Creating the Common Good
in the Episcopal
Province of New England

At the Province I Spring 2014 Synod, the bishops and delegates of New England made a commitment to explore ways to collaborate to effect change in areas of economic inequity and poverty. We care deeply about social justice and know that the church can create change. Personally, many of us feel overwhelmed when we try to imagine ways we take on the pervasive, overwhelming issue of economic inequality.  Fortunately, we can do more together than we can individually!

 Join us as we start a conversation about what we can do together!

Province I is sponsoring sites across New England for participants to watch Trinity Institute's webcast of "Creating the Common Good" and engage the questions and ideas it prompts with one another. Find the site nearest you, then check it on the registration form.

• The Commons, 290 Pratt St, Meriden CT (Note: Friday is limited to 18 participants)
• St Mark's Episcopal Church, 15 pearl St, Mystic CT
• St John's Episcopal Church, 523 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon CT (Bishop Laura Ahrens will be present throughout the conversation)
• Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, 275 North Main St, Providence RI
• Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 5 Bryant St, Wakefield MA
• St Andrews 335 Longmeadow St, Longmeadow, MA 01106
• St Mary's Episcopal Church, 3055 Main St, Barnstable MA
• Church of the Holy Spirit, 160 Rock Street, Fall River MA
• Charlemont Federated Church, 175 Main St, Charlemont MA (Clare HigginsExecutive Director, Community Action, Former Mayor of Northampton will be present)
• Church of the Nativity, 45 Howard St, Northborough MA
• St James Episcopal Church, 44 West St, Keene NH
• St Paul's Episcopal Church, 21 Centre St, Concord NH
• The Cathedral Church of St Paul, 2 Cherry St, Burlington VT
• St James Episcopal Church, Woodstock VT
• Zion Episcopal Church, 5167 Main St, Manchester Center VT
• Episcopal Church of St John the Baptist, 200 Main St, Thomaston ME

Trinity Institute's speakers have real-world experience making change happen. They will provide hopeful, practical tools we can use in our communities to make a positive economic impact.

Trinity Institute's schedule runs from Thursday evening to Saturday mid day.  Some locations will offer the Thursday 7-9 pm screening of worship with Archbishop Welby and the keynote address by Cornel West; The other locations will offer the programs broadcast on Friday and Saturday. Identify the times when you can join us and select them on the registration form.

Thursday, January 22:
(NOTE: SOME OF THE LOCATIONS WILL OFFER THURS EVENING:
The Commons, Meriden CT; St. Mark's Mystic CT; St Johns, Vernon CT; St Mary's, Barnstable MA;  Emmanuel Church, Wakefield MA; Charlemont Federated Church, Charlemont MA; St Paul's Cathedral, Burlington VT; St John the Baptist, Thomaston ME)

 

Friday, January 23: 

9am Musical Gathering & Morning Prayer in Trinity– Melanie DeMore, Vocal Activist

9:30am “Is Inequality Sinful?”

• Begin with the theological context. No system is perfectly equal, so when does inequality become exploitation and sin? What does our status quo say about moral priorities and uses of power?
• Opening talk (20 minutes): The Most Rev. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
• Panel and Q&A: The Rt. Rev. Julio Murray (Bishop of Panama), Rachel Held Evans (Faith Unraveled: * How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions), Jennifer Jones Austin (Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies), R.R. Reno (First Things)

11am Break
11:30 am Groups
12:45pm Lunch

 2pm Class Matters 

• Some argue that American society is developing a class divide more extreme than any we have ever known, putting any shared vision of the common good out of reach. Issues include immigration, poverty, gender, mobility.
• Opening talk (20 minutes): Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed; This Land Is Their Land)
• Panel: R. R. Reno (First Things), The Rev. Yamily Bass-Choate (Iglesia Memorial de San Andres), Traci C. West (Disruptive Christian Ethics: When Racism and Women’s Lives Matter), others TBA

3:30pm Break
4–5:15pm Groups

Saturday, January 24:

9am Musical Gathering & Morning Prayer in Trinity– Melanie DeMore, Vocal Activist 
9:30am “What Can We Do about Economic Inequality?”

• The economic shape of today’s society did not come about not by accident but by engineering. What tools are available to reverse the trend in ways that support equity and human flourishing? Policy, advocacy, art, education…revolution?
• Opening talk (20 minutes): Juliet Schor (Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth)
• Panel and Q&A: Nicole Baker Fulgham (Expectations Project), Saskia Sassen (Columbia University), others TBA

11 am Break
11:30 am Groups
12:45 pm Lunch

2pm "The Agape Economy: The Church’s Call to Action"

• How do we discern what tools will work in our local contexts and rally action around a vision of God’s economy?
•  Opening talk (20 minutes): The Rt. Rev. Julio Murray, Bishop of Panama
•  Panel and Q&A: Rachel Held Evans, Jennifer Jones Austin, Amy Butler (Riverside Church)

3:30pm Adjourn

We recognize one event will not effect the change we seek.  We will continue the conversation in two forms.  

First, we will gather February 19-21 for a "Creating the Common Good in New England" retreat at Barbara C Harris Camp and Conference Center in Greenfield NH.  Our goal is to identify and support efforts across New England that take a prophetic stance and effect change.  Click here for more information.

Second, we will meet via Adobe Connect web conferencing to track and support local, diocesan, and provincial efforts.  A day of the week and time of day will be determined during the February gathering.

Please identify your interest in the retreat and/or the web conference conversations on the registration form.

Thanks for your interest and participation!

Register Now!