Epiphany StarEpiscopal Church of the Epiphany1101 Sunset DriveP. O. Box 116Guntersville, AL 35976256-582-4897

www.EpiphanyGuntersville.org

October 2012

Editor: Rusty Ogden

PARISH ELECTIONS OCTOBER 28

The annual elections for new vestry members and for delegates to the Diocesan Convention will be held in the parish hall on October 28 after the 10:30am service. (there will be no 8am service) Sheila Myrick will prepare a soup lunch for us.

If you or someone you know is interested in election to the vestry, please submit their name to the office.

Please check with your nominee before submitting their name to make sure that they are willing to serve.

VESTRY MEMBERSElection to the vestry is a three year term.

A candidate for the vestry must:be a confirmed or received member of Epiphanybe a member in good standing:

received communion in the church at least 3times in the past yearpledge to the General Fund of Epiphany

make a firm commitment to attend monthly vestry meetings, meets third Tuesday of every month

attend the yearly Vestry Retreat held at Camp McDowell

(scheduled for February 8—10, 2013).commit to one month a year as Vestry Person of the

Month to lock all doors and make sure lights are off after all services.

have a positive attitude toward the spiritual and physical well-being of the parish.

CONVENTION DELEGATESWe need four delegates and two alternates for the Ala-bama Diocesan Convention which will be held in Montgomery February 22 & 23, 2013. Nominees for voting delegate must be members in good standing, known by the treasurer and attend services regularly.

THURSDAY - OCTOBER 18, 2012The event is scheduled to begin in the parish hall with a preview at 6:00 and the live auction will begin at 6:30. Visa, Discover and MasterCard will be accepted

Score a Touchdown Wear your team’s colors

Fellow Parishioners:

We are excited as plans progress for our auction. We have received many donated items - thanks a great deal to many of our parishioners who are so willing to share.

There is a team out there working feverishly to make this another successful auction. Please keep us in your prayers as we meet this challenge for our upcoming 30th annual live and silent auction.

If you would please acknowledge and thank our team when you see them: Fr. Bill, Hollis and Marsha Babb, Shari Harrison, Jan Maxwell, Rusty Ogden, Rush and Barbara Sedberry and Will Smith

We want to offer our special thanks to Maggie Muegge for coordinating our adult beverage supplies and servers for this event. Job well done.

Barbara Sedberry is chairing the food table and needs hors d'oeuvres. There is a sign up sheet on the bulletin board outside the office.

As a reminder - If you have items you wish to donate, please call the church office, or one of us.

A special thanks to all those that have already made contributions to our success!

Auction Coordinators:Joe and Linda Katz

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Fall FestivalThe fall festival will be on Wed Oct 31 from 5:30pm-7:30pm

Wear your Halloween costume. Hamburgers, hot dogs and barbeque will be served.

We will have fun games, a cake walk and trick-or-treating at the church.

So mark your calendars and bring your friends and family to Epiphany for some spooky fun.

Mark your calendars for Saturday October 27th.

The children will be taking a trip to the pumpkin patch.

Hay ride to pick a pumpkin, playground, corn bin, maze.

cow train, petting zooWe plan to leave at 9:00am and take the bus. Plan to pack a picnic lunch.

We should return to the church between 2:30-3:00pm.What to bring: a bag lunch, picnic blanket, sun block, camera

QUILT RAFFLE

Raffle tickets for the quilt shown are $1 each or 6 for $5 and are available in the office. The drawing will be November 10 at the Bazaar

We are raffling the quilt, made by the Lakeside Quilters, to raise money for EYC programs such as sponsoring children with Christmas Coalition, and providing financial assistance on youth missions and trips. The queen size quilt is machine washable. To dry, place a drop cloth on a bed, lay the quilt on it and turn after three hours.

The ladies made this quilt for us in appreciation for the use of Sanderson Hall.

Pumpkin Patch

Don't Feed the Bears!But please feed the youth.

EYC is in need of volunteers to provide a meal on Sunday evenings or donate $35 to EYC. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board outside the Nave.

WEDNESDAY EVENING YOUTH & CHILDREN

VYP (ages Kindergarten thru 5th grade) meets following dinner. The program is led by Michelle Bradshaw and includes crafts, games, singing, dancing and skits.

EYC (6th - 12th grades) meets following dinner. The program is led by Josh Bradshaw. The youth will discuss the collect of the week and how it pertains to today’s issues.

Bring your friends and come share food and fellowship on Wednesday nights.

