encounter: faith has begun! reformation-related events...
TRANSCRIPT
Volume MMXVII Number 10
October 2017
Epiphany is a welcoming community, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to share the GRACE of God, the LOVE of Christ, and the HOPE of new life with ALL!
Encounter: Faith has begun!
Encounter: Faith has begun for the new 2017-2018 year. We enjoyed an awesome Rally Day in September with a “camp out” theme. This event got everyone excited for the new year of Encounter: Faith. And we have an Encounter: Faith class for everyone so please join us! See the schedule below: Frolic Class for birth to 3 years old - meets in the nursery - Parents welcome! PreK-Kindergarten class - meets in the Children’s Library 1st-5th Grade class - meets in the EECC lunchroom The above classes meet in the Sanctuary choir loft from 8:45-9:00am for music with Mr. Patryck and then go to their classroom from 9:00am - 9:45am. Middle School Class - meets in the Campus Ministry Room at 8:45am High School Class - meets at Starbucks on Robinhood at 8:45am Adult Encounter Faith Class - meets in the Fellowship Hall at 8:45am Encounter: Faith Together is Epiphany’s Intergenerational Sunday School class which meets the 1st Sunday of each month in the Fellowship hall. All are welcome and we always have food! Join us for the first Encounter: Faith Together of this year on Sunday, October 1 at 8:45am. It is going to be so great even Martin Luther has confirmed his attendance! And don’t forget to pick up your magnet with the Encounter: Faith schedule for the year! They are available on the table in the narthex.
Reformation-Related Events This Weekend
The “Music @ Home” series offers three events celebrating the music of the Reformation period. • JS Bach and His Contemporaries: A
Fusion of Jazz and Classical. Mochnick and Kendrick jazz duo and friends, at 7:30, Friday, Sept. 30 at Home Moravian Church
• Bach, His Contemporaries, and Luther: vocal and instrumental music offered in the setting of a Lutheran vespers service, Saturday, Sept. 31, 7:30 at Augsburg Lutheran Church
• A Mighty Fortress: Bach and Luther. Bach’s Reformation Cantata Ein feste Burg performed in a liturgical service as it was presented in Leipzig during Bach’s tenure at cantor. In collaboration with the UNCSA Cantata Singers, Magnolia Baroque, and the Wake Forest Divinity School. 3pm Sunday, Oct. 1 at Home Moravian Church. (Get there early).
Confirmation Program 2017-18
Please keep in your prayers students who will be participating in this year’s confirmation program. The purpose is to help them engage more fully in the life of Christian discipleship in the context of a faith community. They will engage in study of elements of Luther’s Small Catechism at two sessions during Lent at Epiphany, two weekend retreats and a summer retreat at Lutheridge with other middle school students. They will meet monthly with adult mentors to have conversation about their faith and life. And they will engage in at least two service projects.
Students who will be confirmed on Reformation Sunday, 2018 are Calvin Sherman, Julia Nicholson, Will Matthews, and Michael Schwamb. Pastor Doug will oversee the program while he is at Epiphany.
Tickets will be on sale for LutherFest after church between now and October 22nd. They are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 4 to 10. Children 3 and under eat free! Tickets include a German
meal, non-alcoholic refreshments, desserts, trivia, games, and children’s activities. Beer and pretzels will be sold separately at the event. The event is from 3:00-7:00pm on Saturday, October 28th.
Tuesday Music Nights Join us for our Tuesday performances at 6:30pm on October 10th and 24th.
The Epiphany Readers book for October is LUTHER AND KATHARINA by Hedlund. It was chosen to help celebrate the 500th year since the Reformation. It is a love story and helps us gain insight as to the everyday tensions, convictions, conflicts and love. From the abbey where Katharina lives to her marriage to Martin Luther, we get to see a different picture. Join us October 19th for a lively discussion. All are welcome. The book for November is THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG by Barbery. That’s November 16th. Judy Mountjoy
General Operating Fund – July 2017
Income $40,755 Expense $40,963 Net for Month $ (208) Net for Year $21,806
Trunk or Treat is coming to Epiphany!
