Clergy Reflection
Dear Friends,
My granddaughters who are 11 and 13 often ask "why?" Most of their why questions are in response to my giving them an answer which includes the word "no". "Why can't I get this pair of pants; they are supposed to have holes in them, it's the style." Answer: "no". Their response is to keep asking why in an infinite number of ways, hoping for a different answer. On the other hand, they also ask the profound questions of life, "Why do people die? Why does God allow it? Why do people kill each other?". They keep hoping for the "right" answer.
Recently, we have seen on a daily basis one tragedy after another that reveals the evil and hatefulness in human beings that can result in killing, maiming, oppressing and destroying others in capricious and incomprehensible ways. Sometimes individuals are the cause, at others societal structures or political decisions are at the root of tragic occurrences.
Here the why questions may come to the fore either for the world or for ourselves; "Why did God let this happen? If God is all powerful why didn't God stop this? Why did God not answer my prayers? Why is God testing me?"
One common response is to try to defend God. "God gives us free will and doesn't interfere with human decision-making". This response implies that God is a dispassionate, unloving bystander who simply watches on the sidelines as cruelty and evil are visited upon certain innocents who need to be tested. What kind of God is that? Not ours.
God is Love and Goodness. Evil, violence and injustice do not abide in God. We cannot say that God lets evil happen, because there is no evil, no malice in God.
But why do these horrible things happen? In the end we have no answer. Job had no answer to his why questions even after all he suffered. What he realized was that his dependence was upon God alone.
Jesus came among us to reveal the truth of the love and goodness of God. He did so through his ministry and through suffering a violent death. In our grief, sorrow and anguish, there present is Love incarnate who knows and has experienced the worst that human beings can do. Through his resurrection we know forever that Love cannot be killed and Goodness cannot be defeated and forgiveness has already been accomplished.
We may desperately want an answer to our questions of "why?". But there are none. We can only claim the truth that we belong to a God who knows our pain and who is in every moment drawing us into hope and resurrection.
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Mission & Ministry
Worship at Epiphany
Sunday Readings
 Richard Warren Memorial Service
Saturday, June 24 at 11:00am
All are welcome to attend a service in thanksgiving for the life of Mr. Richard Warren. The service will begin here at Epiphany at 11am with a coffee hour afterwards.
 Memorial Service for David Godecki
Sunday, July 2 at 1:00pm
All are invited to attend a service in remembrance of Mr. David Godecki here at Epiphany at 1:00pm, lunch will follow in the Community Hall.
Dawson Nash responds to the Washington Post
The Washington Post recently published an article about the future of Franklin Square Park and in it denigrated the homeless.
"D.C. asks Congress for approval to invest in Franklin Park" June 16, 2017
Epiphany parishioner Dawson Nash wrote a very thoughtful response that challenged the attitude about the homeless that was conveyed in the original article.
Thank you, Dawson!
Summer Picnic
Sunday, July 9
The Welcome Table invites you to an Independence Day Picnic held in Epiphany's community room on Sunday, July 9, 2017 beginning at 12:15 p.m.
The picnic menu will include grilled burgers and hot dogs, red hot and blue potato salad, beans, coleslaw, lemonade, and dessert. Local jazz band
AJQ Plus 1
will be the musical entertainment. Please come and enjoy a day of fabulous food, fun and live music!
Do you love Epiphany? Would you like to share your story with our followers and encourage others to visit? We will be filming video testimonials, of about 1-3 minutes, with our parishioners and volunteers. It can be any anecdotal story that you would like to share -- what brought you to Epiphany, what keeps you here, what do you enjoy most, how have you grown since being here, etc... The videos will be shared on our website and social media pages. If you are interested in participating and helping to grow our community, please notify at Arrien Davison at
[email protected] or by calling the main office at (202) 347-2635.
One of our own shares her story of homelessness
Kelly, an 8am Sunday Worship attendee who is homeless and sleeping on the street, was interviewed by Invisible People about her experience of being female and homeless in Washington, DC -- watch her video below.
This week in Epiphany History
Engineer-in-Chief of the U.S. Navy, the wedding of Joseph Pulitzer & Kate Davis, and much more! Be sure to
get your daily dose of Epiphany History by following
the
Celebrating 175 page
.
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Music & The Arts
Tuesday Concert Series
June 27, 2017 at 12:10pm
Nicole Levesque, mezzo soprano, and Jeremy Filsell, piano, in a recital of American Samuel Barber's songs: Three Songs Op. 10 and the Hermit Songs (1953).
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
Saturday, July 1, 7:30pm
The Serenade Festival, an international choral festival which has been held in DC for several years presents choruses from countries around the world. This year's performance will include musicians from India, Bulgaria, Canada and Mongolia.
Admission is free, but a $10 donation is suggested to benefit the Welcome Table.
Learn more about musical events at Epiphany by visiting our
website.
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Prayer & Pastoral Care
We ask for your Prayers
We offer thanksgiving for John Haines, who will be baptized on June 25;
For those who have died, especially Jean N. Houghton and Richard Warren;
For all who seek healing in mind, body, spirit or relationship, especially:
Tripp Jones
Ernest Xamboj Zoriya
Sawyer Hutt
Kim Sanders
Anne Schmidt
Diane Carbin, sister of Rasheen Carbin
Holly Foster, daughter of Barbara Ford-Foster
Kelly Miller
Elaine Hollingsworth, sister of James Hollingsworth
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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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.
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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Blogs & Websites
Episcopal Cafe
S
ite featuring Episcopal news, commentary, and meditations
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