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My dear Parish Family,

Epiphany has come alive and it feels like spring. I’m still looking for a few of you to return after the summer, so come home soon. Our family isn’t quite itself without

you. Much happens in October. We have our 30th annual Live Auction on October 18. So much work goes into this gala it’s a shame more of us don’t come. There are items of every price range to bid on. We even scheduled the auction on a Thursday evening so more may come and participate. Our auction goes a long way in assisting our out-reach program and it is so important that we support it.

During October we emphasize our stew-ardship to the parish. You will begin to hear in sermon and talk the various ways Epiphany uses the money each of you pledge to the parish each year. I am thankful that we have so many giving families that allow us to do so much with this parish and especially outside our doors. Unfortunately, even though we wish it wouldn’t, our ex-penses increase each year even if we do absolutely nothing. That is why it is imperative that all of us move

towards the biblical tithe or 10% of our income. Rita and I have kept this up for years and while it was not easy getting to 10% with all our normal ex-penses and with growing children, it became part of our relationship with our Lord. Even if you can’t make 10% this year we do pray that each pledging person at least tries to move toward that goal.

Also in October we will be electing new vestry for 2013. We will have four positions available this year. I pray that some of you will allow your-self the opportunity to be on our vestry. No doubt the vestry is a different min-istry. You learn a whole different as-pect of the parish. Yes, our ministry is worship, Christian education, and out-reach, but much more goes on behind the scenes. There are our buildings and grounds that need caring for, as well as new ministries that need the vestry’s input. How are we going to finance the ministry that we believe that God is calling us to? We need wise, thoughtful confirmed members, people who care deeply about our par-ish. We need people who are giving financially themselves to the life of this parish. If you would enjoy serving Epiphany in this ministry please speak

Rector’s Ramblings

to one of our vestry.

I myself am busy this month, as I am head Spiritual Director for Cursillo #185. Velvet Cooley thankfully joins me on this talented staff. We have five people going as pilgrims to Cursillo #185 from Epiphany, Roger and Joyce Rehfeld, Kevin and Holly Andries, and Mickey Gaines. I can’t tell you the hours I have spent in preparation, but it is worth every minute. Cursillo is one of the out-standing ministries our diocese sup-ports. I believe it is one of the main reasons why the diocese of Alabama has remained strong, effective, and faithful. If you would like to attend a Cursillo weekend yourself, just talk to one of the many Cursillo folk within Epiphany. Or, show up at one of the Cursillo community’s monthly Ultreya’s – usually on the second Sunday of every month. Pray for Cursillo #185 which begins on Octo-ber 11th and runs through Sunday, October 14. I can tell you right now that it will be the best Cursillo ever!

Bless you, my friends,

Bill

During the month of October Fr. Bill is promoting CREDO Walk and Be Well—an ex-ercise program that is free, voluntary, and adaptable to your own pace. Please join him at 8am every Monday thru Friday starting October 1 to walk the small section of the walk-ing trail across from the church. You'll begin your daily walk with a reflection from one of three CREDO writers and faculty members: Jackie Cameron, Elizabeth Moosbrugger or Bill Watson. Each writer starts and finishes his or her reflection with the same scrip-tural anchors, but along the way approaches walking from a unique perspective. The en-tire series weaves together a very broad and holistic look at health and wellness.

Jesus spent much of his ministry walking. From town to town across Galilee, Samaria and Judea, he walked and talked, in the company of his disciples, his followers and God.

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As of this writing, ECW is preparing to participate in the Diocesan Fall Conference at Christ Church in Albertville. It will be a wonderful experience with fantastic workshops, fellowship and worship opportunities. Bishop Kee Sloan will be our speaker on the theme “Welcoming the Stranger”. Please feel free to join us, October 4th and 5th, beginning at 10 am.

After our last meeting, it was decided to postpone the cheese ball making scheduled for October 10th and to have a Harvest/Halloween Bake Sale on October 28th. That is the day of parish elections, so we will have dessert for you! Our next meeting is scheduled for October 24, 2012 at 10 am in the choir room. We will have Bible Study and final-ize our participation in the bazaar. Hope to see you there!

October Mission Team

Spotlight

During the month of October, Epiphany will help pack the backpacks for Blessings in a Backpack. Meet at the Gunters-ville Church of Christ every Thursday you can help at 5:45 pm (you do not need to commit for every Thursday). Gun-tersville packs around 930 packs a week. We would love to have at least five from Epiphany each week.

