Interim Rectors Reflection
Dear Friends,
O
ur Annual Parish M
eeting is coming up on December 4. This year it will be held between
services in the church at 9:15am. Many of our Welcome Table guests will be with us along
with those of our 8:00am congregation who wish to attend. We will hear about the state of our
finances from our Treasurer and brief reports from me, from the Senior Warden and from the
Chair of our Calling Committee. Of course, we will also elect our wardens and vestry. It will be a
good time to reflect on our life together and I hope you will plan to be present if you are in
town.
Our annual canvass is underway. Many thanks to the thirty of you who have made your
commitments as of the time of writing. I hope if you are among those still considering your
pledged commitment that you will let us know as soon as possible. It is not necessary to use the
official form. You can email me ([email protected] ) or Catherine Manhardt
([email protected]) and we will confirm the pledge with you in writing. I hope you
share my confidence that the future of the Church of the Epiphany is bright and urge you to
express that confidence and your commitment in advance of the call of your next Rector.
Your vestry has been thinking about roles for the coming year, areas of oversight and
engagement in the various aspects of our parish life. We have been thinking and talking about
whether to collaborate with other parishes in supporting a Syrian refugee family. We have been
strategizing how to meet what we expect will be a year-end gap between income and expenses.
We have also been considering a 'Safe Church' policy as something that would be responsible
and a way of being accountable to one another in this community. While open to all, we would
require the training called "Safeguarding God's Children" for vestry, staff and key volunteers.
The more controversial innovation would be introducing background and credit checks for
vestry, staff and anyone with keys to the building. Our leadership generally welcome the
chance to 'go first' with this but are concerned that we not deter anyone from engaging their
call to ministry. This increasingly common 'best practice' is still under discussion and any
member of the vestry would welcome hearing of any experience you have with such policies in
church or in your workplace.
Good work for the building up and strengthening of this community of faith is being done by
generous people who have accepted the mantle of leadership in this season of our life
together. Please take time to thank them when you see them. Giving thanks is never redundant!
Sincerely,
Geoffrey
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Mission & Ministry
Worship at Epiphany
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.
End of Year Giving
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-
Notice of Annual Meeting: Revised Date & Time
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.
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.
Calling Committee Communique
We received a total of 44 applications for the Rector position here at Church of the Epiphany. We are excited to have a very strong candidate pool. Thank you to everyone who helped to spread the word and who gave us recommendations! We are now entering the discernment stage of our process. To maintain applicant confidentiality, we will no longer be reporting regularly. As a reminder, information on the search process can be found on our website:
http://epiphanydc.org/welcome/clergy-transition/
. You can also reach us at
[email protected]
, or find us in church. Please continue to pray for our Parish Family!
Gracious God, we pray for this parish church and for the Calling Committee as we seek to call a new Rector. Help us to be strong, open, forgiving -- and truthful to those discerning a call to minister in this place. Accompany us on our journey in the knowledge of your love for us and your power to unite us all. AMEN
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.
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Music & The Arts
Tuesday Concert Series
November 22 at 12:10pm: Jeremy Filsell
Jeremy Filsell
, piano & organ, performs the music of Maurice Duruflé
(1902-1986) & Gaston Litaize (1909-1991) in the year marking the 30th and 25th anniversaries respectively of their deaths ... la musique avec le parfum de Paris Bohème... (music with the scent of Bohemian Paris) on Epiphany's two organs and Steinway piano
.
Admission is free but a donation of $10 is suggested to support both the Artists and the Concert Series.
Upcoming Guest Performances
November 19 at 7:30pm, the Congressional Chorus: The eighty-voice Congressional Chorus opens its 30th season by celebrating the diverse composers and musical traditions of Washington, DC, both past and present. Guest artists include Joy of Motion Dance Ensemble, the Beltway Poetry Slam Team, and the versatile a cappella group The Capital Hearings in a unique, one-night-only, multi-sensory performance.
The highlight of the evening will be Duke Ellington's ground-breaking and rarely performed Sacred Concert. The chorus will be joined by a hot 17-piece jazz band, a bevy of swing and tap dancers, and the renowned jazz a cappella group Afro Blue for this sultry, high-energy work that swings with a sophisticated groove!
November 20 at 4:00pm, AYPO: "AYDO and AYSE in Concert" Laura Cahn, AYDO and AYSE Conductor. (American Youth String Ensemble) AYSE and (American Youth Debut Orchestra) AYDO will perform three concerts exploring the theme "Bach to the Future". The first concert will feature arrangements for string orchestras of several popular works by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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
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ite featuring Episcopal news, commentary, and meditations
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