Diocese of Massachusetts
The Diocese of Massachusetts provides spiritual oversight and support to the Church of the Redeemer. The Diocese is overseen by three Bishops, Diocesan Bishop Thomas Shaw, SSJE, Suffragan Bishop Bud Cederholm and Suffragan Bishop Gayle Harris.
Outreach
We pay a diocesan assesment annually which supports area college chaplaincies, local mission programs such as Episcopal City Mission, an organization that works for social and economic justice for the Boston area’s urban poor, B-SAFE, the Bishop’s Summer Academic and Fun Enrichment program, a six-week summer camp for urban youth, and many other outreach programs. It also operates the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, a year-round retreat center in New Hampshire that runs a Christian camp in the summer.
Governance and Cleric Support
In addition to outreach, the Diocese provides continuing education opportunities for clergy and provides a mechanism for local partnerships and church governance. The Diocese also offers training and support for those wishing to be considered for ordination to the priesthood or diaconate and is the entity that ordains and confirms, rather than individual parishes.
Fellowship for Youth
The Diocesan Youth Council, run by the Office of Youth Ministries, provides an emotional and numerical boost to the small to moderate youth groups many Episcopal churches have by organizing quarterly events for junior high and high school students, such as pre-Confirmation retreats, fellowship retreats and student governance and representation at Diocesan Conference through the Diocesan Youth Council.
Discernment for Young Adults
Training is a particular emphasis of the diocese, and as such it has two young adult intern programs. Founded in 2000, The Micah Project is an eleven-month residential internship of the Diocese, and a partner project of the national Episcopal Service Corps. Micah Interns live together in intentional Christian community, discerning their own vocational calls while serving the Boston area in site placements, with an orientation toward social and structural justice.
Founded in 2008, The Relational Evangelism Pilot Project (REPP) is an eleven-month internship of the Diocese, and a partner project of the national Episcopal Service Corps. Relational Evangelists serve in an Episcopal parish or University Chaplaincy and are trained as faith-based community organizers with the intention of engaging more young adults in the mission of God by growing authentic community, deepening spiritual lives and making a difference in the world.
Worship Center and Emerging Ministries
The Cathedral Church of St. Paul is the worship center of the Diocese. Located in downtown Boston, directly adjacent to the Boston Common, it is a place of prayer that is open to the city during the week and on Sundays. In addition to normal church offerings, the Cathedral has particularly vibrant ministries for the homeless, Chinese-language speakers, and those seeking a new form of worship through the emerging church movement.
Safe Church Training
The Diocese also coordinates a Safe Church Training program for adressing sexual and power abuse in church communities. It is required that all members of church leadership who come in contact with children, including all members of the Vestry, receive Safe Church Training. The six-hour training program transitioned from an in-person training program to an online program in 2010.
Click here for the Redeemer Safe Church policy.
Contact our Parish Administrator, Laine Walters Young, for more information about Safe Church Training at the Redeemer at office [at] redeemerchestnuthill [dot] org.
Photo credits (top to bottom): David Zadig; Deborah Gardner Walker; Tracy Sukraw. Used with permission of the Diocese of Massachusetts.
