Weekly eNews for December 23, 2022 | |
In this Issue
Christmas Service Times
Year End Deadlines
Finance News
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Office Closed Next Week
Feast of Epiphany Service
Feast Day Feast RSVP
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In the Gallery
January & February Events
Prayers of the People
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WORSHIP | Christmas Eve Services
Saturday, December 24
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3:30 p.m. The Celebration of the Nativity of Jesus with a moment for children, music of the season by the Epiphany Children’s & Youth choirs, and Holy Eucharist—Childcare provided for newborns and children age 4 and under at this service.
5:30 p.m. The Celebration of the Nativity of Jesus with music of the season by the Epiphany Ringers and the Hildegard Ensemble, and Holy Eucharist.
10:00 p.m. An extended prelude begins at 10:00 p.m. and will feature the Epiphany Choir and congregational carols.
10:30 p.m. The Celebration of the Nativity of Jesus with music of the season, and Festival Eucharist.
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Livestream via our YouTube Link | | |
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WORSHIP | Christmas Day Service
Sunday, December 25 at 10:00 a.m.
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On this festive day, we continue to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas with a service of Christmas Lessons & Carols at 10:00 a.m.
Come and continue our gratitude for birth of Christ in word, music, and Eucharist.
Livestream via our YouTube Link
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FINANCE | Year End Gifts & Final 2022 Pledge Payments
| 12/31—Pledges and contributions need to be received at the church or postmarked by December 31 and stock contributions must be delivered to the church brokerage account by December 31 to be recorded for 2022. | |
Contributions and Pledges must be postmarked by December 31 | | | |
Year-to-date Financial Report as of November 30, 2022 | |
| November 30, 2022 | Budget | Actual | | Income | $562,377.86 | $552,378.16 | | Expense | $562,377.86 | $582,135.39 | | Net |
| ($29,757.23) | | | |
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If you have not yet made your pledge, please consider offering your gift of a confirmed giving for 2023 via a pledge.
The Vestry will complete budget planning based on committed expected income. Pledge cards are available in the narthex and gallery, or you can make your pledge online by click the button.
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Parishioners are invited to express their gratitude to clergy and staff for their work this year by making an offering online or by check. You can give online through your Realm login (select Clergy/Staff Gifts from the drop-down menu) or click the button below, or write a check to Church of the Epiphany with “Clergy/Staff Gifts” in the memo line. memo line. | |
NOTICE | Office & Building Closures
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12/26-1/2—The Parish Office will be closed from December 26 through Monday, January 2. Outside of worship services, no other services or programs will take place during that time.
- Tuesday Morning Prayer and the Wednesday Noon day service will NOT take place.
- Choirs will NOT meet—The Children, Youth and Epiphany Ringers will not meet in January.
- There is NO adult, children's or youth formation this Sunday (12/25) or next Sunday (1/1).
- There is NO youth group this Sunday (12/25) or next Sunday (1/1). We'll see you on January 8 for Fellini's Pizza with Holy Trinity youth!
- There is NO choir rehearsal or service project this Tuesday. Choir rehearsal and service projects will pick up again around February; stay tuned!
- There will NOT be an email newsletter sent next Friday, December 30.
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EARTH GUILD | Creation Care Reflection for Christmas
By John Wierwille
As we gather on Sunday for the celebration of Christmas, let us remember the earthy details of that birth in a stable as told in Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) by listening to the story recounted by Gayle Boss in her book, All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings:
In the fullness of time, the Christmas story says, a girl gave birth ringed by animals. She lay the baby in one of their feeding troughs, where animals' bodies would warm the air around his fresh-born human body. Mother and child fell asleep and woke to their chuffs and shuffling hooves, their calls and the shuddering of their hides. Later, sheep herders smelling of dirt, damp wool, and milk crowded into the stable. Out in the night fields, these animal men sitting in the dark were chosen to be the first to get the word. A baby had been born, they were told, who would show people a way out of their small pinched lives, a way to abandon themselves to the ever-present, unstoppable current of Love that carries all things to radiant wholeness. To recognize him, they should look for a child at home among animals.
We are not in this alone. The whole earth is part of the story.
Thanks be to God for that. And Merry Christmas.
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Our Feast Day - The Epiphany - is January 6 | | |
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LITURGY | The Epiphany Pageant Service
Friday, January 6 at 6:00 p.m.
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1/6—Participate in Epiphany's Pageant on Friday, January 6! Are you interested in playing a part in Epiphany's annual pageant on our Parish's feast day?
We need both adults and children willing to participate. Please email Emily Elder if you are interested.
