write, “I think I am closer to God because of my bicycle.” Can you describe how this meeting of action and contemplation reflects a 21st century concept of prayer?

Laura: I started riding a bicycle regularly because my car died, not necessarily to decrease my carbon footprint or to find some deeper, cosmic truths. My cycling conversion was utterly practical. I needed to get around my city. Really, it’s the daily practice of commuting by bicycle that has reshaped my relationship with God and my neighbor. Every morning and every evening, I have 30 minutes of time when my body finds a rhythm that allows my mind to settle. Into that stillness, it’s easier for my prayers to rise up like the breath from my lungs on a cold Boston morning.

Turns out that whole “love thy neighbor” thing is a lot easier to do when you actually see your neighbors. I know when school is on break because the students aren’t in my path. I know when spring is near because I glimpse the ABUN DANT TIMES

Laura’s new book is available directly from Eerdman’s Publishing Company or Amazon.

Photo: (Left) MA Council of Churches.

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Hospitality, Or Return To Purpose A Chef Reflects On the Importance of Church’s Being Open for Business

By Robin Lenz What brought me into the Episcopal Church was a small, felt sign on the front door that read: Open for Prayer. I had noticed the sign before, but this day I needed a church to be open. The stone building had long appealed to me: I felt reverence for the workmen with their horse and carts who carried the stones down the hill, and stone by stone, built the walls. I fell in love with the coolness, strength and beauty of the stones, much as I had fallen in love with the coolness, strength and beauty of the New England characters I found myself among.

My profession has been to welcome people into the kitchen. For more than thirty years I earned my living as a French chef. This is not an easy profession, especially in a cold climate with a short growing season in a part of the world dominated by English food. Nevertheless, people everywhere want to be in the kitchen: it is warm there, there might be something to eat, maybe even a glass of wine or cup of coffee.

However, when people walk into a restaurant, especially for the first time, the experience can be challenging.

First, a hungry customer is walking into a strange place in expectation of a meal, with no guarantee they will get one. Your fate, when you enter, is most likely in the hands of the least experienced of the staff: young people, in their first job. From the staff ’s point of view, customers all come at once and everyone needs something different. During a busy mealtime, your staff will always have at least five things that need to be done right now. When overwhelmed and often afraid, a staff person’s first instinct is to lower their eyes and not see their new customer, at least until they can clear a moment to give them their time. However, not being seen is often what a hungry person fears most.

I would tell my staff that at this moment of challenge, between hunger and fear, the best thing to do for both yourself and your customer is to not look away, but instead, to acknowledge their existence, maybe even smile! They would find that people would relax, start to trust, and become easier customers. In other words, what would help my staff most, when they were 14

Sign on the door of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Williamstown.

Photos: Robin Lenz

overwhelmed, was to connect with the other. Not build walls but break them down.

This doesn’t always work, of course. Some people cannot ever be made happy. However, most people can, and opening the doors is the first step. Currently, there is barely a church in our Diocese which opens its sanctuary except for a few hours on Sunday morning, when most people are recovering from their work week, or having to ferry their children to sports. Also, there are many of us weekend warriors; in addition to restaurant workers, there are the police and fire departments, theater folk, bartenders, ticket takers, cleaners, emergency room doctors, nurses, and taxi drivers. I am not suggesting holding church services on Wednesday nights. I am saying: unlock the sanctuaries of our churches during the day.

It has been suggested that locking up the sanctuary will protect their valuable interiors. Is this what our churches have become: vaults for candlesticks? A second concern I hear is that by opening the sanctuaries, church staff might be made vulnerable. I would like to request that we follow Safe Church practices and put locks on their doors, and not on the sanctuary.

The origin of the word “company” comes from the Latin phrase meaning “with bread,” (com pane) or, one who eats bread with you. I say, open the doors, invite everyone to the bread and wine of our beautiful liturgy, and feel blessed to have so many friends.

Robin is a member of St. John’s, Williamstown.

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(Left to right) Dr. Deborah Harmon Hines, the Rev. John Edgar Freeman, Bishop Fisher and the Rev. Nancy Baillie Strong.

Photo: The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

New Missioner

The Rev. John Edgar Freeman, Missioner to the African Community in Worcester The Rev. John Edgar Freeman is the first Missioner for the African Community in Worcester. Surrounded by that community, by family and the people of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church (Worcester, Massachusetts), John Edgar accepted this call and received the Bishop’s blessing for the work ahead.

