St Mary's Episcopal Church

St. Mary's Episcopal Church

welcome

If you haven’t been to St. Mary’s and are wondering what we’re about, or you haven’t been here in a while, please read on. We encourage you to visit us for a Sunday service, because words and pictures on our website cannot convey the power of the worship, music, community, and history of St. Mary’s. Only your experience can.

Our parishioners come from all over. One quarter live in Newton Lower Falls or Wellesley Hills, within earshot of the bell. We also draw heavily from Needham, Weston, Waltham, and the western suburbs of Boston. We are small enough to know you and big enough to care.

Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, we will welcome you in a low-key, no pressure way. Please sign up for our weekly e-newsletter, call the church office or email me.

The Reverend Ann Bonner-Stewart, Rector

ann@st-marys-episcopal.org

Learn more about St. Mary's

About

Upcoming
Events

St. Mary's invites and welcomes you to worship.

Our current service hours are:

Sunday morning, 10:00 am

See All Events

April 17

Maundy Thursday
6pm Agape Meal
7:30pm Holy Eucharist, Footwashing and Stripping of the Altar

April 18

Good Friday
12pm Stations of the Cross
7:30pm Good Friday Tenebrae

April 20

Easter Sunday
6am Sunrise Service
10am Festive Choral Holy Eucharist followed by Easter Egg Hunt

Online Services

St. Mary's services are Livestreamed!

Can't watch or attend live? St. Mary's has a YouTube channel where you can watch past services and musical recordings.

Watch here

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

2 Corinthians 9:7

Donate now

Realm Login for Parishioners

Saint Mary's new online database, Realm, is a useful tool for parishioners to manage their contact and pledging information.

Realm helps our community by improving our record keeping in a more streamlined fashion.

When joining Realm you can sign-up to be a part of the online directory in the database.

To activate your Realm profile please contact our Administrative and Communications Assistant, Cailin Smith.

Cailin will assist you with the few steps necessary to access your profile.

We look forward to sharing this exciting new technology with you!

Realm Login

Another beautiful Easter at St. Mary's! We are thankful for our clergy, musicians, lay leaders, parishioners, and guests who came to celebrate this holy day with us. Happy Easter!

Looking back at our wonderful community Agape Meal for Maundy Thursday, as well as our Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. What a meaningful Holy Week at St. Mary's!

A very happy Easter from St. Mary's! Thank you to all who joined us for worship this morning, and we hope you enjoy a beautiful afternoon with your loved ones.

A prayer for Holy Saturday:

God of all consolation, in your unending love and mercy you turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life. May we who wait at Christ’s tomb trust in your power to restore all things through your Holy Spirit, who gives life to all creation. Amen.

From The Book of Alternative Services (1985) alt., The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada.
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#holysaturday #holysaturday2025 #triduum #triduum2025 #episcopal #episcopalchurch #diomass

“I began this image contemplating Jesus’ posture on the cross. The crucifix inherently spreads its victims’ arms out wide, willing the body into the shape of surrender. There is no fighting back. It forces one to face death with open arms…

In this image, I referenced the Christ the Redeemer statue, drawing Jesus’ dying position into a posture of warm embrace. I omitted his face in order to focus merely on his arms stretched wide. I repeated this pattern four times, which formed the shape of an open cross. As I worked, I realized the image resembles a cross crosslet, which carries as many varied meanings as the crucifix itself. In this image, my intention is to thwart the brutality and violence of the crucifix with the imagery of a wide embrace, which will soon become a symbol of death-defying resistance.”

—from the artist statement for “A Wide Embrace” by Lisle Gwynn Garrity | @sanctifiedart

“This summer my family traveled back to Okinawa and mainland Japan, the places we lived during my infant and toddler years… I was particularly taken by the great deference that the human-made physical structures held for creation. The waters have power and everything reflects that awareness.

