Gathering the flock: Services to return, with restrictions

From New Hampshire-

Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeld, who heads the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire, said he wants to “move incrementally, very carefully” in returning to public worship.

Hirschfeld said he’s still putting together guidelines for Episcopal churches here, but he expects those will be more restrictive than what the state has provided. In considering “the way of love,” public welfare must be of supreme importance, he said.

“We don’t believe that the risks of coming together ... outweigh the joy we have in gathering right now,” he said. “It just doesn’t seem prudent.

More here-

https://www.unionleader.com/gathering-the-flock-services-to-return-with-restrictions/article_45158afb-851f-5296-9b64-ed662682c9ca.html

Churches connect for Holy Week during time of pandemic

From New Hampshire-

Heading into Holy Week churches are deploying various means to keep their congregations connected to each other, and God.

“Even though we are really isolated we are being really intentional about being connected,” said Rev. Elsa Worth pastor of St. James Episcopal Church in Keene.

People are in need and really looking for some sort of spiritual connection, Worth said. Her church’s approach has not been on worship services so much as on shepherding the flock, she said.

“A little bit more pastoral and addressing people’s anxiety,” she said. “It’s a terrible time and people are having a terrible time emotionally. … It’s a time of lament and we’re not used to lament. … This is hard, people are dying all over the world and we have systems that are not addressing this that well.”

More here-

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Churches-across-the-state-grapple-with-season-of-exile-ahead-of-holy-week-33721478

Episcopal church transforms sanctuary into immigrant-focused art gallery

From New Hampshire-

A new art exhibit showcasing the immigrant experience goes on display at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Londonderry tonight.

“We’re turning the church into an art gallery,” said the Rev. Colin Chapman.

The exhibit, entitled “Our Neighbors, Ourselves,” is part of a string of programs designed to draw attention to the state of immigration in New Hampshire and nationwide, Chapman said.

The spark for the idea came last summer from Chapman and seminarian Kathy Boss, who were inspired in part by some of the news stories about family separation at the southern border the year prior.

The hope was to showcase the daily lives of immigrants in the country and in the Granite State, and dispel the notion of immigrants being something “other,” he said.

More here-

https://www.unionleader.com/nh/arts_and_ent/episcopal-church-transforms-sanctuary-into-immigrant-focused-art-gallery/article_c235ad27-c77a-56ef-ad1d-2c60acdd160d.html

Episcopal Mission of Franklin enjoying a rebirth

From New Hampshire-

Standing in the sanctuary at the Episcopal Mission of Franklin, the Rev. Kate Harmon Siberine recounts how a few months ago the building had been closed -- doors locked, cold and empty.

But like the city it calls home, the church is enjoying a rebirth and has again become a place for people to gather, worship and foster a Christian community.

“This building has always been about feeding people -- body and spirit,” said Pastor Siberine.

Originally known as Saint Jude’s Episcopal Church, it experienced the same trajectory of decline as Franklin, following the closure of the paper and wool mills that were once the mainstay of the local economy.

A stained-glass window of Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, has watched faithfully over the altar since the church was built in the nineteenth century, Harmon Siberine explained. And over her shoulder -- looking from the back window -- is the second saint of the local mission, Saint Tabitha.

More here-

https://www.unionleader.com/news/local/episcopal-mission-of-franklin-enjoying-a-rebirth/article_ff312f46-9d8d-5f5d-93c2-77522931da38.html

N.H. Episcopal Church Wants To Make It Easier To Become a Priest

From New Hampshire-

The Episcopal Church of New Hampshire is launching a new training program that it hopes will make  becoming a priest easier for people in different stages of their lives.

Rather than the traditional three years of training at seminary school, the diocese in New Hampshire will begin offering a certificate program next year that requires students to attend in-person trainings nine weekends a year while completing coursework independently from their homes.

“This really makes it easier for people to answer that call, whether that call to ministry comes in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, we even have people doing this post-retirement,” says Tina Pickering, who works in ministry development for the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire.

More here-

https://www.nhpr.org/post/nh-episcopal-church-wants-make-it-easier-become-priest#stream/0

Newly Consecrated Gay Bishop Declares God Is A Woman

From New Hampshire-

Rev. Thomas Brown, who is married to a fellow priest, was ordained as a bishop of the diocese of Maine in the Episcopal Church June 22. Immediately following his ordination, Brown referred to God as a “she” twice in the Nicene Creed.

