One of the hallmarks of Epiphany is that we create spaces to enjoy being together. This week, we end our program year as we began it... with a meal and celebration together. In September, it was Rally Day, complete with empanadas from Bella Isla, bouncy houses, and a dunk tank. This week, it was our potluck on Sunday and our Midweek End-of-Year Party on Wednesday (no bouncy houses, although the dunk tank would have been more welcome in Sunday’s weather than it was in the coming-and-going rain last September!).
One of the things we discovered during the pandemic is that being together is really important to us. It’s not just that we enjoy it, it’s that it sustains us and reminds us that we are a community and that we matter to each other.
I remember the vestry meeting during the pandemic when Reverend Nick told us that the staff wanted to try a thing called ‘Midweek’ which would be a chance to share a meal outdoors. Thank you to all of them for recognizing how important it was to create a space where we could be together and for finding a way to make it happen.
And thank you to all the people who make these spaces happen for us. There is no way that I’ll successfully list everyone without waking up tomorrow morning remembering key people who I forgot so I’ll let a few of you represent many: to Marie and everyone who turns Hadley Hall into a community space time and again throughout the year, to Duane and the Midweek team who have turned Midweek into a uniquely Epiphany institution, to Joan and everyone who somehow make cleaning up hundreds of plates and mugs a time of laughter and incredible conversations, and to people like Sarah who take on the less visible tasks like wrapping napkins around countless bundles of silverware. Thank you all, I am so grateful for each of you.
Nelia Newell
