The Rev. Dr. Nancy Vogele profiled in Dartmouth News

The Rev. Dr. Nancy Vogele, priest in the diocese of New Hampshire and the new Dartmouth College chaplain and director of the William Jewett Tucker Center for Spiritual and Ethical Living, was profiled recently by Dartmouth news. Click below to read the story and watch the video profile.

Christ Church Exeter Renews Ties with Cuba

Christ Church Exeter’s companion church in Cardenas, Cuba.

On March 14, the Rev. Mark Pendleton, Rector of Christ Church in Exeter, will travel to Cuba for a brief five-day mission of reconnection and resupplying of much-need medicine and water system spare parts.  His wife Leslie, and Mike Hays, an Exeter parishioner, will join him. Though limited by the Cuban government as to how much they can bring into the country, a successful donation campaign by parishioners has supplied them with over-flowing suitcases.  Christ Church has donated and installed many water filtration systems, assisted by various grants from the Diocese.

Rev. Mark Pendleton and Bishop Rob in Cuba in 2019.  

Cuba has been extremely isolated over the last two years due to COVID and the added sanctions put into place by U.S. administrations. Cuba was readmitted into The Episcopal Church as our last General Convention, but communications, travel and financial transactions remain difficult. Rev. Pendleton serves on the board of the Friends of Episcopal Church in Cuba a registered non-profit corporation now registered in New Hampshire.   

This trip will be the first church delegation to the island since the beginning of the pandemic. 

In the News: Afghan refugee family's new home in Portsmouth prepared with love by volunteers

Photo courtesy of Deb Cram/Seacoastonline and Fosters.com

Published in the Portsmouth Herald and Seacoastonline, this article provides an update on the family of Afghan refugees resettling in Portsmouth at the Christ Episcopal Church rectory. Read the full article HERE.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Resources

There are a number of events throughout the state and resources available for the observation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Sunday, January 16 

7pm: “What Stories are we telling ourselves and our kids about race?”  on Zoom
Hosted by the Dover Area Religious Leaders Association (DARLA).  Join them for their 2022 Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with speakers, music, & discussion groups. Zoom link: Meeting ID: 829 5703 5202 Passcode: 366792 

Monday, January 17 

Day of Service

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is an invitation to act on Dr. King’s call for social justice and equity. MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. Making time to volunteer for MLK Day of Service is a great way to engage with your community while honoring the legacy of Dr. King. Whether you plan on cleaning up a public space, mentoring a young person, or assisting those who are food insecure, what you do makes a world of difference. Visit AmeriCorps.gov/MLKDay for more information, including:

• How to add your MLK Day volunteer opportunity to the AmeriCorps search tool.
• How to find in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities on MLK Day.
• Tools, resources, and informational webinars for participating and planning MLK Day service projects in your community.

And follow the digital conversation on MLK Day and the days leading up to it on AmeriCorps’ Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

10am: Keene Human Rights Committee Event: Building the Beloved Community on Zoom.
Join with meeting code: 86264716731

11am: Invisibility: An Art Conversation and Visual Response on Zoom
Inspired by the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., the Currier Museum of Art will present a live program over Zoom about invisibility and related issues of love and hate. We’ll begin with a conversation about paintings by Norman Lewis and Glenn Ligon and conclude with a collaborative visual response. No art experience is necessary. We encourage adults and children to attend together. Registration is required. Please register here.

1:30pm to 3pm: Martin Luther King Celebration 2022 on Zoom and on Manchester Public Television (MPTS) channel
All are welcome to join the 40th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Community Celebration hosted by MLK Coalition, including AFSC. Free to the public. Special Guest: Tj Wheeler is a jazz, blues, and roots-related concert festival musician and educator. Musical sections by the Manchester High School West Jazz Band. Shared reading from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s sermon “Loving your Enemies” delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (November 17, 1957). We are proud to welcome back the Greater Manchester Area Choir with Director James McKim. The Martin Luther King Coalition is comprised of organizations that are committed to the teachings, beliefs, and principles of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Click here for the Zoom link.

