Last weekend, we heard from the Gospel according to John and the call narratives for some of the disciples. In particular, we heard the story about Philip and Nathaniel as they are called into Jesus’s mission and ministry, and while Philip and Nathaniel are connected to one another (as my mother sometimes says, “They are related by blood!”), we can still sense that there is some difference between the two of them. Anyone who has a sibling or has children…
Over the last week or so, I have found myself pondering the nature of reconciliation and what it might have to offer to us as we continue to navigate tumultuous waters in our common life as people living in the United States of America. I say it in that way because we are in a time in which all the lives of all people living inside the borders of our country right now are being impacted. We are, in some…
Dear Friends in Christ, I write to you today after an extraordinary 24 hours in our nation. We have witnessed outrageous behavior, and we have witnessed how a few used violence inside the halls of our government – of our nation’s capital – and have threatened the fabric of our nation as a democracy that practices the peaceful transition of power. The images from yesterday are raw and disturbing images. They are images that I never thought I would see…
It happens every single year. Without fail, Advent is moving on along and BOOM! Just like that, it is a week before Christmas. Suddenly, there is not enough time for just about anything. From Christmas shopping to writing sermons to preparing Christmas bulletins to finding enough time to spend time with God in prayer, it seems like everything is being crowded out by all the other things on the to-do list whilst also being the source of the crowding out…
Last night, Church of the Epiphany’s Courageous Ground Task Force hosted the first of its Advent formation opportunities called Preparing to Become Beloved Community. The conversation last night focused on the telling of difficult truth and how it is difficult both to receive/hear a difficult truth and the difficulty in sharing a difficult truth. To do either of those in a way that is filled with God’s love asks us to prayerfully reflect on the truth that needs to be…
Eucharistia. It is a Greek word that we use every single week when we gather for worship, and it means thanksgiving or thankfulness. We normally use it as a proper noun to refer to our worship in The Episcopal Church – The Holy Eucharist. When we gather as a body, we come together to give thanks to God for all the things that God has gifted to us, and we give thanks through time-honored rituals and practices that invite us…
For many months now, we have been in the midst of a time in which there has been a single constant for us as a congregation: change. The pandemic has pushed us to become a nimble parish that is able to respond to the changing environment as it relates to the spread of COVID-19 in our local community. Early on in the pandemic, we had to learn how to do church completely online, and we had to learn how to…
Last weekend, the Parish Council convened for its quarterly meeting to share the ongoings of ministries within each of the councils and to listen to each other. It was a gathering that was like many others that we have had over the last several months: in the comfort of our own homes and on the computer in the familiar Hollywood Squares style of Zoom. Since shifting to online meetings for worship, fellowship, and mission last March, it is amazing how…
Yesterday, I had the great fortune of being part of a small group conversation with some other clergy folks in our local area. In our conversation, we were exploring the question of what the role of our institutions (churches, temples, etc) is in the current context of the United States and, perhaps more importantly, in the current context of the state of Arizona. We were attempting to discern the role that each of us has to play within our respective…
As I sit down to write this week’s reflection, I am struck by one overwhelming feeling: exhaustion. The year that we are in has been and continues to be a year that has offered little in the way of rejuvenation. It has been a year of continuous challenges, and it has been a year in which we have had to do things so very differently. On top of all of that, we find ourselves inside a moment of further uncertainty…
This week, we approach the celebration of All Saints’ Day, which helpfully lands on a Sunday this year! (According to the Book of Common Prayer, All Saints’ is to always be celebrated on its appointed date; a parish may also celebrate it on the Sunday after November 1 if it so chooses.) On Sunday, we will gather in our church – in the less than perfect ways being dictated by COVID-19 – to re-member who we are as the body…
Last weekend, our diocese met in its annual convention, and we considered the mission plan for the diocese, creating a new relationship with the Diocese of Western Mexico, and a change to the constitution of our diocese that clarifies who are considered clergy on the Standing Committee. We listened to a keynote address on human impact within creation and hosted conversations on ways forward that extend out from our faith in Christ Jesus. In all of the topics that were…
Provide a fun gift item and new clothes for all children in a family of a student attending Thew Elementary. Also provide a family gift and a $100.00 grocery gift card.
Animal Welfare
Connected with the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, we collect food, blankets and toys for animals at the Arizona Animal Welfare League. Animals are blessed by the Rector.
Child Crisis Center
Provide clothing. shoes and socks, pajamas, and Easter Baskets to children at this crisis center. Baskets are provided by volunteers of East Valley Wildlife as an annual fund raiser for their organization.