Epiphany is hosting a Trunk or Treat for children of Epiphany, the EECC, Christ’s Beloved, and anyone else that wants to come! The event is Monday, October 30 from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Trunk Host participation forms can be found on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall and on the bulletin board across from the EECC Children’s Library. Trunk or Treating provides a safe place for children to trick or treat and is fun for all ages. Please consider helping out by being a trunk host. If you need ideas on how to decorate your car trunk or if you have questions, contact Emily Phillips.
New Book Study at Epiphany!
Need a spiritual refresh? Getting stuck in the mundane? Join us for an engaging book study of “Liturgy of the Ordinary” by Tish Harrison Warren. The study will occur on Wednesdays from 5:00-6:00pm in the Conference Room from October 4 to November 1. Participation forms are available in the narthex and the book can be bought from Amazon for $11. Free childcare is provided for members and EECC families. Contact Emily Phillips with questions.
General Operating Fund – August 2017
Income $ 39,532 Expense $ 55,643 Net for Month $(16,111) Net for Year $ 5,694
God’s Love Is Bigger Than Your Hostility
I was digging into some of German pastor and Third Reich resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings in preparing for a confirmation class at Christ’s Beloved Community. Bonhoeffer had more cause to hate than most. The Nazi regime was imprisoning and killing his friends and family. Yet, he writes this:
“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.”
I find this both comforting and disturbing. Comforting because my own hostility and hate does not limit God’s lavish love in the world. Disturbing because God’s enemies are not God’s enemies.
The Call Committee was formally installed on September 24th and trained on September 29th and 30th. We received several suggestions for pastoral candidates and all have been forwarded to the synod for review. We have removed the candidate suggestion box in the entryway, but if you have someone you would like to put forward, please see Jim Henricks. The committee would like to thank those who submitted a suggestion, and everyone for your continued prayers and support.
As we have now officially transitioned from summer to fall, we have many exciting activities ongoing at Epiphany. Following our Rally Day kick-off on September 10th, we started a full Encounter: Faith schedule with classes for all ages, and we will be continuing our Encounter: Faith Together meetings on the first Sunday of each month. We invite all to participate! The Call Committee was officially installed on September 24th and will complete their training at the end of September. They will then continue the active search for our new pastor – an important step forward for our congregation. Council nominations are being collected, and we will have the elections for new Council members on Sunday, October 22nd. We are excited about welcoming four new Council members to the group! The “Pay It Forward” campaign has been a positive success, and we have currently raised over $22,000 towards our goal of $25,000. We would like to thank all who gave as a part of this campaign to help us cover our maintenance costs this year. It is gratifying to see the congregation come together to support our wonderful facility. We encourage everyone to continue to give, as our goal is clearly in sight. The Council would like to extend a special “Thank You” to Shelley Hood who has served in the role of recording secretary for Council and Congregational meetings for the last several years. She will be leaving her position at the end of October in order to attend to the many other tasks she handles for our congregation. We truly appreciate all she has done for the Council. And finally, don’t forget our upcoming LutherFest fellowship on Saturday, October 28th. It will be a great event for us to recognize the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and celebrate together as a church family. It promises to be an exciting and festive day! During this season of beauty and change, as we enjoy the fall weather and anticipate the joys of the holiday season, the Council members want to express our appreciation of your ongoing prayers for congregational healing and spiritual growth as we journey forward together. In Christ, Your Congregational Council
GIFT OF THE MONTH ITEMS FOR OCTOBER
CRISIS CONTROL MINISTRY - Saltine crackers, Boxed Dinners (ex: Hamburger Helper)
SAMARITAN MINISTRIES - Ground coffee (regular), hand lotion (sample size), socks, razors, high efficiency laundry detergent packs/pods
RONALD McDONALD HOUSE - Single serve meals, snacks, fresh fruit, and breakfast items; milk, creamer; sugar; paper towels; disposable hot and cold cups; Preemie clothes and diapers.