5pm: Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr., "POWER TO HEAL" in person at The Park Theatre and livestreamed on MLK Celebration Jaffrey - Rindge Facebook page

America remains a country deeply divided by issues of race and racism, and New Hampshire is not excepted. The Monadnock Region and other New Hampshire areas are seeing a surge of interest in the hidden history of residents of African heritage. Scholarly research and citizen archivist initiatives are revealing forgotten Black New Hampshirites and trying to understand their stories. At the same time, legal actions are being taken to define how race and racism may be discussed. Keynote speaker Professor James Waller, Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College, will address these timely and contentious issues in a talk titled “Power to Heal: Hope for America’s Deeply Divided Society.” Dr. Waller is an internationally recognized teacher and scholar in the field of conflict studies and resolution and an award-winning author. The talk will challenge each of us to recommit to Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to build a beloved community.

The event will feature music by Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District choruses and a special appearance by the dynamic Hutchinson Family Ensemble of Hancock. In a new initiative this year, the Jaffrey-Rindge MLK Committee and MilliporeSigma will announce new MLK student scholarships for graduating high school seniors. If you’re attending in person, reserve your free tickets here.

7pm: Peace & Justice Conversations: On the Road to Reparations: The Struggle for Equity and Inclusion in the Granite State on Zoom

Hosted by NH Peace Action. Please join them for a special Peace & Justice Conversation program honoring Martin Luther King Jr. with special guest Brenda Lett, who has been a leader in racial justice and reparations work for several decades. The conversation will commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Brenda’s work with the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA), which is the premiere mass-based coalition of organizations and individuals organized for the sole purpose of obtaining reparations for African descendants in the United States. We will also discuss what racial equity looks like in a state that resisted celebrating Dr. King’s work for many years and how the Triads of Evil – Racism, Militarism and Extreme consumerism – divert resources and lives away from lasting racial and economic progress. To learn more and for the Zoom link, click here.

Wednesday, January 19

7pm: The Jaffrey-Rindge MLK Committee presents: Dan Billin, Abolitionists of Noyes Academy - a live, virtual event
More at MLK Celebration Jaffrey - Rindge - Home | Facebook. If you have questions, please contact them by email.

Bishop Rob's Reflection on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11

September 11, 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of a day that cannot be forgotten in American history. 

That horrible day has become unlike any other day in our shared history. The neat lines that demarcate days on the calendar dissolve, and the meaning of 9/11 now spill into an era that I believe we are still wrestling to understand fully. It was a day of senseless violence committed against citizens in this nation who were simply going about their business and lives, working, running errands, visiting loved ones, growing families, and enjoying the freedom that comes from believing they were safe.

It was also a day of countless acts of courage, compassion, and self-less giving for the sake of others. Hundreds of women and men, first responders, police officers, paramedics, and fire-fighters, threw themselves into harm’s way to save lives — only to have their own lives snuffed out by collapsing towers, falling debris, and then later the inhalation of air filled with toxins.  

For a brief period afterward, we experienced a kind of solidarity that we have not since known. We had the empathy and support from peoples around the globe. It seemed that they felt that the deadly assaults were as assaults on the hopes of all humanity. But clearly that center of compassionate solidarity did not hold for long.

It’s hard not to notice how, since 9/11, our outward concern for our neighbors seems to have eroded. Our respect for institutions that sought to guide us, as flawed as they are, has collapsed in many places. We are less kind, more toxic, more callous toward people whose views or backgrounds differ from us. I wonder if the root of this unkindness is fear, fear that we are vulnerable to other acts of violence, fear of defenselessness, fear of weakness, fear of how being in an authentic relationship with those unlike us might change us.

At the heart of our Christian faith is the cross, the place where God chose to be weak in order to unmask the futility of the violent. On the Cross, Jesus Christ chose, quite literally, to open his sacred heart to the evil of this world so that when he rose from the dead, he would make weak all the powers and principalities of this world, those of empire, and even of religious self-righteousness who seek to condemn the children of God. God chose to be tread upon, freely deciding to set aside any privilege, power, worldly claim to use force so that human kind itself, in Jesus Christ, could instead rise out of the tomb. Once risen, Jesus then breathes peace, not revenge, on those who denied and abandoned him at his most needed hour.

For Christians it’s the Cross of Jesus that is an anchor of hope for turbulent times. The 13th century Franciscan theologian Bonaventure, writing in a time racked by political unrest and religious violence, said that the Cross is the medicine of the world. By that he meant to invite us to look not to the counterfeit and corrosive power of human violence, revenge, and hatred for our purpose and identity in this life, but to the life-giving presence of God, gloriously shown by Christ’s self-offering on the cross, for our strength, hope and inspiration in our dealings with one another — even as we seek justice for the victims of cruelty and brutality.

