In this Issue
Clergy Reflection

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
 
"Alleluia, Christ is Risen!"
 
We continue in these Great Fifty Days of Easter to greet one another in liturgy with this ancient acclamation, traditionally called the Easter Acclamation or the Paschal Greeting. Disciples of Jesus have proclaimed this creedal call since the morning they found Christ's empty tomb. The phrase "The Lord is Risen," and the traditional response, "The Lord is Risen indeed!" is called out through these high holy days in every language spoken by Christians across the globe. As you read this very reflection, someone, somewhere, is sharing this sacred salutation and someone is answering back, "The Lord is Risen indeed!"
 
For as long as I can remember, I've been enchanted by the fact that the Easter Season is longer than Lent: 40 days of Lent and 50 days of Easter. This difference makes a penetrating point about these two holiest of seasons in our liturgical year: we are called to more feasting than fasting.
 
But do we really live out this truth? Surveys will tell you that nearly everyone who attends church in mainline denominations in this country knows that Lent is 40 days long. But very few can tell you that Easter is not just a day, but also a season of 50 days. I'm sure it doesn't help that the fiftieth day of Easter has a name made from Greek roots unfamiliar to most - 'Pentecost' - meaning, of course, 'fiftieth day.' But I suspect there is a deeper reason that folks rarely think or know of Easter as an unbroken season of joy for 50 days.
 
I am deeply convinced that, as church and as individuals, we're great at beating ourselves up in Lent and sadly under-practiced in affirming and engaging joy. Resurrection or Easter joy is a kind of joy so powerful that it pulled the body and will of Christ through his Holy Week ("for the joy set before Him endured the cross.") But the belief in this kind of Joy is so incredibly countercultural, we often have no idea how to believe or experience it. The world says protect yourself, while the followers of Christ are called to walk into the pain and brokenness of life trusting that the collapse of happiness or even health "cannot separate us from the love of Christ Jesus," and therein lies our enduring and eternal joy.
 
I almost never give homework in these Epiphanies Happen reflections, but today I exhort you with the firm instructions to intentionally practice feasting this week - in every sense of the word. It is homework I fully intend to do myself, and I invite you to join "for it is for freedom that you have been set free." We have 24 days of Easter to go. I humbly submit that we need each and every one of them.

-Tricia Lyons
Mission & Ministry

Worship at Epiphany
Sunday Readings

Parish Announcements
Mother's Day is near! Celebrate the moms in your life while donating to Epiphany by shopping with Amazon. Purchase a gift at smile.amazon.com and a percentage of your purchase will be donated to Epiphany! 

Potluck Lunch
Sunday, May 21
Please join us as we thank the Calling Committee for their dedicated leadership and hard work that brought us to this exciting time of anticipation as we prepare to welcome Rev. Glenna.  Every step - developing questions for the parish survey, sharing the results, convening focus groups, development of the parish profile, reviewing resumes, interviewing candidates, conducting site visits, and the difficult steps of culling down the list from 45 to 3 was accomplished with great care, attention, and trust in the Holy Spirit.  

We will honor the members during both liturgies and then celebrate with a potluck lunch after the  11:00  service in the Community Hall. 

Fried chicken will be provided. Last names A-M, please bring a side dish. Last names N-Z, please bring a dessert. We hope you can join us!

Volunteer with Street Sense
Beginning May 22
Street Sense is looking for volunteers to help keep better records of their vendors. They are joining the 21st Century by scanning all  paper documents and moving them into a shared digital filing system and volunteers are needed to scan, label and place files in to proper folders. Volunteers can pick their own hours, Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm -- their office is located here at Epiphany. If interested, please email Dani Gilmour, volunteer coordinator, at  dani@streetsense.org

Memorial Service for Michael Stoops
May 25, 2017 at 12:00pm
Church of the Pilgrims
2201 P St., NW, Washington, DC
Michael Stoops, co-founder of The National Coalition for the Homeless, Street Sense, and The North American Street Newspaper Association, passed away at Casey House, Montgomery County Hospice on Monday, May 1, 2017. He was 67 years old. Michael, with Mitch Snyder, was the architect of The McKinney Vento Act and numerous academic papers on ending homelessness. Michael served as Director of Community Organizing at The National Coalition for the Homeless since 1988.