“She is worshipped and glorified. She has spoken through the Prophets,” the just-ordained Bishop Brown said, referring to the Holy Spirit.

The Nicene Creed was written 1,638 years ago and only uses masculine pronouns to refer to God.
The microphones in the Cathedral of St. Luke projected the voice of the celebrant, Bishop Curry, for the duration of the creed, barring the line where Bishop Brown used female pronouns for God. It is unclear if the microphones were intentionally switched to project Bishop Brown’s female-gendering of God.

More here-

https://dailycaller.com/2019/06/28/gay-priest-god-woman/

Episcopalians to join 40-mile Solidarity Walk to immigrant detention facility in New Hampshire

From ENS-

Episcopalians will join others in the New Hampshire faith community this month for a four-day Solidarity Walk for Immigrant Justice, tracing detained immigrants’ path from federal immigration enforcement offices in Manchester to a jail in Dover to raise awareness of immigrants’ plight and voice their support.

“We’re following on foot the path that people who are detained and taken to jail are themselves traveling,” said the Rev. Jason Wells, an Episcopal priest who serves as executive director of New Hampshire Council of Churches, one of the Solidarity Walk organizers.

This pilgrimage will begin Aug. 22 with a short prayer service at St. Anne-St. Augustin Catholic Church in Manchester, and the walk will kick off from the Norris Cotton Federal Building, where offices of U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement, or ICE, are located. The building also has been the site of regular prayer vigils scheduled for days when immigrants are known to be checking in with ICE, some fearing they will be detained or deported.

More here-

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/article/episcopalians-join-40-mile-solidarity-walk-immigrant-detention-facility-new

Sex misconduct revisits elite prep school already under fire

From AP-

An elite New Hampshire prep school is facing new revelations about another competition of sexual conquest two years after a student was convicted of sexually assaulting a freshman as part of a tradition called "Senior Salute."

Eight boys in a St. Paul's School dorm in Concord apparently competed to have their names put on a crown, according to the Concord Monitor, which first reported on the matter. The school it learned about the game from students just before the June 4 commencement and has hired an outside investigator.

"Kids will be disciplined in a swift and appropriate way should that investigation find any violation of our code of conduct. We take these things very seriously," Rector Michael Hirschfeld told The Associated Press on Friday.

Concord police said they learned of the conquest competition while investigating a report of a sexual assault on campus involving students. But police said the competition wasn't linked to their ongoing investigation at the school.

More here-

http://www.westfieldrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/2318339/Sex-misconduct-revisits-elite-prep-school-already-under-fire.html?isap=1&nav=5072

‘Total lack of awareness’: Elite NH boarding school bungled previous sexual abuse report

From New Hampshire (Additional links below)-

St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire has become the latest elite boarding school to publish a report outlining “substantiated claims” of misconduct by former faculty and staff members and admitting the school failed to protect students.

At the request of the private Episcopal school, the Boston, Massachusetts-based law firm of Casner & Edwards conducted an independent investigation into 34 allegations of sexual misconduct by former faculty and staff.

Their damning 73-page report found 13 substantiated claims of sexual misconduct by former faculty and staff who were named, 10 other reports of sexual misconduct by former faculty and staff who were not named, and 11 unsubstantiated claims of sexual misconduct by current and former faculty and staff.

“Put simply but starkly, several former faculty and staff sexually abused children in their care in a variety of ways, from clear boundary violations to repeated sexual relationships to rape,” the report said.

More here-

https://www.rt.com/usa/389293-stpauls-boarding-sexual-misconduct-report/

and here (with video)

http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Report--423636804.html

and here-

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2017/05/22/report-backs-sex-abuse-claims-against-13-at-st-pauls-school

and here-

http://www.concordmonitor.com/st-pauls-school-concord-nh-independent-investigation-into-past-sexual-misconduct-of-teachers-10238915

and here-

http://www.unionleader.com/education/Report-St-Pauls-School-investigation-finds-dozens-of-staff-sexual-misconduct-claims-allegations-05222017

As vote looms, faith leaders say it's time to bridge the political divide

Lots of places holding prayer vigils for Voting Day-

 Massachusetts-

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20161107/on-election-eve-new-bedfords-grace-episcopal-church-prays-for-healing-and-unity