On this 20th anniversary of that horrible day, a day that has tragically become an era, I believe it is in the humility of Jesus that we will ever have hope of freeing this world from the fears that result in cruelty. With God’s help and God’s graces may we seek to bring healing to this beautiful and hurting world.

Faithfully yours,
The Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld

Update on COVID-19 Guidelines

June 23, 2021

Blessings to All,

I offer my profound thanks for the leadership of our clergy, pastoral leaders, and wardens during the last 14 months as we have grieved and grown together through this pandemic. I am grateful for their — and your — faithful willingness to stay home and limit in-person gatherings while we have also created opportunities to worship virtually, focused on formation, and found new ways to serve neighbors. I am amazed by the ways that, together, we innovated and even thrived during this time! I know how tired we all are. I also trust that the joy of beginning to regather will refresh and replenish us all.

I am writing today to announce that as of this date the diocese will no longer require churches to follow diocesan-wide restrictions for in-person gatherings in the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire. Given high rates of vaccination among our church members, the availability of vaccination to everyone age 12 and older, and the low rates of COVID19 across our state, we will no longer impose requirements around masks, distancing, singing, or distribution of Holy Eucharist.

The guidelines we have posted on our COVID19 webpage will continue to serve as a resource for local church decision making. All of us now have access to information about vaccination and best practices. You, our church members, are able to make well- informed decisions in support of your personal health and the well-being of our congregations. I have asked the Short Term COVID19 Response Team to reconvene as needed and we may re-impose restrictions on gathering if infections rates rise to unsafe levels again.

Just because our church leaders are not required to mandate masks or distancing does not, however, mean they can’t continue to implement these requirements at a local level. Church leaders will continue to monitor local virus rates and make decisions based on the needs of your community. Clergy and church leaders who conclude that practices such as masking, distancing, outdoor worship, or communion in one kind will better serve their local context have the full support of the Diocese.

Please pay special attention to the following:

• Although churches may decide to no longer require masks it should also be clear that masks are welcome for those who prefer them. Let’s establish a culture where people are comfortable wearing masks, for any reason.

• Churches may now offer wine in the common cup (intinction is discouraged however). If wine is offered, churches will make sure that it is understood that communion in one kind is entirely appropriate. Let’s foster a church culture where people are comfortable crossing their arms on their chests as the wine is distributed, for any reason.

• Clergy and church leaders will consult directly with families with children under 12 before they make decisions about how to approach mask wearing, distancing, or worshipping indoors. Let’s nurture a culture where children are protected, even if we need to wear masks in certain situations.

• Churches will continue to offer online worship options as they are able. Let’s promote a culture where people feel like welcomed worshippers whether they are in-person or online.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to the Short Term COVID19 Response Team, with leadership from the Revs. Chip Robinson and Curtis Metzger, for leading our response to the pandemic. I also want to express my gratitude and thankfulness for the faithful kindness, patience, and love for others you have all demonstrated during this time.

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you ... And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. Philippians 3-4, 9-11

Faithfully yours,
The Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld

Note: A PDF version of this letter can be found here.

In the News: Beyond acedia and wrath: life during the climate apocalypse

Published in the may issue of Anglican Theological Review, “Beyond acedia and wrath: life during the climate apocalypse,” is co-authored by Bishop Rob and the Rev. Stephen Blackmer, founding priest and chaplain at Church of the Woods in Canterbury. “In a time when climate change and other ecological disturbances wreak havoc upon both human and natural ‘households,’ how can the people of God respond beyond anger and acedia, or sloth?…” Read the full article HERE.

In the News: A Call to Serve: New Episcopal Priest Presides Over the Eucharist on Easter

In the News: In an Easter Sunday story, Union Leader reporter Shawne Wickham writes about newly ordained Rev. Kathy Boss, All Saints’ Littleton and White Mountain School. “She first heard the call when she was a young girl. It whispered to her over the years as she studied, worked and raised three sons. The call grew more persistent, and at last she responded as the ancient prophet once did: Here I am, Lord. The Rev. Kathy Boss was ordained as an Episcopal priest last month. She will serve communion for the first time this Easter Sunday to her parishioners at All Saints’ Church in Littleton.” CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY.

North Country COVID Memorial Created

Several parishioners from All Saints’ Littleton, and students and faculty from White Mountain School in nearby Bethlehem have created a memorial for Americans who've died of COVID. Each made with love and prayer, over 500 origami stars (one for every thousand Americans who have died) was created.

