On Sunday past, we gathered for what I consider the most glorious service of Lessons and Carols we have done together. If you were there, then you know the deep beauty and power of sound and song holding us, finding ourselves in the story of God's love told through the ancient stories of the Bible. One particular anthem took my breath away, and I share the lyrics with you here. The anthem, "Come, Renew Us" was written by Eleanor Daley, using the words of Anglican priest and poet, David Adam. The piece was commissioned by Christ Church, Cambridge, MA for the 250th anniversary of the dedication of their church—so, this wonderful piece has a close connection to us all, here in our diocese. 

Come, Lord, come to us, enter our darkness with your light.
Fill our emptiness with your presence.
Come, refresh, restore, renew us.
   In our sadness, come as joy,
   In our troubles, come as peace,
   In our fearfulness, come as hope,
   In our darkness, come as light,
   In our frailty, come as strength,
   In our loneliness, come as love.
Come, refresh, restore, renew us.

David Adam (1936-2020)

These words from David Adam are the words of a praying heart. They speak of the Christmas joy and promise we celebrate in the coming days: God is Emmanuel, God with us, God come to us. We often think of Christmas as the birthday of Jesus the Christ, born in Bethlehem—and this is right. But, like every promise of God and every high holy day, what we celebrate here and now is not simply what was, but what is, and is to come: God, come near to us, "as joy..as peace..as hope..as light..as strength..as love." This Christmas, wherever and with whomever you find yourself, I pray that these words will be yours not only in hope, but in truth. Amidst the light and sounds, may the deepest and most desired gift be the knowledge and truth of God with you and in this, by the tether of the Spirit, the knowing that we are together, always. 

Advent blessings to you this day, in hope, and waiting,
Nick

We’re almost there, folks! It’s mid-December, and if you are like me, you aren’t anywhere near midway through that Christmas preparation to-do list. Presents remain unordered, cards remain unsent, and for some of us, sermons remain unwritten. It seems everything is speeding up before it will slow down. But I guess ‘tis the season.

While Advent is supposed to be a season of reflection and repentance, the reality is that it can be a season of rushing and running. So, I am particularly grateful for the chance this Sunday to step off the hamster wheel for a holy moment, in a holy place as our choir leads us in a service of Lessons and Carols. 

For me, Lessons and Carols is the most wonderful moment in the most wonderful time of year. How blessed we are to have such a fine intergenerational music ministry at Epiphany, with singers from ages eight to eighty. What a gift. 

There is just something special about music’s power to stir the soul, especially around Christmas. With this beautifully Anglican service, we have an invitation to let the music convey a sense of God’s presence to us, among us, and within us. 

For over three decades, Stephen Cleobury led the King’s College Cambridge choir, famous throughout the world for its annual Lessons and Carols service. When he died in 2019, The Economist's obituary of Cleobury reflected on God’s mystical presence in music:

He made sure the choir did not lose its otherworldly sound. He treasured the thought that anyone who heard it might find peace and consolation. For behind music … lay something wondrous and beautiful that could be touched. Over the years Cleobury felt increasingly uncertain what to call it. But he found himself getting keener on the idea of the Holy Spirit, something around in the air and in the silences between the notes, as the choir sang.

So, come all ye busy, all ye stressed, to our beautiful sanctuary on Sunday and allow the music and the Holy Spirit to wash over you.

Clayton McCleskey

Last year I made it a goal to find a way to serve with my children, Miles (12) and Josie (9), in a community outside of our comfort zone. I was primarily focused on trying to give them a little perspective on how privileged our lives are while showing love for our neighbors like Jesus teaches. However, the real lesson we learned was about the importance of community and how we can show love to the people around us. We found that it’s not about privileged vs. not privileged. It’s about connecting with our neighbors and remembering that we are all God’s children.

We signed up to serve dinner at The Dwelling Place in Woburn and were happy to see that there are jobs for everyone — putting out food donated by grocery stores, filling individual to-go containers with that evening’s dinner, handing out dinners, making coffees for guests, microwaving meals for guests who decide to stay there to eat, and chatting with the guests.  