TRINITY GLEN - Soap
TRINITY ELMS - Fronts of greeting cards, baby lotion, body wash, bath items, deodorant, snacks, note cards
IBRAHAM FOOD PANTRY - Shampoo, laundry soap, dish soap (all available at Dollar Tree)
EECC - WalMart 5 oz. cups (case) for $246 (3,000 cups)
New Council Member for 2017-2019 Term
We would like to share with you that Matthew Meckley has resigned from the Congregation Council, effective this month, due to his family responsibilities. In keeping with the protocol for filling open Council positions, Lewis Hardy, who was on the ballot last year, will fill in for the duration of Matt's term through December 31, 2019.
Please join the Council in thanking Matt for ably serving during this past year, and also thank Lewis for his willingness to serve going forward. Lewis will be installed in January when the new members for the 2018-2020 term are installed.
Julianne Golden Council President
Happy Fridays at EECC!
How many of you have had the experience of picking up your child or grandchild from preschool or school and have wondered what they did all day? The parents at EECC don’t have to wonder too long as each teacher posts a “Today we….” Note beside their sign-out clipboard. Ms. Hannah’s list highlighted their “theme of the day” of apples…They enjoyed two books “An Apple a Day” and Big Red Barn” and learned the parts of the apple (stem, leaf, skin, flesh, core, seeds—listing the parts just in case the parents needed a review—or couldn’t understand what their child was saying!) (I’ll never forget when my son came home from kindergarten telling me about how we have “nerds” (Nerves) in our noses that help us smell!). This class also looked at the parts of a real apple and then used the halves to make stamp art. What fun! Miss Geni’s class read paragraphs about each child’s family’s nationality (which parents helped write) and then circled different places on the map to show where each child’s ancestors came from! Both classes enjoyed Creature Teacher that day where Liza the Bearded Dragon allowed them to touch her (if they wanted to!!). Creature Teacher is one of the “extras” that EECC offers to enhance classroom instruction.
Please wander into the EECC classrooms on any Sunday morning…the children won’t be there, but you will see evidence of all the learning that takes place Mondays through Fridays!
Watch for ways you can help support EECC with your time and talents. Upcoming Saturday Work Day— donations of 5 OZ paper cups—upcoming book drive! Ask Director Lisa Nichols for details.
Serving Our Lord and EECC families, Jackie Pierson
We are delighted to welcome back to our Service of Worship the voices of Chi Rho, Wake Forest University's all-male Christian a cappella group. These dedicated young men will join us on Sunday, October 22 to share several songs as part of their mission to spread God's Word among local churches. A love offering will be received to show our appreciation to these WFU students, and the group's CDs will be available for sale in the Narthex.
As part of our celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, on Sunday, October 29, our hard-working and very talented Parish Choir will present the world premiere of an anthem specially commissioned by Church of the Epiphany to celebrate this historic occasion. Come to our Service at 10:00AM, and be the first people in the world to hear this awesome piece of music as we worship God and celebrate our Lutheran heritage together! You will also be treated to, and singing along with, the world premiere of a new harmonization of the most famous hymn of our Lutheran tradition, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God!
10/1 CROP Walk Introduc�on and Sign-ups Fun and games
Dinner provided by Sofia’s family
10/8 Apple Picking @ Levering Orchard, Family Event (all are invited) 163 Levering Lane, Ararat VA 24053 Meet at 1pm at church to ride in van or carpool or meet at 2:15pm at orchard Youth will need to bring $$ for apple picking; $13 per bushel for pick your own apples
10/15 CROP WALK-This event is open to ALL church members and families, so please consider
walking or sponsoring someone who is walking. Meet at Parkway Prebyterian at 1pm to ride in Van/carpool to downtown parking Registra�on at 1:30; CROP Walk begins at 2:30pm at Corpening Plaza Downtown. www.cropwalkforsyth.org
10/22 Lesson led by Pastor Thom or Charlo<e Fun and Games
We need someone to be our chef
this week!