On the one year anniversary of New Hampshire proclaiming a state of emergency (March 13), the group of volunteers hung the stars in the window of a local bakery with a sign in memoriam that was donated by a local copy shop.

Several stars were also created and donated by students from the local high school. The memorial project was a full community endeavor — a way to process and sit with this very difficult year, and remember those we've lost.

Photo: (L to R) Deborah Davison, Questa Anderson, and Barbara Buckley are All Saint’s parishioners who helped with the installation.

$40,000 Grant Awarded to Youth Theatre Group at Christ Church Exeter

Christ Church, Exeter, is excited to announce that its youth theatre program, The Pine Street Players at Christ Church, has been awarded $40,000 by the Empowering Youth Program — a part of New Hampshire’s Invest in the Future Fund.

The funding is designed to expand opportunities for New Hampshire’s children who, after months of remote learning and canceled summer programming due ti COVID, may be experiencing the adverse effects of social isolation.

Through the art of theatre, The Pine Street Players fosters emotional intelligence and communication abilities, encourages a strong awareness of self and others, and increases the self-discipline and self-confidence of their performers.

Throughout the pandemic, the Pine Street Players, led by Artistic Director Lexi Meunier, has continued to offer theatre activities to the young people it serves. Moving to online workshops, safe and socially distanced in-person programming, and performances streamed online, The Pine Street Players continues to give New Hampshire children and teens opportunities to exercise their creativity and to build social relationships. 

The funds provided by the grant will help Christ Church host and support the Pine Street Players, an important ministry that reaches children and teens from Christ Church and many young people from the larger community as well.

To learn more about the Pine Street Players, visit https://www.pinestreetplayerscc.com/

The Rev. Jamie Hamilton's Sermon for the Ordination of the Rev. Kathy Boss

March 20, 2021, (Feast Day of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Bishop and Missionary 687)
The Rev. Kathy D. Boss ordination to the priesthood
White Mountain School, Bethlehem, New Hampshire

Numbers 11:16-17, 24-25 Philippians 4:4-9
Psalm 132: 8-19 Matthew 9:35-38

By the Rev. Jamie Hamilton

Joy is Divinity dancing in us.  Amen

(Thank you’s on behalf of Kathy)-  Bishop Rob Hirschfeld, the Revs. Curtis Metzger, Colin Chapman, Elsa Worth, Derek Scalia, Sandi Albom, the staff of the Diocesan house, the parishioners and priests and deacons throughout the diocese.  The congregations of All Saints, both in Peterborough and Littleton, and St. James in Keene, the students, staff, and professors at Boston University, at the White Mountain school, the community at the Peterborough Food Pantry, your co-workers at Jellison’s Funeral Home, your three sons Jonathan (his partner Katherine), Adam (his partner Allison), and “Baby” Noah, and your parents and siblings, and your many friends, including Michal and Allison.

And for all the other invisible hands and hearts that have nurtured you, Kathy. With landscape weaving your theology, as you listen to the ice sing, pray the Camino, or dig in gardens, we acknowledge this land.  This land is located on N’dakinna, the traditional lands and waterways of the Abenaki, Pennacook and other related Wabanaki Peoples past and present. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations.   And finally, we pray for all those who are no longer with us, remembering especially Eunice Chalmers, your dear friend who died over four years ago, and today, March 20, is her birthday.  She and so many are with all of us in spirit. 

On the occasion of an ordination, all of us today-priests, deacons, bishops, laity, and this, our deacon, our soon to-be priest, Kathy, are trusting our lives, yet again, to our Beloved, the Ancient Heart of all Life, who beckons us daily into the dance of intimacy with our faith, as we live and move and have our being.  Kathy, thank you for giving us this opportunity with you as you embrace your life as priest, to renew our own promises and our own vows.

“Rejoice in the Lord Always; again, I will say, Rejoice.”

When Paul writes these words to his fledgling church in Philippi, he is writing by candlelight from the cell of a dark prison in Rome.  It’s difficult to imagine such hope and joy in the face of such possible despair, defeat, and ruin. 

Actually, maybe it’s not so difficult to imagine as we have struggled mightily this past year during a global pandemic. Covid-tide is a season too long, too painful, with too much loss, too much uncertainty and too much distance. Imagine the irony (we’ve all talked about this… as minsters, parents, friends, co-workers, siblings) that our separation, our protection, our abundance of caution, our receiving of guided autonomy, our mask wearing, our acts of closing doors- to church buildings, homes, businesses, schools, community suppers, nursing and retirement communities…. 

