Interim Rectors Reflection
Dear Friends,
Our Thanksgiving observance on the fourth Thursday in November was set by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941. Before that, the date varied but the official observance has taken place annually since 1863, generally giving thanks for the blessings of the year past and especially for a fruitful harvest. There have been prayers of Thanksgiving and Prayers for Harvests in many Anglican Prayer Books, but the collect for Thanksgiving Day from our 1979
Book of Common Prayer
is especially
wonderful:
Almighty and gracious Father, we give thee thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we beseech thee, faithful stewards of thy great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of thy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
Happy Thanksgiving!
Geoffrey
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Mission & Ministry
Worship at Epiphany
Come and join us for our Advent Coffee and Conversation series. This Sunday, November 27, we will be looking at prayers and reflections to guide us through Advent and in the weeks to come we will explore some of the central themes of Advent. Willard Room (9:15-10:15). All are welcome!
Notice of Annual Meeting, December 4
The Annual Parish Meeting will be held at 9:15am in the Church on the Second Sunday in Advent, December 4, 2016. At the meeting we will elect new members of the vestry, hear about the state of our finances and receive an update from the Calling Committee. Please mark your calendar and plan to join us.
Cathedral Celebration with Bethlehem
Join Christians in Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas. The Washington National Cathedral 10am service on December 17 will be via Live Satellite Telecast with Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Palestine. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Budde, and Lutheran Bishop of Washington Richard Graham will participate, along with Bishops and clergy in the Holy Land. Christmas readings, carols, and choir performances will occur in both locations.
You can participate by visiting the Cathedral at 3001 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. or watch online.
Gospel Art Show and Sale: December 11 - 13th in the Epiphany Mission Center
Preview sale for parishioners:
Sunday: 9:30 -10:45am
Public hours:
Sunday: 12:30 - 2:30pm
Monday & Tuesday : 11:30 - 2:30pm
The purpose of the Gospel Art program is to provide a sacred and peaceful place for men and women who are homeless to reflect on their faith and express their creativity through artwork of all kinds. Artists have donated their work to the sale to fund the Welcome Table breakfast served on Sundays at the Church of the Epiphany.
For more information please contact t
he Rev. Marge McNaughton, [email protected], 703.966.1098 or t
he Rev. Catriona Laing,
[email protected]
, 202.3472635
If you would like to offer your time to prepare for the show in the Mission Center, help is needed for:
- framing, matting and mounting the artwork
- designing the displays
- being present at the show to help visitors
- handling transactions
Volunteer days are scheduled for
Saturday, December 3 and Saturday, December 10th. Hours to be determined. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Marge or Catriona.
Welcome Table Book Drive 
In need of more shelf space? Donate any unwanted books to the Welcome Table Ministry, where free reading materials are offered to parishioners each week. Donating is easy, drop any fiction or non-fiction books, Bibles, or magazines in the shopping cart upon entering church on Sunday or on weekdays. Please contact Kathy Gallagher if you have any questions, [email protected]
In this season of considering our stewardship, I am told that in the past we have been slightly
'loose' with regard to how and when end of year gifts are credited. Under IRS rules we can
credit any gift that is received or post marked by December 31, 2016 to the current year. Any gift or check received beginning January 1, 2017 will be credited to your giving in 2017 regardless of the date on the check. If you could take this into account in your end-of- year-planning we can avoid disappointment or confusion. Complete financial transparency is a goal of your vestry and we are very close to having a clean audit for 2015 as well as accurate statements for 2016. Kudos to vestry and staff who have labored to bring this about.