Questions? Contact Susan Armstrong at 256-302-3801

Blessings in a Backpack is a results-oriented program. This unique program is designed to feed elementary school children whose families qualify for the federal Free and Reduced Price Meal program, and have little to no food on the weekends. Better test scores, improved reading skills, positive behavior, improved health and increased attendance have all been attributed to the success of this program.

$80 feeds a child in the program for an entire school year. Following a donation, a school is chosen and a local grocer partners with the program to provide food for meals in the backpacks. Every Friday, students receive their backpacks with staples that require little to no preparation. They return with their backpacks on Monday ready to learn.

PRISON MINISTRYDuring the month of October, Epiphany will assist with the jail ministry at Town Hall. Each Sunday in October, we meet at 7:00 am for a non-denominational service (about an hour). If you have any questions, contact Lee Hoggle or Susan

AFTER EFM

Not knowing what to do with our Monday evenings after EFM, a group of EFM grads who felt the need to continue our spiritual journey have decided to meet twice a month to do theological

reflections. We had our first meeting on Monday, September 17, and will continue to meet on the first and third Mondays of each month at 6:00 PM in the youth room upstairs. We will take turns leading the reflection. This is an informal group meeting to explore the application of our beliefs and values to our everyday lives.

All EFM graduates are welcome – we need your ideas. Please plan to join us on Monday, October 1 for the next meeting. Bring your own beverage and a finger food to share. If you have questions, speak to Will Smith, Velma Atkins, Paula Dabney, or Rosalind Hall.

November 10, 2012

Prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas at our annual Holiday Bazaar. You can get gifts from the many ven-dors and baked goods to round out your holiday meal

You may pre-order frozen Chicken Noodle or Sante Fe Soup for $8/qt. Sign up sheets are on the bulletin board in the hallway.

LUNCH SERVED—$5.00Homemade Soup Lunch by Shelia Myrick

Chicken Noodle Or Sante Fe Crackers, cornbread, dessert & beverage

Large Silent Auction with Art workAnd Home accessories

Artists Vendors

Vintage Jewelry, Accessories, Baked GoodsCustomized Christmas Ornaments

Football raffle and much more

To volunteer to bring baked goods, jewelry, or to work at the bazaar, call Rusty Ogden at 582-4897 or Marsha Babb at 571-2300

Blessing of the Animals—October 7

The service and blessing takes place at 2:00 p.m. on the front lawn of the church. Everything from cats and dogs to ferrets, horses, boa constrictors and fish have been blessed in past years. No matter what species your best friends may be, bring them to receive God’s blessing. As Fr. Bill says “I will bless anything but not necessarily touch everything”. All animals should be on a leash, tether or caged.

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Yesterday I was at my local Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for my loyal pet, Biscuit, the Wonder Dog and was in the checkout line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had, an elephant? So since I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn't, be-cause I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story.) Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter's butt and a car hit us both.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard. Wal-Mart won't let me shop there any-more.

Better watch what you ask retired people. They have all the time in the world to think of crazy things to say.

LOL

EPIPHANY ACCEPTS CREDIT CARD’S IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBERThanks to Susan Armstrong, and the Live Auction and Holiday Bazaar, Epiphany will be able to accept credit cards throughout the month of October and November. This means that if you desire to purchase something at the Auction or Bazaar on your credit card and receive points on your card, we will be able to do this transaction. It also means that if you want to use yourcredit card to finish out your pledge, debt reduction pledge, or commons building pledge this is possible. The service costs money so we will only be financially able to offer it in October and November.

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FLOWERS AND CANDLES FOR 2013

The Altar Guild is beginning to plan for flowers and candles for 2013. This is a beautiful and thoughtful way to celebrate, honor, and remember those in our lives who mean so much to us.

For your convenience, on Sunday, October 7, I will be in the Parish Hall after the 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday services with the signup sheets for the 2013 flowers, candles and the special day flowers of All Saints’ and Christmas 2012.

After October 7th the candle and flower signup sheets for 2013 will be posted on the bulletin board across from the church office. Please remember that these are done on a first come – first serve basis. Place your order now or you may call Marsha at 256-571-2300. If a flower date you would like is already spoken for, look at that same date on the candle list.

Rodney’s Flowers will send a bill for the Sunday altar flowers to each individual.

The candle dedications are $10 per date and are payable to the church. We appreciate your payment before dedi-cation date so the church’s records and your year-end statement are correct. This helps Martha mark your donation(s) properly and promptly. Please make your check payable to Epiphany and note that it is for candles and for what date.

All Saints Day Flower Dedications All Saints Day is celebrated on Sunday, November 4th. The Altar Guild is taking dedications to remember those saints who have gone on before us; mother, father, brother, sister, child, or a special friend.