Yes, CLOSED OFF…YET...

All of these “closing” actions are acts that are saving lives.  These are acts of sacrificial love.  

These things “shutting down” make absence, yet in the vacuum, the presence of LOVE emerges in a new way.   The Holy Spirit is present, especially right now in our many acts of not doing, not being, not sustaining how we’ve always been.   These strange ways of being, (disorientation, forgetfulness, confusions, sorrows, anxiety, etc.) are like seeds buried in the deep dark earth, and rather than being smothered, they are breaking open… strong enough to reach for the sky.  So unlikely, so strange, yet so true.

Paul would say, “Welcome to the faith. Of course, everything is upside down.  Remember, in the midst of your vertigo, to cling to the Sustainer of all Life, as your center which will always hold.”  Paul would continue, “I greet you as you enter into the cell of my dark prison. Pull up a chair. Find your prayer beads. Strap yourself into your heart and know that God remains with us, even in possible horrors.  Dead center.  And by the way, this is where Joy resides!”

And before we even have a chance to resist, Paul writes, “Again, I will say, Rejoice,” even though he has no idea of his own fate. He has no idea whether he will be rescued, like he was before, with God unlocking inner cell doors by earthquakes and jailers converting to liberators before his very eyes,

OR… 

whether he will waste away, tied to chains and to darkness and to a brutal end.   For Paul, it doesn’t matter.  He trusts he’s in God’s hands which gives him great joy. Rejoice, the Lord is always near.  

“Don’t be anxious,” he tells us, “God is the next breath.”  

Paul knows the peace of God which surpasses all understanding because this peace has nothing to do with his circumstances, and everything to do with trusting in the sustaining presence of this Living Love, the fire of the Holy Spirit’s belly.  Paul wants to pass this joy, this gladness, this longing, this steadfastness, this reassurance to us, today… 

Really???  Don’t you sometimes just want to break out of his prison?  Or get off Noah’s salvific ark?  Or be like the Israelites who complained to Moses about being brought out to the desert just to starve? (They had a point).  Sometimes, I just want to quit/escape/give up/forget. I don’t think I’m alone in this feeling.  (Right?)

But today, Kathy, there’s no escaping for you. No escaping for any of us.  (Thank God).  Because here we are, accepting God’s invitation to renew our vows on the Ark of Only God Knows.  In the midst of sorrows, grief, lost and confusion, we find courage to make our claims of joy.  We can find this gift of Joy when God is our center, our touchstone, our hope, our source, our breath, our north star.

Thomas Merton, mystic monk once said, “If at the count of three God stopped loving us, we would cease to exist.” Everything would end… the world, you, me, time, space, cause and effect, the whole kit and caboodle… Gone.

Love… the love that is over and beyond all doors to existence, is what calls us here today.  Love is the underpinning of all we know.  We can try to deny it… sure.  But once you’ve heard Love, full of tender mercies and compassion, call your name, you can never shut it out.  Love is here to stay the course, through thick and thin. 

We need this Love to be able to make promises, to keep vows.  We are responding to the Call of Living that came into the depths of our being. God-initiated. In our surrendering, we are recognizing God’s beckoning and sweet invitation to unveil through the everyday- ness of our own lives, our unique translation of Love, awakening each one of us to the deepest nature of who we are, to discover the wild possibilities of our precious lives.   

Last week when the President addressed the nation, he shared with us that he writes on that back of his daily schedule, the new number of Covid deaths for that day, as a way to remember, to pray, to commit, and to let suffering shape his daily work, as a way to be united with fellow citizens of our nation in their grief. That card is tucked in the inside pocket of his suit jacket, next to his heart. I’m moved by that simple, yet profound gesture, and so now in the back of my Prayer Book, I am writing down the new number of Covid deaths as a ritual to enhance my own prayer life… 527,726, 531,001, 535,997, 536, 472, 537,649, 539,207

As I write down the numbers, day by day, I am moved by the exactness, the counting, the one in the midst of many, a life well lived, a life lost, a family’s grief.  In a strange way, writing down such a large number helps me see the stark power of an individual’s death. By writing down the “statistic,” I am moved beyond the statistic to deep connection.  I am praying.  And in this act of prayer, I feel joy rising up within me.  Paul’s kind of joy, not as the world creates, but as God gives.     