10/29 Jack O Lantern Carving or pain�ng Open to All Families (Time and Loca�on TBD)
We received notes of thanks from:
Crisis Control Ministry Lutheran Disaster Response
CROP WALK 2017 Winston-Salem/Forsyth County CWS/CROP Hunger Walk will be Sunday, October 15 We invite any and all members of our Epiphany family to walk with or sponsor our Middle School (FLY) youth who will be walking in the annual Winston-Salem/Forsyth County CROP Walk on Sunday, October 15 at 1:30pm at Corpening Plaza in downtown Winston-Salem. Epiphany is the only Lutheran Church in the Winston-Salem Forsyth County area who will be sponsoring a team in the CROP Walk this year! Funds raised will be distributed internationally as needed by Church World Service, but will also stay in our own community and be evenly divided between Crisis Control Ministry and Sunnyside Ministry. Charlotte Disher is Epiphany’s congregational representative for the this year’s Walk, so please contact her at [email protected] if you would like information on participating in the Walk in one of two ways: walking yourself or sponsoring someone who will be walking. NATIONAL YOUTH GATHERING (NYG) As many of you are probably already aware, the city of Houston, Texas will play host to the 2018 ELCA National Youth Gathering and I’m delighted to report that five of our very own youth will be in attendance! They are Emily and Will Matthews, our newest Confirmand Michael Schwamb, Luke Sherman and Tyler Toborg. Our chaperones will be David Thrasher and me. For increased fellowship, not to mention logistical and safety purposes, we are partnering with Augsburg Lutheran's youth group for this life-changing experience. In fact, we had our first monthly team-building meeting with them on Sunday morning, September 24 at 9:45am. We will be meeting with them monthly, so if you notice us missing from worship, we will be at Augsburg. As we embark on this faith formation journey, culminating in the National Youth Gathering next summer, we welcome your prayers and encouragement and we express deep gratitude to our Epiphany family for your generous financial support along the way! Your Sister in Christ, Charlotte
There are not enough words to express our thanks for all the love that we have received from our Epiphany family since Rick's original accident, and most especially since his most recent illness and death. The outpouring of moral support, concern, memorials, food and cards has been overwhelming. We all appreciate your prayers and continued support. Thank you! The Thrasher family - Deni, David & Chelsea, Rachel & Ethan, Beverly
October Servers Altar Guild Shelley Hood
Congregational Care Shelly Hood and Connie Queen (meals) Catherine Lyerly (cards)
Head Ushers Jim Cochrane Children’s Church Beth Craft and Rachel Nicholson Assisting Ministers 10/1 Denise Henry 10/8 Arnold Herbison 10/15 Shelley Hood 10/22 Leann Pace 10/29 Deni Thrasher
Acolytes 10/1 Calvin Sherman 10/8 Julia Nicholson 10/15 Luke Sherman 10/22 Tyler Toborg 10/29 Rachel Nicholson
Lector 10/1 Bruce Lande 10/8 Catherine Lyerly 10/15 Jane Lyerly 10/22 Dan Meckley 10/29 Lee Ann Meckley
Communion 10/1 Dan & Lee Ann Meckley Assistants 10/8 Judy Mountjoy, Jim Pierson, and Deni Thrasher 10/15 Mike & Laura Spain 10/22 Lew & Jeanie Saphar 10/29 Michelle Toborg and Susan Vestal
Greeters 10/1 Elizabeth Horton and Bert Joines 10/8 Dave & Jennie Hinshaw 10/15 Dan & Lee Ann Meckley 10/22 Harold & Judy Landis 10/29 Catherine Lyerly and June Moore Open/Close Church 10/1 Jim Pierson 10/8 Karl Florian 10/15 Jim Cochrane 10/22 Schuyler Darstein 10/29 Mike Spain
Flowers 10/1 Jim & Jackie Pierson 10/8 Joyce Kohfeldt 10/15 Open 10/22 Al Baker 10/29 Joe & Ann Cannon Sanctuary Light 10/1 Don & Carole Witte 10/8 Joe & Brenda Middleton 10/15 Bruce & Gay Lande 10/22 Janice Barnett 10/29 Joe & Ann Cannon
