Emmanuel Episcopal Church, a parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, serves the urban community of greater Boston as a dynamic center for spiritual discovery and renewal. We explore Christian tradition and foster inquiry through the celebration of liturgy, music, and the arts. We strive for justice and peace. Emmanuel Church welcomes all people without exception to our Eucharistic table. We honor individuals of every age, gender, ethnic heritage, sexual orientation, and religious background, and we respect the dignity of every living being.

Coffee hour after church

Rector

Our Vestry unanimously elected the Rev. Pamela L. Werntz as Rector in December 2009. The Rt. Rev. Thomas M. Shaw, SSJE officiated at her installation on March 7, 2010, with family, friends, clergy, and parishioners in attendance. Pam came to Emmanuel Church as Priest-in-charge in 2008, after spending more than five years at St. Paul’s Church in Brookline MA, where she was the Associate Rector.

After leaving behind her home in Northern Virginia, her extended family, many of her belongings, and a prestigious career as a Vice President of Human Resources in 1996, Pam attended the Episcopal Divinity School, received an M.Div. degree in 2000, and was ordained in 2002. She made her church home at Christ Church in Cambridge MA. While there, she co-chaired the adult education commission and, after finishing seminary, worked as the full-time financial administrator for two years.

Many Episcopalians are familiar with the term “cradle Episcopalian.” As the daughter of two ordained UCC ministers, Pam is a “cradle clergy person.” She has been doing liturgical, exegetical, and hermeneutical push-ups since she was three, which includes knowing what the word “hermeneutical” means. She is also a “cradle community organizer and social justice activist.” Her volunteer work for the past ten years has been with and on behalf of incarcerated women.

The Reverend Pamela L. Werntz talks with congregant Jimmy Tirrell in her office

Pam’s ministry
is guided by a charge that Bishop Chilton Knudson once gave to her priests in the Diocese of Maine: “love your
people, say
your prayers,
have fun.”

Pam, her wife Joy Howard (who occasionally moonlights as a ghost writer of clergy biographies), and their three children--Sarah Simons, Laura Simons, and Grace McElroy-Howard, live in Watertown MA in a cozy perpetual-renovation project that they have been known to call “The Hen House,” or, on more trying days, “the girls’ dorm.” Their two cats and golden retriever are responsible for any pet hair that is found on Pam’s clergy shirts or vestments.

The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz can be reached at 617-536-3356 ext. 12 or werntz.emmanuel@gmail.com.

Rabbi in Residence

In 2005 Rabbi Howard A. Berman joined us in a groundbreaking experiment. With a charge to enrich the spiritual life of our church by offering a Jewish perspective in preaching and teaching, he forged a special relationship between our parish and his congregation, Boston Jewish Spirit. Our congregations are now in the process of creating the Emmanuel Center, a non-profit organization which will facilitate the cooperation of our congregations. Please see also his biography and selected sermons.

Rabbi Howard A. Berman can be reached at info@bostonjewishspirit.org.

Rabbi Howard Burman preaches in Lindsey Chapel

Staff

Nancy Granert playing the organ in Emmanuel's sanctuary

Controller	Steve Hasbrouk
Event Sextons	Matt Dorris	617-536-3355 ext. 11 parishadmin.emmanuel@gmail.com re: events
	Daymeyn Gantt
	Dennis Gaskell
	Baltazar Jimenez
	Adwoa Lewis-Wilson
	Sid Richardson
	Jessica Shaughenessy
Music Director	Ryan Turner	617-536-3356
Organist	Nancy Granert	617-496-1203
Parish Administrator	Keith Nelson	parishadmin.emmanuel@gmail.com
		617-536-3355 ext. 11	fax: 617-536-3315
Wedding Coordinator	Janice Randall	weddings.emmanuel@gmail.com

Emmanuel's History

Emmanuel Church was founded in 1860 as part of the Diocese of Massachusetts, and its cornerstone was laid on June 17th, 1861. Emmanuel's Main Sanctuary was the first building on Newbury Street in Boston's newly filled Back Bay. In 1898-9, the Main Sanctuary was expanded from 800 to 1200 seats and reoriented to its present east-west axis. Please see Timeline of Emmanuel History and History & Archives Commission for further details of our history.

The Leslie Lindsey Memorial Chapel, consecrated in 1924, is considered one of the architectural gems of Boston. Lindsey Chapel: Its History & Architecture, written by a former member of Emmanuel's vestry, is also available in print. Emmanuel's major stained-glass window portrays a scene from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, which has given the window its name, "Emmanuel's Land". Located on the north wall of Emmanuel's sanctuary, opposite the doors leading to Newbury Street, it was rededicated in January 2008, thanks to many donors. We hope you'll have an opportunity to stop by and see this magnificent window. Restoration of Emmanuel's Land Window tells the story of its creation, composition, and restoration.

Building facade from the original Emmanuel Church structure

website.emmanuel@gmail.com

10/27/11