Tag Archives: charity

How shall we live?

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Epiphany 5A, 5 Feb. 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 58:1-12. You will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
  • 1 Corinthians 2:1-16. Those who are spiritual discern all things.
  • Matthew 5:13-20. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

O God of mercy, salt and light, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

As tempting as it is to preach about salt and light, I am so struck by Jesus’ teaching that he has not come to abolish the law (that is, Torah) or the prophets (that is Isaiah and the others). Jesus says, “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away [which, by the way, has not happened yet], not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law.” Just last week a visitor was marveling at the fact that a parish and a synagogue share this sacred space as well as sharing teaching, pastoral care, and outreach. The person said, “But Jews are waiting for the Messiah, right? And Christians believe the Messiah has already come.” I replied that Jews are waiting for the first coming and Christians are waiting for the second coming. We’re all waiting and wondering how (and whether) we will recognize the Messiah. Meanwhile, at 15 Newbury Street, we’re doing what we can to repair the world, which we all agree is in desperate need of healing. [1] Continue reading →

1906

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Camp Lowell was established by the shores of Lake Annabessacook in Winthrop ME to provide a summer camp for the choir boys of Emmanuel and  Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill.  Boys from our mission Church of the Ascension also attended for two weeks in its first summer.  The camp, which had sleeping accomodations for 28 campers and 2 staff, was named in memory of Charles Lowell, late treasurer of Emmanuel.  Its trusttees were Charles H. Kip, John Lowell, and William Blodgett.  John Collins Bossidy famously toasted, “Boston, the land of the bean and the cod / Where Lowells talk only to Cabots / and Cabots talk only to God,” but it was no doubt belied by the fellowship of Emmanuel, where Walter Cabot Baylies picked up Charles Lowell’s baton and served as warden from 1907-1935.

Our Girls Choir

1905

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Tuberculosis Class, organized by Joseph H. Pratt MD and Lesley H. Spooner, MD., reached 308 patients in its first year.

The Rev. Dr. Samuel McComb (1864–1938) became Associate Rector. Raised in Belfast, Ireland, with a doctorate from Oxford University, he had taught church history at Queens University, Ontario, and served as a Presbyterian minister in England and New York City before his ordination in the Episcopal Church. He became a spokesman for the Emmanuel Movement during its active years.  See also 1909 and his many works available on Amazon and full text from Hathi Trust.


November 23.  Emmanuel Memorial House was dedicated.  Given by Harriet Pitts Weeks (Mrs. Silas Reed) Anthony in memory of her father Andrew Gray Weeks, whose widow gave its playground.  It was located at 11 Newcomb St. around the corner from 1906 Washington St., where our diocese maintained a mission in the South End, Church of the Ascension (now Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church).  Through the Emmanuel House Committee, Emmanuel parishioners helped with the kindergarten and summer play school for neighborhood children.  They also ran homemaking and other classes and a gymnasium for Ascension parishioners. Emmanuel Memorial House567

1903

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June 26.  Andrew Gray Weeks died. Having been born in Portland, Maine, in 1823 and confirmed by Dr. F. Dan Huntington, he served on our vestry (1879-82 & 1884) and as junior warden from 1885 until his death.  Having become a successful merchant, Andrew was generous to our church and those less fortunate.  In 1905 his sister Harriet (Mrs. Silas Reed) Anthony gave in his memory the playground for the Emmanuel Memorial House, which his widow Alice gave.  She also paid for a brass memorial plaque for their son Kenneth, who fell at Givenchy, France, in 1915. 

1899

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  • The new sanctuary was dedicated.

  • Fay Cottage @ 216 Elm Rd., Falmouth MA was built c1740 by David Butler. 1916 photo thanks to Woods Hole Historical Archive

    A cottage overlooking the Vineyard Sound in Falmouth was provided for a summer-long series of 10-day seaside sojourns for women and children of the Church of the Ascension by Emmanuel parishioners Mr. & Mrs. Henry B. Fay.  A piazza and bathhouses along its beach were constructed with Emmanuel funds.  Sarah M. Gay assisted Clara M. Carter, the Diocesan Deaconess, in managing the retreat at Fay Cottage for the first of 25 years to come.  See also history of Fay Farm.

  • The Students’ House was rented at 21-23 St. James Ave.  It housed about 20 young women and maintained a club for 150 others for more than a decade.
Club Room at Students House, 21-23 St. James Ave.

Club Room at Students House, 21-23 St. James Ave.

 

1898

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  • Henrietta Sargent, daughter of our benefactor Mary Robeson Sargent (1847-1919) and Charles Sprague Sargent, married architect Guy Lowell at Emmanuel.  CSS has a botanical legacy in the Professor Sargent camellia, which was released in 1908.
  • April 19. Francis R. Allen‘s plans were approved and work began on the expansion.

 

 

 

  • Florence R. Rhodes rented a cottage on Sandy Pond in Lincoln MA as a summer camp for girls of Church of the Ascension, which was run by Deaconess Henrietta Goodwin and Helen E. Moulton, intern from the NY Training School for Deaconesses.