In lieu of our usual Sunday evening worship, on Sunday, May 13th, we will join the parishioners of Christ Church at their 10:15 a.m. service to celebrate “Chaplaincy Sunday.”  The purpose of our gathering will be to give thanks to Christ Church for its hospitality over the course of this year and to honor those of our students who are leaving us at the end of this academic year.  Our students will be the readers, ushers, acolytes, and chalice bearers for the service and Luther will be our preacher.

On Saturday, April 21, at 5:30 p.m., in Christ Church, we will be visited by Bishop Tom Shaw for a special liturgy celebrating the renewal of our ministry together. You are invited to gather with students, alumni, Trustees, Christ Church parishioners, and other friends of the Chaplaincy for a wonderful evening of word and sacrament, prayer and music, as we seek God’s blessing and guidance in shaping the future of our shared ministry on the Harvard campus. Clergy are invited to vest (white stoles). A festive reception follows in the Parish Library.

The Great Fifty Days of Easter has begun!  Come join us for the Second Sunday of Eastertide as we explore the relationship between faith and doubt in the memorable story of “doubting Thomas.”  Writer Frederick Buechner was always fond of saying that far from being the opposite of faith, “doubt is the ants in the pants of faith!” Our service, as usual, will be at 5:30 p.m. in Christ Church, followed by supper and conversation in the Parish Library.

Join us for a glorious Easter service at Christ Church this Easter Sunday at 5:30 p.m.  Afterwards we will have a celebratory dinner at John Harvard’s.  All are welcome!

I love Palm Sunday for its sheer drama: the joyful audacity of the poor and outcast proclaiming Jesus to be their king as they welcome him into Jerusalem by frantically waving palm fronds over their heads and singing “hosannas” in full voice.  A king on the back of a donkey? What an outrageously wonderful scene!  And even though we can see the dark clouds of the Passion gathering in the distance, on this day we celebrate His improbable kingship: Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Behold your king comes to you, O Zion, meek and lowly, sitting upon an ass. Ride on in the cause of truth and for the sake of justice! Emily Garcia, next year’s Kellogg Fellow, will be our preacher.

Thank you for all who turned out last night for Richard Parker’s compelling perspective on the history of American religious narratives, both Christian and Jewish, around issues of social justice.  It was a wonderful beginning to this timely series.  And the dinner hospitality of our friends at Harvard Hillel afterward was equally splendid.  Please mark on your calendars the next two installments in the series:  Prof. Ben Friedman on March 21 and the Hon. Nancy Gertner on March 28, both at 6 p.m. in Memorial Church.  Also, for those of you who may be around over Spring Break, the MIT Technology and Culture Forum is putting on a related program on economic justice, entitled “Minding the Gap” on Tuesday, March 13, from 7-9 p.m.  For more information, visit http://web.mit.edu/tac/upcoming/index.html#gap.

This spring, The Memorial Church, Harvard Hillel, and the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard will present a lecture series entitled “Faith and Economic Justice: A Jewish-Christian Exploration.” This series will call upon experts in law, history, and economics to consider the role of faith in addressing issues of economic inequality. What place do faith-based perspectives have in national and international conversations regarding economic justice? How can secular analysis of these issues inform a faith-based approach? Do our troubled financial times reveal sacred imperatives? “Faith and Economic Justice: A Jewish-Christian Exploration” will take place over three evenings this March: Tuesday, March 6, 6:00 p.m., Richard Parker, Harvard Kennedy School; Wednesday, March 21, 6:00 p.m., Benjamin Friedman, Department of Economics, Harvard University; Wednesday, March 28, 6:00 p.m., Judge Nancy Gertner, Harvard Law School. All lectures are free and open to the public.

This first Sunday of Lent we will take up the topic of “a rule of life.”  What is it?  What might it mean for me?  Might it help my relationship with God?  Join us this Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at Christ Church to continue the conversation.

“Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.” Join us for Transfiguration Sunday as we consider the myriad ways in which Christ is at work in our lives to transfigure us into his likeness.  Luther will be our preacher.

Come hear our guest preacher, Head of Epiphany School, John H. Finley IV, talk about the amazing things happening at his school! Sunday, February 12 at 5:30 p.m., Christ Church Cambridge. John will be joining us for supper and conversation afterward as well.