Esperanza Good News!
Good Shepherd raised $2500 for Esperanza Academy scholarships.
Thanks to generous donations by Good Shepherd parishioners, we raised $2500 for Esperanza Academy scholarships through their Harvest of Hope this past weekend.!!! Our sponsorship will help provide a rigorous curriculum to 60 middle school girls of Lawrence. The tuition is still free and their fundraising options are limited due to the pandemic. The students gift to us is this 40 minutes entertainment and informational show designed with one question in mind: " What if Esperanza girls ran the world?" The program is infused with Esperanza's joy, love, and inspiration! https://www.esperanzaacademy.org/hope
An energetic crop walk team
A beautiful day for a Crop Walk!!
Sunday, October 18th was a beautiful day for walking, discovering turtles, and spending time with friends. The gang from Good Shepherd drew the attention of passersby on the Bruce Freeman Trail with their hand-designed Crop Walk sashes. Click here to visit the Church of the Good Shepherd team page and to make a contribution to support families with food challenges during this pandemic.
Join the Mission Outreach Committee!
Help us carry out Good Shepherd’s mission.
The Mission Outreach Committee will be assembling a new calendar of themes and events and working with Ellie to embed our vision in liturgy and the life of our church community. We need more members in order to continue to be a vibrant energized group. The goal of the committee is to increase the hands-on participation of members of the congregation in mission projects. Committee members meet about every six weeks. There are a myriad of ways to help us in carrying out Good Shepherd's mission:
To be the change we want to see in the world by actively engaging in improving the rights and conditions of people locally, nationally, and globally.
Please join us. Contact us for more information.
Connect with and support Esperanza Academy
There is no Esperanza Dinner this year, but there are still ways to support Esperanza Academy.
We at Good Shepherd have had a 13 year relationship with Esperanza Academy, a tuition-free school in the Episcopal tradition welcoming girls of diverse faiths, races and cultures from Lawrence, MA. The school is 100% privately funded and relies on the generosity of its donors.
Esperanza is holding its annual fundraiser, Harvest of Hope, virtually this year. It will include a virtual show by the students, a silent auction and the opportunity for churches and individuals to become sponsors. We are asking Good Shepherd folks to contribute to a $2500 sponsorship goal for scholarships.
3 ways to connect with and support Esperanza Academy NOW
Tune in to a virtual show by the students Friday, Oct. 23 at 7:00-7:45 PM. The show is designed with one question in mind: “What if Esperanza girls ran the world?” This will be an antidote to depressing news… a lifting of the spirit, a performance filled with hope, love and joy. Watch the show.
Bid on silent auction Sunday, October 18 to Sunday, October 23. TIP: Look for a virtual Dominican cooking lesson by head of school Jadi Taveris and his wife Kelly. View the auction.
Sponsorship: We are asking Good Shepherd folks to contribute to a $2500 sponsorship goal for scholarships. (Remember the school is tuition-free.)
We have been in a relationship with Esperanza since its start in 2006! In the past 5 years our “Esperanza chef Dana Caribbean dinners” have raised between $2000 and $2500.
Sadly, there will be no Esperanza dinner this year, but to continue our efforts to disrupt the cycle of poverty in girls’ lives from Lawrence, we are hoping you will contribute to this sponsorship, and have Good Shepherd listed with other churches, Bishop Gates, businesses and individuals as sponsors.
To do this, please send a check made out to Church of the Good Shepherd with Esperanza on the memo line by Tuesday, October 20 either by
snail mail to Treasurer, Church of the Good Shepherd , 164 Newtown Rd., Acton, MA 01720
ORthrough bank by mail
"Reclaim Our Vote" Initiative
Volunteers are participating in postcard campaign to encourage minority voting
This month, a group of Good Shepherd volunteers is writing 350 postcards for Reclaim Our Vote, a non-partisan organization that is working to encourage minority voting in states with voter suppression. The postcards inform and mobilize voters of color to make sure they are registered and they know how to get a ballot and vote. The Center for Common Ground, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, runs this campaign which has sent almost 5 million postcards in 2020.
Esperanza Academy COVID response
Esperanza Academy begins the school year.
Esperanza Academy is a tuition-free independent middle school in the Episcopal tradition welcoming girls of diverse faiths, races, and cultures from Lawrence MA. Good Shepherd has had a long relationship with the school since its start 14 years ago.
Jadi Taveras, head of Esperanza Academy, gave an inspiring Zoom update on the school’s response to COVID-19. He shared the effects of COVID on students and families of color—the high risks, barriers, and the fact that COVID is magnifying the often invisible inequities. He highlighted three main focus areas for the school: Esperanza’s commitment and innovation in anti-racist teaching, the strength of their community partnerships, and an updated mission statement and core values. The school’s work with students and families using Restorative Justice Circles is an example at the local level of what Ibram X. Kendi’s book How to Be an Anti-Racist is all about.
Learning will be remote the first four weeks of school and then go hybrid with some on-line and some in-school learning. The school will be open for the most vulnerable learners and they are offering a daily pick-up lunch. The level of response and action at Esperanza goes beyond academic skills to embracing and supporting these students of color and their families. To quote Jadi, “Esperanza is a home and safe place for the girls.” We plan to share the recording of this update when it becomes available later this month. Meanwhile to learn more about Esperanza, go to esperanzaacademy.org.