John Edgar will serve concurrently as assistant priest at St. Matthew’s, Worcester. Most recently John Edgar has been engaged in an ecumenical pastoral team organized to respond to the Ebola crisis in Liberia. He has also done supply throughout the Worcester corridor.

A native of Liberia John Edgar discerned the call to priesthood in the midst of the Civil War. Imprisoned for preaching peace, John Edgar continued his lay ministry until his release. Diaconate and priesthood followed after his return to Libera from Sierra Leone. In 2012 after seven happy years with his family and engaged in ministry, John Edgar’s wife died of breast cancer.

John Edgar’s second marriage to Dr. Deborah Harmon Hines (St. Andrew’s, North Grafton) brought him to America and to service in the Episcopal Church. John Edgar will be reaching out to Africans from every country, offering spiritual support and welcome.

(Left) Children carry the flags of many African nations in the procession.

Photo: The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

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New Dean for Our Cathedral

The Very Rev. Tom Callard, VIII Dean of Christ Church Cathedral

All Are Welcome to the Installation Eucharist Friday, May 19 7:00 pm Christ Church Cathedral, 35 Chestnut Street, Springfield Clergy are invited to process.

Color: red

My friends, it is with great joy that I share the good news at our cathedral. The Chapter has voted to call the Rev. Tom Callard to serve as the eighth dean of Christ Church Cathedral effective February 2. Tom has served as priestin-charge since the Very Rev. James G. Munroe retired in the summer of 2015.

Tom came to WMA in 2013 to serve as canon at the cathedral and diocesan Missioner for Latino/Hispanic Ministry. Prior to that he served as rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Los Angeles and as vicar of St. Luke’s Parish in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

The cathedral community has been enriched by Tom’s leadership. He has a heart for the poor, a passion for justice and a commitment to ecumenical and interfaith work. In the last 18 months, Tom has directed the ministry of our cathedral in bold and creative directions. I am convinced that Tom will lead the cathedral into God’s future of mercy, compassion and hope. + Doug The Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher IX Bishop of Western Massachusetts

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Storefront Increases Visibility of Urban Ministry “Walking Together” Final Report As Recipient of Mission Enterprise Zone Grant

The following is the final report made to The Episcopal Church regarding the Mission Enterprise Zone grant of $100,000 for urban ministry in Southeast Worcester. The grant was matched by our diocese with funds from the sale of St. John’s, Worcester. The Rev. Meredyth Ward is founding missioner for Walking Together: A Ministry of Presence in Southeast Worcester. This ministry is governed by a board and now has a storefront at 799 Main Street.

I want to begin this report with gratitude. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to engage in this ministry in the city of Worcester. I am grateful that I have been able to follow my passion and my call, and explore what a new vision of Church might look like. And I am grateful to TEC and the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts for the willingness to partner with me in this new endeavor.

This has been an extraordinary few months. When I last reported, in June of 2016, we had been in the storefront for just a couple of months. Over the past six months we have grown in wonderful and sometimes unexpected ways.

When we began, we had two 12 step meetings scheduled each week. We now have ten each week. Some are in the early morning, so that folks can get in a meeting before work or can attend a meeting and still make the evening curfew at the homeless shelter. Typically, people have to be at the shelter by 7 pm in order to claim their space for the night.

Other meetings are in the evening, and one is mid-morning on Saturdays. They are a mixture of AA, NA and AllRecovery, and are the only meetings in the immediate neighborhood.

We also offer ESL one night each week. Most of the students are very early learners. We often find ourselves teaching what we call “survival English”—how to spell your name, ask for a bus route, or tell a doctor that you are ill. We are blessed to have an ESL professional leading the team of teachers—five people from four different Episcopal parishes in the area. CONTINUED NEXT PAGE

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Many of the ESL students bring their young children with them to class. We have toys and books for them, and one of the volunteers, a retired elementary school teacher, offers homework help. One of the joys of the ESL night is sharing bi-lingual children’s books. Both parents and kids enjoy the reading time.

We continue to offer Laundry Love once a month. We are blessed to have wonderful partners in the laundromat we use. The owner, an observant Jew, considers Laundry Love to be a mitzvah, and offers us a significant discount on the cost of the washers and dryers. He (and his mother) also show up each month to be among the volunteers. Other volunteers come from local Episcopal, Lutheran and UCC churches, as well as occasional college students, members of some of the 12 step groups we sponsor, and, to my delight, a woman who was one of our original recipients of the program who has since gotten regular housing and a part time job. “I can’t give back with money,” she told me, “but I can give some of my time.”

