It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth – Acts 1:7-8

Dear Friends,

Waiting is hard. I’m not saying this because I don’t think you already know this. I’m acknowledging what we are all feeling. In the last year, I have been waiting in pretty much every aspect of my life. Thanks be to God, I am finally beginning to see some movement in some areas where I can move forward, and I hope you are seeing the same.

However, this week, as we celebrate Christ’s Ascension to Heaven, we are reminded that no matter how much we don’t like it, God has His plan for us. It’s going to be on His schedule, not ours. One of my daily mantras to help me live with this is “God has a plan for me, I will wait to see what it is.” It’s easy to forget this when things aren’t going the way I want them to, and sometimes I have to actively remind myself this.

But in waiting we do not need to feel hopelessness. In our reading from Acts this week, Jesus reminds the disciples of what He has taught them and gives them the mission of teaching others about Him and that repentance and forgiveness can be obtained through Him. As believers in Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are to follow these teachings as well. When we do, we feel God’s love surrounding us.

One way to follow the teachings of Jesus is by being an active member of the church community. Thankfully, some wonderful Epiphany staff and volunteers have made it easy to Be The Church and I invite you to check out all the opportunities for you to join in our church community on our website. As Epiphany, we are One Together in Faith, Hope, & Love, as Jesus teaches us.

I would like to take a moment to give you an update on the process of securing an Interim Clergy for Epiphany. Unfortunately, the prospective candidate the Vestry was considering has declined to accept the offer presented. This does not have anything to do with Epiphany, but more about the nature of the short-term commitment required for being an interim. While this is disappointing, we are not starting over at zero. The Vestry has the approved compensation package in place now. Also, in the last few months, the potential candidate pool has grown to include those ending their previous commitments, as well as those who are new and entering the pool. After we have waited so long to find an interim, I hope to see movement soon and will update you more as I have more information.

You may have read in the last Vestry Corner that the Vestry approved the revised Regathering Plan to be more flexible in following the Diocese’s guidelines in regathering for worship services. With the number of new cases of COVID-19 decreasing significantly in Fairfax County (Thanks be to God!), we are now able to invite up to 50 members to attend Sunday services at 10 AM. Reservations are still a must and the Signup Genius link changes from week to week. This week’s sign up can be found here. The Worship Ministry is working to expand service offerings and you will hear more about this in the coming weeks.

While we wait for those things big and small, it’s important to continue to be connected to each other and realize where there is movement, that is God smiling down on us. 

Peace to all, 

Susan Buckner
Senior Warden