Explanation

When Barbara Harris was confirmed in The Episcopal Church as a young girl, the bishop wore gloves so his hands would not have to touch the heads of the black people he was confirming. In spite of this demeaning and undeniably racist "welcome" to the church, Barbara Harris was undeterred in her commitment to Christ, living her life as a powerful example of faith, both as dedicated and engaged lay woman and as the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion. Her humble but unrelenting and heroic witness to those on the margins of the church and larger society, her warmth and generous spirit, and her tireless energy and humor made her one of the most beloved and noteworthy bishops in the church, if not the world.

The criterion for inclusion is that: “Before a commemoration is included in the Calendar, proposers must establish that significant, enduring local and regional commemoration in corporate worship exists.” 

Such local commemorations have occurred in the Diocese of Massachusetts at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston; St. Elizabeth’s, Sudbury; Trinity Church, Boston; St. Peter’s, Weston; St. Paul’s, Brookline; St. Peter’s, Osterville; Grace Church, Newton; Grace Church, New Bedford; St. Elizabeth’s, Wilmington; All Saints, Brookline; St. Cyprian’s, Boston; St. Andrew’s, Marblehead; Boston Chinese Ministry; Emmanuel Church, Boston; St. Stephen’s, Boston; St. Mary’s, Newton Lower Falls; St. Andrew’s, Edgartown; St. Paul’s, Hopkinton; St. Mary’s, Barnstable; St. Luke’s, Scituate; Old North Church, Boston; Christ Church, Plymouth; St. John’s, Gloucester; Good Shepherd, Wareham, Our Saviour, Arlington; St. Peter’s, Barnstable; Holy Spirit, Orleans; St. Barnabas’s, Falmouth; St. Paul’s, Nantucket; St. Stephen’s, Cohasset; St. James’s, Groveland; Church of the Messiah, Woods Hole; Christ Church, Swansea; and Christ Church, Needham.

Commemorations in the wider church include those by Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; All Saints, Hoboken, NJ; St. Luke’s, Philadelphia; St. Luke’s, New Haven; Christ Church, Glen Ridge, NJ; Christ Church, Rockville, MD; St. John’s Memorial Church, Ramsey, NJ; St. John’s, Springfield Gardens, NY; St. Paul’s, Holyoke, MA; the Diocese of Los Angeles; the Diocese of New York; the national Union of Black Episcopalians; the Diocese of Western Massachusetts; the Diocese of Missouri at the consecration of Deon Johnson as diocesan bishop and subsequently at a blessing of a Barbara Harris icon by the presiding bishop.

By the time of General Convention there will have been another year of local commemorations, here in our diocese and throughout the church.