Contact: Emily Elder, Director of Children's & Youth Ministries
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The Rehearsal for the Epiphany Pageant will take place on Tuesday, January 3 from 5:00-6:15 p.m. in the nave. | | | | |
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PARISH LIFE | Feast Day Feast
Friday, January 6, following the Pageant
| 1/6—Parish Life will host a Chili & Tex-Mex Potluck Dinner following the Epiphany Pageant. Chips and salsas, drinks and a King Cake will be provided. You are invited to bring a Chili or Tex-Mex dish to share. | |
PARISH LIFE | The Nativities Collection
On display through Sunday, January 8
| This year, only the creches that tell the stories of Luke and Matthew have been put on display, accompanied by the scriptures and hymn texts. You can view them in the narthex and gallery through January 8. If you’d like to help with taking them down on Monday, January 9, click the button below. | |
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT | Art Ministry
Now Showing in the Gallery
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Epiphany’s Art Ministry welcomes back artists from the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter. All proceeds from this exhibit go to the Senior Art Ministry at this parish. Please make checks out to Holy Comforter.
A little background about Holy Comforter
Holy Comforter has been in Southeast Atlanta for over 100 years. In nearly every decade of that history, urban growth has changed the face of the neighborhoods around Holy Comforter, leading them to ask again and again, “Who is my neighbor whom God is calling on me to love?”
It is critical to understand that Holy Comforter does not run a program to help persons with mental illness; rather these people are the church gathered at Holy Comforter. These are the members of the Body of Christ who pray daily, who are fed by the Eucharist, who acolyte and serve, sing, run the altar guild, make pastoral care visits on Sunday, who bring their gifts for the service of everyone. These people, who are often alienated in society, are knit together by the love of Jesus Christ at Holy Comforter.
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Upcoming Events & Meetings | |
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT | School Supplies Drive
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Epiphany's youth group is joining the Ismaili CIVIC's youth to collect school supplies to replenish the closets of several Title I schools around Atlanta and Decatur. We will be collecting school supplies until January 15, and then sorting them together with Ismaili CIVIC on MLK Day. Schools are especially in need of: pencils, glue sticks, black fine point whiteboard markers, tissues, composition books, colorful dry erase marker packs, and headphones. Please drop your donations off in the bins to the right of the door when you enter (please edit location language as needed).
Contact: Emily Elder, Director of Children's & Youth Ministries
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MUSIC | Choirs Rehearsals
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Beginning Choristers (pre-K-2nd grade) and the Junior Choir (3rd grade-unchanged voices) will NOT meet in the month of January.
Epiphany Ringers will NOT meet in the month of January.
Epiphany Choir: Wednesdays, 6:45 p.m. in the Music Suite
1/4—Our all-volunteer choir provides musical leadership for the 10:00 a.m. liturgy and feast days. Membership is open to fully vaccinated adults and youth.
Contact: Julie Ryder, Organist & Choirmaster
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PASTORAL CARE | The Grief Pastoral Care Group
1st Thursdays, 12:00 p.m. on Zoom
| 1/5—The group meets each month for a healing and faith-based conversation around grief and loss, led by parishioners Megan Fraijo-Paul and Nancy Thompson, both trained psychotherapists. Please contact Megan / or Nancy before attending for the first time. | | |
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FORMATION | Blessing of the Composter
| 1/8—Join us during formation hour on Sunday, January 8 at 11:15 a.m. for a special "Blessing of the Composter." The Earth Guild has bought and assembled a composter for Epiphany, and we will be talking a bit about Jeff Chu's "Theology of Compost," thinking about our own sustainability goals, and blessing and naming the composter this Sunday. | |
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Presentation Slides from Advent 3 Class
Several folks have requested the slides from last Sunday's class The Way of Mary: Pondering the Annunciation in Art presented by Ann Fowler and The Rev. Amy Dills Moore.
Click here for a PDF of the presentation >>
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PARISH GROUPS | Epiphany Book Group
2nd Mondays at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom ONLY for January and February
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1/9—All are welcome to join the Epiphany Book Group on the second Monday of the month. We will be meeting only on Zoom for the months of January and February. In March, the discussion will by hybrid - both in person and on Zoom.
Here are our book selections so far for 2023:
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January: The Night Watchman, by Louis Erdrich
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February: Our Unfinished March, by Eric Holder
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March: The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, by Phaedra Patrick
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April: Living Faith, by Jimmy Carter
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May: Mercy Street, by Jennifer Haigh
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June: The Moonstones, by Wilkie Collins
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September: The Murrow Boys, by Lynne Olson
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October: Hag-Seed, by Margaret Atwood
Contact: Linda Ryder-Wolf, Leader
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PARISH GROUPS| The Episcopal Church Women (ECW)
2nd Tuesdays and 2nd Thursdays of the month
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1/10—The ECW Day Group meets on 2nd Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m. in the parish hall followed by lunch out. Contact: Robin Hairston
1/12—The NEW ECW Evening Group’s first meeting will take place on Thursday, January 12 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. in the parish hall. Come to meet current ECW members and learn about the amazing things we do. Contact: Alison Taylor
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT | The Feeding Ministry
2nd Fridays of the month
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1/11-13—Volunteers cook at Epiphany and then serves the meal at Gateway Shelter on 2nd Fridays. Please RSVP to help prepare, cook or serve the meal. Sign up by the Monday Prior to the cook.
