Responding through Love
Five years. It seems like it was barely yesterday that I first preached at Epiphany, and in the intervening years, we, as a community, have traveled an unexpected road together. That road has taken us through the darkened forest that we called the COVID-19 pandemic, and now, together, we are emerging from that journey into the light of the midday sun. It is important to say this often: we have traveled the road together, and I am profoundly thankful for the ways that you have contributed to our journey. I give thanks to God each and every day for the privilege of serving as your rector, and I give thanks to God each and every day for the ways that God moves through us for the building up of God’s kingdom.
Last Sunday, our vestry presented to the congregation what it learned through the listening sessions that were hosted last spring. If you were not there to hear the report from the vestry, I do hope that you will take the time to watch the video embedded below so you can hear directly from your vestry on how they have perceived God moving through our community and encouraging us along our journey.
Our senior warden, Mary O’Grady, started us off with very good news indeed. In the current year through the end of August, our parish is performing very strongly financially. Through the generous gifts that you continue to share through our parish and through the wise stewarding of those gifts, our parish is running a break-even budget, and we are hopeful that we are able to continue to do so through the year end.
The vestry report continued with important information on what was heard during the listening sessions, including:
Of the three options available during the weighted voting, there was no clear prioritization among the three. All three were voted as equally important to the future of our parish.
We will continue to address the question of our parish debt through smaller capital drives until we reach the day that we are able to be debt free
Through a partnership with RenewalWorks, Church of the Epiphany will begin to focus on spiritual nurturing, nourishment, and growth as we seek to build up the Body of Christ and the kingdom of God in our neighborhoods
The vestry continues to look for community groups and organizations who might be a good fit for leasing space on our campus on a regular or semi-regular basis
As you listen to the report from the vestry in the embedded video, I invite you to consider what ministry team you might join as you seek to participate in what God is already doing in the world around us. How is God inviting you to be part of the Body of Christ who is actively transforming the world through the movement of the Holy Spirit?
We are a community that God continues to bless with the hope that we will continue to share God’s blessing with all who live around us. We are being called to be a light in the world and to invite people to know the faith, hope, and love of God made known in Christ Jesus.
In Christ,
Hunter+