Virgina-

http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/local/fredericksburg-church-holds-election-themed-prayer-vigil/article_9d5dddcf-feda-5599-841f-ecdd259edec9.html 

New Hampshire-

http://www.newhampshire.com/religion/as-vote-looms-faith-leaders-say-its-time-to-bridge-the-political-divide-20161106 

New Jersey

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/11/nj_churches_to_pray_before_during_and_after_this_e.html

Boston-

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/11/07/prayers-for-healing-after-lacerating-campaign/deQ8TLjNnged7BkmL6QNwK/story.html

Miami-

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article113148358.html

Indianapolis-

http://www.wthr.com/article/indianapolis-churches-offer-prayer-reflection-before-election-day 

Seattle-

http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/feeling-gross-this-election-churches-offering-healing-vigils/

South Carolina-

http://www.thestate.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/cindi-ross-scoppe/article113070318.html

Part-time clergy make room for lay ministries

From New Hampshire-

One of the biggest trends in church life is one that denominations actively discourage: the growing use of part-time clergy to lead congregations. No longer able to afford full-time pastors, churches are defying warnings and signing up part-timers, who often have other jobs and limit their church work to 10 or 20 hours a week

Congregations braving these waters have plenty of company. Five years ago, 55 percent of United Methodist congregations in New England had a part-time pastor. Today, it’s 70 percent. The percentage is nearly as high (about 66 percent) for both the United Church of Christ in Maine and the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Having a part-time leader is no longer an oddity. It’s the norm.

More here-

http://www.newburyportnews.com/news/religion/part-time-clergy-make-room-for-lay-ministries/article_138044aa-dda0-5756-87f6-7bd829e33c9e.html

St. Paul's School Grad Accuses Former Chaplain of Sexual Abuse

From New Hampshire-

A former St. Paul’s School student has come forward with an allegation of sexual abuse by a former chaplain after the New Hampshire prep school began an investigation of the man upon learning of a similar allegation at a Rhode Island prep school where he also once worked, a St. Paul’s spokeswoman said Wednesday.

St. Paul’s contacted Concord police, alumni and students about the allegation involving the Rev. Howard “Howdy” White when he was a chaplain and teacher from 1967-1971, spokeswoman Tenley Rooney said in confirming reports that the school was investigating White.

More here-

http://nhpr.org/post/st-pauls-school-grad-accuses-former-chaplain-sexual-abuse-0

NH Supreme Court to hear Durham church's tax appeal

From New Hampshire-

The New Hampshire Supreme Court is set to hear a Durham church's appeal regarding taxes paid for the leasing of parking spaces to University of New Hampshire students.

Foster's Daily Democrat reports St. George's Episcopal Church appealed to the high court after a Strafford County judge ruled that the church was obligated to pay a property tax to the town.

Church officials say they've been leasing parking spaces to UNH students since 1998 and the town had never levied a tax on the church before. But in 2013, Durham Tax Assessor Jim Rice issued a property tax bill to the church.

More here-

http://www.nh1.com/news/nh-supreme-court-to-hear-durham-church-s-tax-appeal/

2 Letters on St. Paul’s School

From The Living Church-

In separate letters, the Bishop of New Hampshire and two leaders of St. Paul’s School discuss their responses to the conviction of former student Owen Labrie on one count of engaging in sex with a student younger than the age of consent. He was found not guilty on felony charges.

The Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, Bishop of New Hampshire, wrote on Aug. 29:

… The Bishop, who does not serve on its Board of Trustees, has no role in the School’s management or operations. The role of the Bishop is limited to the spiritual and canonical oversight of the clergy employed at the School as chaplains or faculty. This relationship is in contrast to the more close affiliation we have with the schools founded by the Diocese — the White Mountain School and the Holderness School — where the Bishop serves, ex officio, as the President of the Boards of Trustees. I have been in contact with the heads of each of these schools about the Labrie case because I feel we need to redouble our efforts to ensure, as best we can, the health and safety of all in our care and to teach holiness in our relationships.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/2-letters-st-paul-school

Labrie cleared of rape, guilty of lesser charges

From Boston-

Former St. Paul’s School student Owen Labrie was acquitted Friday of raping a 15-year-old girl in a secluded room on the campus in May of last year, but was found guilty on lesser sexual-assault charges involving a minor — a split verdict that left both teenagers in tears.