Laundry Love has become its own “village.” Each month folks come from the city’s Parent Education Program to read books with the kids and talk with the parents. Each child leaves with a book from that program, and often another from our donations.

For the last three months we have had a group of student nurses join us to promote prenatal screening and maternal and child health. Worcester has the highest infant mortality rate in our state, and the students are piloting a “Baby Box” program where parents leave the hospital with

A new sign over the door adds color and the clear message of hospitality. Photo: The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts

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a clean, safe box where an infant can sleep. They came to Laundry Love to recruit participants, and stayed to interact with the families.

Laundry Love has also been a point of access for organizations who wish to distribute toys and clothes to families in need. Since many of the households come to us from the local family shelter, the donations are very welcome.

In addition to the programming happening at Walking Together, some of the most important work is offering hospitality. We are open four mornings a week for coffee, snacks and conversation. During the summer we offered bottles of cold water to everyone who passed by. Now that cold water is less appealing, we have coffee and tea available.

We have discovered that many people will come in if they are invited. We usually have one or more folks standing outside the door, inviting people in. We have hats and gloves and dry socks donated by local churches, as well as toiletries, condoms and feminine hygiene products available in the bathroom.

On a typical morning we will have twenty or more folks coming in and out. Some grab a cup of coffee and leave.

Some are eager to get warm and charge a cell phone.

Others want to talk. A few are looking for help with recovery, since we are now known as a place where there are not only meetings but folks who are willing to be sponsors. We have developed a relationship with Community Health Link(CHL), a local mental health provider, and we can usually get someone into detox within a few hours.

Heroin and Fentanyl are the drugs of choice for many of those who visit us. The opioid epidemic is rampant in Worcester and in our neighborhood. All of the volunteers at the storefront are trained in the use of Narcan, and we partner with Aids Project Worcester to train other people in its use. Fentanyl is much more powerful than heroin, but also wears off much faster.

As a result, the window of relative health for users is very small. Folks taking Heroin need to inject every 6-8 hours in order to avoid becoming ill. With Fentanyl the interval is more like 3-4 hours. That makes our relationship with CHL all the more important. Being able to assure folks that they will be able to get help before they become violently ill is crucial.

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One of the joys of this ministry is the chance to see the power of resurrection hope. Folks who come to us are often at the end of their rope. When we are able to share our experience, strength and hope with them, and assure them that they are not bad people trying to become good people, but sick people who are trying to get well, we are making essential claims about their dignity and worth.

Often our work takes time. One evening I was standing outside the storefront before a 12 step meeting, and invited a woman to join us. She was clearly curious, and came in part way through the meeting. At the end of the meeting she came up to me with tears in her eyes and said “I’ve been dying to come in, but I’m still using.

But tonight you invited me again, and I figured that if you asked me four times, you must really mean it.” She still struggles to put together more than a week or two of sobriety, but she comes by regularly, and attends meetings once or twice a month.

When I talk with people in the neighborhood I often hear “You’re the people who give out water on hot days” or “You try to help the neighborhood.” We walk in the neighborhood a couple of days a week, continuing to build relationships with people who are not ready to come in the front door.

That door is open because of a large number of volunteers. Most mornings we have between two and five volunteers making coffee, talking with people, cleaning, and keeping snack bowls full. The volunteers represent a cross section of our city. We have people from Episcopal parishes in the city and the surrounding suburbs. We have volunteers who are part of the 12 step communities which meet at Walking Together. We have neighborhood folks who have claimed the space as their own. One of the shop keepers across the street comes by regularly to help shovel snow or take out our trash. We have a sign above the door that was painted by a member of the Tuesday night group, and our logo was designed by someone from a local college. We have a student social worker who is doing part of her internship with us, and we are looking forward to having a vocational deacon join us after her ordination in May.

But there are two developments which will help us be sustainable into the future. The first is a gift of $20,000 from the First Congregational Church in Auburn Massachusetts. The outreach committee of the church came to Laundry Love last spring, and brought a small check with them. One of the members of that group became involved at Walking Together when we opened the storefront. It turns out that the church receives income each year from a memorial fund which can only be used for outreach. Our volunteer suggested that the parish make a donation to Walking Together, and to his surprise and our delight, the Outreach Committee suggested a gift of $20,000, which was voted on by the church as a whole. We received $10,000 last month, and will receive the remainder in June.

