In its 60th Anniversary Forum Series The Bay State Banner presented on February 12, “The State of Black America.” Two open forums complemented the newspaper’s special essay section to commemorate Boston and black history. WGBH sponsored mid-day talks at the Boston Public Library moderated by the Banner’s editor Ron Mitchell. Panelists included Dr. Noelle Trent, executive director of the Museum of African American History of Boston & Nantucket, who spoke about the effort to restore last year’s funding cuts from the Institute of Library and Museum Services. Because black museums are grassroots efforts, the funding has been crucial to the health of the organization. With the community activated an appeal was filed, which resulted in an injunction and restoration of funding. She also elaborated on how other American black museums have contributed to laying the foundation for African American museum scholarship. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Boston
Documentary & Winter Walk
Hello, Folks! In December, we had our play performance of Richard Berman’s “Super Angel and the Divine Sidekicks Battle the Government”. Two Emerson College film students came to common art to film the process of the making of the play. Last Wednesday, we had the world premiere of the documentary! The documentary was wonderfully done. It was touching to see the community reflected back to itself in an art form in which few people get to see themselves represented. When different members would come on-screen, there would be hollers and cheers from the crowd. It was a great way to honor and celebrate common art and the creativity of the community. Adam, one of the filmmakers who came for the premiere, did a Q&A with the community after the screening, which further helped members connect with the film. Continue reading
An Artist’s Sketchbook of the South End
Church of St. Augustine & St. Martin on Lenox St. in Boston’s South End by AR Crite
For a respite from the bustle of the holidays, a visit to the Gardner Museum was in order. There, in the exhibit Allan Rohan Crite: Urban Glory, we learned of the project that Crite completed as an artist in residence at the Museum of African American History on Beacon Hill. Continue reading
Juneteenth Events in the Boston Area
Aside
The local commemorations of Juneteenth included three events of note. Dio Mass held its Juneteenth service at St. Stephen’s Church, Lynn, with the Rev Bernadette Hickman-Maynard presiding. At Old South Church. The Reverend June Cooper, Theologian in the City of Boston and alum of the United Boston Sankofa Cohort, preached. Her reflection on the holiday, and the unfinished work of repair, appears in this blog post, Juneteenth, and the Unfinished Work of Freedom.
Juneteenth at Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters was held on June 22, 2025. The accompanying video, Who are my ancestors? highlights the reflections of the descendants of Cuba and Darby Vassall, who lived at the house. Continue reading
All Saints and Sainthood
On Sunday, November 5, we celebrated All Saints. Reflecting on that Sunday’s sermon, in which the Rev. Dr. Martha Tucker prompted us to consider a holy future with sainthood as possible for all and to think about how God’s presence is revealed in history, we devote this space to some sources on the origins of colonization in New England. Continue reading
2020
- March 7. 10th anniversary of our 12th rector’s installation. On its eve, we feasted with dinner, speeches, poetry, and song. Thanks to the efforts of our deacon The Rev. Robert Greiner, Mayor of Boston Martin J. Walsh proclaimed it Reverend Pamela L. Werntz Day. Pictured in the banner of this post are Pam Werntz, Amanda Grant-Rose, Rebekah Rodrigues, Joy Howard, Grace McElroy-Howard, Laura Simons, Bob Greiner, Rabbi Devon Lerner, Gennifer Sussman, The Rev. Tamra Tucker, and Jaylyn Olivo.
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The Rev. William Blaine-Wallace
June 28. Our 11th rector, the Rev. William Blaine-Wallace, read for Chapel Camp from his book When Tears Sing: The Art of Lament in Christian Community (Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 2020).
- July. Before he left to study at Virginia Theological Seminary, our Candidate for Holy Orders Joshua Padraig (Paddy) Cavanaugh compiled a liturgical customary, an illustrated manual which is used by our Altar Guild in its preparations for services throughout the year.
- Oct. 21. Parish Operations Manager Kevin Neel set up our YouTube Channel and with video equipment bought by Emmanuel Music, Brad Dumont and Matt Griffing began to livestream our services.