If we have any doubt about God appearing in the world not as we imagine, then all we have to do is see a young virgin, unwed, teenager called Mary, alone, minding her own business, caught up in her own insignificance, becoming the divine vessel to deliver the Word to the World.  In her “YES,” her womb will also become the tomb.  A womb, at first empty, not yet touched by God.  And then a tomb, also empty, because it has been touched by God.  God always fills-in our emptiness, sometimes in our wombs, other times in our tombs. 

Mary’s womb which becomes a tomb, which will then become our womb.  

Just as God never appears as we imagine, God also comes to us disguised as our own life. And in that life, Love resides.  We just get distracted and don’t see it.  Kathy, your greatest gifts are that you risk loving deeply and that you are Real.  

There’s a classic story about the great Rabbi Zusha, who was found agitated and upset as he lay on his deathbed. His students asked, “Rebbe, why are you so sad? After all the great things you have accomplished, your place in heaven is assured!”

“I’m afraid!” Zusha replied, “Because when I get to heaven, God won’t ask me ‘Why weren’t you more like Moses?’ or ‘Why weren’t you more like King David?’ God will ask ‘Zusha, why weren’t you more like Zusha?’

Kathy, you’re the real deal.  You’re comfortable in your own skin.  You understand in a deep and natural way, as poet John O’Donohue teaches us, that the soul does not reside in the body.  Rather the body resides in the soul and the soul shelters and mediates and holds the air, our minds, and our bodies.  “In this primal sense, the soul is imaginative.” (Anum Cara, p. 97). 

The only barrier to our soul’s imagination is our sense of readiness.

Kathy, you are committed to readiness in all things.  Mostly in your capacity to sit with sleeping tigers of fear that reside in the corners of all our hearts, and to not be afraid. You’ll wake them up if need be, knowing that it is prayer that will get us through the darkest night of our souls. 

Prayer gives us the power to touch God’s heart-strings, and Kathy you are there, helping us to ground ourselves in God’s love affair with us.  It is God who resides in our heart, and you are there as our guide, helping us to the Truth of who we are in God’s gift of our real Self, our own heart-strings, and in our own knowledge of joy.

We are the same, like Jesus, both wounded and resurrected, and we are side by side with each other in the wonderful mystery of the Body of Christ.  Woven together in our open and empty hands.  In the giving and in the receiving.  In the suffering.  In the joy.  

With Mary and her YES, we are reminded, day by day, to trust that our simple lives will show forth the glory of God. God, who often works through what is not said by people who are not named, will take the wombs of our suffering and our joy to create something… to let us come to something… to let us redeem something.

And you Kathy, by the grace of God, you will be part of this joy as Priest in God’s Church.  You are so called, and today, with God’s Yes, Your Yes, Our Yes, we lay our hands on you and make you priest.  Trusting as Paul did… that our souls know the geography of our destination, which will always take us on the path of Love. AMEN

Celebrating Three Recent Ordinations

The past several months have been a busy period! The church in New Hampshire is excited and encouraged to see many people discerning a call to holy orders — including the Rev. Kathy Boss, the Rev. Greg Baker, and the Rev. Deacon Chris Potter — who were recently ordained. Watch their ordinations on YouTube:

February 24, 2021, The Rev. Gregory Baker was ordained to the priesthood at Church of the Good Shepherd Nashua, where Greg is serving as curate. CLICK HERE to watch on YouTube.

March 19, 2021, The Rev. Deacon Christopher Potter was ordained to the diaconate at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Manchester, where Chris is serving as deacon.  CLICK HERE to watch on YouTube.

March 20, 2021, The Rev. Katherine (Kathy) Boss was ordained to the priesthood at All Saint’s Littleton. Kathy is serving as chaplain at the White Mountain School in Bethlehem, NH, and as curate at All Saint’s Littleton. CLICK HERE to watch on YouTube.

All Saints’ Littleton, Launches Academic Support Program for Local Schools

All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Littleton, NH, is introducing an Academic Support Program for students at the local high school and middle school, tapping into the talents, knowledge, and skills of volunteers from the congregation. The Rev. Kathy Boss, Curate of All Saints' is leading the effort, which has already attracted several volunteers.

The impetus for the program is the state's widening education gap -- increasing gaps in local school funding levels, student achievement, and available resources during COVID, such as access to technology for remote learning. Also, in creating "Our Kids" Commission in 2016, New Hampshire's Bishop Rob challenged all “...to find and serve the Child Jesus in our communities by helping congregations move away from asking how can we get more young people from our community in the doors of our church to asking, how can we go out the doors of our church to serve the needs of young people in our communities?” All Saints’ Academic Support Program seeks to answer that call.

