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Wayland Clergy Association
The Wayland
Clergy Association (WCA) is the local interfaith
association of ministerial leaders representing ten
Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Unitarian
Universalist religious congregations in
Wayland, Mass.
As an interfaith association the WCA seeks to
promote understanding and cooperation among the
various congregations, professional collegiality
among their leaders, and support for social service
organizations that serve the wider community.
The Association meets monthly for program planning,
and professional learning and support, and sponsors
an intern annually from a Boston area theological school. Recent programs have
included a minister’s group for reflection on
ministerial practice, a youth service day, a concert
for Darfur, an interfaith dialogue series, advocacy on local
issues, e.g. housing and domestic abuse, and support
for Hurricane Katrina relief and rebuilding.
The Association is represented on several Town
Boards and organizations, such as those dealing with
low income housing and youth social work, and
maintains supportive relationships with local public
school officials.
Each year, the association offers an interfaith
field education position in partnership with the
Harvard Divinity School Office of Ministerial
Studies. See this
brochure
for more information.
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CHS Receives $45K Lilly Endowment Grant
to Fund
Programs Around Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations
The
Lilly Endowment's
Program is highly selective; of all congregations of
all denominations in the United States, CHS is among
only 133 selected to participate next year; among
the 194 congregations in our Diocese of
Massachusetts, we are one of only three
selected. The other two are Christ Church, Andover -
The Rev. Jeffrey Gill, and St. Stephen's Church,
Boston - The Rev. Timothy Crellin. For 2009, 20
denominations in 36 states are represented among the
grant recipients.
The focus of this grant for CHS will be interfaith
and ecumenical relations, an area of deep and
abiding passion for
our Rector the Rev.
Frederick Moser, and of
particular importance for us in our unique
interfaith and ecumenical context in Wayland. The
Rev. Moser has been serving as Convener of the
Wayland Interfaith Clergy Association for several
years, as well as being the Ecumenical Officer of
our Diocese. Specifically, the Lilly Endowment's
grant will fund a trip he will take with his family
next summer to study and develop interfaith and
ecumenical relations among Christians, Jews, and
Muslims in Jerusalem, in Bossey, Switzerland
(headquarters of the World Council of Churches), and
Iona, Scotland (an ecumenical community for
reflection and renewal in the Celtic tradition).
Additionally, The Rev. Moser will spend time in
intensive study and conversation with interfaith and
ecumenical leaders in our area. This work will
contribute directly to community programs we are now
developing in the Wayland Clergy Association for
2009 and beyond to foster even deeper understandings
and relationships among Christians, Jews, and
Muslims.
The Lilly Endowment's National Clergy Renewal
Program allows pastors to step back from their usual
lives and renew their spirits and that of their
congregations for the benefit of ongoing
ministries. The Lilly Endowment's overarching goal
is to bolster the work that American pastors and
congregations accomplish day in and day out, and to
reinforce and build upon the important ministries
they are doing.
During the coming months our Vestry will be engaged
in implementing the programs for which we are to
receive this funding. This is a most promising time
for our parish and for the community in which we
exist, and we all can share deep gratitude and joy
for the wider recognition this grant represents. I
am deeply grateful for all the ways you participate
in our church's ministry, which are enabling us to
make positive differences in many people's lives the
world over.
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