Episcopal Church of the Epiphany 1101 Sunset Drive P. O. Box 116 Guntersville, AL 35976 256-582-4897

www.EpiphanyGuntersville.org

January 2016

Editor: Rusty Ogden

BISHOP SLOAN COMING TO EPIPHANY

PARISH BUSINESS MEETING January 31, 2016— 9:15 a.m.

We will meet in Sanderson Hall at 9:15 a.m. to discuss our 2016 budget.

Come at 8:45 a.m. and enjoy a $5, all you can eat, breakfast.

The Bishop of Alabama, the Rt. Reverend Kee Sloan, will be coming to Epiphany January 10. There will be one service at 10:30 a.m. Bishop Sloan will host a Meet and Greet at 9:15 a.m.

The undesignated, loose plate offering will be given to Bishop Sloan for his Discretionary Fund which will be administered by him. This is not a fund for his personal use but for the special needs that arise out of the life of the diocesan community. This fund is a direct, personal part of his ministry. Strict confidenti-ality is maintained as to the charitable uses to which it is used. Donations by check should be made out to “The Church of the Epiphany” and designated Bishop’s Discretionary Fund.

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There will be a Parish Pot Luck luncheon in honor of the visit of Bishop Sloan on January 10. The parish will provide the meat, beverages and rolls. Parishioners are asked to bring a side dish of a vegetable, salad or dessert. Please take your dish, with your name on it, to the kitchen Sunday morning.

FROM THE ALTAR GUILD There are several Sundays left for candle

dedications for 2016. The sign up sheet is on

the bulletin outside the nave.

FR. AARON’S LECTIONARY GROUP

Fr. Aaron will begin a Study and Discussion Group of the Sunday’s Lectionary on January 17. Please meet in Sanderson Hall after breakfast, 9:30 to 10:15.

The Epiphany family extends our sympathy, love, prayers and support to:

Becky and Brian Moses and family in the loss, December 1, of Becky’s mother, Betty Wheeler, of New York.

Marina Dunn and family in the loss, Decem-ber 9, of Marina’s sister-in-law, Annette Dunn, of Birmingham.

William and Kay Benefield and family in the loss, December 30, of William’s nephew, McRae Benefield, of Guntersville.

Darlene Reeves and family in the loss, December 30, of our former interim rector, the Very Reverend Charles Edward Reeves.

Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord. And let light perpetual shine upon them.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! With the dawn of a new year, we welcome together new and exciting ways to serve God. This year, “the Year of Our Lord 2016,” promises to be filled with opportunities to serve one another, our community, and the world.

This New Year will be like any other: we will see chang-es and challenges, hopes and disappointments, joys and difficulties. That is the nature of our lives as human beings. But as long as we are “upright and drawing breath,” we will be called to spread the good news of God’s kingdom with the world.

Each of us has unique and special gifts – and those gifts will be called upon in this New Year. You will be asked to serve in some way this year: to pray, to work, to volunteer, to teach, to give. You will have ample opportunity to serve.

Many of you have heard me say that Epiphany is a “can-do” church. That is, one way or another, “by hook or by crook,” we will find a way to do those things we are called to do. We are blessed with much talent and energy, and the possibilities and opportunities for mission and ministry are almost endless. I believe this with all my heart: whatever it takes, we can get it done.

Your Vestry will gather this month for our Annual Ves-try Retreat at Camp McDowell. For those of you who have been a part of this kind of retreat, you know that this is an opportunity for your leadership to build a team – a “community within a community.” We will welcome an outside facilitator – a consultant from the diocesan office – who will guide our discussions. With her help, we look forward to developing short-term, medium-range, and long-range goals for the parish. Please keep your Vestry in your prayers.

To exercise a well-worn cliché: “today is the first day of the rest of our lives.” The future of Epiphany is a bright one, and we are looking forward to finding out what God has in store.

Blessings and Peace for 2016! Fr. Aaron+

P.S. How’s this for an Epiphany New Year’s resolution? In 2016, we resolve to each do our parts – great and small, simple and complex, public and private – to share the love of God through Jesus Christ in our com-munity!

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The vestry held a regular monthly meeting on November 17, 2015. New vestry members; Doug Cook, Rick Cooley, Dianne Livengood, and Sam Harrison (elected at the October 25 Parish Meeting) were also present as observers.