October Birthdays
Joanna Brubaker 10/1 Andrew Lichtenhan 10/1 Keith Queen 10/2 Henry Sloop 10/2 Jeanie Saphar 10/3 Don Witte 10/3 Connor McCormick 10/5 Ardel Meisinger 10/5 Gus Phillips 10/6 Alex Saphar 10/6 Dan King 10/7 Nancy Phipps 10/8 Joyce Kohfeldt 10/9 Kayla Saunders 10/12 Jaime Rabb 10/15 Lew Saphar 10/15 Sarah Lischer 10/16 Enya DuBois 10/17 Christina Kraft 10/18 Pat Baker 10/23 Darlene Martin 10/24 Jane Stribling 10/25 Luther Vann 10/27 Neil Saunders 10/29 Norma Wells 10/29
October Baptisms
Andrew Craft 10/1 Matthew Meckley 10/1 Ryan Davis 10/3 Martha Oldland 10/3 Scott Pressley 10/4 Lydia Rothkopf 10/8 Nancy Cope 10/9 Sean DuBois 10/11 Steve Hopp 10/11 Marge Leister 10/14 Carolyn Wiley 10/14 Nick Peters 10/23 Jessica Reich 10/25 Kayla Saunders 10/30
Leaders of church & state, especially
Our Congregation Council President Trump Bishops Elizabeth Eaton Governor Cooper Bishop Timothy Smith Mayor Joines Pastor Doug Kearney
Our sister congregation and our missionary in Mexico
The people of Mupini Parish, Namibia and Pastor David Brondos
Active duty military personnel
Jay Collette Randal Middleton Travis Gerdes Duncan Miller Tim Hawkins David Schultz
Family & friends of the congregation in need
Rev. Partee Boliek Louis Bryant Reece Burdette Douglas Callahan Ken Cannon Rick & Becki Carlisle Patti Deal Danita Gallagher Derrick Gilmore Joseph Graham Diane P. Greiss Eric Grush Jeff Grush Stephanie Hansen Kelly Hauser
Members in need
Sharen Bond Mary Lynn Chapman Cochrane Family Jim Lippard
Our Christian love and sympathy to the family and friends of
Mark Fishel Norma Murray Hugh Barnett Dylan Patterson Noah Clark Larry Haglund
Ray & Norma Henry Ralph Herbison Derrick Hester Larry Hostetter Richard Jensen Molly Kramer Mike Lucas Becky Marion Naomi Meckley Janet Miller Allison Morris Andy Motz Marcella Murphy Robert & Mary Peak
Nancy Richbourg Jane Ritchie Nora Schweitzer Rick Sells Alice Seppell Mike Slezak Kathy Smith Deborah Truell Dave Vamder Lugt Terry Wessinger Nicole Williams Jim Wollweber Linda Wood Leigh Yarger
Barbara Coley, Forest Heights Senior Living Community William Garris, Oak Forest Health & Rehab Marge Leister, Homestead Hills Helen Preston, Homestead Hills Verdell Thomas, Forsyth Court Martee Umberger, Trinity Elms
Bonnie Bryant Dottie Bush Joyce Kohfeldt Cole Lippard Virginia Schmitz Robert Walker
Andy McMurray Susan Pester Bill Phipps Wanda Rabb
Nancy Stenberg Martee Umberger Susan Vestal Carla Youngquist
Dottie Bush: New address & phone
Jim Cochrane:
New phone
Phyllis Cochrane: New phone
Call the church office for information.
Adrian & Lindsey Finley 10/1 Cory & Emily Phillips 10/5 Mark & Lisa Lane 10/21 Bruce & Gay Lande 10/22 Joe & Ann Cannon 10/30
We wish you many more years of happiness!
Have you met Laurie Kenyon Woods? Laurie is our Campus Ministry Coordinator, leading weekly meetings with Lutheran students on the Wake campus. This year Laurie will joining us in worship on Sundays (and bringing students with her). She is in her third year at the School of Divinity and working with Epiphany and Pastor Doug as part of her field education with the school. Laurie is also beginning the candidacy process with the North Carolina Synod, leading to ordination in the ELCA. Feel free to be in conversation with her about campus ministry or her work with us in general. You can see her on Sundays or contact her on her cell phone at 269-552-8245.
NEEDED: VOLUNTEER to deliver backpack lunches to Ibraham Elementary School on Thursdays between 11 AM and 1 PM. Need to be able to fit 10 boxes in your car/truck (Jackie’s Prius does it just fine with the back seats down flat!)….Custodians at the school unload them for you. Sign up on the volunteer sheet in the fellowship hall on the pantry door!
