Parish Notices for June 17, 2022 |
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Juneteenth
Expanded Coffee Hour
June Pantry Drive Tally so far
Freedom School donations due Sunday
Book Study starting June 21
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Earth Guild interest meeting June 22
Dinner for Freedom School June 30
ERJG Summer plans
Youth Pilgrimage Pictures
Refugee Ministry Update
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Juneteenth – Our American Holiday
by Kay Lee
This Sunday, June 19 we celebrate the “Juneteenth National Independence Day”, an official federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. Ironically it is not the day that enslaved people were freed nor the day slavery ended but rather marks that day when enslaved Texans first officially learned they were free – nearly 2 months after the Civil War ended. (Click here to read the 4-sentence General Order No. 3.)
For a growing number of Americans, Juneteenth is considered a more meaningful American holiday than July 4 because it celebrates an enormous milestone in our continuing struggle to fulfill the “all men are created equal” promise of the Declaration of Independence. We might consider our celebration of it as living our baptismal covenant to strive for justice and to respect the dignity of all.
To best appreciate our celebration on Sunday, we are reminded of its fragmented, obstructed and struggling history and recognize it as representative of our American racial past.
Before there was Order No. 3 and Juneteenth, the Emancipation Proclamation signed in 1863 called for a partial end to slavery. It only applied to the 11 Confederate states (so as to disrupt the economic dependency on the caste system of enslaved workers) and did not extend to the border states that remained loyal to the U.S. who were utilizing enslaved people.
When the Confederacy surrendered in April,1865, many people remained enslaved. Even after General Order No. 3 was issued in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, many former owners ignored it with impunity and it was inconsistently enforced by the Union Army. In addition, word spread very slowly, some unknowing formerly enslaved people continuing to live in bondage months and even years afterward. Moreover, some white people in positions of authority, aided by vigilante groups, hunted down the former enslaved, brought them back and punished them for leaving. Oftentimes, little recourse was available if enslavers were non-compliant. Legally people were “free” – but in reality their bondage continued.
Notwithstanding the lack of consistency with enforcement, Juneteenth celebrations started in Galveston, Texas shortly after June 19, 1865. Those annual celebrations were short-lived. When Reconstruction was dismantled and replaced with bondage-adjacent Jim Crow laws incorporating an ever-present threat of legally-sanctioned violence including lynching, public Juneteenth celebrations disappeared. Black Americans brought them into their homes and Black churches. Only in the early 1970s did public Juneteenth celebrations slowly begin to re-emerge.
The historical road of Juneteenth and the end of slavery is arduous and shameful. It reflects our country’s racial past and the vice-like grip that slavery, racism and white supremacy holds on our country. And yet, in celebrating Juneteenth, with humility, we can find hope. With an honest understanding of its conception and history, we are better able to rejoice at the accomplishment of this piece of American justice that moved us all further toward dignity for our fellow Americans. Let us embrace it with joy as a true American holiday for all.
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June 19 (Juneteenth Celebration) Weekend: ERJG Suggestions |
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As we discern how we are called to live out our Baptismal Covenant to love our neighbors as ourselves, we affirm our call to faithfully speak out against racism and take action to dismantle systemic racism in our country. When racism is tolerated, the reconciling work of Christ is contradicted. As followers of Jesus, we must work to remedy the injustice around us, from which so many of us benefit, often unknowingly.
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Sunday Morning Worship
Masks required during worship
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Holy Eucharist - 10 a.m. in the nave
- The Healing Station is open in the side chapel.
- Childcare for newborns and children ages 3 and under is available in the nursery. Our vaccinated childcare workers wear KN95 masks.
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The Summer Choir is open to adults and youth; we rehearse one anthem on Sunday morning at 9:15 a.m. and then sing it during the 10:00 a.m. liturgy (no vestments, no weekday commitment, lots of fun and fellowship). Join us upstairs in the Music Suite beginning Sunday, June 12. Contact: Julie Ryder.
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Altar Arrangements and the Sanctuary Light |
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The Arrangements at the Altar are given to the Glory of God and in memory of Lucy Taylor Yntema, by her son John Yntema.
- The Sanctuary Light is given to the Glory of God.
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The color and selection of flowers is based on the appropriateness of the liturgical season. However, you may request a particular flower or color be used when you signup. Suggested donation is $75. |
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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. |
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It turns out that after the service is a better time to gather for many people, so we are incorporating summer breakfast into an expanded coffee hour.