The program, which is free to students, will recruit, train, and pair academic volunteers with students in grades 7-12. Students will meet with their academic support volunteers 2-4 times per month, for 30-45 minute sessions. Work may focus on student organizational skills, academic progress, projects and assignments, learning standards, and encouragement and support, depending on the needs of the student.

The thoughtfully designed program will provide training, a background check, and academic mentoring structures and frameworks to prepare volunteers, offer ongoing support, and deliver a robust academic program for local students.

To view a 15-minute introductory video created by Rev. Kathy for the All Saints' program, click on this link:

https://www.loom.com/share/bfc3074e7cb4483a845f015f6039e366

With the support of the schools' principals, the program will begin at Littleton High School and Daisy Bronson Middle School. Program flyers will be sent to guidance counselors to distribute to families. In addition, the program will be promoted on the schools' Facebook pages to reach families.

If you are interested in learning more, and how you might develop a similar program in your community, contact the Rev. Kathy Boss at kboss.allsts@gmail.com.

In the News: Bishop Rob writes a “My Turn” Opinion Column in Concord Monitor

In the News: Bishop Rob writes a “My Turn” opinion column about New Hampshire education funding and proposed legislation in the Concord Monitor. Read it here.

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Voucher-bill-38781024

In the News: St. Andrew's New London Youth Group Creates Memorial for COVID Victims

Watch WMUR’s story about a Prayer Flag Memorial created by the Youth Group at St. Andrew’s New London. On February 6, 2021, the Youth Group at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in New London opened a Memorial Prayer Flag display to honor the over 1,000 lives lost to COVID-19 in N.H. The display is set up adjacent to the church’s prayer labyrinth, allowing visitors to contemplate and remember as they walk among the hundreds of flags — each one lovingly sewn and decorated as a memorial to those who have died, those who cared for them, and those who grieve.

A 2020 Christmas Message from Bishop Rob

Please click on the video below to view Bishop Rob's Christmas message. Bishop Rob and the diocesan staff of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire wish you a safe, hopeful, and Merry Christmas!

A 2020 Christmas Message from Bishop Rob

National Parochial Report Numbers for NH Inaccurate

The Episcopal News Service recently published a story titled, “2019 parochial reports show continued decline and a ‘dire’ future for The Episcopal Church.” In its assessment, the article describes a steep decline in attendance in the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire.

The Church of New Hampshire has reviewed the report and found it is based on inaccurate numbers embedded in the parochial reports. In reality, Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) in New Hampshire was statistically flat between 2018 and 2019. In fact, ASA numbers modestly increased by 3 persons.

For the past few years — through 2018 — the Diocese of New Hampshire’s ASA totals included chapel services held at two Episcopal-affiliated schools in the state. In 2019, these schools did not submit their parochial report numbers: an oversight resulting in an apparent precipitous drop in ASA.

According to Benge Ambrogi, COO and Canon for Mission Resources, “Without school attendance included, New Hampshire’s ASA in 2018 was 3,020 and 3,023 in 2019, indicating not decline, but growth by 3 people. In the context of decline across the church nationally, attendance levels in the New Hampshire church is positive.” Ambrogi noted that chapel attendance at the two NH schools in question was unchanged between 2018 and 2019. 

The Rt. Rev. Robert Hirschfeld, Bishop of New Hampshire announced that, “Moving forward, we will be more careful about how to integrate chapel attendance at our church-affiliated schools in the parochial report to the wider church. In this way, future reports will consistently reflect a more accurate picture of the church’s reach in New Hampshire."

“As we all know, for many decades now, the Church has employed this metric to try to determine the state of our health and holiness as a community in Christ, even as a greater portion of the US work force must work on Sunday mornings,” added Bishop Hirschfeld. “We have always sought to use the same measurements as the rest of the Church, however, our attention has been on other signs of our resilience, vibrancy, and joy in bearing witness to the Resurrection. Having a positive ASA number by three persons does not obviously make a trend. That said, I hope it is a sign that our three-fold efforts to renew the faithful in their knowledge and love of Jesus, to reconcile the world to God in Christ, and to revive the Church are worth committing to with increased boldness, especially in these demanding times. We will continue to turn our attention to how God is doing a new thing among us.”