NEEDED: Volunteer with a truck to pick up “donated” food at Lowe’s Groceries in Kernersville on Wednesdays and/or Thursday mornings. It takes about two hours to complete the process. We need one more driver to rotate into the schedule and serve as a substitute when the other drivers have conflicts. See Jim Pierson for details. (Mileage counts as a tax donation!)
NEEDED: Two volunteers to work at the Ibraham food pantry on the following Saturdays: October 7, 14th and 21st from 8:45 – 11:00 AM. Also, two volunteers are needed on Thursday, October 26th from 4:00-5:30. Volunteers will assist families in “moving through the line” making their choices. Please sign up on the sheet on the pantry door in the fellowship hall. See Jackie Pierson or Larry Grush for details.
There was a nice write-up in the Newberry (SC) Observer about Summer Memorial Lutheran Church’s new pastor, our own James Henricks, Jr. A copy of the article is on the bulletin board in the EECC hallway.
That all may be one God our Father, your Son Jesus prayed that his followers might be one. Make all Christians one with him as he is one with you, so that in peace and concord we may carry to the world the message of your love; through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
PreK/Kindergarten Senior High
Blessing of Encounter:Faith Teachers
All she had…
Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)
One Sunday morning about 20 years ago in the small university and resort town of Boone, NC, a young woman staggered in through the front door just as church was letting out. She was battered, bruised, bleeding, and crying. Turns out she had been hitchhiking to Boone from Tennessee, and the person who picked her up had beaten her, raped her, and dumped her in the juniper bushes in front of the church during our Sunday worship. We gathered around this disheveled and broken mess of a human being, prayed with her, called 911. . . and thus began our long journey with Hazel.
One of our church staff visited with Hazel each day she was in our local hospital. We learned that she had grown up in the mountains of Tennessee, that she had served in the army quite honorably for 8 years, that her IQ was on the upper end of the genius scale, and that she knew more about literature, physics, theology, math, and just about anything you ever wanted to know than anyone else I knew. One evening as I visited her hospital room, she shushed my greeting as I walked in the door. Jeopardy was coming on. Truly a sight to behold. I witnessed her for the full 30 minutes as she missed only 3 total questions in regular and Double Jeopardy combined! Brilliant, this woman who grew up in the hills of eastern Tennessee with no plumbing and who had no formal education beyond high school!
We, of course, invited her to church, but she had long ago been seriously wounded by organized religion that, in her experience, had included the insistence to turn off her brain and quit asking questions, the required submission of all women to all men, and snake-handling to prove one’s faith. Not only that, she said, but all the church really wanted, when all was said and done, was people’s money.
And yet she was wounded. And yet there our church was, by some twist of fate where she had been dumped on our front lawn that horrific Sunday morning. A relationship began to develop. We helped her find a shelter in which to live. We got her in counseling. I was and am still in wonder of this enigma of a woman. She was so very bright and articulate, yet so incredibly naïve in many ways. She had no filters. She simply said what she was thinking, DID what she was thinking!
I’d love to tell you more, but fast-forward about 18 months. Hazel has been coming to our Wednesday morning communion service for several months. As much as she is leery of all-things-church, her heart is opening, seeking. Her pain is finding deep solace of the sort it has never found through the gospel narratives she knows nearly by heart but now she is feeling are addressed to her in profound ways.
We were still all shocked the first Sunday Hazel showed up in worship. A lovely woman, really, but not quite of this world. Her hair was uncombed, and she was still missing a front tooth that had been knocked out during the rape. My heart sank when I saw her in worship. As much as we had all prayed that Hazel might find a home with us in Christ and join our Sunday worshiping family, she had finally taken the great leap of faith and shown up on Stewardship Sunday—pledge Sunday! My sermon was about money! Surely I would only confirm her earlier suspicions: all the church finally wants is your money. The following Monday morning, the financial secretary summoned me to her office. She handed me a pledge envelope, and on the outside was written, “3434…you know how much you need for the Lord’s work more than I do…Hazel” Inside the pledge envelope was her ATM card. The number she had given us was her PIN! She gave us everything she had, or at least access to it.
