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’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.
Photo courtesy of Deb Cram/Seacoastonline and Fosters.com
Published in the Portsmouth Herald and Seacoastonline, this article gives an update on the family of Afghan refugees resettling in Portsmouth at the Christ Episcopal Church rectory.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.”
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.
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.
(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.
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:
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.
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.
Watch WMUR’s story about a Prayer Flag Memorial created by the Youth Group at St. Andrew’s New London.
Please click on the video below to view Bishop Rob's Christmas message. A 2020 Christmas Message from Bishop Rob. Bishop Rob and the diocesan staff of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire wish you a safe, hopeful, and Merry Christmas!
The Episcopal News Service recently published a story titled, “2019 parochial reports show continued decline and a ‘dire’ future for The Episcopal Church.” 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.
The ECNH School for Ministry’s opening study weekend arrives at the end of September, but 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…
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:
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.