After about eight hours of deliberations, the jury of nine men and three women determined that Labrie had sex with the girl, then a freshman at the Concord boarding school, but that prosecutors had failed to prove he had acted without her consent, as she had asserted.

More here-

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/28/jury-deliberations-continue-paul-school-rape-case-against-owen-labrie/J2kZr6pfpw0T2IVcUAs7LJ/story.html

Defendant Testifies in Prep-School Assault Case

From The Wall Street Journal-

A 19-year-old defendant on Wednesday said he didn’t have sex with a fellow prep-school student in a high-profile case that demonstrates how allegations of campus sexual assault are widening beyond the nation’s colleges and universities.

Owen Labrie, a former student and captain of the soccer team at St. Paul’s School, took the stand for the first time Wednesday. He is accused of raping a then-15-year-old girl in May 2014, just before he graduated at age 18. Mr. Labrie of Tunbridge, Vt., has pleaded not guilty to three felony sexual assault charges and other charges, including endangering the welfare of a child.

Under cross-examination Wednesday, Mr. Labrie acknowledged he invited the girl for a “senior salute,” in which graduating upperclassmen proposition younger students to arrange encounters, often intimate, before graduation. But he said the two had a consensual physical encounter that didn’t include intercourse.

More here-

http://www.wsj.com/articles/defendant-testifies-in-prep-school-assault-case-1440632731

Sordid sexual tradition alleged at elite prep school

From CBS-

St. Paul's School boasts a glittering roster of alumni that includes senators, congressmen, a Nobel laureate and the current secretary of state. The elite prep school also allegedly has a sordid tradition of sexual conquest in which boys about to graduate attempt to "score" with younger female students.

Details of a practice authorities say was called the "Senior Salute" were spelled out in stark terms by a former prefect at the New Hampshire school who is charged with raping a 15-year-old girl on the roof of a campus building in May 2014.

More here-

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/st-pauls-school-rape-case-reveals-sordid-sexual-tradition/

As rape trial begins, elite St. Paul’s school in N.H. faces sordid ‘sexual scoring’ scrutiny

From The Washington Post-

He was a senior and she was 15 when he allegedly raped her on the roof of a school building last spring. At the elite St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., which boasts a century and a half of famous alumni and a vast, bucolic campus that would put many colleges to shame, this was a different, sordid kind of tradition.

It was called the “senior salute,” Owen Labrie told Concord police, according to the Associated Press. Before they graduate, senior men at St. Paul’s competed to sleep with as many younger students as possible. “Score” was kept in permanent marker on a wall behind the washing machines, then, after the school kept painting over it, in an online forum.

More here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/17/as-rape-trial-begins-elite-st-pauls-prep-school-in-n-h-faces-sordid-sexual-scoring-scrutiny/

Area children commemorate 50th anniversary of Jonathan Daniels' death

From New Hampshire-

On Tuesday, a youth group from St. James Episcopal Church in Keene left on a journey back in time to the civil rights movement, in a trip marking 50th anniversary of Elm City native Jonathan Daniels’ death.

Nine children, ages 10 to 16, were slated to participate in the Jonathan Daniels pilgrimage to Alabama, according to Derek M. Scalia, the St. James youth pilgrimage leader and chairman of the city of Keene’s Martin Luther King Jr./Jonathan Daniels Committee.

“There’s an amazing opportunity for these students to actually walk where the movement took place, to visit the sites in which people sacrificed their reputation in the community and, for many, ultimately gave their life,” Scalia said. “It’s extremely moving.”

More here-

http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/area-children-commemorate-th-anniversary-of-jonathan-daniels-death/article_ad9ef720-c4f8-5197-b34a-72527f4db4ee.html

More churches report man used death scam to get their money

From New Hampshire-

The Rev. David Robinson didn't think much of it when a man who said his name was Joseph Grieco and appeared to be mourning the death of his brother stopped in to the Trinity Episcopal Church in Hampton last month.

"He genuinely seemed saddened by his brother's death. He seemed like a grieving brother," Robinson said Friday.

Robinson was shocked when he saw Grieco's booking photo in the newspaper Friday morning after he was arrested and accused of using a phony death scam to swindle money from the Kensington Congregational Church.

"He got us, too," Robinson said.

- See more at:

http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20140913/NEWS/409130332/101141/NEWS#sthash.qwkFhT3b.dpuf