We found a welcoming sense of community, with many regular guests for whom the free meal is a big help in their day-to-day lives. Josie described it as, “making new friends even if they’re a little older than you.” Miles said it makes him feel “happy to see people eating when they may not have a lot of food.”

We’ve served dinner as a family a few times now, and each time we come away feeling like we’ve connected with at least a few people who we wouldn’t have met otherwise and played a small role in doing something good for the community around us. While I do think the experience has provided perspective, I think the bigger impact has been in emphasizing the importance of community. At The Dwelling Place, it’s clear that many of the guests are eager to share a smile or a joke and that providing a meal and sharing in these interactions is a very tangible way that we can love our neighbors as ourselves.

I’m so grateful to Rev. Janelle and the Journey to Justice team for organizing the wide range of volunteer opportunities that we have access to at Epiphany. They make it easy for us to connect with the community around us and serve our neighbors without having to do a lot of research or legwork. In this Advent season, it’s another reminder that we are very blessed.

Annie Bing 

This Sunday, we hear St. Paul's words to the church in his first letter to the Thessalonians: "How can we thank God enough for you...?"

Immediately, I thought of you. How can we thank God enough for you? How can we thank God enough for one another?

As we enter this holiday season, and pause this week to be mindful of all those things for which we give thanks, I want you to know that I am thankful for you. If you've ever received a gift that you didn't even know you wanted, or have been the recipient of another's truthful and unexpected forgiveness, or if your breath has been taken away by the beauty of a sunset across the water, or held the soft body of a newborn baby, then you know the almost instinctual response of: "Thank you, thank you, thank you." And, that feeling of, "I'm not sure what else to say!?" Thank you is a complete sentence, and it is a whole feeling. Being the rector of Epiphany affords me many moments of deep gratitude for you. We simply would not be who we are without you. I mean this with every fiber of my being and it's why Paul's simple words this week strike me. Because in a world so fraught with worry or despair, it is you, friends, our life here at Epiphany, that leads me to ask, "How can we thank God enough?"

Nick 

At this point, I believe we are all aware of the fundraising aspects of our annual stewardship drive. If you haven't sent in this year's pledge… (you know the rest) but that's not the subject of this article. I am writing to draw attention to the other half of stewardship, the part that includes the giving of our time and talent to our parish community. It's a big part of what helps our church operate throughout the year but also a part of what makes Epiphany the vibrant, healthy community that it is.

On a personal note, volunteering at Epiphany is one of the primary ways in which I feel connected and to our community. Giving my time (and occasional talent) is important for me to feel that I am contributing to this unique and special place that we like to call Epiphany.  My talents tend to lean toward fixing problems and managing projects. So, naturally I serve on the Property Committee. It's where I can apply those talents most effectively and where I get to hang out with a group of people that share my passion for our buildings.

For each of you, the way in which you connect to our community will take a different form. Each of us comes to Epiphany with different skillsets and passions. My connection is through Property; for someone else, their connection may be through supporting our worship services or fighting for social justice. Fortunately there are a multitude of opportunities to contribute to our parish community.

My question to you is, do you feel as connected and involved with Epiphany as you would like to be? If not, please raise your hand (figuratively) and let us know. We have opportunities that cover a broad range of interests: helping with coffee hour on Sunday, arranging flowers for our services, volunteering with the Malden Warming Center, organizing an event, or even working with engineers to plan the repairs to our buildings. (The last one may only be of interest to me…)

My point is that we have a broad spectrum of groups and activities to be involved with to match your interests as a parishioner, to the point that I often have trouble keeping track of it all. Fortunately, Jim Bracciale organized an amazing resource to keep your head from spinning. We have a booklet that gives a brief overview of our ministries and committees with contacts to get more involved. It's a great starting point. If you don't find what you are looking for there, come find me or another vestry member during coffee hour. We will be happy to chat.

As we approach the holiday season, consider your gift of time to the parish. Our diverse gifts and talents are what makes our church the special place we like to call Epiphany. 

Darwin Keith-Lucas, Warden 

After it became known that we had refugee families residing in a hotel in Woburn, a group of Winchester residents decided to get involved. They created an organization, Community Action for Refugee Emergency (CARE). Through Epiphany, I learned that CARE was looking for people to teach English to the adults staying at the hotel. A few parishioners from Epiphany, along with other faith communities, have been involved in CARE.

