MEET OUR INTERIM RECTOR ...
The Rev. Stacey Grossman is Epiphany's Interim Rector
and will be the Celebrant at the 8 am and 10 am services this Sunday.
Dear all,
It is hard to believe, but fall has arrived and the leaves are starting to turn. The nights are getting a bit chillier and it is most definitely darker every morning.
On Sunday November 6, we will celebrate All Saints Sunday. We will remember all who have gone before us and all of the people we call saints who are just ordinary people. I met one of those people Tuesday at our lunch offering - a marvelous woman who just turned 95 and who is as spry as ever. I told her she was such an inspiration to me! Look for the saints around you.
All Saints Sunday is also a traditional day for baptisms, so if you have someone or know someone who desires that Sacramental act, please have them be in touch
with me ASAP.
At our Vestry meeting this past week, I offered the Vestry a high level overview of what the search process will look like. We have three burning questions to address: who are we - now? Who are our neighbors - now? And what is God calling us to do - now? Please start pondering these things as you go about your days, and as soon as we get our Re-Gathering team meeting and talking and a search for a permanent Music Director underway, we will begin to work on these questions in earnest.
I love the poet and writer David Whyte. I sense the “firm persuasion” described below here at Epiphany very strongly, as well as the humility to try things and fail
and try again.
A FIRM PERSUASION
To have what William Blake called ‘a firm persuasion’ in our work -- to feel that what we do is right for ourselves and good for the world at exactly the same time — is one of the great triumphs of human existence... To have a firm persuasion, to set out boldly; to delight in error as another way of rediscovering the way, to find a mature generosity through what we thought to begin with was only a personal gain, to see humiliation not as a punishment but as the daily test of our sincerity: is to make a pilgrimage of our labors, to understand that the consummation of work lies not only in what we have done, but who we have become while accomplishing the task... Work, at its best, at its most sincere, and in all its heartbreaking forms, is one of the great human gateways to the eternal and the timeless.
This past week I heard a group of people fill the parish hall…by the time I got out there, there were tables and blankets and people making blankets and…well, it was quite impressive! This is Project Linus of Solano County, which has been meeting at Epiphany once a month for years. This local chapter recently celebrated making THIRTY ONE THOUSAND (right??) blankets for foster children, babies at Kaiser, and many other organizations. I have put their flyer up on the bulletin board, and thought you should know (if you don’t already ) about this jewel of an organization that meets here at church!
On Thursday, October 6, we held the Resolution Town Hall to learn about resolutions to be presented at convention. Participants were able to learn more about resolutions, and ask questions of the Resolution presenters. To watch a video recording of the Town Hall Zoom meeting, clickhere.
Episcopal Relief & Development is partnering with the Episcopal dioceses of Southwest Florida and Florida to provide supplies and direct financial assistance to people affected by Hurricane Ian. To donate click on the graphic above.
California Votes in Four Weeks
Are you ready to vote in the California General Election on November8th? Very important Local, State, and National offices, propositions, and referendums are on your ballot. The Episcopal Church urges us all to Vote Faithfully and, also to empower everyone in our congregations to do so.
Presiding Bishop Curry has said, “Voting and participation in our government is a way of participating in our common life and that is a Christian obligation. We are blessed as a nation to vote. As citizens of this country this is a right, an obligation, and a duty. Go vote. Vote your conscience. Your conscience informed by what it means to love your neighbor, to participate in the process of seeking the common good, to participate in the process of making this a better world. However you vote, go and vote. And do that as followers of Jesus.”
Resources:
● California Official Voter Information Guide English, Spanish
● Track Your Ballot - link: Select language in upper right corner
● Contact Info for your County’s Election Office - link
● Easy Voter Guide (League of Women Voters) English, Spanish
● CalMatters Voting Guide - link
Please don't forget to mail your pledges and offerings to the church
or use PayPal on Epiphany's Website.
PAY VIA YOUR CELL PHONE! You can now pay your pledge (or other type of donation) via text message. Just text “LIGHT” to 73256 and follow the instructions. You can make a one-time payment, or even set up recurring payments with your credit card, debit card, or ACH.
