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Good morning. It’s nice to see you here today. This is the Sunday of our 118th annual meeting, and it is the 16th time I have stood before you to address the congregation on the common life of Epiphany parish.
The gospel of Luke this morning gives me the appropriate framework through which to share with you what is happening right here, right now. It reads: “Filled with the Holy Spirit Jesus returned to Galilee.”
These words capture what is happening at Epiphany. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. There’s a returning to this place. We are the Galilee of the Pacific Northwest, that draws people from over 65 zips codes, as represented by the pledges made in 2025.
People come to Epiphany to be filled with hope. They come to find solace and healing. They come to renew their strength to fight the good fight. They come to be known and loved. They come to practice their humanity. They come to a place that loves the human soul and nurtures the human spirit. That is what makes us a thriving spiritual center of gravity in the Pacific Northwest.
By all cultural accounts that is not easy. Statistics will tell us that Seattle is the toughest market in the country for Christian churches to thrive. But we don’t care about statistics. Hope can’t be measured, nor can it be held back, because our hope is bigger than the limitations set upon us by the small imaginations of men. Their power is always passing away.
The hope we live by is undaunted even by the very worst deeds of people, because our hope is revealed through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Humanity had a bad idea, to kill him upon the cross…God had a better plan. God always has a better plan. And as it says in the book of Hebrews: “Who hopes for what can be seen? We hope for what cannot be seen!”
The radiant light we live by, the epiphany revealed in this place, is not seen though our eyes, but felt in our hearts and shared with those who wander into this place…which is why they keep wandering into this place. Not to disprove the statistics, but to experience the hope of resurrection.
It is palpable. I have witnessed it right here many times. Most recently at the first session of our latest RELATA gathering. We had put out invitations by way of advertisements on 200 city buses, and posters all over Seattle. We cast a wide net like Jesus instructed.
You may remember the parable of the Great Banquet. Jesus tells the story of a man who prepared a great banquet and invited his friends. But they were busy with other things: work or sports or grocery shopping. So, he invited the city to fill the banquet hall, and they did. (Luke 14:15-24)
They came on buses. The #2 bus in particular. They walked off the bus at 6:00 pm. And they walked off the bus at 6:20 pm. And they walked off at 6:40 pm…and the people of Epiphany greeted them, walking with them into the Great Hall.
And what they experienced when they arrived in the Great Hall was the radiant warmth of the world as God designed it to be. They were expected. They were welcomed. They were known by name. And there was a place for them at the table, each one of them.
Brad Neary, one of the greeters, told me as he walked into the Great Hall with his guest, brand new, having never once entered the doors of Epiphany, there was a glow, a warmth, a joy. There was hope for humanity gathered soul to soul to soul.
I heard this again later in the week when Alec Williamson said the same thing. He too was one of the greeters. He too met people as they came off the bus. He too walked with them through the narthex, past the sanctuary, across the sky-bridge, into the Great Hall where they were met with a radiant embrace, soul to soul to soul. This is what a spiritual center of gravity looks like. And it is what people desire, deeply. They are looking for what we have to offer. They are looking for hope.
And in many cases, this search is being driven by young people. Most of the people coming off the RELATA buses are younger than the average parishioner. But even on Sunday in church young people are showing up. As an example (and not the only one) last Sunday we welcomed three visiting families who said on their way out it was the young person with them who had asked to be brought to Epiphany. Parents pay attention. Grandparents pay attention.
Our young people are no longer willing to be fooled by the empty hope promised through their over-programmed lives. They are no longer willing to be the livestock manipulated to maximize the profit of men through an empty diet of clickbait. They do not hope for what can be seen. They know better even if they’ve never read the letter to the Hebrews. They intuitively are looking for the God of resurrection. Parents pay attention. Grandparents pay attention.
Our young people want to return to Galilee. They want to learn about Jesus. They want to be known, soul to soul to soul, for who they are, not for who the world wants them to be. And we are here for them. We are here for anyone who comes to this place.
And a lot of people come to this place. In the month of October 2024 there were 5697 unique visits onto this campus, not including school attendance. 2784 of those visits were drawn by community event. Another 1435 were to attend church events, not including worship. With worship added that is another 1478 visits. In one month, 5697 unique visits were held within the spiritual embrace of Epiphany Parish.
