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News & Resources: Spiritual Spot

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Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

You'll find here occasional writings, a few rants, and hopefully some insights too, about Christian discipleship, the Episcopal Church, and on faith community's life at the Parish of the Epiphany in Winchester, Massachusetts. At the Epiphany we understand ourselves to be "a welcoming Episcopal community, united in God, called to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to transform the world with love and generosity."


  • December 29, 2022 10:30 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Group photo from Parish of the Epiphany's annual retreat at the Barbara C. Harris Camp in Greenfield, NHMy dear friends,

    I have the privilege of crafting the final newsletter intro of 2022, which gives me the choice of looking ahead (an article on New Years resolutions, perhaps?) or back (a “year in review”). Some of you know that many years ago, I was an actual card-carrying, tweed-wearing historian. While I don’t miss that career at all (I mean come on, I get to finger paint here in ministry!), it did rather shape me, so looking back over the year is the natural choice. But then again, now I work with children, who are the most fantastically hope-filled, forward-looking creatures imaginable, and they are shaping me too.

    I’ll split the difference by sharing two notable moments at Epiphany in 2022, that stand out so brilliantly in my heart when I think about the past year, and one resolution for the next. 

    Midwinter. Last January, Omicron was in full swing. We were all—to use the words of my late grandmother—not amused. We decided that here at church we couldn’t have indoor meals together for a while. Of course, this was deep midwinter, also known as not picnic season in New England. Were we to isolate again? Give up on fellowship time? Rather than cancel Midweek, we pivoted over to Midwinter, where we ate (the most amazing ever) grilled cheese sandwiches and gathered around firepits in the Cloister Garden. It was a spot of blazing warmth, love, and community in the middle of another long, dark pandemic winter. 

    The Parish Weekend Away. For me this was a resolute bookend to the shutdown, and the realization of a deep desire of my heart. Not only did we gather, but we shared meals, memories, and afternoons lazing in the sunshine. We square danced our hearts out. We created bonds of friendship. We treasured each other and the gifts of time, laughter, and community. 

    So, what’s my resolution? To meet and truly know more of you during the coming year. I know many of you well already; but I have a lot of room in me for more true friends. 

    And if I may be so bold as to suggest one resolution for you for 2023, it’s this: Invest yourself here. Come to Midweek. Come to the Parish Weekend Away. Come to Bible Study, to Church School. Stay for fellowship hour. I know how busy we get. I know how many pressures are on us. But church community is different from everything else out there. Time in communal worship; in prayer; in studying the Word of God; and in fellowship with our family in Christ—these are things for which we are truly intended, made in the image of a loving, present God. This will bring you joy in 2023.

    With love and hope,
    Bryn

  • December 22, 2022 1:00 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Filled sanctuary at Christmas Eve at Parish of the EpiphanyWhen I was growing up, my favorite Christmas tradition was… going to the Christmas Eve services at my church. (Seriously, I am not making this up. I suppose this means I am in the right vocation!)

    All that to say, there was something magical about gathering together as a church family the evening before Christmas. There was joy and excitement in the air, even if it had been a really hard year. We dressed up, sang "Silent Night" in the dark with our candles, and drank hot cocoa in the slightly cooler San Diego winter air. Those who were there all the time and those who came occasionally always came back to the church for Christmas. It was like the family was all back together again. The Christmas Eve services at my home church became even more meaningful when I myself had left for college and then eventually moved quite far away. Often I had not been back in a whole year and when I walked through the doors of that church that raised me, it was like no time had passed. I was always welcomed back with embraces and eagerness to hear new life updates.

    Those memories are the ones that made me feel that I was back home again.

    I am looking forward to celebrating Christmas with all of you this weekend. I hope that it feels a bit like a homecoming whether this church has been your home for many years, or like me, for just a few months. Whether you are involved in every committee there is or haven’t been back in quite some time, this is your home. We gather together at the end of each year to make room for Christ and to celebrate a God who would make home with us. That is good news that helps us to enter the new year with strength and hope.