I went to the shelter where she was living. What I found out was that she simply took us at face value, and when we said we needed money for God’s work in the world, and if God’s work in the world was helping people who had things happen like what happened to her, then she was all for that. She refused to take the card back, so I left it in the care of the shelter director. The next Sunday, the card showed up in the plate again, this time with a note, “3434 PIN, balance $2440 for God’s work.”
We were still in that dance of her turning in the card and my returning it, insisting that we could not take all she had or even a portion of it without her knowledge, when Hazel died. Another long story, but also traumatic and tragic. We had her funeral at the church, a bizarre coming together of worlds that included homeless persons, substance abusers, way way back in the woods people that you thought really didn’t exist anymore (did you see the movie “Nell” with Jodie Foster?), and relatively wealthy church members who had walked this brief journey with Hazel. Her friends had lovingly hand-made her casket and delivered it to the church with her in it on the back of a pickup truck. Before we put the funeral pall over it, I could see Hazel through the cracks between the boards. I didn’t ask on whose land we buried her in eastern Tennessee or if it were at all legal, but bury her we did. I gave her ATM card to her twin sister, along with the envelope with the PIN written on it. Two weeks later, the church received a check for $2440… on the memo line: For God’s work. Walking with you,
Bishop Tim
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Epiphany Silas Creek Parkway and Pennington Lane 5220 Silas Creek Parkway Winston-Salem, NC 27106 336-765-6211
Ministers, All the People of Epiphany
Interim Pastor, Pastor Doug Kearney
Email: [email protected]
Director of Music, Patryck Nuss
E-mail: [email protected]
Youth & Family Coordinator, Charlo<e Disher
E-mail: [email protected]
Early Childhood Center Director, Lisa Nichols
E-mail: [email protected], 336-768-2140
Office Manager & Financial Secretary, Mickey Miller
E-mail: [email protected]
Monthly STAR Newsle%er Editor,
E-mail: [email protected]
Epiphany - Phone: 336-765-6211 Fax: 336-765-1754
Epiphany E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: www.epiphanyws.org
2017 Congregation Council
Julianne Golden, President
Karl Florian, Vice President
Marc Shideler, Treasurer
Charlene Wellborn, Secretary
Margaret Brock
Lewis Hardy
Joe Middleton
Leann Pace
Cory Phillips
Santiago Saldaña
Chris Schultz
Ted Toborg
Pastor Doug Kearney
Women of the ELCA Epiphany Unit had a wonderful, well attended (52) General Meeting. I want to thank everyone who came and participated but especially thank you to Janet Blank who chairs the Committee for Growth, as well as her helpers and committee members who made this meeting a great success.
At the meeting we read all together the Women of the ELCA statement of purpose:
As a community of women, Created in the image of God, called to discipleship in Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves to grow in faith, affirm our gifts, support one another in our callings, engage in ministry and action, and promote healing and wholeness, in the church, the society, and the world.
Traditionally Women of the ELCA has been the women who are members of our three circles. These groups meet monthly, have programs, Bible studies and organize many of our social action activities. Times have changed and so must our view of Women of the ELCA. Article III of our constitution states, "This unit (Epiphany's Unit of WELCA) shall be composed of those women who participate in activities that indicate a commitment to the purpose of Women of the ELCA". I believe that all the women of the congregation here at Epiphany meet that definition of composition. In addition, all activities that our women organize and lead should be considered Women of the ELCA activities. This includes Threads of Love, Epiphany Quilters, Epiphany Readers, the Book Study scheduled to begin in October and Ladies’ Night Out. Through these activities we affirm our gifts, support one another in our callings, engage in ministry and action and grow in faith. Together we are all Women of the ELCA.
Sisters in Christ, Kathy Knecht, President
UPCOMING WELCA DATES:
Oct. 10 10:00am Mary-Martha Circle @ church
6:30pm Dorothy Circle
@ Charlene Wellborn’s
Oct. 12 11:30am Nora Deal Circle
@ church
Oct. 14 Salem Conference Fall Gathering
@ Our Savior, Welcome, Register by Oct. 9
Nov. 3 11:30am Church Women United Epiphany Hosts
Nov. 17-18 2017 Theological Seminar for Women
@NC Synod Office, Salisbury (registration information on our bulletin board)