Parish Notices for June 18, 2021 |
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Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African American slaves throughout the Confederate South. As we work together for greater justice in our world, we offer this prayer as we commemorate Juneteenth tomorrow. May we continue the work of our baptismal covenant to strive for justice and peace, and to respect the dignity of every person.
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We pray, O Lord, for change.
Jesus you revealed God through your wise words and loving deeds,
and we encounter you still today in the faces of those whom society has pushed to the margins.
Guide us, through the love you revealed,
to establish the justice you proclaimed,
that all peoples might dwell in harmony and peace,
united by that one love that binds us to each other, and to you.
And most of all, Lord, change our routine worship and work into genuine encounter with you and our better selves so that our lives and the world will be changed for the good of all. Amen.
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Outdoor Worship changes to Indoor Worship on Sunday, July 4
If you have not attended an outdoor Eucharist, you have two more opportunities before we move our worship indoors beginning July 4. We will continue offering online worship for those who feel more comfortable worshipping in that way for now. We offer many different ways to engage in the life of the parish and I hope you are finding your own way of serving and connecting with others in the community. I look forward to worshipping with you all this Sunday.
Grace and peace,
Amy+
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Spotlight on the Art Ministry |
This month we celebrate and give thanks for Epiphany’s Art Ministry! Founded in 2004 by Liefy Smith, Epiphany’s Art Ministry has since helped to grace the built environment at Epiphany with beauty and style. From hosting gallery exhibitions featuring local artists, to helping the parish with aesthetic decisions about the physical space, the Art Ministry is an integral component of our common life and identity. But, the Art Ministry at Epiphany isn’t just about making our space look good, providing a platform for artists, or donating portions of the artistic sales to further the broader mission of Epiphany. Of course, the Art Ministry does all those things, but according to founder Liefy Smith, the ministry is also about facilitating deeper connections. As firm believers in the interconnectedness of all life, the Art Ministry provides persons viewing the images that adorn our halls and spaces with the opportunity to connect with one another and to God. Liefy indicates her favorite thing about the ministry is hearing people talk about the art together and connect with one another in new ways as they pass through the space. |
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This month, as we prepare to reenter the building after our pandemic hiatus, we especially want to honor the work of Liefy Smith, Bill Graves, Maggie Ewing, and Shea McNutt for the ways in which they amplify the aesthetic dimensions of our shared life and the ways in which art, image, and symbol facilitate our worship of God, as well as, our awe and wonder of creation. We appreciate you and celebrate your work and presence in our community! |
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Sunday Morning at 9 a.m.
Online via Zoom
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Login at 8:50 a.m. to greet one another. Remain online afterwards for Small Groups Virtual Coffee Hour. |
Bulletin and Login links can also be found on our homepage.
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Dial: 646.558.8656
Meeting ID: 532 385 901
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Sunday Morning at 11:30 a.m.
Outdoor Eucharist - Registration Required
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Please Bring
- a mask
- a chair
- a pre-printed bulletin or electronic device.
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Cancellation notices due to weather will be sent to the registrant email at 8:30 a.m. Check your email before coming to church if the weather is uncertain.
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Registration
Click on links provided on our website, in this newsletter OR NOW from your Realm account via the web or your smart phone app. For those who have created your Realm logins, the fields will auto-fill for you once you select your name. Guest registration is also an option.
A pop up confirmation notice appears when you complete your registration, and a confirmation email is immediately sent. If you don’t receive a confirmation notice or email, try again and be sure to click the last button marked REGISTER.
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In Person Coffee Hour Returns for the July 4 Service |
Please join us for coffee hour in the Courtyard on July 4 at 10:30 a.m. to help celebrate the first service back in the nave. Parish Life will provide coffee, lemonade and goodies. We will have a tent for some shade and also chairs will be available. We hope to see you there. |
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Morning Prayer at 9 a.m.
Weekdays via Zoom
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Login around 8:45 a.m. for Virtual Coffee Hour. The Zoom Link is not public. Email the parish office to receive the login information.