Health and Education
1. Provide support to teachers and staff of Flora Thew Elementary School, which is in an underprivileged neighborhood in Tempe. 2. Stock books for children and youth in a Little Free Library on our church campus. 3. Provide materials and funding for making face masks which are delivered to local small grocers, Habitat for Humanity, and Thew Elementary. 4. Support foreign ASU students who have been stranded due to the COVID-19 virus.
Habitat for Humanity
Provide hands-on assistance at build sites. Provide financial support. Occasionally provide lunch or morning snacks for work volunteers.
Feeding the Hungry
Provide financial support to Paz de Cristo and Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank. Provide food for the Meals-to-Grow program through Matthew’s Crossing. Facilitate food collection at Epiphany and delivery to Matthew’s Crossing.
Buildings and Grounds Ministry
The Buildings and Grounds Ministry, aka The Property Management Committee, provides leadership and direction for proper management of Epiphany’s facilities. The group typically meets monthly for an hour to discuss property maintenance and enhancement initiatives. Two parish-wide work days (one in the Spring and one in the Fall) are organized by this team as well. Members of this team, along with other parishioners, also perform hands-on work on a variety of projects throughout the year. This includes work every Saturday morning completed by a group of 3 or 4 volunteers. The time commitment is completely flexible and at the discretion of the volunteers. Those currently involved with Saturday duties spend approximately 2 – 3 hours each week doing primarily outdoor maintenance work.
Finance
This ministry provides financial analysis and insight to the vestry related to Parish finances.
Stewardship
This ministry creates ways for the community to steward God’s gifts including time, treasure, and talent.
Social Media
Help to share the gospel in the “new public square”.
Altar Guild
This is a ministry of prayer and fellowship. Members get to know one another well, and are key components of supporting many of the other ministries. This group makes sure that the sanctuary is clean and readied for each service and event that occurs in the church. Many members are needed for this ministry, and work on teams of three rotating with a Saturday to Saturday schedule.
Greeters / Ushers
This is a great opportunity for those who enjoy extending hospitality and sharing the warmth of the Epiphany community. Volunteers arrive to church services early to set up the welcome table prior to the service, hand out bulletins, help seat visitors or parishioners who need assistance, and fulfill the oblation duties.
Flower Guild
This is a great opportunity for those who like working with and arranging flowers. Volunteers will order, pick up, arrange, and store flowers. Coordination would need to take place with church office to see who had signed up to fund the week’s flowers, to see if there are special requests.
Acolytes
The role of acolytes is to assist the priest before and during each church service. Responsibilities include setting the alter table, lighting the candles, participating in the procession and in and out of the church service, and to ringing the Sanctus bells. Other specific duties are fulfilled as needed.
Grow Council
Supports formation activities for children, youth and adults.
Layreader
Orally reads lessons at regular and special services, conducts Morning Prayer over Epiphany’s FB page every other week until further notice.
Choir
Provides spiritual music for the Sunday, Holy Week, and special services.
Epiphany Cares
Several trained parishioners keep in regular contact with parish members, so that everyone in the parish is contacted on a frequency which works for them. It could be weekly or monthly.
Virtual Coffee Hour
During Covid19 restrictions, provides a comparable online place where people can gather after service on Sunday and visit.
Off Broadway Talent Show
Produces, logistics, recruits volunteer acts, singers, musicians, and people to handle tickets, publicity, ballots, refreshments, money, rehearsals, sound, stagecraft, judges, program, etc. with Dr. Miriam Hickman
CareConnect
Meeting a couple of times a month, the CareConnect ministry makes phone calls to parish members to check-in with folks and to identify pastoral needs in the parish.
We need leaders to help recruit volunteers, provide training to ministry members, and to schedule calling volunteers on a monthly basis. If you are called to a ministry of relationship and caring, this might be the ministry for you!
Community Clusters
Intended to provide opportunities for small groups of parishioners and their families to connect and nurture relationships in the parish, Community Clusters is a ministry of fellowship and friendship.
It’s easy to meet people at coffee after church (when we are meeting in person, that is) but not easy to get to know them well. Community Clusters gives small groups a chance to talk with no set agenda other than to get to know one another.
Lay leaders are needed to help organize the Community Clusters twice per year with sign-ups, assigning households to clusters, and recruiting cluster conveners to convene each group. If you are called to a ministry of fellowship and friendship, this might be your ministry!
Chapter One Book Club
Meeting once a month, the Chapter One Book Club discusses books across genres. The books are chosen by the members of the book club each month.
Lay leaders are needed to organize the monthly meeting (via Zoom during the pandemic), inviting new members to join the book club, and to consider next steps for the ministry. If you are called to a ministry of relationship building through literature, this ministry might be for you!