As delighted as we are by this gift, we realize that it is most likely a one-time event. We are working on other grant proposals. But we also now have a text-to-give option, and a donations “button” available through social media.

When I go out to tell the story of this ministry, I am able to offer a quick and easy way to donate funds.

Telling the story is part of the ministry. The board and I joke about my “preaching tour of the diocese,” but it is an integral part of my work. I have preached at 15 different churches from three different denominations over the past year, with several more to come in the next few months. I encourage people to get involved in the work we are doing, but also to get outside their own walls and discover what they might learn from listening to the folks around them.

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve the city of Worcester in this way. It is a joy and an honor to do this work in Jesus’ name.

Sincerely, Meredyth + The Rev. Meredyth Wessman Ward Urban Minssioner Walking Together

We are blessed to have received a number of donations, both large and small. Several parishes help fund Laundry Love each month. One parish has decided that it is their mission to keep our toiletries collection going.

A member of the gym I attend brings me coffee supplies on a regular basis. Another brings shampoo and hand lotion.

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From the Archives

The Legacy of Bishop William Appleton Lawrence

By Karen Warren

Everyone has a story, and stories are set within context, adding another layer to the individual’s story. As I began researching our 3rd Bishop, William Appleton Lawrence, I learned that he came from a privileged background, but worked for social democracy and civil rights. His tenure as Bishop stretched through World War II, the Korean War, and to the edge of the Vietnam War—and he worked for peace and justice for all. His episcopacy was marked by an emphasis on pastoral care. He was known to have stopped to visit with vicars or other acquaintances when driving through towns. Human relationships, bringing people together, developing strong leaders, a focus on youth, and outreach to those oppressed and uprooted by war— this is a window on his legacy.

For what I have learned about Bishop Lawrence, all credit is due to Richard Nunley’s From the Blackstone to the Housatonic. Born in 1889, Bishop Lawrence was a ‘cradle Episcopalian.’ His father William was the 7th Bishop of Massachusetts, and his grandfather was a founder of the Episcopal Theological Seminary (ETS).

Our Bishop Lawrence is remembered as a warm and trusted person. Unpretentious. Many who knew him affectionately called him ‘Appy.’ He related to people from all walks of life. Lawrence’s ancestors were founders and owners of New England textile industries and part of the Boston ‘enterprising elite.’ A Harvard grad, Lawrence attended the ETS, and served as Rector at St. Stephen’s, Lynn, MA and Grace Church, Providence, RI before being consecrated 3rd Bishop of Western Massachusetts in 1937 by his father. While Lawrence was beginning his tenure as Bishop, war was brewing on the world’s stage, and the world would be much altered by the end of his term. Here is a look at world events during Bishop Lawrence’s leadership—1937 to 1957— the context of his episcopacy.

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In the late ‘30s our nation was still recovering from the Great Depression, and difficult economic times would persist. FDR was beginning his second of four terms as President of the United States. Locally, the hurricane of 1938 devastated southern New England. Just two years into Lawrence’s term, World War II formally began and US draft registration began in 1940. 1941 brought the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the internment of JapaneseAmericans in camps followed in ’42. In our nation there was rationing of gasoline, milk, coffee, meat, fats, cheese and other items. As servicemen went to war, labor shortages were created, and three million women entered the workforce.

Lawrence’s work during this tumultuous time included re-opening Bucksteep Manor in Washington, MA, in 1937 as a conference center where young people and parish leaders would experience living and learning together, and developing leadership skills to bring back to their parishes. Summers at Bucksteep included morning courses on religion, church history, and professional development for church school leaders.

Bishop Lawrence stressed education and youth in his work. He had a conviction that showing love and concern for one another would enrich all of our lives.

Lawrence encouraged clergy to seek refreshment and to continue professional development.

During the years of WWII, as the world was threatened with Fascism and Communism, Bishop Lawrence became the Chair of the Episcopal Pacifist Fellowship.