This week in Epiphany History
The opening of the church doors, the 45th Supreme Court Justice and the 1st woman to hold an official position at EpiphanyBe sure to  get your daily dose of Epiphany History by following  the Celebrating 175 page .


Music & The ArtsMusic

Tuesday Concert Series
May 16, 2017 at 12:10pm

Ronn McFarlane, Grammy-nominated lutenist, brings the lute - the most popular instrument of the Renaissance - into today's musical mainstream. For this edition of the Tuesday Concert Series, McFarlane will be focusing on his own arrangements of ancient Scottish and Irish tunes.

Admission is free but a donation of $10 is suggested 
to support the Concert Series.



Epiphany Choir CD

Copies are available now for just  $15 in the church office or by contacting our Director of Music,  Jeremy Filsell .

Guest Performances

May 18, 2017, 7:30pm - Encore Chorale Concert
Encore Creativity for Older Adults is thrilled to announce our Tenth Anniversary Encore Concert series  in Washington DC.   Encore will be presenting 600 Encore Chorale singers and 200 Encore ROCKS singers in a fabulous concert entitled  "Let There Be Music" celebrating our huge success in ten short years

May 21, 2017, 3:00pm - The DC Concert Orchestra
The DC Concert Orchestra Society brings classical music to the metropolitan region while providing performance opportunities and continuing education for amateur adult musicians to enjoy a lifetime of music-making.  Admission is free, but a donation to the  DC Concert Orchestra Society  is appreciate.

Support the arts at Epiphany by making a donation online now, or set up a recurring gift.
 
Learn more about musical events at Epiphany by visiting our  website
Service in Mission & MinistryService
How might you become more involved in the mission and ministry of our parish? There is so much going on at Epiphany and we are so grateful for the contributions you all offer towards making this happen. There are a few areas where we could really use your help! Please have a look at the list below and think where you might feel you could benefit from and contribute to the life of our community. 
 
Sundays:
The Welcome Table team are looking for more volunteers to help in the kitchen and dining room. Please contact Maria Hunter if you are interested in getting involved in this important aspect of our ministry at Epiphany ( mhunter@strategicm.com).
 
Coffee Hour after the 11am service. Pat Pickering and John McDermott do a fantastic job, but they can't do it every week. Coffee Hour can be as simple or as elaborate as we want to make it. What's important is that we have a time of fellowship after worship.  Please contact Catriona if you can help ( claing@epiphanydc.org).

Liturgical Leaders: We are always looking for people to help with the important ministries that make our Sunday worship possible. We welcome new additions to the ranks of greeters, ushers, readers, lay Eucharistic ministers, as well as the flower guild, and altar guild. If you are interested in learning more about any of these roles, please contact Catriona ( claing@epiphanydc.org).
 
Weekdays:
Office Volunteers: We are looking for volunteers to sit at the front desk between 10am-2pm on weekdays. Bertha does a great job on Tuesdays and we're looking for others to help throughout the week. If you want to find out more, talk to Bertha and please contact Catherine in the office if you can help (  cmanhardt@epiphanydc.org).

Music Library: Epiphany's music director would appreciate a volunteer to help with organizing the music library, including alphabetizing, rearranging shelves, labeling boxes, and updating the music library spreadsheet. Please email Jeremy at jfilsell@epiphanydc.org

If you are interested in learning about one or more of these ministries, you can also complete our Epiphany volunteer poll here.
Prayer & Pastoral Care

Prayer List
We invite you to add those on your heart to our prayer list.
We will pray for them aloud on Wednesdays at our 12:10 Healing Service and will add them to the Sunday list. Contact the church office with the name of the person and what we need to know about them.

Pastoral Care
If you or someone you know is in need of prayer or conversation, please contact the church office. We would rather hear from many than miss the opportunity to connect with someone.

Labyrinth entrance Wednesday Silent Prayer
Come and join us for 20 minutes of silent prayer and meditation followed by a short time of prayer for the parish. We will meet in the sanctuary on Wednesdays at 11:30am. All are welcome. To find out more, contact Catriona: claing@epiphanydc.org.

 

Blogs & Websites
Episcopal Cafe   S ite featuring Episcopal news, commentary, and meditations 
Sojourners  Faith in action for social justice
Sacred Space  Daily Prayer from the Irish Jesuits

Epiphany@Metro Center | 202-347-2635 | info@EpiphanyDC.org
1317 G St, NW  |   Washington, DC 20005