Since surviving a major stroke in 2017, I have been asking myself, “Why did God save my life? (The survival rate of the type of stroke I experienced is only 25%.) After a time I decided, "God must want me to   use my abundant free time resulting from my unplanned early retirement to help others." During the last seven years, I have been aided by countless people, many whom are the Haitian caregivers at my Assisted Living Community.

I have come a long way since that fateful day, and am now grateful to be in a position to provide help to others after having been on the receiving end for seven years. Until I heard about CARE, I had not come across a “hands-on” volunteer opportunity that I could fill as a disabled person.

When I found out the refugees are Haitian, I signed up for the teacher training because I feel a special connection to the Haitian community due to the ways people of Haitian descent have been there for me. I believe God called me to this work because God has provided me with an opportunity to care for the same community that has taken excellent care of me.

The lower-level classroom in the hotel is wheelchair accessible, and we teach in pairs; my partner does the writing on the board. From a seated position, I am able to fulfill the rest of the requirements of teaching. My speech therapist tells me that teaching is therapeutic for me and that I need to speak louder and more slowly. Both of which I must do to teach English successfully. God does work in mysterious ways.

By  giving the gift of English, I may be helping to one day give the gift of shelter, as basic English skills will afford the refugees employment opportunities that will in turn allow them to pay rent and have a home for their families. I am thankful for this opportunity to live out my faith and heed God’s call to love my neighbor.

Julie Theriault

"It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted knowing they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that affects far beyond our capabilities.

"We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very, very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own." ~Oscar Romero

Last evening, after our Midweek dinner together, we gathered in the Upper Parish Hall for a time of music and prayer led by our Word & Table musicians. Surrounded by beautiful and resonant songs, we paused to light candles, offer prayers, and hear words of wisdom from our tradition. Here, we shared the words above, from blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero.

You and I are part of a grand story, a love-story, being written by God. Your life has meaning and purpose and, we say, is found in and through the love of God, neighbor, and self. As I said on Sunday, and I say again today: our calling as Christians is not changed by the outcomes of political elections. Our purpose does not change: In Christ, we are called to love, to do justice, to respect the dignity of all, to be reconcilers, peacemakers, and servants of all. To do any of this is to know that in this life our work—our life's work—will never be complete. This is why we are together in community: we need one another.

Now is an okay time to feel many things. I would not encourage anyone to rush by this moment, but be present. And let us not forget that the work of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is now, always. I am so grateful we have one another—that we have this place and this community called Epiphany. We are for others; we are for one another; we are for the love of God.

I look forward to being with you on Sunday and offering you words of hope and life in this moment together.

See you Sunday,
Nick

On this Hallow Even (or the eve of All Saints’ Day), I share a poem by Cambridge MA native James Russell Lowell (born in Cambridge 1819, died in Cambridge 1891). Along with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and John Greenleaf Whittier, Lowell belongs to the group of writers called the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that rivaled the popularity of British poets. Happy Hallowe’en!

Jeremy Bruns

All-Saints

One feast, of holy days the crest,
   I, though no Churchman, love to keep,
All-Saints,--the unknown good that rest
   In God's still memory folded deep;
The bravely dumb that did their deed,
   And scorned to blot it with a name,
Those of the plain heroic breed,
   That loved Heaven's silence more than fame.

Such lived not in the past alone,
   But thread to-day the unheeding street,
And stairs to Sin and Famine known
   Sing with the welcome of their feet;
The den they enter grows a shrine,
   The grimy sash an oriel burns,
Their cup of water warms like wine,
   Their speech is filled from heavenly urns.

About their brows to me appears
   An aureole traced in tenderest light,
The rainbow-gleam of smiles through tears
   In dying eyes, by them made bright,
Of souls that shivered on the edge
   Of that chill ford repassed no more,
And in their mercy felt the pledge
   And sweetness of the farther shore.

James Russell Lowell, alt.

