Seasonally throughout the year, there are many wonderful opportunities for nourishment of the soul (and tummy!) through fellowship events. Epiphany folk consider fellowshipping with one another to be one of the holiest things we do! And we absolutely love to eat together.
During the four Sundays of Advent, we have Sunday morning breakfast together, with the lighting of our parish hall advent wreath, a song and a prayer, and with a craft to make if we choose to try our skills. The children and any “big kids ” like to make these clever and easy Advent/Christmas crafts to get in the spirit of the season. We have fun preparing together as a parish for the celebration of Jesus’ birth on Christmas Eve.
Also in early December, Epiphany holds its Annual Meeting of the Parish. This is the time when the vestry presents the reports from the various committees of the parish, and also the budget for the upcoming calendar year. The meeting is followed by our annual parish luncheon.
In January, on Epiphany Sunday (the Sunday nearest January 6th) we have our annual celebration of our parish’s Feast Day. Some years this has been celebrated with a Feast of Lights pageant, and other years by the Bishop’s annual visit with the Service of Confirmation. This Sunday is also one where the worship service is followed by a covered dish luncheon in the parish hall as well.
During Lent we have Wednesday night dinners. Various groups from the parish take turns hosting the simple and delicious meals of soup, salad, fruit, bread and dessert (for those who don’t give up dessert for lent). Each Wednesday dinner provides another giving opportunity for a chosen outreach project of the week. Our dinner is then followed by a service of Compline, or by a special Lenten program of interest.
In Spring Epiphany always hosts one of the performances of the Catawba Valley Community Chorus, in which several of our flock will be found singing — together with many local voices, including our own choir member Ann Lowery, Minister of Music Peter Weinrich, and our part-time organist Margaret Alice Rader. Therefore we are thrilled to host and boast this exciting event for our community and for our parish. Acoustics in Epiphany are fabulous! The after-reception we provide for the chorus and those who attend is our delicious way to celebrate this special evening of choral song.
In Summer we enjoy cookouts and picnics together, including our homemade ice cream social on the church grounds. We usually attend a Crawdads baseball game together in a reserved section for our parish at some point during the summer. Many of our youth attend summer camp for a week at Camp Henry, located on beautiful Lake Logan in Canton, NC.
In the Fall we may have a BBQ fundraiser, go on a church hayride, or host an afternoon bell choir concert. In the Fall of 2007, we hosted the Queen City Ringers, who helped us raise more than $1400 (along with Thrivent Lutheran Fund) for The Corner Table Soup Kitchen’s Building Campaign.
People make their way back to more regular worship attendance after a summer of various vacations and rest. Confirmation classes begin for those who are ready. Newcomers are welcomed. The vestry and the finance committee get busy with stewardship work on our budget. Groups begin their planning for the “academic” year, and their goal-setting for the upcoming calendar year.
November always means that some of us attend Diocesan Convention at Kanuga in Hendersonville, either as clergy, delegates or visitors. We enjoy the work of the wider church and fellowship with our companion Episcopalians across the diocese. Jeans are the order of the day, and family style meals are served at shared tables in the dining hall. Our parish reserves its own cabin for lodging, complete with fireplace in the “family room” enhancing good conversation with a glass of wine or cup of coffee in hand.
That sums up the rhythm of the Christian Church Year, and also the rhythm of parish life in Epiphany Church of Newton. It is simple, and rich with blessings.