This artwork reflects that deference—the humility in the face of the power of the waters—through an adaptation of the Okinawa wave pattern that is found on pottery throughout the island. Here, each wave represents a disciple around a circular table. Judas’s wave flows the opposite direction from all of the others, creating discord in the pattern and in the narrative. He seeks a worldly type of power. Within the table, four rivers flow out from Jesus, who is represented as a 13th wave flowing in the midst.”

—from the artist statement for “Four Waters at Table” by Hannah Garrity | @sanctifiedart

Holy Week began this past weekend on Palm Sunday. Thank you to all who contributed to this meaningful service!

The remainder of Holy Week includes:
Maundy Thursday, 4-17: 6pm Agape Meal, 7:30pm Holy Eucharist, Footwashing and Stripping of the Altar
Good Friday: 12pm Stations of the Cross, 7:30pm Tenebrae
Easter Sunday: 6am Sunrise Service, 10am Festive Choral Holy Eucharist (with Easter Egg Hunt to follow!)

I’d be willing to pray all night,
to pray until my voice is hoarse—
“Save yourself, and us,” or just,
“Save yourself, and me.”
But eventually, my demands soften.
Eventually, the edge in my voice smooths.
Eventually, time wears down my insistence,
and “Save yourself and me” will become:
“If you’re there,
just don’t forget me.
Please, don’t forget me.”

—from “I’ve Been the Thief” by Rev. Sarah Speed | @sanctifiedart

Work in progress pictures for our pew update!
St Mary’s historic sanctuary is a beautiful space we love and take pride in, a space that has helped generations of folks connect with the divine. The vestry unanimously voted to make a change that will provide comfort for parishioners and guests who may struggle with access to a pew during worship.
Work is currently in progress to combine pews 62 and 61, at the front on the parish hall side, to create one oversized pew. The goal is to create a wide entrance without any step up or down.
The visual impact within the sanctuary will be minimal. Any existing material will be repurposed or preserved. We are incredibly fortunate to have Peter Cief, a finishing carpenter, Jeff Bonner-Stewart, an engineer and woodworking hobbyist, and Melita Holtey, who has worked on many historic restoration projects, volunteering their considerable time and expertise. Our hope is to provide better access to seating for more people in our beloved worship space.

We love these blooming Lenten Roses! Named for the time of year in which they bloom, the Lenten Rose is a species of hellebore in the buttercup family. As we approach Holy Week, we hope the sights of the earth awakening into spring bring you hope and a moment of pause.

What a successful Saint Swap! The tables were overflowing with treasures to trade, and lots of them found happy new homes. Thanks to all who contributed to this fun event!

Preparations of all kinds are underway for Holy Week - from the Altar Guild to our worship leaders, to all parishioners in prayer both within and outside of St. Mary's walls. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, this weekend, April 13. Join us for worship at 10am!

Holy Week is fast approaching! Check out the service schedule at St. Mary's.

April 13, 10am - Palm Sunday, Liturgy of the Palms and Holy Eucharist
April 17, Maundy Thursday - 6pm Agape Meal, 7:30pm Holy Eucharist, Footwashing, and Stripping of the Altar
April 18, Good Friday - 12pm Stations of the Cross, 7:30pm Good Friday Tenebrae
April 20, Easter Sunday - 6am Sunrise Service, 10am Festive Choral Holy Eucharist

Enjoy this segment of Blessed are the Peacemakers, composed by Rosephanye Powell, performed by the St. Mary's Choir! Missed our Special Music Sunday service? Hear our beautiful choir on Easter Sunday, April 20, for another beautiful music-filled service!

“On September 27, 2024, I began drawing the Good Shepherd with the lost sheep tenderly wrapped around his shoulders. As I worked, rain pummeled our roof, saturating the ground with an endless deluge as tropical storm Helene reached my town of Black Mountain, NC. …

When I began this artwork, I naively hoped to gain insight into Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep. I did not wish to become the lost sheep and live through the greatest natural disaster to hit my hometown in over a thousand years. Now, over 6 weeks after the storm, what strikes me is the shepherd’s singular pursuit of the lost and vulnerable. He steadies the sheep on his shoulders and steps out of the frame toward us. His gaze finds mine, and I almost hear him whisper, ‘I will never stop searching for the lost. I will never stop rejoicing when one is found.’”

