“When he came to his hometown,…the people were surprised and said, ‘Where did he get this wisdom?‘” Matthew 13:54

Dear Friends:

Our beloved Lisa Erdeljon will be with us this Sunday, preaching and presiding at both 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. worship. Welcome Lisa home! At the same time, Freddie and I will be in Cape May strolling up and down the boardwalk with Mary Mae. Thank you for the time away. You are in the best of hands with The Rev. Lisa and our dear friend Seminarian, Seldon. We’ll miss being with you. Below is a coming home message from Lisa…

There’s a saying that you can never go home again. Even Jesus couldn’t “go home”-read Matthew 13:54-58, Mark 6:1-6, or Luke 4:16-20. In each of these, the locals couldn’t believe that this man was Jesus, “the carpenter, the son of Mary,” and they attempt to run Him out of town.

And yet, despite the warnings, we all probably try to “go home” at some point-back to where we grew up, back to our parents’ houses, back to the place we call “home”.

For me, that is happening this week! I am very excited to be coming back to Virginia for a week of vacation. This time will include fun with my family (including dinner with my whole extended family) and time with you, my original church family.

I am humbled and honored that Hillary invited me back to Epiphany this Sunday, as I will have the opportunity to both preach and preside at the altar.

Some of you may not know who I am, but I love following how much Epiphany has grown and changed over the past several years. When I was little, and the Rector was B. Clifton Reardon (more commonly known as “Father Bill”), I attended Sunday School here; as a middle schooler and high schooler, I would walk here by myself. And when I received the call to ordained ministry, Epiphany walked with me on my discernment journey and supported me during my time in seminary. (I cannot count the number of times I called Hillary, while in tears, during my time at seminary, wanting advice and support.)

I graduated from Berkeley Episcopal Seminary at Yale Divinity School last May, and I was ordained to the transitional deaconate here, at Epiphany, last June. Since then, I accepted a call in the Diocese of Chicago and moved to Barrington, Illinois, where I have been serving as a curate at a wonderful parish. St Michael’s Episcopal Church has a vibrancy that reminds me a bit of Epiphany, and I am grateful that I am spending my first few years as a priest here. (I was also ordained to the priesthood here, in December, by Bishop Jeffrey Lee of Chicago.)

Previously, I served at Epiphany in multiple ways, from helping with logo design, to facilitating the Young Adult Ministry, to preaching in the pulpit. This Sunday will be my first time presiding at the altar as an ordained priest. I cannot express how excited I am to finally have the opportunity to serve all of you as a priest.

I hope to see you all on Sunday-to meet those of you whom I haven’t met yet and to catch up with those of you I haven’t seen recently. And while I am debunking the myth about not returning home (I know being with you all again will feel just like home), I hope you all promise not to try and push me off a cliff, like they tried to do to Jesus!

Many blessings,

Lisa