    With gratitude,
    Rev. Janelle

  • December 15, 2022 12:15 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Sanctuary during Christmas at Parish of the EpiphanyLast week, after having run errands all morning and returned to the house with arms full, I realized that my keys were safely nestled in the zipped pocket on the inside of my winter jacket. I stared at the doorknob, felt the pressure of the keys on my chest, and said to myself, "Of course." And, like nearly everyone else in this situation, I tried to unzip my coat, hold the storm door open with my knee, and retrieve my keys. It didn't go well. Right before the grocery bag tore down the middle, I wisely decided to put all the bags down and step away from the door. I needed to let go of what I was holding.

    This is a full week. From the exciting news of a breakthrough in the study of nuclear fusion or the celebrations of the World Cup, to the mournful remembrance of the shooting at Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT ten years ago or the more intimate moments of challenge or sadness (which often happen during holiday seasons). 

    This is a full week. On Tuesday, Rev. Bob invited us into a space to care for one another as we experience such grief. Wednesday night the vestry gathered to discern our ministry and mission for this coming year and approve a budget. This Saturday the Parish Choir and Chorister gather to practice and prepare for the Christmas celebrations ahead. In Atlanta, at 2:00 pm on Saturday, Janelle Hiroshige will be ordained a deacon, as she responds to God's call in her life. On Sunday, we welcome the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem at the Adult Forum to explore the homeland of Jesus and our longing for peace and home in this world. At 5:00 pm on Sunday evening we celebrate our festive Lessons and Carols service, in a sanctuary adorned by the Flower Guild and prepared by the Altar Guild; after the service we have a festive reception together — a wonderful way to enter more deeply into Advent, towards Christmas. Just sharing all that is happening this week makes us realize, our arms are full. Full of wonderful and beautiful and, maybe, heavy things.

    I'm reminded that it is good to carry such things. And, there comes a time to set these things down. Maybe when the work is finished, the songs are sung, the relationships tended, the call heard. To let go, reminds us that we can't do everything ourselves; indeed, we are not the center of it all. We need help opening the door or are invited to set something down to take another up. This Advent season, this week, is full — but let it not be about busy-ness or distraction, checking-lists, or getting wrapped up in the worry of a perfect "whatever". Advent and the celebration of Christmas is about this: we are not alone, God is with us, this sacred life rests in God's embrace — no matter what we carry.

    Happy Advent friends. See you Sunday,
    Nick

  • December 08, 2022 1:15 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Three Tupperware bowls containing carrot soup“And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8

    This past Sunday afternoon, members of our vestry, our Property, Creation Care, Planned Giving, and recently formed Capital Campaign committees met to have a strategic planning conversation about our campus. It was the first of what I expect will be many conversations with this group. We met out of a desire to integrate the many discussions over the past several months and develop a sense of alignment on the big picture for our campus: what the significant issues and decision points will need to be to move forward. And we had a conversation about our values.

    We enjoyed lunch and fellowship during the first 30 minutes of our 3-hour session. We had a simple meal: soup, salad, and bread. I made my mother’s carrot soup. I have her recipe scribbled on a piece of paper in my own writing; I recalled years ago, she read it to me over the telephone. The recipe doesn’t make much – it calls for a pound of carrots, an onion, and two and a half cups of vegetable stock. So, most of the week leading up to the meeting, I was obsessing about how many multiples of the recipe I should make; it looked like we might have anywhere between 20 and 30 attendees. Ultimately, I settled on 10 pounds of carrots and went from there. It didn’t stop me from second-guessing myself, fretting that it might not be enough, laughing at myself for being so worried; you get the picture.

    Part of our effort in parish life together involves shifting our culture to move away from the binary view that our building and our mission are somehow separate items. In my mind, we need to talk about the property for a while so that we can stop talking about the property. And what I mean by that is our vestry has developed a vision to self-fund our property needs from our endowment so that our pledge dollars are entirely focused on our people and our mission. To achieve that vision, there’s work to do, and it involves talking about our property.

    At the end of 2021, the vestry charged the Property Committee with helping us get a comprehensive view of our campus maintenance needs so that we could do a better job of longer-term planning and financial forecasting. That work resulted in an engagement with Commercial Construction Consulting (C3) out of Boston.