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Wednesday Noonday Prayer & Eucharist
Outdoors in the Memorial Garden
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For the month of June, Noonday Prayer takes place at 12 p.m. Healing with Eucharist follows at 12:15 p.m. Masks and social distancing are required. Chairs are available for those who would like to bring one out from the church, or you can bring your own. Bulletins and Prayer Books provided. |
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Altar Arrangements and the Sanctuary Light
The Altar Arrangements and the Sanctuary Light can be given in honor of an anniversary, birthday or in memory of a loved one.
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The Sanctuary Light is given this week to the Glory of God.
The light is a visible sign of the presence of the Blessed Sacrament held in reserve in the Tabernacle and burns for seven days. Suggested donation is $6.
Sign up by noon on Wednesdays to be listed in the weekly Friday email and the Sunday online bulletin.
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Children & Youth Ministries |
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Keeping Families Informed |
Some families only have youth, some only have younger children, but many families straddle Youth Ministry and Children's Ministry at Epiphany. And, it can be helpful to see the whole scope of what we offer for children, youth, and parents at Epiphany for many reasons. Beginning next Monday, you will have all you need to know to plan ahead for children and youth at Epiphany in one communication. The format will be simple – most current events and registrations will appear first. Things that are in the near future will be next. We hope this new format for communication will be beneficial for everyone.
- Nicole, Christen and Mat
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Whether or not you join us for Jammin’ with Jesus you can still explore the parables with your family this summer. Each week a different parable will be sent to families along with a variety of ways to consider and play with these most authentic words of Jesus. I wonder which parable your family would like to retell? More details to follow.
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Godly Play by Reservation
If you would like for your children to have time to reconnect with Godly Play, you can request an individual session for your family. A vaccinated storyteller will be ready to share a story with your family in a Godly Play room, Rm. 205, and offer children and their parents time to create art or play with the story materials in the room. You can request a Sunday morning in June, 10:30 a.m. by clicking on the button below. To try to find another day or time, email Christen Erskine.
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All participants must wear masks during the session. A parent, grandparent, or guardian needs to be present with the children; no previous Godly Play experience required. All children old enough to sit and listen to a 10-15 minutes story with their family are welcome. The art shelves and story shelves will be open for response time! Email Christen Erskine, Interim Director of Children's Ministries if you have any questions or to request a particular story.
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In-Person Evening Prayer Continues Throughout the Summer
Evening Prayer is held every Sunday from 5-6 p.m. The first half is dedicated to games and social time, while the second is set aside for prayer and formation.
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June 26 - Youth Ping Pong Tournament
Charlie Slater, Epiphany's resident Ping Pong professional, is excited to host a tournament for the youth of Epiphany on June 26. The tournament will run from 1:30-5 p.m. Trophies will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
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July 17 - Youth Work Day at Emmaus House
All youth are invited to help clean up Freedom School at Emmaus House July 17 at 9 a.m. We'll clean up the classrooms, pack up school supplies, and store them away.
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After many years of discussion and an endowment grant to make it happen, the doors in the chapel area are being replaced.
Many thanks to Bill Graves, Alex Sherrill, Liefy Smith (painting), George Smith and John Yntema for their work to get the doors installed.
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Have you or another parishioner you know given a gift of their time and talent to Epiphany? Do you know someone who has received recognition for a personal achievement? If so, please let us know!
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Pantry Drive for DEAM
Month of June
This month we are collecting items to help the Decatur-area Emergency Assistance Ministry (DEAM) pantry. Bins are located by the front door.
This time we are collecting:
- small cornbread mixes like Jiffy
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any size of shelf-stable milk, canned or dry, except Sweetened Condensed canned milk.
Tally so far - Corn bread: 40 Milk: 19
Note: These are the only items we are collecting at this time. If you would like to make a financial donation online instead, Click here and note DEAM Pantry Drive in the memo field.
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Living Contemplatively Spirituality Group
Start date Monday, July 19 at 11 a.m. on Zoom
The Living Contemplatively Group will begin a new book study in June on the book Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman as Educator, Activist, Guide, and Prophet. The book is edited by Gregory C. Ellison II and includes essays about Howard Thurman by Barbara Brown Taylor, Luther Smith, Marion Wright Edelman, and others on Thurman’s influence on our understanding of vocation and living a life anchored in faith. If you are currently participating in the small group studying Thurman’s book Jesus and the Disinherited and want to do deeper into the spiritual foundation that grounded Thurman’s life, or if you are encountering for the first time this civil rights activist, pastor, professor, poet, and spiritual guide, you are invited to join us for this study. For more information or to sign up, email the Rev. Amy Dills-Moore.