He worked toward the advancement of good will, understanding and social democracy. Following WWII, his episcopacy focused on social changes and postwar problems—the re-entry of servicemen into civilian life; housing shortages, unemployment, racism, alcoholism and family dysfunction. The Diocesan Board of Religious Education provided clergy with training to ABU ND ANT TIMES

‘What is this parish trying to do? Are we… justifying the time, effort…allowed us, in terms of Christian product? I would put my mind on making the services real, vital, relevant, life-changing experiences…I would try each day to bring the parish to the attention of at least one person.”

-- Bishop Lawrence deal with such problems as these. During the ‘40s the cost of living rose nearly 30%, and US populations migrated from small towns to more urban centers, forever changing America’s landscape.

Lawrence encouraged outreach among diocesan leaders.

A most outstanding project developed during his term in Western Massachusetts followed the German surrender on May 8, 1945, V-E Day. Bishop Lawrence instituted a partnership between the parishes in our diocese and 50 Lutheran parishes in Berlin. Lawrence initially asked that our clergy reach out to the Lutheran clergy, requesting what supplies were needed that we could send. This effort did more than supply material goods—it created relationships between the parishes in Berlin and Western Massachusetts. Lawrence’s vision of a partnership included the development of ‘joint’ services, wherein parishes in both regions would perform services on the Sunday nearest Epiphany—using the same lessons, same hymns and same prayers. Our Archives contains several well wishes from The Reformed Bethlehem’s Parish of Berlin to Bishop Lawrence upon his retirement.

Another significant piece of Lawrence’s legacy is the now closed Bement Camp and Conference Center in Charlton, utilized over many decades as a means of spiritual growth for our youth and the development of youth leaders.

According to Nunley, it was Lawrence’s pastoral attention that led Miss Mary Bement to bequeath a $2M legacy to our diocese in 1945. Miss Bement clearly believed that the diocese would be a worthy custodian of her legacy. In 1946 Bishop Lawrence oversaw the purchase of property and a survey of the needs of the diocese, to best utilize the Bement Legacy. The opening of the Camp and Conference Center was delayed until 1948 due to postwar shortages of materials.

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1947-1957 As Bement was opening in ’48, the second half of Bishop Lawrence’s leadership term was marked historically by such events as: a Supreme Court ruling that religious education in public schools was unconstitutional; an Executive order to end segregation in the military; the blockade of Berlin by the Soviets; the Communist takeover of China; ‘McCarthyism’ spreading fear and suspicion throughout the nation; the start of the Korean War; a Supreme Court ruling that public schools must be desegregated; the escalation of a US presence in Vietnam; an increasing influence of television on US children; the construction of an Interstate Highway System that forever changed the face of America; and the Russians sending Sputnik into space orbit. Continuing his emphasis on education, renewal, and bringing people together, Lawrence accepted a bequest in the early ‘50s of a 28-room mansion in Whitinsville, turning it into a year round conference center known as Lasell House. He became involved in numerous colleges over his term: as overseer of Harvard, and a Trustee of Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, and Springfield Colleges. Lawrence saw colleges as fertile ground for the development of our youth. With the aid of the Bement Foundation the Episcopal Student Center at Mount Holyoke College was created in 1952, and in 1953 the Lawrence House on the campus of MHC became headquarters for diocesan college work.

This created a pathway for youth to enter the ordination process.

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First Deaf Priest Ordained in WMA The Rev. Richard J. Mahaffy, II

Bishop Fisher ordained our first deaf priest on Saturday, December 10, 2016. The Rev. Richard J. Mahaffy, II received the Master of Divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambrige the previous May. As deacon he served for six months at St. John’s, Northampton.

Dick is the 47 deaf person ordained to the ministerial priesthood in The Episcopal Church. For more information about how the Church ministers to the deaf and hearing-impaired, visit the website of the Episcopal Conference of the Deaf: www.ecdeaf.org.

Bishop Lawrence | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

Lawrence House Service Corps today is a catalyst for recent college grads to live and work together in Christian community while serving in community service projects.