A dedication form is on the counter in the church office. Each dedication is $5.00. Make your check to Epiphany and note in the memo field that it is for All Saints flowers.

If you have any questions please see Marsha Babb or call her at 571-2300.

You Are Invited to a Bridal Shower

Honoring

Emily Houston

Daughter of Debi Houstonand

John and Trenna Houston

Sunday, October 21, 2012In Sanderson hall

2:00 P. M.

Hosted byMartha Ross, Jackie Camper,

Kelly Auman, Marsha Lee, Marsha Babb, Meredith Jackson, Ann Thomas, Susan Armstrong,

Rusty Ogden

Emily is registered at:Belk’s

WalMart

Clean Chairs!If you see a member of EYC

please thank them.

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October

CODE: BSA—Brotherhood of St. Andrew; CC—Children’s Church; CP—Centering Prayer; DOK—Daughters of the King; DG—Dream Group; HC—Holy Communion; HE—Holy Eucharist; SS—Sunday School; Birthdays

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1Fr. Bill’s Study Group 10:30am

EFM 6pmEFM graduates

6pm

Leona Henry

2

Savannah RyanRush Sedberry

3CP 9:45am

HC & Healing Service 11:30amWorship 5:30pm

Dinner 5:45pmPrograms & Choir

6:30pmRay Warren

Belinda Wilks

4Dream Group

12pmCentering Prayer

6:30pm

5Bus leaves for Chattanooga

Maggie Funderburk

6

Wally Kistler

7Discretionary Fund Sunday

HE 8 & 10:30amSunday School 9:30am

Mission Team mtg 9:30amChildren’s Church 10:30am

Blessing of the Animals 2pmEYC 5pm

Taizé Service 5pmAlicia GarrisonRosie Pfeiffer

Kathy Thompson

8Fr. Bill’s Study Group 10:30am

EFM 6pm

Susan ArmstrongTom DownesPete Sparks

9

Gloria Kilner

10CP 9:45am

HC & Healing Service 11:30amCompline 5:30pm

Dinner 5:45pmPrograms & Choir

6:30pm

11Dream Group

12pmCentering Prayer

6:30pmStations of the

Cross 7pm

Kyle AtkinsMelissa

Brazelton-Reeves

12 13Garden Workday

8amBrotherhood of

Saint Andrew 8am

Chris JacksonBernice Maze

14HE 8 & 10:30am

Sunday School 9:30amOutreach Ministry mtg 9:30am

Children’s Church 10:30amEYC 5pm

Ernie Brantley

15Fr. Bill’s Study Group 10:30am

EFM 6pmEFM graduates

6pm

16Daughters of the

King Potluck dinner 6pm

Rachel Moses

17CP 9:45am

HC & Healing Service 11:30amWorship 5:30pm

Dinner 5:45pmPrograms & Choir

6:30pm

18Dream Group

12pmCentering Prayer

6:30pmLive Auction 6pm

Scott Atkins

19

John BainsDick Wells

20

Ed Kilner

21HE 8 & 10:30am

Sunday School 9:30amChildren’s Church 10:30amHouston Bridal Shower 2pm

EYC 5pmCeltic Service 5pm

Alex Farish

22Fr. Bill’s Study Group 10:30am

EFM 6pm

Dave BurksDan Warnes

23Vestry mtg 7pm

Clay HardinBarbara Nye

24CP 9:45amECW 10am

HC & Healing Service 11:30amWorship 5:30pm

Dinner 5:45pmPrograms & Choir

6:30pmVelma Atkins

25Dream Group

12pmCentering Prayer

6:30pm

26

Wyatt Shifflett

27Pumpkin Patch

9am

Tim Noble

28 ECW Bake SaleHE 10:30am

Sunday School 9:30amChildren’s Church 10:30amParish Elections and lunch

12pmEYC 5pm

Curtis Riggins

29Fr. Bill’s Study Group 10:30am

EFM 6pm

Duncan Murdock

30

Brian BoothKing Nye

31CP 9:45am

HC & Healing Service 11:30amHalloween Party

5:30pmChoir 6:30pm

Vestry Person for OctoberRay Klaver—256-582-4112

Cursillo #185

November December

4—UTO Fall Ingathering 23—Christmas Pageant

10—Holiday Bazaar 24—Family Christmas Service 5:30pm

11 Veterans Day Festival of Carols 10:30pm

21—Thanksgiving Service 7pm 1st Eucharist of Christmas 11pm

25—Nativity of Our Lord 9am