-Geoffrey Hoare-
Vestry Nominations
The Nominating Committee of the Vestry invites nominations of parishioners to serve a three-year term on the vestry. Any communicant in good standing, at least sixteen years of age and a financial contributor of record in the past year is eligible to serve. We will be seeking five new members this year. This class will be of enormous importance to welcoming and serving with our new rector. In addition to a monthly meeting, members will generally serve to oversee some area or program of our common life, including Buildings and Grounds, Budget and Finance, Welcome Table, Adult Formation, Children's Formation, Parish Life, Street Church, Worship-Related Guilds, and Stewardship and Fund Raising. In addition, vestry members will be expected to participate as money counters on a rotating basis. This will be an exciting season to be called into leadership of this wonderful parish. The Nominating Committee this year is Chaired by the Senior Warden, Rasheen Carbin who is joined by the Junior Warden, Bea Dermer, retiring members of the vestry, Scott Marquardt and Lisa Kimball as well as the Interim Rector, Geoffrey Hoare.
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Music & The Arts
Tuesday Concert Series
November 29 at 12:10pm: James Rogers & Jeremy Filsell
Baritone soloist James Rogers and pianist Jeremy Filsell perform music by Ibert, Duparc, Wolf, and Finzi.
Admission is free but a donation of $10 is suggested to support both the Artists and the Concert Series.
Upcoming Guest Performances
December 2 at 8:00pm & December 3 at 5:00pm, Choralis: A Classic Brass Christmas
This annual favorite will feature all of our Christmas concert traditions - candlelight processional, carol sing-along, and conducting raffle - and will feature
Wenceslas
, a piece written by Bob Chilcott and based on the familiar carol about the benevolent monarch. With guest artists The Classical Brass Quintet and James Shaffran, Baritone. Please visit their website for tickets.
December 4 at 3:00pm, Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic: Francis Poulenc's Gloria
WMPA partners with the NOVA Community Chorus to welcome the holiday season with Poulenc's exuberant, then solemn, then humorous, then gleeful, Gloria, one of his best loved works. Complementing Poulenc's colorful music palette, Ernst Bloch's expressive and atmospheric tone poem opens the concert. Rounding out the program is Hungarian composer Ernő Dohnáyni's rhapsodic late romantic "concert piece," performed by the outstanding Metropolitan Opera Orchestra cellist, Sam Magill. Please visit their website for tickets.
December 9 at 6:00pm, St. Timothy's School Lessons and Carols
Please visit their website for more information on the annual holiday concert.
December 11 at 3:00pm, 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. The DCCO is in its fifth season of bringing high quality orchestra repertoire to the community. Please visit their
website for more information.
December 18 at 5:00pm, Comfort and Joy: Christmas with the Washington Master Chorale
On
Sunday, December 18, 2016
, at the historic Church of the Epiphany, the Washington Master Chorale will present a tasty blend of seasonal treats as we drive away the dark and prepare to usher in a promising new year. You'll hear carols, motets, and hymns by Chorale favorites - Lauridsen, Vaughan Williams, Jacques, Tavener, MacMillan, Pärt, Purcell, Mendelssohn, Willcocks, and more. Of special interest will be the Chorale's performance of two carols by little known, post-WWII Scottish composer Ronald Center (1913-1973). An intensely shy man who lived with his wife, soprano Evelyn Morrison Center, in the rural town of Huntly, Center taught piano to local school children, directed the church choir and played the organ. He rarely allowed his music to be played and at the time of his death in 1973, many of his compositions remained unpublished. Thankfully, we have his Three Nativity Carols, two of which, "There is no Rose" and "Wither's Rocking Hymn" will be performed by the Chorale. In tribute to the late J. Reilly Lewis, the Chorale joins with other Washington-area choruses in honoring the man and his music and will perform "Lobet Den Herrn Alle Heiden" by Johann Sebastian Bach. Please visit their website for tickets.
Please note that all of Epiphany's guest artists and ensembles handle their own ticket sales. Please contact the respective individuals/ensembles for ticket sales and information pertaining to these concerts.
Learn more about musical events at Epiphany by visiting our
website.
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Service in Mission & Ministry
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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 (
[email protected]).
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 (
[email protected]).
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 (
[email protected]).
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 (
[email protected]).
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
[email protected].
If you are interested in learning about one or more of these ministries, you can also complete our Epiphany volunteer poll here.
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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.
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: [email protected].
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Blogs & Websites
Episcopal Cafe
S
ite featuring Episcopal news, commentary, and meditations
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