474 Centre Street, Newton, MA 02458

a  Newton address,​
​a city church

Welcome to all our neighbors! Watertown, Newtonville, Oak Square, Newton Corner,
​W. Newton, Nonantum, Brighton and ​Newton Centre!

We regret that we have closed the building to public meetings and events for the foreseeable future. Please look here for all developments and for spiritual support. During this time of self-isolation we will be recording worship and posting it below on Sunday mornings. It will be archived on our Song, Word, and Prayer webpage.

Letter from an Eliot neighbor, on the ringing of bells: 

Dear Rev. Rick,

I wanted to send you a brief note of thanks for the message you posted on your church website about the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima Atomic Bombing and the church bells ringing this morning for about 10 minutes?!

I was so touched. I live in Newton Corner and heard the bells. Because of the timing, I figured someone in your church rang them because of Hiroshima.

I am Japanese, and although I am not from Hiroshima nor do I have any relatives connected to the bombings, the bombings that have left a deep scar in the history of humankind. It is deep scar in my heart, as well. Thank you for remembering and for sending a message out to the community. It was truly a beautiful moment to hear the bells.

Many thanks and love in Him,
Y. ​

Faith Exploration

Dr. Elizabeth Windsor
Director of Christian Education 

There is no Sunday School for children / tweens during the summer, but you are welcome to join Dr. Elizabeth for reading and discussion of Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Email drelizabeth@eliotchurch.org for more information!
​
Click here for our Anti-Racism  Study "Wrestling with Racism"

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Music at Eliot

Monique Weiss Byrnes
​Director of Music Ministry

Music from last Sunday

Singing beautiful sacred gems from 300 years of choral repertory from
​Monteverdi to Eric Whitacre.

Song, Word, and Prayer

Worship August 2 & 9

Because of Covid-19 restrictions, many Protestant churches, maybe all, have suspended the celebration of communion. Roman Catholic parishes in Massachusetts, on the other hand, may distribute one communion element (bread only) under strict indoor guidelines, but the Archdiocese of Boston has also suspended the obligation to attend Mass at all for the time being.

How are we to be Christian churches if we are not celebrating Holy Communion? 

It’s not unthinkable. When you “take and eat,” you accept that God accepts you. This fundamental reality you can experience without taking and eating the communion elements. In fact, the obverse is true—many there are who “take and eat” but have not actually accepted God’s acceptance yet.

Of course, partaking of the wine and the bread seems essential. They remind us graphically of the Lord’s last supper when he said to his disciples, “Love each other as I have loved you.” Whether we receive sitting in our pews or going up to the altar rail, God’s grace reaches Christians through this very personal, physical gesture. The breaking of a loaf of bread in half and the pouring out of the wine into the chalice make vivid images of what was for one man a visceral reality.

Moreover, forgiveness is the content of the word “love,” in the command “Love one another.” What God extends to us, if we accept it, is the same forgiveness we are expected to extend to others. Isn’t the point of this sacrament, and of every worship service for that matter, to make your acceptance happen somehow? 

Holy Communion is the great evangelical moment of the Church, which is why it should be opened to everyone. But it is not the only means by which we may be, might be, convinced to accept the grace of God’s forgiveness. If all you said at the dinner table were, “Forgive one another as I have forgiven you,” have you not made holy the communion among your family members at that very moment? More about this forgiveness miracle on Sunday.   -RevRick

From last Sunday's sermon

DOn’t think forgiveness happens from the sky by some magical sweep of a wand across the planet. ​

“Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven.” 
​Mark 3:29
 
What a cathartic week in the United States of America! We have certainly been given our marching orders now. 
 
The death of John Lewis, Lewis’ words played in the Rotunda, the Edmund Pettis bridge crossing, his funeral with Pres. Obama’s eulogy—an emotional week, powerful both in replaying the important history which we not only witnessed but actually have had a part, and powerful in anticipating history still to be made, as we were instructed by John Lewis himself in his departing message to us.
 
READ MORE

What's Happening
​at Eliot​

One-Minute-Minister:
​A few words from Rev. Rick.

We continue community life through Adult Education Studies and Coffee hours on Zoom. If you would like to join, please let Rev. Rick know and he'll make it happen!

COMING IN SEPTEMBER!
Our movie discussion series will continue with True Justice; see it now on HBO. We'll also be reading IbrahimX. Kendi's How to Be an Anti-Racist together.

Have you seen our newsletter?

Check out "The Columns" on our
Newsletter page.

We are Building Community, Growing Faith, and Living Love