Parish of the Messiah

The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, Bishop Suffragan, visits Messiah 

The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, Bishop Suffragan, came to Messiah on March 17 for our yearly bishop’s visitation. She was assisted by the Rev. Deacon Holly Hartman. Bishop Harris delivered the sermon and was principal celebrant at the Eucharist. Deacon Hartman read the Gospel. After the worship service, Bishop Harris shared a light lunch and participated in a lively and informative Q and A with the congregation. She also met with the vestry for further discussion. Her dog, Piccola, was an instant hit with Messiah members, especially the children.

Making Easter Baskets for The Second Step 

Twenty-three Easter baskets were made for the children who are cared for by The Second Step in Newton, a program for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. This is an outreach project of Messiah using funds from the WIN program.

The snowfall over the weekend of February 10 dumped almost two feet of snow on Newton, including the flat rubber roof over the Brookline Infant Toodler Center that uses our downstairs area during the week. Safety concerns were raised about the weight of the snow. A band of hardy snow elves removed the snow with plastic shovels to not damage the roof.

Many thanks go to Meg Silver, Jane Galli, Steve Isabelle, Greg Hilton, Melissa Leahy, Carlos DaSilva, and Kevin Galli.

To celebrate Epiphany, someone bakes a Three King's Cake at Messiah. Three beans are baked into the cake and whoever receives the bean in their piece becomes honorary king, or queen, for a day. The cake is served at our fellowship time after the service.

This year's kings are Fr. James La Macchia, Teddy Hilton and Bryan Hilton.

Members of the parish recently collected toiletries such as travel-size shampoo, conditioner, hand and body lotion, as well as hair ties and headbands to donate to “Operation: Care and Comfort” for women serving in the military who often are far from access to such needed products. OCC, based in San Jose, California, collects donations received from all over the United States and makes up care packages for deployed U.S. military service members, male and female, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflict regions. The parish also sent copies of the Episcopal church’s Prayer Book for theArmed Services which has prayers for those in harm’s way along with Bible and Psalm selections and sections to assist those who are Roman Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or Spanish speaking in time of need as well as copies of Forward Day by Day, a pocket-size manual of daily Bible readings and devotions. Donations were collected over three Sundays in November and sent out in time to be received by Veterans’ Day.

On Pentecost, Messiah celebrated Rev. Suzanne Colburn's last Sunday with us. She had served as our Interim Priest since March 2011. There were processions and recessions involving the children of the parish. A bagpiper from the Clan Sutherland Pipe and Drum Band led the congregation out of church at the end of the service. A special coffee hour was held after the service where gifts were presented to Rev. Colburn by the children and parish members.

Even a mid-afternoon shower did not dampen the spirits of interested bargain hunters and treasure seekers at the summer yard sale. Bagpipers from the Clan Sutherland Pipe and Drum Band played a brief concert to the delight of unsuspecting shoppers, drivers, pedestrians,and bikers on Commonwealth Avenue.

A surprisingly peaceful assortment of cats and dogs were present at the service this Sunday. For those animals that didn't like to travel and those that were no longer with us but are still loved, pictures and names were placed beside a painting of St. Francis. All pets received a blessing and a St. Francis medallion. A special offering was taken to support the Humane Society's Disaster Relief Fund and a local shelter.

We celebrated "Christ the King" Sunday as well as Messiah's namesake and anniversary day on November 20. A warm, sunny day greeted us on this joyous occasion when friends and former members came together to commemorate the happy event. A special sermon (pdf version) reliving our history was given by Bernie Jones (pictured below), the church historian. The children participated in a grand procession leading us outside to find the building cornerstone. Rev. Suzanne Colburn offered a brief blessing and rededication of the cornerstone. After the service during our fellowship, the congregation viewed a Messiah time line of people and events that shaped our history. Members were invited to add their own personal information to the time line. The Newton TAB, our local newspaper, covered the event with a story and front page photo.

Messiah hosted a celebration of the Advent and Christmas season on December 4 with Church of the Good Shepherd, another Episcopal church in Watertown; and Cappella Clausura, our Artist-in-Residence. During the service of joyful song and anticipation, ancient scriptures were read and one of the lessons from the book of Isaiah was canted in Hebrew by Ben Silver, guest soloist. The service also included special organ music and a cappella anthems as well as congregational hymn singing of traditional carols. A joint choir, made up of singers from all three groups, performed and led the singing. A reception featuring seasonal fare followed in the Parish Hall.

Click here to hear the duet I Sing of a Maiden, a Middle English lyric poem adapted by Patrick Hadley and performed by Martha Bancroft and Amelia LeClair during the service.