Contact: Anne Kerner, Ministry Co-Chair
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PARISH GROUPS | Episcopal Racial Justice Book Group
Book Selection for January & March
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1/11—The next Episcopal Racial Justice Book Group discussion will be held on Wednesday, January 11 from 6:30-8 p.m. in Room 201. We will discuss Speaking of Race: Why Everybody Needs to Talk About Racism - and How to Do It by Celeste Headlee.
Here’s is an excerpt from a description of the book found on Amazon. “In this urgently needed guide, the PBS host, award-winning journalist, and author of We Need to Talk teaches us how to have productive conversations about race, offering insights, advice, and support. This is the book for people who have tried to debate and educate and argue and got nowhere; it is the book for those who have stopped talking to a neighbor or dread Thanksgiving dinner. It is an essential and timely book for all of us”
In March, the ERJ Book Group will discuss The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein. Date to be determined.
Contact: Kay Lee, Group Co-chair
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1/16—The Parish Office will be closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Day holiday. | |
PASTORAL CARE | Community of Hope's Circle of Care
Last Mondays, 6:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall
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1/30—COH will not meet in December. If you or a loved one would like to receive a pastoral visit or home communion by one of the trained caregivers, please contact Ann.
Contact: Ann Fowler, Leader
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PASTORAL CARE | As the Days Lengthen - SAVE THE DATE
February, 19 from 4:00-5:30 p.m.
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2/19—Epiphany’s Community of Hope presents As the Days Lengthen: Contemplative Prayer—and the Joyful Season of Lent. Join us on February 19 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. for an afternoon of Reflection and Soul-Nurture with Carl McColman.
Contact: Ann Fowler, Leader
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WiFi Upgrade
The WiFi at the church has been updated to a business class system. There is now great streaming coverage throughout the entire building. Please let the parish office know if you have any trouble using the internet while in the building.
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For members who are bidding our prayers: Nan Ross • Maggi Ewing • Chris Miller • Rob Godsall • Susan Scott • Beth Towers • The Rev. Ruth Healy • Dave Thompson • Mary McCall Cash • Wende Crowe • Zoey Laird • Judy Jarady • Evan Vega • Sally McClintock • Larry Wilcox • Colleen • Ann Rowles • Sally Brockington
For friends and family: Sarah Werkman, friend of Erin Braden • Fran Bloc, mother of Erin Braden • Charlie Roberts, friend of Robin Hairston • Ellen Gossett, friend of Robin Hairston • Marilyn, daughter of Esther Harbert • Lindsey Brickhouse, friend of Robin Hairston • Abby Knapp, great niece of Doug Runnion • Alice Cantwell, great aunt of Cristin Davis • Mary Parks, friend of Terri Lawrence • Kay Hopkins, friend of Jewel Allen • Rachel Wolf, daughter of Linda Ryder-Wolf • Rhonda, Marcin, Kami & Sydni, friends of the Moody family • Sophia Baginski, friend of David Draper • Russell Saxon, nephew of Kathie Ryan • Keren Clay, neighbor of Susan & Richard Messner • Rosalind, sister of Katharine Yntema • Dave Tipton, brother of Pam Tipton • Isabel, granddaughter of Mike & Beth Towers
For those who have died: Bill Rummel, father of Martha Rummel • Priscilla Mellow, grandmother of Cristin Davis
For members who desire our continuing prayers: Jewel Allen • Alma Fuller • Ron Hutcheson • Rod MacLeod • Tom Mundy • Floyd Parker • Pat Spivey • Wayne & Judy Urban • Kathy Walmsley
For those in the armed forces: Henry Laird • Stewart Mundy
For those celebrating anniversaries for the week of 12/25 – 31: Ray & Kelly Krawczyk • Kate & John Wierwille • Sally & Ellery McClintock
For those celebrating anniversaries for the week of 1/1 – 7: Katie & Leonard Teel
For those celebrating birthdays for the week of 12/25 – 31: Katharine Hilliard-Yntema • Miles Thompson • Brent Henderson • Wendy Keith-Ott • Les Howell • Matthew May • Rachelle Udall • Hunter Peatman • Emeline Simian • Ed Thomas • Leona Wierwille • Henry Laird • Sally McClintock • Jack Gibbs • Kelly Wright
For those celebrating birthdays for the week of 1/1 – 7: Allene Kelley • Harriet Spencer • Connor Dell • Margot Morrison • Jeremy Davis • Mabel Morrissey • Elle Rose • Patricia Price • Stephanie DiBello • Chris Armor • Declan Demorest • Nadine Howarth •
For those awaiting the adoption of a child: Jessica & Duane Burns
For those awaiting the birth of a child: Magda & Doug Kertscher
Did we miss your anniversary or birthday? Send the full date of your anniversary and/or your date of birth to the parish office at parishadmin@epiphany.org so that we can update our records.
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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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