Lawrence’s view on Christianity was the foundation for his many good works. According to Nunley, Lawrence believed firmly that the “multiplication of redeeming fellowships”---the love and concern demonstrated between individuals— would save our civilization. During the 1950s our Conventions adopted resolutions opposing Civil Rights violations, which included working against such forces as McCarthyism, racial discrimination, and the House on Un-American Activities. As our nation’s landscape was changing dramatically during these decades, the Diocese’s Department of Christian Social Relations assisted immigrants from Puerto Rico to Springfield’s North End. It also assisted in the resettlement of displaced persons from East Germany and the Ukraine. Parishes aided refugees from Hungary and the Soviet Union in finding homes and jobs. Bishop Lawrence’s legacy is remarkable—his convictions are as relevant today as in his time. After retiring as Bishop in 1957, Lawrence informally advised at the ETS, and published Parsons, Vestries, and Parishes: A Manual (Seabury, 1961), in which, Nunley quotes Lawrence as writing advice to new rectors: “I would pose this question to the vestry: ‘What is this parish trying to do? Are we…justifying the time, effort… allowed us, in terms of Christian product? I would put my mind on making the services real, vital, relevant, lifechanging experiences…I would try each day to bring the parish to the attention of at least one person.” Advice as applicable today as ever!

Our Archives contains seven boxes of Papers of Bishop William Appleton Lawrence. Some of these papers were donated in 2011 by Lawrence’s son Samuel. Among the items preserved are: four boxes containing various articles, sermons, correspondence, addresses, handwritten notes, brochures and booklets from Lawrence’s many years of service to the Episcopal Church. There are also three boxes of newsletters, Bishop’s Notes, written by Lawrence between 1944 and 1957.

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From the Editor Abundant Times is the official quarterly news publication of The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts. The diocesan offices are located at: 37 Chestnut Street Springfield, MA, 01103-1787 Call us: (413) 737-4786 Visit us: www.diocesewma.org Follow us: @EpiscopalWMA We welcome the submission of articles via email to the editor, Victoria Ix, Communications Director | Missioner. communications@diocesewma.org.

All Time Is Abundant “ABUNDANT Times.” I inherited this wonderful publication, so I missed out on the whole branding process. I’m fairly certain that the magazine title comes from Bishop Fisher’s favorite gospel story – the feeding of the 5,000.

As Jesus blesses the two fish and five loaves, we are given an insight into God’s infinite capacity for, and delight in, multiplying the good for our blessing. It’s a narrative that gets a lot of play as a miracle story, but the idea that God never tires of giving to us from the storehouse of Love touches me deeply. This God of abundance is with us and that makes all time “abundant.”

5 Loaves and 2 Fish,

by Andre Swanepoel, 2011.

URL: www.andreswanepoel.com

At Diocesan House

The Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher, IX Bishop of Western Massachusetts The Rev. Pamela J. Mott, Canon to the Ordinary The Rev. Dr. Richard M. Simpson, Canon to the Ordinary Steven P. Abdow, Canon for Mission Resources

Missioners

The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Missioner for Creation Care The Rev. Hilary Bogert-Winkler, Youth Missioner The Rev. Jennifer Gregg, Missioner for Servant leadership The Rev. Meredyth Ward, Urban Missioner for Worcester The Rev. Christopher Carlisle Director, “Building Bridges” Veterans Initiative The Rev. John Edgar Freeman Missioner to the African Community in Worcester On the Cover: The Revs. Lisa Green and Laura Goodwin talking about the collaboration between their congregations (see pages 4-5 ).

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It may seem a strange thing to assert in the context of our post-modern world. Global geopolitical struggles have led us to war, to famine, to a major migration of refugees from Syria, El Salvador, Sudan, and others I know too little about. Talking religion is much easier than talking politics these days. We are overstimulated by news (real and fake). How can we see God’s abundant self-giving love in such an age?

We see it at work in our own lives and in the lives of others. That is why “sharing our stories” is so critical to God’s mission. This issue of “ABUNDANT Times” is filled with real stories shared by real people “for the good of the order.” Our willingness to tell our truth, to be brave and vulnerable all at the same time – this is evangelism. No one else can tell the world what we each have come to know about God, about who God has come to be for us in the most important and often painful places. I hope these generous souls were blessed in the telling, because God’s abundance has been manifest in our hearing.

Vicki

Vicki is the editor of ABUNDANT Times magazine - a most enjoyable part of her ministry as Communications Director | Missioner.

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Missioner for the African Community in Worcester

Opinion: Churches Should Be “Open For Business”

Books That Formed Our Bishop

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ABUNDANT Times is produced free of charge as a ministry of our diocese. Donations for the cost are gratefully accepted. The cost per household per year is $10. Gifts can be mailed to Diocesan House at 37 Chestnut St., Springfield, MA 01103-1787.

Address corrections or deletions may be sent to the same address attention: Carol LaPlante.