To sustain that takes a lot of work. So, thank you. It is because of you that this river of hospitality continues to nurture the city of Seattle… because as you many know, Epiphany only has 10 full time employees and 6 part time employees. The energy and the commitment required to keep this place spinning is enormous. There’s hardly a time of day where there isn’t something happening at Epiphany.
The Music Academy alone has at least 70+ lessons here each week. There is at least one outreach activity that happens because of Epiphany each week. And then there are all of the meetings, all of the classes, all of the community gatherings, all of the pastoral care.
And don’t forget about worship. That is the heart of this place, and starting March 9th there will be 5 services every Sunday: 7:30 AM a quick 30 minute Eucharist, 8:45 am the regular Eucharist, 11:00 a hamigh mass Eucharist, 4:00 pm Come As You Are, and 5:30 pm Evensong
The staff that has accrued here is incredible. They are mature. They work well as a team. I maintain they are as good as any church staff in this country. I also know that they’re deeply committed to Epiphany. And they stay at Epiphany because of you. And because of you there is no more exciting Episcopal Church to work at in this entire nation. At least that’s why I stay at Epiphany.
And I know that is one of the reasons Kate returned to Epiphany. She said I would quote her. We know what we’re talking about, she and I, because we are both well-connected in the wider church, and we both see many Rector profiles and Bishop profiles float through our inboxes; and to compare them against Epiphany? Not possible.
Then there are the buildings and grounds. It takes a lot of work and resource to maintain their beauty under the wear and tear of 5000+ visits per month.
And the staff? Well, to retain the staff costs money as well. Church is a funny business model. We pay our staff what we pay because of what is given. Which is why Kristin and I give as generously as we can. I should note the entire staff also pledges to this parish. Like I said, it is a funny business model. Which is why we asked that every single person that calls Epiphany their spiritual home makes a financial pledge to this place. Each pledge is important because it adds up in a way that allows us to be a vibrant spiritual center of gravity in the Pacific Northwest.
Stewardship was strong again this year, incidentally. Thank you. I’ll say more about that in the Great Hall after the service at the Annual Meeting. But I also want to invite you to think honestly about what God has given you, and to know that the more you contribute to Epiphany the greater our capacity to spread the hope of our brand of Christianity throughout the city of Seattle. They are perfectly correlated. Our single limitation is set by the amount of resources, both time and money, shared by you.
Let me wrap up this sermon by telling another story of hope seen at Epiphany. This time as witnessed by the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, and Episcopalian churches from around the nation. 85 people came to Epiphany last August for the first ever AI and Church Summit. Epiphany acted, if you will, as the Wittenberg upon which the theology of this new technology was nailed to the door.
The people who attended the Summit were professional church people used to traveling the country visiting churches. And when they arrived here they were moved, they were heartened, they were impressed, they were filled with hope, because a neighborhood church in this unreligious corner of the country was a thriving as a beacon of resurrection life. What they experienced was what the people who came off the bus for RELATA experienced: A hospitality and spiritual maturity emanating from the dynamic people who call Epiphany their spiritual home. Epiphany blew them away.
What is happening at Epiphany is Holy Spirit driven. People are returning to Galilee. It is exciting. We are a center of hope in a world that desperately needs hope. And it continues to be our mission to point to this hope. That’s what people of the resurrection do. We put up signs on buses and let God do the rest. And people respond because there’s a lot to worry about out in the world.
So, they come to Epiphany to be filled with hope. They come to find solace and healing. They come to renew their strength to fight the good fight. They come to be known and loved. They come to practice their humanity, for this is place that loves the human soul and nurtures the human spirit. That is our role. That is what we are designed to do as a spiritual center of gravity. It is what the world needs from us.
Finally, I’ll end by saying I give thanks to God every day for being the Rector of Epiphany. It brings me great joy and meaning, and I do not take my responsibility lightly. Thank you for allowing me this privilege. Thank you for being on this spiritual journey with me. Thank you for the warmth you share. Thank you for the ways you participate. Thank you for your generosity in giving. It is because of you that we are a beacon of hope, a Galilee in the Pacific Northwest. Well done, resurrection people. Well done, Epiphany. Keep up the good work.