Parish of the Messiah

Excerpts from "The Messiah Miracle"

 

J. Foster Ober was commissioned to draw up plans of a church building located to the North and West of the Chapel [built in 1881] .... The congregation went to work with a will to raise the necessary funds with fairs, suppers, and other activities on which goodly sums were realized. The cornerstone of the church [seen below] was laid by Bishop Phillips Brooks on October 3, 1892. The tune "Auburndale" in the 1918 Hymnal was composed by Horatio Parker for this occasion.

 

 

  

On November 15, 1943, tragedy came to our beloved church, when the entire plant was completely gutted and destroyed by a fire of unknown origin. It was indeed a heart-rending sight when many stood in the ruins the next day .... But there amid the ashes and rubble was born the determination to rebuild as soon as possible.

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More than 65 years after that service in September 1945, the present members of this active community carry on the traditions of those early members and rededicate themselves and the church as a place of worship, healing, and hospitality. The parish strives to deepen its relationship with one another and initiate new outreach programs outside the walls of our parish.

Click here to read the Wikipedia entry for the 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.

The church is located at 1900 Commonwealth Avenue in the Auburndale section of Newton, Massachusetts near the Massachusetts Turnpike at the Commonwealth Avenue and Auburn Street intersection traffic light; just one block from Lasell College. A large lawn sets the church back from Commonwealth Avenue with the main entrance to the sanctuary on Auburn Street.

The sanctuary is handicap accessible via a sidewalk and ramp to the left of the main entrance on Auburn Street.

Parking is available in the church driveway which is one-way. The entrance to the driveway is accessible from Commonwealth Avenue. Additional parking is available along Commonwealth Avenue and Auburn Street and on the one-way carriage road parallel to Commonwealth Avenue.

 

 

For local directions from Google, click here.

Here at Parish of the Messiah, we take seriously the guidance found in the Catechism (Book of Common Prayer [1979], page 855): 

“The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.”  from Book of Common Prayer.

We believe that a strong part of formulating ministry as members of the Episcopal Church lies in continuing Christian education as part of a lifetime process. We will continue in the future to organize and participate in programs tailored to studying the Bible and cultivating our knowledge of our Episcopal faith.

During the course of the four Sundays in Advent 2012, the Parish of the Messiah organized an Inquirer’s Class for anyone interested in confirmation and reception. The classes were part of Messiah’s Adult Christian Formation, our education and outreach program, and were open to the public and the Messiah congregation, especially anyone curious about the Episcopal Church’s history, theology, and liturgy. In addition, this class serves as preparation for baptism, confirmation or reception into the Episcopal church for any adult member. This year the book, What is Anglicanism? by Urban T. Holmes, was read and discussed.  As of result of last year’s Inquirer’s Class, seven members of the congregation were confirmed or received at the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts’s Rite of Confirmation service held in May 2012 at Trinity Church, Copley Square. 

For the four Sundays in Advent 2011, those members of Messiah who were interested in confirmation and reception participated in an Inquirer’s Class. We read various sources, including the Book of Common Prayer, the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church and items from the Parish of the Messiah archives.

In Lent 2012, we offered an adult study group, A Journey Through Lent. The group studied the Book of Common Prayer and Show Me the Way: Readings for Each Day of Lent by Henri Nouwen.

In Lent 2011, we participated in a Mediation series sponsored by the Charles River Deanery. Parishioners within the deanery drafted meditations that we studied during a course of Wednesday evenings. We began with evening prayer that followed with conversation over a light supper. We will continue this tradition this Lent. Click for details.

To use the Charles River Deanery Lenten Meditations 2012 for your personal devotions, please click here.

To use the Charles River Deanery Lenten Meditations 2013 for your personal devotions, please click www.trinitynewton.org/LentenMeditations.html. Both parts 1 and 2 are now available.

Those interested in participating in any of the Parish of the Messiah's adult education should contact contact Bernie Jones, Coordinator of Adult Christian Formation, at 617/527-8505.

 

We are pleased to welcome the Reverend James R. La Macchia as the new rector at Parish of the Messiah. For the past 14 years, Father James served as Associate Chaplain & Religious Studies teacher at Saint Mark’s School, an independent, coeducational boarding and day school located in Southborough, MA.

He holds a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge and a Master of Arts in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude as an English-Honors major. Before his ordination to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, he was an English teacher for 16 years. He taught writing as well as English, American, and World Literature. Prior to his tenure at Saint Mark’s, he served as the Anglican Chaplain at the Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Center. His parish experience includes serving as a priest in two parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.

Father James is the author of The Riches of the Word of God: Homilies of an American Priest and is working on another book. He spent nine summers living and studying in Israel/Palestine, and much of his ordained life has been involved with ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, especially among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. He is particularly interested in Holocaust studies and was invited to speak this summer at the 2012 biennial International Conference on Holocaust Education in Jerusalem. He also is a commissioned presenter of the method of Centering Prayer for Contemplative Outreach.

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Click here to see a pdf copy of the 2011 Annual Meeting Reports.

Messiah's prayer for new ministry:

Lord Jesus Christ, as you have promised when two or three are gathered in your name, be with us as we endeavor to discern your will as we seek a new rector for our church. We ask you to bless us, keep us, guide us, and fill us with your holy spirit. Grant us wisdom, understanding, and grace as we undertake this holy work. Open our minds to hear your voice calling us to new opportunities. Strengthen the love that binds us in community. We ask this in your holy name. Amen.

We are pleased to announce that Cappella Clausura, a period instrument and vocal ensemble which specializes in music written through the centuries by women in clausurae, that is, in cloisters, continues as Artist-in-Residence for the 2012 - 2013 season.This collaboration, which began in 2005, is part of Messiah's ongoing Artist-in-Residence program.

The ensemble of female voices is accompanied by instrumentalists playing the harpsichord, lute, and other period instruments. Cappella Clausura brings to light works of composers who have struggled to compose and perform despite considerable social taboos. The music that was written in clausurae was extraordinary in its inventiveness as well as its musicality. Nuns who penned this music wrote to express their deepest spirituality at a time when musical expression by women was not only frowned upon but frequently forbidden by the church. The group's goal is to place this music into the the standard repertoire.

For tickets, directions or more information go to www.clausura.org .

The Momus Trombone Quartet, a chamber music ensemble dedicated to advancing brass chamber music in the community, was artist-in-residence at the Parish of the Messiah for the 2004 - 2005 season.
 
Momus’ repertoire that ranged from classical and religious music to jazz and pop genres could be heard at churches, schools, and a wide variety of musical venues throughout the Boston area. In addition to performing, an educational program they developed let them share their great love of chamber music with children.