From The Interim Rector - July Manifest 2022
It’s time. Over the next few weeks, we will finish moving into our new church home. On Sunday, July 10th we will hold our first in-person Eucharist in our new facility at our regular worship time of 10:30 AM. We will not be able to use the Sanctuary at that time, therefore we will hold services in the Gym on the sixth floor – an easy elevator ride away. Don’t worry about getting lost, there will be someone in the lobby to direct you.
On July 11th our partner in ministry, The Carter Burden Network will begin serving lunch Monday through Friday. Until the kitchen receives it's certification from the Department of Health, Carter Burden will continue to prepare and package meals at their remote kitchen and then distribute them from the church. Unfortunately, as anxious as we all are to restart the Wednesday Night Dinner Program, until we have a license from the Health Department we cannot prepare and distribute meals from our kitchen. However, we are continuing to explore other options that will allow that program to resume sooner rather than later – more than likely as a Grab-and-Go meal. Our strong desire is to be able to return to seated dining in the fall – assuming Covid cases continue to drop.
The school floors (floors 3 and 4), are nearly fully furnished, unpacked and ready for school to start in the fall. Jackie Klein, the Head of School is working with our design and construction teams and our expeditors to complete the application process for receiving our school license. Since our school has moved to a new facility we must apply for a license as a new school. Our existing license cannot be transferred.
The construction and design teams are working hard to finish the sanctuary and parish offices on the second floor. We have set Sunday, August 7th as our first Eucharist in the Sanctuary. And, by the end of August the last of the workman and contractors should be completely finished and out of the building. Only two more months to go and our 3+ year odyssey will end and the Church of the Epiphany will begin discovering all the ways in which our new home will allow us to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in ways that were not possible at our previous home. Throughout this incredible journey I have often thought of one particular passage from the Hebrew Scriptures; especially when we hit the many challenges and roadblocks that confronted us. I’ve shared this verse with you in other articles but it bears repeating, for while together we have accomplished a truly remarkable thing, there will be, as there always are, new challenges and roadblocks that will call upon us to hold tight to this eternal promise: “Surely, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. When you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
May we, the members and friends of the Church of the Epiphany, continue to discover with ever increasing clarity all that God has in store for us. Today, tomorrow and for all the years and generations to come.
Faithfully yours,
Roy+
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