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Community of Hope Training Coming to Epiphany |
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Starting this fall, Epiphany will host a 14-week Community of Hope (COH) training for lay pastoral caregivers. Graduates of the program will be trained to make pastoral visits to Epiphany members who are experiencing various forms of loss, grief, illness, life changes, loneliness, or isolation. COH caregivers may also serve outside the church in nursing homes, hospitals, prisons, at Hagar’s House or DCM, or at Emmaus House, or to be with people who are in crisis no matter where they are.
What sets Community of Hope apart from other pastoral care programs is its emphasis on the spiritual growth and community formation of the caregivers. The trainees remain united in prayer and community as their ministries lead them to serve in the parish and in the wider community. Epiphany clergy and other facilitators will teach modules from the Community of Hope curriculum, which is rooted in Benedictine spirituality and based on the classic clinical pastoral education model used in many hospitals to train caregivers. The training is not limited exclusively to any creed but is open to and enriched by the representation of many denominations.
The Community of Hope program awakens trainees to God’s call on each of our lives by helping individuals discover and better understand their own spiritual gifts for ministry. Participants are encouraged to make this experience a journey into wholeness, to use this opportunity to explore a “rule of life”, practice sacred silence, Christian meditation, compassionate listening, pastoral identity and Lectio Divina, all within the context of Benedictine spirituality. This experience builds community and develops spiritually centered pastoral caregivers.
If you are interested in learning more about the Community of Hope, please contact Ann Fowler, 404.808.1864, by June 20. A response by that date will enable us to begin detailed planning for the fall. Potential participants will be polled to determine the most convenient day and time for the program to meet.
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Harvey Fund Grant Application
The Catherine D. Harvey Legacy Fund grant application cycle for the Summer term is now open. If you are aware of an organization that might qualify, please share the application.
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Because of the uncertainties of the next year, Education for Ministry (EFM) will meet on Zoom for the 2021-22 school year. This makes it a great opportunity to get to know people outside of our usual geography and ways of thinking, and perhaps even some people from other countries! EFM is a four-year extension program of the School of Theology of the University of the South. It is partly academic readings, but the heart of EFM is theological reflection, or “TR“. In a TR, participants discuss issues of faith, what they believe, what they question, how it relates to their everyday lives, and how they keep faith alive. Students sign up one year at a time for this four-year program. The cost of the program is $350 per year. The meetings will be held from early September through May. For further information, email Esther Harbert.
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The staff continues to work mostly from home. They check their email and voicemail messages regularly.
Pastoral Emergencies: Please call the church at 404.373.8338 and leave a message for Amy (ext. 14) or Nicole (ext. 16). They receive message alerts and will return your call.
Building Sign-In Required: The Building is open in a limited to way to people or small groups who have requested access through the parish office. If you need to enter the church building for any reason, please sign in and out using the logbook at the entrance.
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Just a reminder to everyone that the door codes have been changed. Currently, they are only being given to parishioners who are authorized to be in the building at this time.
NOTICE: If you are given a code, please do not share it with anyone. Refer them to the office so they can be given the correct code for their area of ministry.
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Financial Summary for May 2021 |
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Ways to Give
The easiest way for you to give to Epiphany is through Realm, our secure online community. You can make one-time donations or manage your giving as a recurring transaction in a secure, easy-to-use environment. Contribution statements are always available via your profile.
Realm Login
If you have not yet created a login to our online church ministry tool, Email the parish office and you will be sent an invitation email
Visit epiphany.org/ways-to-give to learn about the different was to give to Epiphany. You'll also find links to more information about Realm. Finally, if you have not already made a financial pledge to support Church of the Epiphany this year, there's also a link about how to make a pledge on the Ways to Give page.
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Daughters of the King meet 4th Sundays
The Daughters of the King (DOK) meet online on 4th Sundays at 2 p.m. The DOK is open to all women in the parish interested in fellowship and study. Email Barbara Ryder if you would like to receive the Zoom link each month.