Esperanza Mission for 2020-21 Academic year:
Through the 2020-21 academic year Esperanza will deliver a holistic program focused on addressing the academic and social disparities that impact our students and their families as a result of the covid 19 pandemic. We will continue to be a school that focuses on the growth of each student through culturally responsive teaching and prioritizing restorative justice practices. We will maintain our relationship-centric ethos and our commitment to our program that honors and celebrates the cultural, linguistic, familial and navigational capital of the families from Lawrence MA.
Christmas wreath fundraiser
Place your order for a Christmas wreath now.
Dear friends, this year we hope to continue our tradition of selling Christmas wreaths as a holiday fund raiser. The choices will be the same as last year with red, burgundy, wintergreen and cranberry bows. It would simplify everything if we stick to the 25” wreaths and eliminate “swags” this year! Prices have gone up a bit: Classic (red) will be $28, Victorian (burgundy) will be $30, and Cranberry Splash and Wintergreen will be $32. We will try to have them delivered by the week before Thanksgiving so we can have them up for the whole holiday season. We should be able to keep a safe distance throughout the sale process. You can begin placing orders Sept 15th. For more information or to place your order, contact us or sign up at church.
New England bishops respond with one voice to President's "cynical" photo op
Bishops call out “the abomination of continued oppression of and violence against people of color in this nation”
Sent to clergy and congregational and diocesan leadership
The bishops of the seven New England Episcopal dioceses today issued the following joint statement in response to President Trump's photo op at St. John's Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., characterizing it as "cynical" and calling out "the abomination of continued oppression of and violence against people of color in this nation." The text of the statement appears below.
June 2, 2020
What President Trump did in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square on the evening of June 1 was disgraceful and morally repugnant. Displaying a Bible from which he did not quote, using as a mere backdrop an Episcopal church where he did not pray, and – more callously – ordering law enforcement to clear, with force and tear gas, a path through demonstrators who had gathered in peace, President Trump distorted for his own purposes the cherished symbols of our faith to condone and stoke yet more violence.
His tactic was obvious. Simply by holding aloft an unopened Bible he presumed to claim Christian endorsement and imply that of The Episcopal Church. Far more disturbingly, he seemed to be affecting the authority of the God and Savior we worship and serve, in order to support his own authority and to wield enhanced use of military force in a perverted attempt to restore peace to our nation.
His actions did nothing to mend the torn social fabric of our nation. Instead, they were a blatant attempt to drive a wedge between the people of this nation, and even between people of faith. No matter where we may stand on the partisan spectrum, we, as Christian leaders called to proclaim a God of love, find his actions repugnant. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, to seek healing over division, and make peace in the midst of violence.
Our church may rightly feel outraged and insulted by having the symbols of our faith used as a set prop in a cynical political drama. The real abomination before us, however, is the continued oppression of and violence against people of color in this nation. Let us reserve and focus the energies of our indignation to serve our Lord Jesus Christ’s higher purpose: to extend love and mercy and justice for all, and especially for those whose life, liberty, and very humanity is threatened by the persistent sin of systemic racism and the contagion of white supremacy.
The Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens, Bishop Suffragan, Connecticut
The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas, Bishop Diocesan, Connecticut
The Rt. Rev. Thomas James Brown, Bishop Diocesan, Maine
The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop Diocesan, Massachusetts
The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, Bishop Suffragan, Massachusetts
The Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, Bishop Diocesan, New Hampshire
The Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, Bishop Diocesan, Rhode Island
The Rt. Rev. Shannon MacVean-Brown, Bishop Diocesan, Vermont
The Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher, Bishop Diocesan, Western Massachusetts
# # #
https://www.diomass.org/news/diocesan-news/new-england-bishops-respond-one-voice-presidents-cynical-photo-op
Earth Day happenings for its 50th anniversary
Virtual activities and resources recommended by the CGS Creation Care team.
The 50th anniversary of Earth Day is next Wednesday April 22.
Why not celebrate while social distancing inside your home by exploring digital offerings of Earth Day celebrations all over the world? These celebrations take place on multiple days. After surfing the World Wide Web, you can take a break and watch a movie or a Frontline report about plastic. For details about all these activities recommended by Creation Care CGS, see below:
Join Earth Day Live for multi-day, multi-national, multi-generational celebrations covering a multitude of topics. Millions around the world are taking to the web on multiple days to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Wednesday April 22 2:00pm - The Story of Plastic is screening on Discovery Channel. Watch the trailer for The Story of Plastic.
PBS' FRONTLINE aired its episode entitled Plastic Wars on March 31. Click on the highlighted title to watch the trailer and scroll down to watch each of the covered investigations.
What is life like at Esperanza Academy during COVID-19?
This short video from Esperanza Academy features a teacher's update and an excerpt from a student's COVID-19 diary.
An update from Kristina Dolce, English teacher at Esperanza Academy. For more about our relationship with Esperanza Academy, please see our Mission Outreach page.