—from the artist statement for “Lost and Found” by Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity | @sanctifiedart

“Jesus calls Zacchaeus out of his identity as ‘sycophant’ [from the same root as ‘sycamore’] into his new identity as ‘repentant host’ who invites Jesus into his home and redistributes his ill-gotten wealth. Zacchaeus’s clothing holds a repeated pattern of four figs and halves of coins, referencing the fruits of his transformation.

The area where Zacchaeus sat in the tree is fruitless and dying. His actions were destructive and oppressive to his own community. The crowd is correct in grumbling about him; their anger is righteous, but Jesus offers mercy. In this visual metaphor, Jesus removes him from the tree so it has a chance to heal and nourish the whole community.”

—from the artist statement for “Zacchaeus” by Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman | @sanctifiedart

“Voices aren’t disembodied utterings, but embodied precious people worthy of being heard. Bearing witness to the joy of found voices also bears witness to obliviousness that voices were missing. Even with deep conviction and contrition, it’s painful when the almost-always-heard realize they never noticed anyone missing in readings, historical genealogies, or learning environments.”

—Dr. Mindy McGarrah Sharp (@mindy.m.sharp) from her commentary on Luke 15:1-7 | @sanctifiedart

Our Lenten Special Music Sunday, Songs of Hope, was programmed and performed beautifully by our Music Director Kirsten Johnson, the St. Mary's Choir, special guest musicians, and readers! Missed out on this Sunday's music? You can hear our amazing musicians coming up on April 20, Easter Sunday, at our 10am Festive Choral Holy Eucharist service!

Our Lenten Adult Formation sessions continue tomorrow, March 30 after our Special Music Sunday service! All are welcome, even if you have not attended yet. Sessions are led by Mark, Ann, and Andrew in the chapter room after worship.

Thank you to the St. Mary's parishioners who attended Tuesday's joint Deanery service to celebrate the Annunciation! We are grateful for the time spent with other congregations. Thank you to @redeemerchestnuthill and Rev. Mike D'Angelo for hosting!

Our next Saint Swap is coming up on Sunday, April 6 after worship! This is an opportunity for all of us to bring in gently used or new items we no longer want or need such as kitchen items, toys, books (recent titles), stationary, objets d’art, jewelry, etc. We will have tables set up in the Parish Hall that morning, but you can feel free to bring in your items before them. Please put them upstairs in the attic and label the object(s) Saint Swap. We will retrieve everything when we set up. Come prepared to find what you didn’t know you wanted or needed until you saw it! We will all go home happy with full arms!

What makes you feel most grounded? | @sanctifiedart

Listen to Ann read "Call Me In" by Rev. Sarah Speed from @sanctifiedart 's series, Everything In Between. If you'd like to make a video of yourself reading another poem from the series, let us know! DM us or email the office for details!

“In this circular image, two figures lean in over the tree; their heads are full of ideas for fruiting, their bodies are full of dead fig leaf patterns. (The two circular shapes with fruit seeds inside of them represent the figures’ heads; the branch-like imagery beneath the heads represent their shoulders.) Their ideas and dreams have not born fruit. They converse about how to cultivate growth. Then one pushes back against the other and creates tension, discord. From that tension comes an opening, letting the fig tree have its time and space to thrive.”

—from the artist statement for “Fig Leafing” by Hannah Garrity | @sanctifiedart

On Tuesday, March 25 at 7pm, all are welcome to come to Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill (379 Hammond St.) for a joint deanery service celebrating our patron saint Mary's visit from the angel Gabriel! Jay Weldon from Good Shepherd will be preaching, and Ann will be presiding.

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