- Nov. 1. A Saint for All Saints, a conference about the legacy of our own saint, Pauli Murray, organized by a committee led by Jr. Warden William Margraf, was held via Zoom. The Rev. Dr. Yolanda A. Rolle, Episcopal Chaplain of Howard University, whom we sponsored for the priesthood,
The Rev. Dr. Anna Pauline Murray
moderated a panel comprised of Assoc. Dean Melissa W. Bartholomew of Harvard Divinity School; the Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, rector of St. Aidan’s Church, San Francisco; and the Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, Canon Theologian of the National Cathedral and Dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary. Please see our page for the program and more.
2019
29 January. We celebrated John Harbison‘s 80th birthday in our Parish Hall with some of his jazz songs, a piece composed by Michael Gandolfi with libretto of Lloyd Schwartz‘ selections from John’s recently published book What Do We Make of Bach, and a tower of cupcakes wheeled in by Pat Krol, Executive Director of Emmanuel Music.
John Harbison at the piano provided by M. Steinert & Sons with Don Berman, Lynn Torgove, Pat Krol, and singers of Emmanuel Music.
- Thanks to a generous grant from the City of Boston’s Community Preservation, Commission restoration work on our Newbury St. façade began under the direction of Vestry member Peter K. Johnson. The multi-year project involved repair and refinishing of five sets of doors with their tympana, masonry work for our central entrance and several staircases, and roof work to prevent ice dams.
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Craig Smith directing our orchestra with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson on viola; Don Wilkinson, Paul Guttry et al. in the chorus.
Pendragon Press published Bringing Bach’s Music to Life, a compilation of Craig Smith‘s program notes for 24 cantatas, edited by Pamela Dellal, in its series of Monographs in Musicology.
2014
Dorothy A. Brown, 1963 (image credit: NQ, Boston Globe)
March 20. Dorothy Addams Brown died in Gloucester MA. She had been born on 29 May 1923 to parishioners Harriet Addams Young (1886-1952) and Lawrence Allyn Brown (1876-1937) and baptized here. She resided for many year at 434 Marlborough St. with her brother Lawrence, Jr.. She served on our vestry (1962-4 & 1969-74) and our Finance & Budget and Long-Range Planning committees. She was a generous benefactor until her death at the age of 90. She credited William Wolbach, President of the Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co., for hiring her as a clerk in 1944, when she graduated from Vassar. She became the bank’s first woman trust officer and then Vice President. Mary Meier of The Boston Globe (May 16, 1963) wrote an article about her entitled, “Banks Rarely Give Women Key Role.” When Dottie retired as chair of the New England Group of the National Association of Bank Women in 1965, she was the only senior investment officer in the Association.
Last issue of Voices was published with a farewell letter from its editor Margo Risk.
2013
March. With support from the Lilly Foundation, our rector Pamela Werntz left on her sabbatical pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland, several sites in the Holy Land, and Ste. Maxime, France, where she sought inspiration from Mary Magdalene. The Rev. Susan Ackley became our Sabbatical Priest/Artist in Residence.- April 13. Faculty from Leslie University’s Expressive Arts Therapy Program spoke after the service about how their students might assist with such programs as Emmanuel Cafe and Common Art. Our Leslie interns have described their experiences since then in Musings from the Margins, the first post of which describes its founding in more detail.
- April 15. Two bombs exploded on Boylston Street near the finish line of the annual Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring several hundred others. Leslie students joined people at Emmanuel in creating memorial flags in an event called “When Words Are Not Enough.”
The Rev. Susan Ackley, our Sabbatical Priest/Artist-in-Residence, and participants in “Words Are Not Enough” carry prayer flags down Newbury Street to the Boston Marathon bombing memorial site in Copley Square.
1996
Our first website was launched by Donald Kreider, who later served as vestry member, clerk, and treasurer.- The Rev. Dr. Deborah Little Wyman launched what became Ecclesia Ministries. She described her first efforts in a Baccalaureate address, “After two years of hanging out on park benches, subway stations, heating grates and train tunnels in Boston, during the week before Easter 1996, I had the idea that we could actually have an outdoor worshipping church. I sensed people were waiting to be gathered. That Easter I set up a folding table on Boston Common and 10 brave souls came.”
Ecclesia today sustains common cathedral, common art (which meets at Emmanuel on Wednesdays), and Boston Warm (which meets at Emmanuel on Mondays and Fridays).
See also: Timeline 1995. - Oct. 28. The Rev. William Blaine-Wallace was installed as 11th rector.