We hope you will join us after the service this Sunday and throughout the summer. Anyone is welcome to bring some simple breakfast items. Individuals may bring a dish or groups may sign up. We hope to see you then!
Please Note: The Vestry Person of the Day (VPOD) is responsible for making the coffee.
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Epiphany’s Art Ministry welcomes mixed media paintings by Jen Singh. Jen’s show closes July 11. Please make your art payments by check to the artist by the July 10. Remember, 25% of all sales benefit Epiphany. The show is also on the Art Ministry Page.
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June Pantry Drive for DEAM |
For the month of June we are collecting items to help the Decatur-area Emergency Assistance Ministry (DEAM) pantry. Wooden bins for your donations are located in the gallery.
This time are hoping to collect 125 each of:
- Quart sized, WET, shelf-stable milk cartons and cans of evaporated milk.
- We will also collect the following canned fruits: applesauce, pineapple and fruit cocktail.
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Freedom School donations for Projects
Deadline extended to June 19
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The six-week summer program at Emmaus House needs magazines with photos, shoe boxes, and paper towel rolls for art projects and collages. Please bring donations to Epiphany by Sunday, June 19, and place them in the black containers in the gallery. Thank you! |
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Science Gallery Atlanta and Georgia Tech’s Design Bloc invite you to join our design thinking workshop! Designed specifically for 15 to 25 year-olds, Atlanta residents, and their families, this workshop focuses on providing local solutions to the issues surrounding climate change. This educational experience leverages a design thinking (DT) approach to engage and collaborate with the participants.
In this half-day workshop, we will focus on the creative and iterative aspects for social impact: new idea development, creativity, user needs, and disruptive innovation. We will focus on and showcase the lateral, creative thinking approaches commonly known to designers and integrate it with a strong foundation in prototyping, user research and ethnography. This approach represents the Design Bloc ethos – to learn by doing.
This is a free workshop. It is the first workshop in the #OnlyOneEarth series at Science Gallery Atlanta.
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Book Study Starting Tuesday, June 21 |
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The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World
By Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu
This summer book group will be led by Ellen Mintzmyer and Susan Ashmore beginning Tuesday, June 21 at 7:30 p.m. and last for ten weeks (skipping July 5). They are meeting in the parish hall.
This book is by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who led the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission to heal the wounds from decades of apartheid, and his daughter the Rev. Mpho Tutu, who has her own story of forgiveness and received her PhD studying ways of forgiving.
As they proclaim, forgiveness is simple but not easy. They wrote this book because many of us know we need to forgive, but the process is often a mystery and not marked clearly.
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Earth Guild is looking for your input and involvement!
Wednesday, June 22, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
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We are planning to discuss how to organize ourselves around the following four areas of ministry: outdoor activities to celebrate God's creation; ongoing design and stewardship plans for the meadow; environmental assessments to better determine earth-friendly habits and practices; and, opportunities for interfaith based environmental education and action. Contact: Frances Finegan.
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Dinner for Freedom School Parent Night
Thursday, June 30 at 6:30 p.m.
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This summer Emmaus House will host their Seventh Freedom School summer. During Freedom School, Emmaus works with young scholars to foster positive attitudes towards learning and reading, empowering them to make a difference in themselves, their families and communities. As part of the summer program, they host parent nights, which include a guest speaker who addresses issues that are relevant to the families and a tasty dinner for 70 people.
This summer Church of the Epiphany will be providing dinner for one of these parent nights on Thursday, June 30 at 6:30 p.m. Susan & Loren Williams and Kelly Loftin have agreed to organize the meal and prepare the main course. We will need volunteers to provide sides, desserts, and help deliver and serve the meal at Emmaus House.
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Upcoming ERJG Activities
Please mark your calendars
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6/26—Emmaus House Chapel: The service starts at 10:30 a.m. We will meet at 10:15 a.m. Our understanding is that masks are required. As many of you already know, Epiphany has had a very strong connection to Emmaus House.
7/7—ERJG Movie Night will be a viewing of Just Mercy which stars Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx. The film is based on the life work of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), which opened the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice that we are visiting September 10. All are welcome and lots of popcorn will be available! Email Kay Lee to RSVP.
