by Epiphany | Apr 30, 2017 | Community Announcements, Episcopal Church, Message from Fr. Matt, Website Blog
DIME: Delving Into the Mystery of the Eucharist – Children & Eucharist At what age should my child receive Communion? This is a question many parents ask as they are striving to raise their children in the Episcopal Church. Once we are baptized, regardless of our age, we are welcome to receive Communion. Our Book of Common Prayer (p. 858) indicates that, at the time of Baptism, we receive the inward and spiritual grace of union with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God’s family (the Church), forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit. Once a child is born into God’s family, that child is welcome to participate in Communion. This represents a change for many of us as parents since we may have had to wait until Confirmation or other instructional opportunities before taking our first Communion. What caused this shift? The General Convention of 1970 resolved that “children might be admitted to communion before confirmation.” In 1971, the House of Bishops stated, “Confirmation should not be regarded as a procedure of admission to the Holy Communion.” How does my child learn about the Eucharist? First and foremost, children learn from attending church. Here they can see and be a part of the service and begin to understand the sacrament they are seeing. Additionally, from your actions and discussions with your child, he/she sees that Communion is important and that participating in Communion is something you do on a regular basis. Children recognize your reverence at the altar from your body language (kneeling, placing your hands one over the other). For them to...
by Epiphany | Apr 22, 2017 | Community Announcements
Camp Hardtner summer camp registration has begun. 2017 summer camp registration is in full swing and we are very excited to report that Camp Able is the first session to sell out! With this in mind, we are putting out the call for youth volunteers and adult staff to help make this session come to life. If you are at least 16 years old, and would like to serve in this very special ministry, visit www.camphardtner.org or check out our Facebook page for more information and the online application. First Camp, Grades 2 & 3, with parent* $200 each June 2-4 Primary, Grades 4 & 5* $460 June 8-13 Senior High, Grades 11, 12, & recent grads* $690 June 17-24 Junior High 1, Grades 6 & 7* $575 June 28-July 4 Junior High 2, Grades 7 & 8* $575 July 11-17 Middle High, Grades 9 &10* $575 July 21-27 Camp Able, Age 9 & up with special needs August 2-6 SOLD OUT *Grade based on 2017/18 school year. Register for Hardtner Summer Camps...
by Epiphany | Apr 15, 2017 | Community Announcements, Episcopal Church, Message from Fr. Matt
April 16: The Great Vigil of Easter – St. Augustine first introduced the phrase, “The Paschal Mystery.” One theologian describes the Paschal Mystery as the saving event by which God in all times and in all places saves the human race. Epiphany will celebrate the Easter Vigil with a Sunrise Service beginning at 6:00 a.m. on Easter Sunday morning. During the Easter Vigil, we recount the following sequence of events. *The kindling of the new fire and the lighting of the Paschal (Easter) Candle. *The recounting of Passover/Exodus from Egypt, and the entrance into the Promised Land. *The service of Baptism and renewal of our own Baptismal vows. *The First Joyful Eucharist of Easter. Following the Easter Vigil, Epiphany will celebrate Easter with a delicious breakfast. We will then conclude our three great days of celebrating the Paschal Mystery with the 10:30 a.m. Easter Sunday Eucharist during which the children flower the cross of our redemption. After the service, there will be an Easter Egg Hunt and refreshments for both the children and adults. Since Maundy Thursday, we have been involved in an extended liturgy which is brought to conclusion at Epiphany’s principle service. This is the day of the Passover of Christ from death into life. It is also the celebration of our own pass-over in Holy Baptism, in which “we were buried with Christ in his death and raised with him into new life.” Fr....
by Epiphany | Mar 26, 2017 | Community Announcements, Episcopal Church, Lenten Messages, Message from Fr. Matt
The Book of Common Prayer issues the following invitation: “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word” (p. 265). I hope the invitation to observe a Holy Lent has born much fruit in your lives this sacred season. Soon we will be preparing to celebrate the high feast days in the Episcopal Church’s liturgical year or Holy Week. In order to mark these days as special, I have scheduled various prayers for every day of holy week. Please refer to the Holy Week Schedule to see what is scheduled each day of the week. For your convenience, all of the evening services are scheduled at 6:00 p.m. The exceptions are Good Friday when Epiphany will pray The Way of the Cross at 12:15 p.m. (in addition to the principle service at 6:00 p.m.), and the Holy Saturday Prayer Service which will take place at 10:00 a.m. May your participation in the drama of Holy Week fill you with abounding love, joy and peace. Fr. Matt April 9: The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday – The Liturgy for Palm Sunday is in two parts. *The Liturgy of the Palms celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. *The second part of the liturgy changes from triumph to tragedy as it focuses on the suffering and death of Jesus. During this week, we will rediscover what God has done for us, rediscover the meaning of our Baptism as well as what it means to share...
by Epiphany | Feb 17, 2017 | Community Announcements, Lenten Messages, Message from Fr. Matt
A Holy Lent: The Book of Common Prayer issues the following invitation: “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word” (p. 265). Does this mean that Lent is simply to be endured, a time to put aside the excesses of my life in order to accomplish a new goal – an exercise plan, weight loss, better eating habits, a more healthy life-style? As good as these goals are, they really don’t have anything to do with Lent. Lent, rather, is the Church’s annual retreat into the desert with Jesus where we encounter all the illusions we live by so as to see – perhaps for the first time – that true life is in God alone. Historically, Lent was always about baptism: going down with Christ into his death and being raised up with him to new life. It was time when the Church prepared those who were to be baptized at the Easter Vigil: the new Christians were born in the waters of baptism and welcomed by a church community who had relived their own 40-day journey from death to new life in Christ. Thus, the entire Church experienced in ever new ways the truth that the deepest meanings of life are to be seen in Jesus own life, death and resurrection: how he willingly died to self so that others might live. The Lenten season begins on March 1, 2017, with the celebration of Ash Wednesday when we are signed with...