    C3 reports that while overall, the properties are well maintained and are in good condition, there are items nearing the end of their expected life and needing immediate attention. The accumulated cost to address repairs, spread over ten years, is estimated at $5.7 M. It’s essential to know that this figure is to maintain our campus and doesn’t include renovations or additions that we may want to do as we consider other uses for the campus.

    Our afternoon was filled with several 15-minute sessions, through which we developed a set of property categories and core values that we’d like to apply to each topic to help us discern what will be next. We’ll be sharing more of this work with you in the coming months.

    As you might imagine, our conversations veered into the “how in the world will we afford this” territory, and the room was mixed with both optimism and concern. I was reminded of how I was worried about whether there would be enough soup for lunch (granted, on a much smaller scale). In the end, there was enough soup; I even took home leftovers for lunch on Monday. While we don’t know where we will end up in this strategic conversation about the property, I know that God is able to provide us with every blessing in abundance. For now, I need to trust that we’ll have enough.


    Dave McSweeney, warden

  • December 01, 2022 1:45 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Once again we have entered into the penitential season of Advent, the beginning of another liturgical year. These four Sundays and the days surrounding them give us a time of spiritual preparation for the upcoming celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas. Tish Harrison Warren, an author and priest in the Anglican Church in North America, summed up this season of Advent in one of her weekly New York Times articles last year, amidst the ongoing pandemic. She wrote: "Advent is a season of hope, and part of practicing hope is noticing where we need it. In church, congregants sing a well-known Advent hymn that begins, 'O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.' We recall that we require ransom and rescue. Another year has gone by and we still live in a world in need of mending. We have learned anew through these long years that a virus can suddenly change our lives, that our illusions of control and predictability are fragile and faulty, that lies are often mistaken as truth, that we cannot keep ourselves or those we love from pain, that the wreckage of poverty, injustice and darkness persist. This is the very world of heartbreak, Christians say each year, into which Christ came and will come again.”

    Indeed, this staple of our Advent hymnody “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is an adaptation of the Great O Antiphons which have been sung in the Roman church since at least the 8th century. They are seven Magnificat antiphons used at Vespers on the last evenings of Advent (December 17-23), leading up to the December 24 Vigil on Christmas Eve. The ornate antiphon for each evening would be sung before and after the Magnificat (Song of Mary), the high point of the Vespers liturgy. These texts likely originated in Italy in or before the 6th century, when Boethius refers to them in The Consolation of Philosophy. The Latin titles are:

    17 December: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
    18 December: O Adonai (O Lord)
    19 December: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
    20 December: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
    21 December: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
    22 December: O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)
    23 December: O Emmanuel (O God With Us)

    The first letters of the titles, from last to first, appear to form a Latin acrostic, Ero cras, meaning 'Tomorrow, I will be', mirroring the theme of the antiphons (Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia). Such acrostics were popular among early medieval writers. If you look at Hymn number 56 in our Hymnal 1982, you will note that the appropriate date for each stanza is listed. Though we don’t have daily services of Vespers or Evensong during the final octave leading up to Christmas, these antiphons might serve as a useful addition to a daily devotion or meditation as we approach the next celebration of Christ’s birth in the manger. In the meantime, all best wishes during this season of hope and preparation,

    Jeremy Bruns

  • November 24, 2022 12:00 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)


    Spines of pictures booksI have 
    two big boxes full of Christmas story books—curated over forty years—and the day in late November that I drag them from the basement storage closet up to our living room is one of my favorite days of the year. A handful of these books tell the story of Jesus’s birth with scripture. The dozens of others? They invite me into the mystery of Christmas through poems and fables; through the eyes of mice and spruce trees; and even through cookies that come alive, or a strange green creature that discovers “Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” 

    There are so many ways to tell the story of Jesus’s birth—perhaps the most famous story there is. Over the next four weeks, we’ll hear it in the holy scriptures read during worship and in the music we sing. We’ll see it as our spaces are adorned and transformed. We’ll experience the story as theater in our pageant. The children (in our aptly named Storymakers class) will explore this story in comics, in comedy, in art, and—if I feel brave—in stables made of graham crackers and sheep made of marshmallows and licorice. 

