Dear Church,

As temperatures drop and snow continues to fall, we know that we will be warmer together.

Amesbury Friends Meeting House, photo by Kathleen Wooten

Churches across the Commonwealth have found creative ways to gather, and in doing so, find our hearts strangely warmed again by the Spirit. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve made it our goal as the Massachusetts Council of Churches to go to the places where ecumenical energy is sparked and engaged. Listen to these stories and let them warm you:

• Churches are opening their doors to weary parents and stir-crazy kids for “snow-day play dates” for those who can safely get to church. At First Parish UU Malden, Hope Central Church (UCC/DOC) Jamaica Plain, Christ Church Episcopal Waltham, Grace Church Episcopal
  Medford, and others, congregations are inviting in parishioners, children, elders, and neighbors to gather for community and warmth after long days of snowy isolation.

• The churches of Pittsfield, MA have decided to begin the holy season of Lent not in icy competition, but together. Five churches from four denominations will hold one Ash Wednesday service, with elements from each of their traditions woven into the ecumenical service. Together, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, South Congregational Church, First Church of Christ Congregational, First United Methodist Church of Pittsfield, and Zion Lutheran Church model  the unity of the body of Christ, rather than a competition among divided churches in a community.
   
• #BostonWarm began as an interfaith effort to respond to the devastating closing of Long Island homeless shelter and detox programs. Now, the heat of #BostonWarm is spreading throughout the state.  At Hancock United Church of Christ in Lexington, the congregation decided to donate the money raised through their Superbowl chili dinner to the work of #BostonWarm, and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Southborogh has committed all their loose plate offerings collected in February to #BostonWarm.  Through the generosity of these congregations and many others, 80-100 unhoused people each day are able to get out of the cold, keep their belongings in a secured locker, and find nourishment at BostonWarm: Old South and BostonWarm:Emmanuel Church. 

Where is the Spirit moving in your neighborhood, bridging the gaps that keep us apart and building the warmth of unity?  We hold you and each of these places of burgeoning warmth in our prayers