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The Epiphany Star June 2020
Newsletter of Epiphany Lutheran Church Fort Wayne, Indiana
Dear Epiphany Lutheran Church, 1. Pastor are we ever going to be able to worship together in the sanctuary soon? 2. How are we going to sit in the sanctuary and how are we going to do Communion with all of this social distancing needed? 3. Are we going to continue to have “Live Streaming” of our weekly service once we get back to worshipping in person? 4. What happens if I don’t feel comfortable wearing a mask in the sanctuary? All of these questions have been asked by members of our church council and members of our faith community. I thought the best way to answer some of these questions was to do it in my newsletter article. First of all if feels like I am writing this letter while in exile. It has been over two months since we have come together in worship in our sanctuary. No wonder if feels different around here! It has certainly not been “normal”. We are pushing the first date of worshipping together in person to Sunday June 14th at both 8 and 10:15 a.m. services. The reason for the delay is to allow us to gather everyone regardless of age in worship. There are some simple rules that must be followed: 1. if you do not feel good , do not come to worship and stay home. 2. Everyone must wear a mask. I realize this will be hard to consume the elements of “bread and
wine” unless you lift up your mask. I think we can do that as we are walking back to our seats and remain socially distanced.
3. There will be no singing of hymns until we are able to do it without our mask. With that said I think we need to have some volunteers who would stand up in the “choir loft” to be our congre-gational voice in sing of the hymns. It is not healthy to try and sing with a mask on.
4. During “Sharing of the Peace” people will need to greet one another with words instead of ac-tions.
We are going to continue the “live stream” of worship service at 10:15 a.m. For anyone who wants to view. I would like anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable out in the public watch and participate in the “streaming “ service. If you do not want to be seen at that service then you might want to attend the 8:00 a.m. service. This is also for anyone who does not feel comfortable wearing a mask, We will be able to worship in the future without a mask….Just not now. The pews will be marked off in sections that people can sit in and portions people can’t sit in once the services are open to “in Gathering” services.
Please be patient with each other as we are all trying to figure out what we need to do in our weekly worship. It is going to take us time to work through all these situations and sometimes we will get it wrong and other times it will move smoothly. Help each oth-er as we transition into this “normal” sense. You will also see on the calendar that not only are we worshipping for the first time together on Sun-day, June 14th. We are currently scheduled for our Annual Congregational Meeting on the same Sunday at 9:00 am. We will also have a baptism! Can you tell we are ready to come together as that Body of Christ? Yes we are! God is gracious. God is merciful. God is good all of the time. I look forward to seeing all of you soon!!! In Christ, Pastor Richard Hartman
We are Christians, called by God, committed to: Sharing the Gospel, Serving others as Christ taught us, and Creating disciples for witness. Epiphany Lutheran Church’s Vision Statement: A Christian family of God committed to sharing the Gospel and serving others, through joyful worship, education and fellowship.
Angels Among Us!
We have members of our congregation who do many things behind the scenes, and we want to take the time to recognize just a few of them in this month’s newsletter.
Thank you, Angels!
Church Council preparing annual reports for 2018-2019 Epiphany’s lawn is once again being mowed regularly Cleaning/Sanitizing of our building Council taking precautions for our safety Facebook LIVE video for our services
Please feel free to stop in or call for any of your Pastoral needs. Our office hours are as follows:
Pastor: Sunday – Thursday 8:00 am – 2:30 pm Monday evenings
Dia: Monday—Thursday 10:00 am—3:00 pm
Due to unexpected circumstances,
these hours may be subject to change.
E-mail Us:
Pastor’s office .................................. [email protected] Pastor’s home ...................................... [email protected] Dia’s office ............................................ [email protected]
WEB SITE: Epiphany Lutheran Church www.epiphanyfw.com
Congregational Retreat
Saturday June 14th 9:00-12:30 pm
Rest Well Run Hard
Are you running on empty?
You can’t give what you
don’t have.
New definition of rest and wellness in you life.
Recognize Red Flags
Apply 4 Rhythms of Rest
Sabbath Stillness
Sleep Solitude
Join us for Worship this month!
Every Sunday at 8:00 am
and 10:15 am
In Person Services Start June 15th
Facebook LIVE @ 10:15
Every Monday at 7:00 pm
Please join us!
June 7th
Trinity Sunday
Genesis 1:1-2:4a 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20
June 14th
2
nd Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 19:2-8a Romans 5:1-8
Matthew 9:35-10:8
June 21st
3
rd Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 20:7-13 Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-39
June 28th
4
th Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 28:5-9 Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10:40-42
Nathaniel Herb Hank Schroeder
Melissa Hartman Connie York Sheryl Goodspeed
Allan Longroy Sue Davis Frederick Osheskie
“Happy birthday” to those who celebrate their second birthday during the month of June! Martin Luther said, “When you wash your face remember your
baptism.” Take time to remember and celebrate this month!
June Baptismal Birthdays
Lutheran Senior Care Ministry Update June 2020 Our Mission: “Sharing Christ’s Love with the ones you love!”. Currently, our chaplains cannot enter local care facilities to conduct services. Until it is safe to resume, they are connecting with Activity Directors to communicate with residents vias calls, cards and prayers. Residents are encouraged to view live broadcasts of “Worship Anew” on Sunday mornings at 7 am. Our Board President and Executive Chaplain have distributed the April-June edition of Hope-Full Living to facilities and will distribute doughnuts to all facilities on May 7
th for staff members calling this
“Confection as we deal with infection”. We are pleased that we have been able to compensate all chaplains for April and will award a monetary gift to all 20 of them in May. Our Mission looks different right now, but we still “Share Christ’s Love with the ones you love!” Peace! Sue
Mission Moment June 2020
The Pandemic has changed our lives in many ways, at home and at Church.
The Social Safety Guides and Quarantine requires our Mission Work to pause during this time.
The Quilting Group will not meet any more this year. The guidelines cannot be maintained in the space they use.
Our usual collection drives are also on hold. The Narthex cannot be kept clean and disinfected
with tables and items on them.
Most items we already have will be boxed and stored for next year. There are local organizations in need of assistance.
The Council agrees this will be our Outreach Mission this year.
God’s Workday is September 13th is currently on hold as well as the Rummage Sale and Cookie Walk.
The possibility of maintaining the Social Guidelines would not be possible.
If the virus is contained and the restrictions are relaxed, we will review these decisions.
I will be updating you on any changes of these plans. The need for precautions for your safety are most important.
Any questions, please call or email me. Be Safe, Stay Well .
Written by Sandi Swanson
Annual Congregational Meeting Notice
Sunday June 14th at 9:00 am
Items that will be covered in the meeting:
Election of Officers for 2020-2021
Annual Budget for 2020-2021
Annual Committee Reports
Constitution changes from the Synod
Lutheran Foundation Gift
Tech Grant from Center of Congregations
Paycheck Protection Plan loan/grant
There will not be a breakfast but we will meet at 9:00 To take care of the business above.