    We say to our little ones, the mystery of Christmas is coming near and we don’t want to miss it
    . Imagine all of the ways you’ll hear this story in the coming weeks. Imagine of all the ways you’ll tell it. Through old worn story books; through foods and scents; through traditions and decorations; through the giving of gifts and the visits of friends. This beautiful, mysterious story—of a Creator so loving that God became human to walk among us—is all around us. I hope and pray that as we enter Advent this Sunday, we will all feel this story in everything and everyone around us. Know that this story is for each one of us. It is our story.

    With love,
    Bryn

  • November 17, 2022 12:30 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Bare autumn trees in front of Mystic Lake in Winchester, MAMy favorite part of my commute to Epiphany is when it comes time to drive up the Mystic Valley Parkway. The Mystic Lake is stunning, no matter the season. When I first arrived in August, the trees were green and full and often there would be little sailboats on the lake. Driving by, I would catch just little glimpses of the lake in between the fullness of the trees. When fall came around, the colors of the trees were vibrant and some mornings, the oranges, reds, and yellows would reflect on the lake.

    These days, there are barely any leaves left on the trees and I am shocked how quickly it feels like fall turned into winter right about the time when we turned back our clocks. But with the falling of the leaves, much of the lake is now visible in ways that it was not before. I can now see almost the entirety of the lake and the homes that sit on the other side. It’s beautiful in its own way.

    I’m going to risk a cheesy metaphor here and say that sometimes things get clearer in the winter seasons. What is covered up in other seasons is plain and bare in the winter. Almost painfully bear.

    This coming Sunday is Christ the King Sunday which is the last Sunday before Advent begins. We are invited to reflect where it feels that Christ is present and alive in our midst and in the places where the reign of Christ feels absent. The hope is that if we choose to lean into this season and not just let it pass by, there might be that clarity we have been looking for.

    What we know about the life of Jesus is that the reign of Christ is one of compassion, love, and deep solidarity. Even in the harshest of winters, we believe that those roots run deeper than the violence, hurt, and death. On this Christ the King Sunday we are reminded how Jesus chooses to reign—not by being this distant deity on a throne in the sky, but by being deeply present and embodied in all the moments of ordinary life.


    With hope,
    Janelle

  • November 10, 2022 12:00 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Godly Play at Parish of the Epiphany in Winchester, MAThis fall, we have been using the Godly Play curriculum with the younger children in the Upper Parish Hall on Sunday mornings. As we gather in our circle a few minutes after the 10:00 bells finish ringing, I look around and wonder how the story will unfold for this group of children and adults that has come together this morning. I have told these stories many times over the 32 years since I first taught Godly Play at Epiphany and it is never the same, just as it will be different today for each of the children watching to see which tray I will get from the shelf for today’s story. And so we settle in and begin… Over the course of the last three weeks in October, we told the story about Noah and Naamah, we traveled in the desert with Abraham and Sarah, we escaped Pharoah and his army. During the flood, the ark rose higher and higher above our heads as the waters rose. Abraham and Sarah traveled to new places across our desert box, wondering if God would be in these places too. And the children helped God’s people through the parted waters of the Red Sea.

    At the end of each story we ask wondering questions:

    I wonder what part of this story you like best?
    I wonder what part is the most important?
    I wonder where you are in the story or what part is about you?
    I wonder if there is any part of the story we can leave out and still have all the story we need?

    Each week, as the children listen to the story and retell the story to themselves afterwards or play with the Play-Doh or other materials that we put out, the far end of the Upper Parish Hall becomes this particular group of children and adults’ space for our time together.

    I wonder how many spaces we each have at Epiphany? I wonder what we bring to our spaces and what our spaces bring to us? I wonder how God changes us in these spaces.

