The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
1y ago
The following is the text of The Bishop’s Address to the 121st Annual Diocesan Convention given on November 5, 2022, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In reflecting on our convention theme, “Sing a New Song,” my mind turned to two old songs that might help us to do that. They were written by….Bruce Springsteen. One is “Radio Nowhere” which…
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
1y ago
Let’s look at some of the history of Halloween, the story of Zacchaeus in the Sycamore Tree, and All Saints/All Souls Day. Then let’s see if the Holy Spirit makes a connection.Most historians agree that Halloween began with the pagan Druids in Ireland many, many centuries ago. In their calendar, influenced so much by the harvest, October 31st was the…
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
1y ago
A key moment at the House of Bishops meeting at General Convention began with a question. Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows asked Presiding Bishop Michael Curry this question:“What should the agenda of Episcopal Bishops be? Michael thought for a moment and then spoke from the heart. Here is part of what he said: “I’m very concerned about this country that I love,…
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
1y ago
Yesterday, among the many resolutions passed by both the House of Bishops and House of Deputies was one proposed by me. It is B003 – Regulating Ghost Guns and 3D Printed Guns. Here is part of what it said: “That the parts and kits used to build ghost guns- unserialized and untraceable firearms that can be built by anyone using…
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
1y ago
Here’s the big fear I had going into General Convention this year. Because our time together was dramatically shortened to lessen the risk of Covid infections, I feared we might rush through the 425 resolutions. There would be no time for serious conversation. There would be no time to deal with complexity. There would be no time to distinguish between…
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
1y ago
As expected, the first day of business for General Convention was very full with prayer and voting on resolutions. So much voting. And serious dialog about key issues in our Church. As we will do everyday, our WMA delegation met at lunch time to discuss what was going on in the House of Bishops and in the House of Deputies.…
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
1y ago
The 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church begins this morning in Baltimore, MD. Each morning, Bishop Fisher will blog about the important deliberations of both the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. He will also be reflecting on the experience, the worship and the often palpable presence of Holy Spirit. He bids your prayers for our Deputation…
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
2y ago
In 1891 the famous preacher, Bishop Phillips Brooks, preached an Ash Wednesday sermon at All Saints in Worcester. His sermon was entitled, “The History of Sin.” I read the sermon and it is very good. It is what the title indicates and also about God’s forgiveness. But this year I’m choosing to preach on “A Very Partial History of Grace”…
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
2y ago
The following remarks were given by the Bishop at Winter Clergy Day. It is always good to be with you. You inspire me. And it is my sincere hope we will be together in person for Holy Week’s Renewal of Vows and our clergy conference in May at the Bishop Harris Center. The Omicron numbers are going down dramatically and…
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The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts » The Bishop's Blog
2y ago
We all remember where we were January 6, 2021. I was working from home with a full schedule of Zoom meetings. When the attack on the Capitol Building began, I postponed all the afternoon meetings and sat with Betsy in front of the TV, shocked by what I was seeing. Little did I know that as bad as it looked,…
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