“Nothing is impossible for God.” Luke 1:37

Dear Friends: 

Today, the Church is calling for a day of prayer. At noon today, our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry offered up prayer and invited all to join in the praying of the Lord’s Prayer. Any time and any day is a time for prayer, as we’re reminded from the apostle Paul to “pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances…” We pray and give thanks for our adaptability, and especially for our faithfulness in worship. The past two weeks of online worship have awakened in us a hidden opportunity. Our initial livestreaming worship from March 15 has included as many as 175 views. Then, last Sunday March 22, livestreaming worship noted 208 views and we’re still counting. With the proper equipment, livestreaming can become a permanent opportunity for those who are unable to be with us when we re-enter for physical worship in place. This is how God works. Where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness joy. Our community may look a bit different as we continue to social distance and self-shelter. As the Church, we rejoice as God works within us to stretch even further out to our neighbors, friends and family that all may grow in Christ with strength and courage.

This morning, in Wednesday morning drive by prayers, we celebrated the Feast of the Annunciation from the gospel of Luke 1:26-38. God sends the angel Gabriel to Nazareth to visit with the virgin Mary announcing that she “will conceive and give birth to a son, and…name him Jesus.” Leaning in a bit deeper into the scripture, we’re reminded that scripture miraculously applies to the times at hand. The angel, in visiting with Mary, maintains an appropriate social distance. Mary has rightly chosen to shelter in place. 

On Sunday, we’ll continue to livestream worship for Lent V as we round out our Lenten theme, Courage as we consider the “Courage to Wait”. Mary and Martha call for Jesus to come and heal their critically ill brother, Lazarus. Urgently, they await Jesus’ arrival. Jesus, upon receiving the message chooses to wait before rushing to Lazarus’ side. Why did you wait, the sisters wail and wonder? It seems this appointed gospel reading for the day is too vivid a reminder of our own waiting as we move through this time. Log in on Sunday and we’ll spend some time in prayerful watching and waiting as we ask, what is God revealing to us in this time of waiting? 

Livestream on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. simply logging into: https://epiphanyec.org/live/ 

Don’t forget to click on the worship bulletin as well. We’re still the church, still open, still running at full speed but with different methods for being the church. Please, support us being Epiphany and continue to give generously of your financial gifts. Checks can certainly come in the mail, or be dropped off. Giving online: https://onrealm.org/EpiphanyEpiscopal/-/give/now

is simple and foolproof. Thank you for your generosity and continued support of Epiphany.

Finally, many have been asking how we will “do” Holy Week and Easter. Today, following another zoom meeting with Bishop Goff, we’ve learned that she strongly urges us to continue livestream. We will not be gathering physically in the parking lot; nor in our worship space. At the Presiding Bishop’s advice, we will “honor the centrality of Holy Communion” by living into and leaning into the longing for the sacrament of the bread and the wine. Therefore, we will fast from “in person” worship and sharing in the sacrament as we join, united as one community, sharing in “spiritual communion” until further notice. We recognize that for many of us, this waiting is no easy discipline. But this year in particular, perhaps this waiting is God revealing to us all the glory of God. Because, no matter how long we must wait for our lives to return to “normal” we can be assured that Christ resurrected is the saving promise for us all. 

Looking forward to our time together on Sunday! Again, feel free to send questions, thoughts, and constructive words. We’re all in this together. 

Let us pray:

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. 

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (As attributed to Thomas Merton)

Many Blessings,

Hillary