8/3—ERJ Book Group discusses The Church Cracked Open: We are grateful and excited that our own Rev. Amy Dills-Moore will lead the discussion of The Church Cracked Open: Disruption, Decline, and the New Hope for Beloved Community, by the Rev. Stephanie Spellers. (6:45-8:00 p.m., Room 201)
9/10—ERJG Day Trip to Montgomery: Plan to join us for a day trip to Montgomery to visit both the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. A registration link will be available once transportation and costs are finalized. If interested, you are strongly encouraged to read Just Mercies by Bryan Stevenson.
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The Education for Ministry (EFM) Zoom group got off to a good start last fall, and will continue again for the 2022-2023 school year. There are 4 states represented in the group—including GA, with Epiphany’s own Sara Cushing—and one group member from Turks & Caicos. Despite the format, the group has bonded well, but would be able to easily welcome new members. All 4 years are invited to join. |
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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, contact Esther Harbert. |
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6/22—Living Contemplatively: The Living Contemplatively Spirituality Group book study group meets together on Zoom on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. This time they are reading and discussing Henri Nouwen's book Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety. Contact The Rev. Amy Dills-Moore.
6/26—The Epiphany chapter of the Daughters of the King (DOK) meet on 4th Sundays at 11:15 a.m. in the parish hall. The DOK are a lay order whose goals are prayer, service and evangelism. Contact: Judy Jarady.
6/27—The Community of Hope's Circle of Care members gather monthly on 4th Mondays from 6:00-8:30 p.m. to pray, learn, and provide each other with mutual support as they reflect on their emotional and spiritual responses to pastoral encounters. If you or a loved one would like to receive a pastoral visit by one of the trained caregivers, please contact Ann Fowler.
The Epiphany Book Group Will not meet in July or August.
7/7—The Grief Pastoral Care Group meets on Zoom 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. Please contact Megan or Nancy before attending for the first time.
7/8—The Feeding Ministry cooks at Epiphany and then serves the meal at Gateway Shelter on 2nd Fridays. You can help with one or more of the following activities:
- Wednesday - Food Shopping
- Thursday - Chopping Veggies
- Friday - cooking from 2:00–5:00 p.m., serving from 5:00–7:00 p.m. or helping clean up after the volunteer dinner at 7:00 p.m.
8/3—Epiphany Racial Justice Book (ERJB) Group will meet in Room 201 from 6:45-8:00 p.m. The ERJB Group is reading How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, by Clint Smith (approximately 336 pages, available through the DeKalb County Library system). Please join us, we would love to have you. Any question please feel free to contact Kay Lee or Lisa Daily.
The Flex & Stretch class—which is the basic SilverSneakers class—meets online on Thursdays and the Chair Yoga program meets on Tuesdays and Fridays. For the link, email Ellen Mintzmeyer.
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Click the picture to see a gallery of photos from the Youth Pilgrimage to Nashville. |
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Refugee Ministry Update on the Khil Family
by Carol Newsom
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In February, Epiphany helped to welcome the Khil family from Afghanistan to Atlanta and to assist them in various ways as they settle into life in America. A gift basket containing foods and spices used in Afghan cooking, prepared by Cathy and Jim McKinney (pictured), was presented by Erin Braden and Lisa Daily when they met the family. Although New American Pathways provided some of the furnishings for their apartment in Stone Mountain, members of the Epiphany community also donated furniture and kitchen supplies, as well as funds for purchasing a Persian style rug and some traditional Afghan seating cushions that the family particularly wanted. There are still some items that they need for the apartment, including a coffee table and a larger TV that will allow the family to watch together. While we think of television as entertainment, it is one of the most important tools for learning a new language. Also, we recently learned that the family does not have a personal computer. |
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The father, Jamaluddin, held a rank equivalent to a Brigadier General in the Afghan army is now employed, working six days a week in a factory. Although he eventually hopes to get a job more in keeping with his education and experience, he is dedicated to seeing that the family is on track to become economically self-sufficient within the timeline established for refugee resettlement. The children are all in school and seem to be learning quickly. Rana is in the fifth grade, Hasanat in the second grade, and Khyber is in kindergarten. All are lively and delightful. A young relative, Tabasom, is currently staying with the family until she joins her husband in California. Several members of Epiphany have volunteered to tutor the family, including Ellyn Bryan, Jessica Burns, Nicole and Garren Lambelet, Carol Moser, and Doug Kertscher. The exercises that Ellyn and Jessica have designed for the younger children are creative and engaging, and it is clear that the children are having fun as they learn English. The mother, Monisa, deeply appreciates the work of all the tutors and invited them to a lovely meal to show the family’s gratitude.