“…the least of these…”

I think that doing community volunteer work as a member of a church can be tricky. The religious agenda can often become entangled with the actual work. I grew up in a church culture where the success of charitable work could only be measured by how many souls would be “saved.” I don’t believe that is what Jesus calls us to do. To paraphrase Matthew’s gospel, we are called to welcome, feed, clothe, house, and visit those in need with no expectation of evangelical reciprocity.

Last year, a group of parishioners and I attended an orientation to volunteer at the Malden Warming Center (MWC). MWC is not intended to be alternative housing for the homeless. It is a place where from December to March, those in need can spend the night in a warm facility, receive a hot meal or two, find clothing and toiletries, and at least for that night, feel safe. I worked as an evening room monitor where my job was to greet the guests, register them, help secure their belongings, help them find a “cubicle”, provide blankets, and make sure they made their way to the kitchen for dinner. Other roles for volunteers include working in the kitchen, organizing and distributing clothing and toiletries from “Amy’s Closet”, monitoring the bathrooms, or showing up early to help with the morning routine. Help is also needed to pick up food in Arlington and deliver it to the kitchen or drive the morning shuttle to the T.

I am a physician in my day job, but at MWC I don’t have to be a doctor. I don’t have to be a therapist, a substance abuse counselor, a social worker, or an evangelist. I am there to welcome my fellow human being and do whatever I can to provide for their basic needs and treat them with the dignity they deserve. I learned early on that some guests are happy to chat about their lives while others just need quiet after a long harsh day. Yes, there are rules, conflicts, and difficulties because, after all, we are human. But at the risk of sounding corny or pretentious, this work feels as close to fulfilling Christ’s call to celebrate our collective humanness as anything I have ever done.

In the 2023-2024 season, MWC served 160 guests, provided almost 6000 meals, and distributed over 2000 items of clothing and personal effects. Fifteen guests found help in recovery programs and twelve found permanent housing. I invite you to consider volunteering or think about other ways to contribute (as you recall, we had our first annual Lenten Underwear Drive last year). Volunteer orientation sessions are scheduled for November 10 from 4:00-6:00 pm and November 21 from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Malden Warming Center (housed within a Nazarene church), 529 Eastern Avenue, Malden. Please contact Rev. Janelle for information. 

Reid Boswell

When I lived in Honduras after college, I discovered the mimosa plant. This is not a plant that amazingly grows the brunch-time beverage; rather, it is extraordinary for another reason. I discovered it one afternoon while lounging on the lawn of the school at which I taught. There, taking a break from teaching middle school religious education class and before my junior year psychology class, I noticed a plant do the most extraordinary thing—it reacted to my touch. The leaves of the mimosa plant shrivel up, closing their tiny leaves, at the slightest touch of an aggressive insect or, in my case, the touch of a human hand. Nearby mimosa plants started to close their leaves, as if one communicated to the other. Humans are just now coming to terms with the reality that plants have hidden lives. They react to touch, communicate with one another, and even feel pain. We have much to come to terms with when it comes to the interconnectedness of all life on earth.

This weekend, we begin our annual pledge campaign to fund the ministry of our parish for the year ahead. Our campaign is called Rooted Together. The image of tree roots going deep into the ground in search of nutrients and water is a metaphor that many of the writers of the Old Testament use to talk about our life with God and one another. Life in community is a rooted life, sustained by that which gives us life and helps us grow. 

This Sunday, we will begin our campaign, Rooted Together, and we invite you to plant yourself deeply into our life together here at Epiphany. Following the 10:00 am service, we will celebrate together with Ciderfest (cider and cider donuts), I'll share some about our campaign (a short talk, nothing long, I promise!), and then have the opportunity to be nurtured together in fellowship, or by joining the Newcomer Coffee Hour, or heading upstairs to the J2J gathering.

On November 3, after a wonderful All Saints' service, we will host a simple lunch in Hadley Hall, where we will have a more informal space to discuss our parish life and the budget for the year ahead. Then, on Sunday, November 17, we invite everyone to Commitment Sunday, where we will turn in our pledges or commit to continue to discern how we can give to our shared mission.

There is much to be grateful for and certainly one of the great blessings of this life is being rooted together here at Epiphany. It is an immeasurable gift to share life together here, to be rooted in one another, and know that all is rooted in God. 

See you Sunday,
Nick