Multiplication Of The Loaves And Fishes

Prayer & Pastoral Support

Support during times of need

Pastoral care is a reflection of God’s love and care for us and through us, to people God has set in our lives. Life transitions, whether joyful or sad, call our attention to the belovedness of people whom God has put in our path. This is a powerful ministry, necessitating both those who receive and those who provide. There are many ways to engage. 

For more information, to volunteer, or to ask for prayers or other support, please email pastoralcare@epiphanyseattle.org.

Supporting our Community

Communion Delivered

Lay Eucharistic Visitors (LEVS) are trained and licensed by the diocese to take communion directly from the service to parishioners at retirement communities, hospitals, or their homes if they are unable to come to church.

 

Prayer

Epiphany prays for you. In response to requests from parishioners, a prayer is written and shared with Epiphany’s prayer team of approximately 100 parishioners who will pray for you or a loved one.

 

Meals

The meals team organizes, schedules, prepares, and then delivers meals to parishioners who are temporarily in need of extra help — whether adjusting to life with a new child, recovering from an illness, or facing other major life transitions.

 

Cards

We send cards to parishioners we know to be struggling, just to let you know we are with you and we are praying for you. The elderly who cannot make it to church, those who have just given birth, those ill or in recovery, those commemorating a loss.

 

Flowers

Floral arrangements are lovingly crafted by parishioners from our weekly altar arrangements and flowers from Epiphany’s gardens. We deliver these to parishioners homebound or in the hospital.

 

Laying on of Hands

Sometimes, at the conclusion of worship services, people who are going through a life transition, some form of celebration or suffering, will be joined by parishioners who gather with them, lay hands on them, and pray.

 

Discernment

Occasionally, as there is interest, we will convene a group of parishioners considering a transition or wrestling with a hard decision to support one another through the process of discernment. This group will meet for a limited period of time to provide a loving, confidential community of support. The group supports use of the St Ignatian method of discernment and each member of the group applies it to whichever transition they are facing.

 

Confession

Epiphany offers formal Confession with a priest three times a year. It is a sacred rite in which a person honestly confronts, owns, and releases the idols that get in the way of their relationship with God. We follow the liturgical protocol of confession that can be found in the Book of Common Prayer on p. 448. There are two times a year where formal confession is strongly encouraged: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The third time Confession is encouraged is whenever you need it.

 

Unction or Last Rites

The passage from the temporal to the eternal is a sacred moment that can be acknowledged and marked upon the memory of the soul through the rite of Unction. This may include confession and absolution, laying on of hands, anointing with oil, and communion.