Volunteers from Epiphany have also taken the family on an outing to the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and the children have expressed an interest in going to the Zoo as well, so more activities are likely over the summer.
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Prayer for World Refugee Day, June 20
Almighty and merciful God,
whose Son became a refugee and had no place to call his own;
look with mercy on those who today are fleeing from danger.
Bless those who work to bring them relief;
inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts;
and guide the nations of the world towards that day when all will rejoice in your Kingdom of justice and of peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(Prayer from the Church of England)
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If you shop on Amazon, consider accessing Amazon through http://smile.amazon.com and designating Church of the Epiphany as your charitable beneficiary.
To find us on the beneficiary list, search Church of the Epiphany Atlanta. Be sure to include the city, otherwise you'll have to scroll through a long list of Epiphany churches.
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Required Trainings for Staff & Lay Leadership
If you are not sure which courses to take or what your training status, contact the parish office.
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Dismantling Racism training is offered by the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing. Currently, the training is only being offered online via Zoom from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. In-person trainings have not yet resumed.
Safeguarding Training: Click the link to register for Safeguarding God's Children (SGC) or Safeguarding God's People (SGP) trainings. The link below is for the Zoom trainings. In-person trainings are restarting. Check with the parish office for any available dates if that is your preference.
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Morning Prayer takes place every weekday at 9:00 a.m. on Zoom. Login at 8:45 a.m. for coffee hour. Contact the parish office for the link.
First Tuesdays Eucharist: The Tuesday Men’s Group meets on 1st Tuesdays at 7 a.m. for Holy Eucharist followed by a time of fellowship before heading on their way for the day. Contact: John Yntema
Wednesday Services: Wednesday Noonday Prayer takes place at 12:00 p.m. A Healing Service with Eucharist follows at 12:15 p.m. Due to HVAC issues, these services are in the parish hall.
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For members who are bidding our prayers: Jewel Allen • Sally Brockington • Bob Burnett • Lisa Gray • Ron Hutcheson • Judy Jarady • Rod MacLeod • Sally McClintock • Colleen • Jennie Richardson • Ann Rowles • Idamay Shaw • Jane Stutz • Stephanie Thompson • Wayne & Judy Urban • Evan Vega • Kathy Walmsley • Larry Wilcox • Emily
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 • Susie Boyko • Keren Clay, neighbor of Susan & Richard Messner • Diana Lawrence, niece of Terri Lawrence • Peggy Bryant, mother of Patrick Bryant • Russell Saxon, nephew of Kathie Ryan • Sophia Baginski, friend of David Draper • David & Jenn Gillis, brother-in-law and sister of Terri Lawrence • Stephen Fluharty, friend of Richard & Susan Messner • Doris Gentry, aunt of Shea McNutt • Judy Palmer, cousin of Shea McNutt • Martha Fernandez, grandmother of Duane Burns • Mike Carscaddon, friend of Annie Strahan • Bonnie Strawn, granddaughter of Mary Ann Schneider • Katie Strawn, daughter of Mary Ann Schneider • Anne Scott, mother of Susan Scott • Alisha Thompson, sister-in-law of Nicole Lambelet
For members who desire our continuing prayers: Alma Fuller • Tom Mundy • Idamay Shaw • Pat Spivey • June Sparks • Kathy Walmsley
For those who have died: Ruth A. Smith, stepmother of Margo Timberlake • Linda Best, cousin of Bob Thompson • Dorothy Gray, mother-in-law of Lisa Gray
For those in the armed forces: Henry Laird • Stewart Mundy
For those celebrating an anniversary for the week of 6/19-25: Kristin Mann & Steve Tipton • Bruce & Gretchen Maclachlan • 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 6/19-25: Esther Harbert • Pilar Boulée • Caroline Meyer • Judy Urban • John Corcoran • Amanda Dean • Anna Democko • Paula Maiberger • Ethan Shelton • Meg Shearon • Ethan Shelton • Laurel Hanna • Kelly Krawczyk • Lori Beth Wiseman • Eli Brush • Kristina Thomas • Shelle Bryant • Catie Rooks • Lenora Robertson • Matt Stockton
For those awaiting the adoption of a child: Jessica & Duane Burns
For those awaiting the birth of a child: Claire & Cody Chaffins • Megan & Laraine Fraijo-Paul • Kaylie & Evan Gibbs
Did we miss your anniversary or birthday? Send your full date of your anniversary and/or your date of birth to the parish office 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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