School for Ministry Launches 2020-2021 Academic School Year

While the ECNH School for Ministry’s first study weekend arrives at the end of September, the community has been gathering steadily all summer, including meeting weekly over Zoom for open office hours—questions, conversation, and community building—followed by Compline. 

Three students are beginning a 3-year preparation program towards priestly ordination; three others, who have advanced theological degrees and experience in ministry, will spend a year solidifying their readiness to serve as priests in in the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.  The cohort’s courses for 2020-21 include the Iona Collaborative’s “Year of the Bible”; the first year of a three-year homiletics curriculum created in partnership with the Episcopal Preaching Foundation; “Episcopal Immersion” for the one-year group; and a rite-by-rite, season-by-season exploration of the Book of Common Prayer for all.

The broadcast of July’s ordination from Tilton offered a glimpse of the remarkable transformation underway to ready Trinity’s nave to be a working seminary chapel, a space for worship and for learning. We look forward to the day when public health protocols make it possible for us to gather there regularly. 

The Rev. Michael Greene, Rector of Church of the Good Shepherd, Nashua, has joined the SfM community as the principal mentor for our Episcopal Immersion students.

Ms. Karen Floyd Shepherd, who worships at St. Andrew’s New London and lives in Tilton, and who studied at Andover Newton Theological Seminary, is serving as the school’s librarian. 

Starting in October, Dean Kelly Sundberg Seaman will be part of  a small group of Iona leaders engaging in the Episcopal Church’s Sacred Ground program, a film- and readings-based dialogue series on race.

The Rev. Canon Gail Avery and Archdeacon Derek Scalia will trained by Iona faculty as diocesan facilitators for Called to Transformation, a program for Asset-Based Community Development training in congregations created by Episcopal Relief & Development and the Episcopal Church. 

Students and staff at the School for Ministry always welcome your prayers! More information about the School for Ministry can be found here.

Notes: Dr. Anthony Fauci Speaks with Bishops and Canons — Important “Best Practices” Reminders

Canon Gail Avery reported on the following discussion with the churches that Dr. Anthony Fauci had at a recent Bishops and Canons conference call. In light of the fact that 40-50% of those infected by COVID-19 are asymptomatic, and the United States has not flattened the curve as was hoped would happen by now, Dr. Fauci strongly advocates the following:

1. Three things are most effective: (1) universal wearing of masks; (2) physical distancing; (3) wash your hands regularly.

2. Outdoor gatherings are safer than indoor gatherings — avoid bars, concert halls, and arenas.

3. When experts say, “crowds,” it means congregating close together. Larger groups outdoors and spaced out properly are safer than small groups in close quarters. (10 foot spacing is better than 6 feet).

4. Singing is worse than speaking. Singing sprays out more particles — it has been tested by scientists. If you can, try not to sing.

5. Face shields: aerosolized particles can come underneath. A mask is preferable.

6. There is a misperception in the public sphere of “all or nothing,” of total shut-down or a total ignoring of precautions. But this is not an accurate perception of what is possible.

7. There is still a lot that can be done in a safe manner. Public health recommendations (and the science behind them) should be seen as a gateway for accomplishing a task and not an obstacle that locks us in.

8. Winter will be problematic. If you must gather indoors, do so with windows open and temperatures and humidity levels turned up higher (heat and humidity cause particles in the air to fall to the ground faster).

9. For dioceses that are in colder climates, begin having conversations now before it gets too cold to worship and meet together outdoors. What changes might need to be made to allow for any safe use of indoor space in the winter? Or, will you need to plan to go fully remote again?

10. Finally, Dr. Fauci commented that this will end. We won’t be like this forever. A vaccine will help. Don’t lose hope. The virus will determine the timeline and we must follow where the science leads us.

Gibson's Bookstore to Host Bishop Rob for an Online Book Event

Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, NH is welcoming Bishop Rob to an online event to discuss his new book, With Sighs Too Deep for Words: Grace and Depression. The event will be held on Thursday, August 6th at 7:00 pm via Zoom. Registration is required and can be found here.

Bishop Rob’s book offers prayers and practical suggestions for spiritual and creative practices and resilience while living with depression, and serves as a companion for those who suffer so that they may know more deeply the resilient love of Jesus.

With Sighs Too Deep For Words is available at local independent NH booksellers including Gibson’s in Concord, the Bookery in Manchester, and Toadstools in Keene, Nashua, and Peterborough, as well as Church Publishing (www.churchpublishing.org/withsighstoodeepforwords), Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.