    Nelia Newell, Warden

  • November 03, 2022 11:15 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    2022 Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts Convention logoThe DoubleTree by Hilton in Danvers is not the first place you'd expect something transformative to happen, but it did. Last weekend as representatives from all the Episcopal parishes in the Diocese of Massachusetts gathered for our Diocesan Convention, we prayerfully considered resolutions that would shape our common life and ministry in this diocese. We approved various pieces of legislation: to encourage parishes to explore partnerships with the Poor People's Campaign, to urge parishes to foster right relationships with indigenous populations and acknowledge our place on lands once populated by indigenous peoples, to allow for the appointment of an Assistant Bishop, as Bp. Gayle Harris retires this year — just to name a few. 

    Perhaps the most significant resolution was the decision to create a Reparations Fund, as part of our effort, the legislation states: "to address our legacy of the wealth accumulated through the enslaved labor of Africans and Afro-Caribbeans on our behalf and for our use today." You can read the whole resolution (along with others), here. This action will affect our diocesan budget for years to come; at this point, our parish budget is not directly affected. However, as the Diocese of Massachusetts, we agreed that such action was a spiritual and moral obligation as we seek right relationship and to live as repairers of the breach (Isaiah 58:12). Such restitution, even if microscopic when placed next to the horrors and devastation of slavery in this country, is rooted in the biblical story. Even this past week, we heard the story of Zaccheus, a tax collector, made wealthy by unjust means, pledged to right these wrongs by giving half his wealth to the poor, and paying four-fold to those who he defrauded. Those are reparations on a scale that is simply dizzying on both a financial and moral scale. 

    We, as the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, have taken one first step in seeking truth and reconciliation when it comes to our accumulated material wealth. This is complicated, complex, and new territory for us as the church. The spirit in the convention hall this past Saturday was transformative, as people raised their hands to say, "yes, now is the time". Now is the time —there is no wrong time — for seeing the full truth of the world around us and I'm proud that we, as a diocese, have not turned away from seeing and knowing it.

    Rev. Nick

  • October 27, 2022 10:35 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Trees and houses reflected in Winter Pond in Winchester, MAWhen I was a hospital chaplain, we went through a training through Emory University called Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT). This training involved a series of mindfulness practices to help increase our capacity for compassion. In turn, we would introduce some of these practices to our patients, or care-seekers.

    One of my favorite insights from this training was the concept of a “nurturing moment.” A nurturing moment is something in our memory that brings back feelings of warmth and security. A nurturing moment could be a memory of a time spent with family or friends. It could be a place — a beloved city, a parish, or a place outside in God’s creation. My boss would often say that if we were able to bring enough nurturing moments to mind, we would have the resilience for whatever life brings.

    I didn’t get to know Ann McGovern like some of you did. But I did get to visit her twice. The first time was with Nick, my first week at Epiphany. I’m sure I was wide-eyed and notably nervous as I had just moved to New England the week before. The second time was a couple weeks later on my own. I went to The Gables without telling her in advance and knocked on her door. Being the hospitable person she is, she immediately let me in, but also said, “Wait, why are you already visiting me again?”

    In this conversation she shared with me the difficulties of moving from her home to The Gables and the loss of independence in that transition. It became clear to me that what she missed the most was living next to her beloved Winter Pond. It was also clear to me, that Winter Pond was her nurturing moment. Her eyes lit up when she talked about this kettle pond that she was so passionate about. She even gave me the directions to make sure that I would drive by it on my way back to Epiphany. I promised to wave hello to the little pond for her.

    The final time I interacted with Ann was on Rally Sunday. I walked over to her in her seat to give her Eucharist.

    Winter Pond and this place, Epiphany, were and are Ann’s nurturing moments.

    Last week in the 3 Crowns, Nick talked about coping with change — that God is with us in the midst of change and transition.

    To add to that, we know that God is with us because God gifts us with nurturing moments throughout our lives. They are the moments that give us the courage to keep going and they are also the moments that make life beautiful. My hope for us as a parish, is that in our time together we are creating these nurturing moments. Perhaps one day, when we look back on this season together, we will be surrounded by feelings of warmth and deep gratitude.


    With hope,
    Janelle


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