Epiphany News

During the pandemic, we are meeting outside whenever weather permits. Here’s how it works:

1. Worship begins at 10:30 am.
2. We encourage all to attend but pressure no one. At all times while on site, we keep our mouths and noses covered.
3. Whenever we worship outside, we will share the worship service on Facebook Live.
4. If the temperature is forecast to fall below 50 degrees F during the worship hour, or if there’s significant rain in the forecast, we’ll meet exclusively on Zoom. Any church member can give you the information about how to participate, or you can call 205-821-0554 to learn more.
5. If we will be meeting on Zoom instead of outside, we will send word to those on the church email distribution list by Saturday evening at 8:00.
6. We dress for comfort.
7. Leashed and well-behaved pets are welcome.
8. We do not sing as a congregation during our service. We will speak congregational responses softly.
9. We each bring our own chair and bulletin, and of course, our mask.
10. We feel free to invite visitors to come to church with us, but each one who invites someone will make sure he or she has a chair, mask, and bulletin.
11. We do not serve common refreshments of any kind. We welcome all to bring a beverage and/or food to enjoy after worship. Please don’t share it.
12. We will feel free to remain after worship to visit, being careful to respect physical distancing. We need each other!

Giving food away is at the core of our DNA at Epiphany. We have adjusted our procedures so that we can continue Beans & Rice while respecting social distancing. Here’s the information we are now providing to clients who come for Beans & Rice:

Temporary Emergency Procedures for Beans & Rice

Welcome. We want to get you the food you need and protect your safety (and ours). Please stay in your car. Please form a line of cars circling around the building. As you approach the distribution point in the rear of the building, please release your trunk so that we can see that it’s open as you drive up (if you need to get out of the car to do this, please do it well before you reach the distribution point). We are not permitted to place food in the interior of your car, so if there is not room in the trunk, take time now to make room in it.
We will check your name against our list of clients, and if we see your name, we will simply record that we gave you food. You need not sign anything. If you have not been here recently, let us know. We’ll get some basic information from you so we can give you food.
Your food will be a paper sack of staple items and a plastic bag containing a combination of perishables. Please preserve the perishables as soon as you return home. As soon as you have your food, please leave the church property to help us minimize congestion. We will be wearing gloves and face coverings, and we encourage you to wear them as well.
Let us speak very personally for a moment. We love you, and we yearn, we yearn, for the day when we can hug you again, hang out with you, and offer you choices among the food items we have. This won’t last forever, but until it’s over, this is the way we have devised to make this work. We hope and trust that you understand.

Every church is dealing the best it can with the pandemic sweeping the world. Here at Epiphany, we have been instructed by The Rt Rev. Kee Sloan, our bishop, to suspend all in-person worship services and meetings through May.

Each Sunday at 10:30 am we worship together using Zoom. We love having visitors! If you’re interested in dropping in, just let us know and we’ll make sure you have everything you need to join us.

It was in the fall of 2013 when Father Wells Warren began serving as our permanent priest. He and his wife Leigh have laughed with us, comforted us, broken bread with us, and instructed us during these five years, and they have become our dear friends.

Wells will be retiring from Epiphany at the end of this month, so October 28 will be his last Sunday with us. On that day, immediately after Father Wells’ final service as our permanent priest, we will adjourn to the Little House to celebrate their ministry with us and to bid them farewell. We will have lunch together, maybe raise a glass to these two wonderful ministers, and swap stories about their time at Epiphany.

Jimmy Weldon will be bringing a ham, and we will probably have at least one other entree. Each of us should bring a side dish of salad, vegetable, fruit, or dessert to share.

Sometime later this month, Jean Kerr will leave Tallassee. She will load up her few remaining belongings and her three cats and move to Salt Lake City, Utah. This is a chance for her to live close to her son Richard and his wife Kathleen, and she is excited about being close to family again.

Jean is one of the charter members of Episcopal Church of the Epiphany. She will take with her when she leaves a banner harvest of institutional knowledge, selfless service, and wonderful memories. More importantly, she leaves behind her a huge Jean-Kerr-shaped hole in our collective hearts that will never be filled.

We will gather Sunday afternoon, October 14, from 2:00 until 4:00 pm. Dress casually, bring something to munch on if you like, but most importantly, don’t miss this opportunity to wish this wonderful lady the best as she embarks on another amazing adventure.

The donations keep arriving every day. This is shaping up to be our largest rummage sale ever!

1. When is it? Saturday, October 6, from 7:00 am until 1:00 pm
2. Where is it? Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, 2602 Gilmer Ave., Tallassee, AL 36078
3. What’s for sale? Just about everything you can think of, including furniture, clothing, appliances, tools, building materials, clothing, linens, and dishes.
4. How can I help? You can bring your treasures from home just as soon as you can. We’ll have everything you need to price it when you bring it. And we will need lots of help on the morning of the sale. We’re asking all workers to arrive at 6:00 am on the Big Day so we’ll have everything ready by opening time.
5. Where does the money go? Straight to the fund to build a new parish hall. We’re perilously close to having enough money to break ground, and we’re hoping this rummage sale pushes us over the top!

The men in the church will be grilling sausage on site. $3.00 buys you a sausage biscuit and coffee!

Father Wells and Leigh will be enjoying some time off during July, so we will have summertime fun with special worship. On July 1 we will anticipate Independence Day with Morning Prayer. Lee and Amanda Borden will lead us in a celebration of America, with patriotic music, prayers for our nation, and specially selected Readings from America.

Where else but Epiphany can you hear from Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, Jr, Chief Seattle, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln in one worship service? Wear red, white, and blue and come ready to sing!

The image is of St Mary Magdalene, depicting the egg that legend says turned red in a miracle as she explained the resurrection to Caesar.

Here is a color-coded list of the references to Mary that occur in the New Testament. There are none in the Old Testament or the Apocrypha.

Here is Lee’s outline for the lesson.

Here’s the link to the intriguing description from Smithsonian about how we managed to convert Mary Magdalene from a respected church elder to a fallen woman.

We’re not sure how far ahead of time John and Kathy Haynie knew their cruise ship would be stopping at St John Virgin Islands, but they immediately set about trying to visit St Ursula’s while they were “in the neighborhood.” They apparently had a good chance to see the church and spend some time with parishioners. All we have right now are these photos, but we hope to add more information soon. Looks like there’s still plenty of work needed!

Mike Rallo has submitted his Stewardship Report and has agreed for us to post it on the church web site:

25 Parishioners submitted pledges of talent and treasure:

Work Area	# of commitments
Altar Guild	4
Lay Eucharistic Minister	7
Grounds keeping	5
Lay Reader	12
Refreshments/hospitality	8
Stewardship/Usher	5
Vestry	3
Eucharistic Visitor	2
Beans & Rice	12
Education	1
Sunday School	5

Other Ministries:
Coordinate Messiah
Web site maintenance
Hurricane relief
Decorations

Total financial pledges:

General Fund	$35,340
Beans & Rice	$2,400
Hurricane Relief	$5,500