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Epiphany Book Group meets 1st Mondays
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July: No Meeting
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August: Barkskins by Annie Proulx
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August 30 (the next week is Labor Day): Last Hope Island by
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October 4: Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
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November 1: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
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Racial Justice Group meets 2nd Tuesdays
The Racial Justice Group (RJG) meets 2nd Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Called by our baptismal covenant to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being, the RJG is focused on lifelong learning and action steps we can take as individuals and as a church community to help achieve racial equity and justice. All are welcome. Email Erin Braden for the Zoom link, and reach out to Erin or Kay Lee with any questions or suggestions. We welcome your thoughts.
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Racial Justice Book Study Group meets 4th Wednesdays. Summer reading book selected.
You are invited to join Epiphany’s Racial Justice Book Study group on the last Wednesday of the month from 6:45 - 8 p.m.
Summer Books:
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June 23: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolu Mbue.
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July 28: You are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience by Tarana Burke and Brene Brown.
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August 25: Walking With The Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis.
The purposes of our Book Study are to:
- educate and inform ourselves on the history of racial injustice
- better understand the challenges of changing racial inequities and seeking racial justice, and
- work toward pragmatic and effective ways to be better anti-racist advocates.
Please consider ordering your books from Black owned, local bookstores, which you can find by searching for “black owned bookstores Atlanta.” Email Lisa Daily for the Zoom link. Contact Lisa Daily or Kay Lee, if you have any questions.
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Grief Pastoral Care Group meets 1st Thursdays
The Grief Pastoral Care Group meets online 1st Thursdays at noon for a healing and faith based conversation around grief and loss. Led by parishioners Megan Fraijo-Paul and Nancy Thompson, both trained psychotherapists. Email Megan or Nancy for more information.
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Flex & Stretch and Chair Yoga
The Flex & Stretch class—which is the basic SilverSneakers class—meets online on Fridays and the Chair Yoga program meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All at 11 a.m. Email Ellen Mintzmeyer for the Zoom link.
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Send prayer requests to the parish office.
- Names of our friends and family remain on the list for four weeks.
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The Anniversary & Birthday List for the month can be found here.
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For members who are bidding our prayers: Jewel Allen • Joy Boydon • Sally Brockington • Alma Fuller • Beth Galvin • Judy Jarady • Henry Laird • Sally McClintock • Ruth Olson • Neela Ram • Ann Rowles • Paul Thompson • Stephanie Thompson
For friends and family: Isabel, granddaughter of Mike & Beth Towers • Betty Porter, relative of Christen Erskine • Dave Tipton, brother of Pam Tipton • Rosalind, sister of Katharine Hilliard-Yntema • Nicky Cullen, friend of Linda Ryder-Wolf • Einar Sagstuen, friend of Sandy Land • Dab Belcore & Kathy Brannon, brother and sister-in-law of Barbara Belcore • Michael Seymour, neighbor of Ellen Mintzmyer • Joslyn, friend of Ellen Mintzmyer • Rob Holland, relative of George Councill • Gibby, mother of Amanda Kay Seals • Sophia Seymore, niece of Erin Braden • Jeff Jaeger, friend of Nancy Thompson • Linda Cagle, friend of Nancy Thompson • Hendree Harrison, nephew of Laura Keys
For those celebrating anniversaries for the week of 6/20-26: Lisa Daily & Jim Rabb • Susan & Rick Montgomery • Douglas & Magdalena Kertscher • Esther & Jon Harbert • Andrea Strahan & Noah Tobin
For those celebrating birthdays for the week of 6/20-26: Pilar Boulée • Caroline Meyer • Judy Urban • John Corcoran • Amanda Dean • Anna Democko • Paula Maiberger • Ethan Shelton • Meg Shearon • Laurel Hanna • Kelly Krawczyk • Lori Beth Wiseman • Sam Clements • Kristina Thomas • Chris Booth • Shelle Bryant • Catie Rooks • Lenora Robertson • Matt Stockton • Ronnie Troglione, uncle of Lisa Carlson
For members who desire our continuing prayers: Ron Hutcheson • Rod MacLeod • Chris Miller • Tom Mundy • Terry-Lee Ross • June Sparks • Pat Spivey
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The weekly parish notices are published Friday mornings at 7 a.m.
The submission deadline is Wednesdays at NOON.
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