Treasurer, Shari Harrison, presented an analysis of the October income, expenses and the year to date impact on the budget. She also provided the vestry with preliminary results from the November 5 Live Auction, and Football Raffle ticket sales. Her analysis indicates that when income from the upcoming November 21 Bazaar is added to year to date fundraising income; the total should be equal to or greater than the amount budgeted for 2015.

Building and Grounds Ministry presented their recom-mendation to sell the 15 passenger vehicle owned and used by Epiphany (commonly called the Holy Roller Bus) and consider Bob Hembree’s offer to rent a 12 passenger vehicle to Epiphany, on an as needed basis, at no cost. The ministry has developed written guidelines and forms applicable to drivers and users. After discussion about the costs to repair the Holy Roller, and the advantages of a 12 passenger vehicle not needing a driver with a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), a vote was called and the recom-mendation to sell the Holy Roller bus was approved.

Cindy Billinghurst is the new volunteer coordinator for the Health and Wellness Ministry. It was also mentioned, by more than one person, that help is needed in the kitchen on Wednesdays and Sundays to wash dishes and do general cleanup. Presently, only one person in the parish is helping with kitchen duties.

In response to a request from the Tapestry Society, the vestry voted to reconfirm Jody Chorba to serve a three year term.

Fr. Aaron thanked everyone who participated in the Mutual Ministry Assessment follow-up meeting with Sara Sartain on November 15. He said that the meeting (with a great lunch) lasted two hours and thirty minutes and a decision was made to continue the meeting at the vestry retreat in January 2016. He said that Sara would attend the retreat for one day to complete the assessment, and that this would help the new vestry members understand the assessment expectations going forward. He said that the retreat weekend would not be filled with business meetings, but would allow some time for activities that would encourage team building and visioning.

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Thank You! Thank You!

Thank you for participating in the Angel Tree outreach. Three children from Home Place joined us for the Christmas in Advent party and received the gifts that you so generously provided. Thank you to the Outreach Ministry for setting up the tree, creating the angels and selecting the recipients for the gifts. Please keep the families from Home Place in your prayers. Thank you to Meredith Jackson for coordinating the Advent Pageant. More than twenty chil-dren and adults helped us experience the journey to Bethlehem. Thank you parents for recog-nizing the pageant as a meaningful time for our children and youth to prepare for the arrival of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Finally, thank you to Tiffany Martin, Melissa Brazelton-Reeves and Kim Booth for helping with the sound, costumes and clean up.

CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH PROGRAMS RESUME

Wednesday, January 6th - VYP (Very Young Persons) and EYC (Episcopal Youth Community) resume as well as our regular Wednesday Eucharist, dinner and programs.

Sunday, January 10th - Sunday school and Rite-13 at 9:30am, children’s church at 10:30am and Sr. EYC at 5:00pm.

Please note: A potluck luncheon will be held in honor of Bishop Sloan’s visit following the 10:30am ser-vice on January 10. Breakfast will not be served.

Please consider making a simple meal for our youth. Spaghetti, chilli, casseroles, soup and sub sand-wiches are all good options. Please refrain from pizza as pizza is our last minute go-to meal in the event a meal is not provided. We invite you to stay and join us in the meal and our planned activity. It is a true blessing to arrive on Sunday evening to a meal that has been lovingly prepared by a parishioner. If the culinary arts are not your thing, but you would like to help, please donate $35 to EYC to help us purchase food to prepare a meal (be sure to note EYC Meal in the comment of your check).

To sign up CLICK HERE

Date Time Group Activity

Jan 3 NO EYC Sr. EYC Christmas Break

Jan 6 6:30pm - 7:30pm Jr. & Sr. EYC Epiphany

Jan 10 5:00pm - 7:00pm Sr. EYC

Jan 13 6:30pm - 7:30pm Jr. & Sr. EYC

Jan 15 5:00pm - 8:00pm Jr. & Sr. EYC Host Room in the Inn

Jan 17 NO EYC Sr. EYC

Jan 20 6:30pm - 7:30pm Jr. & Sr. EYC

Jan 24 5:00pm - 7:00pm Sr. EYC

Jan 27 6:30pm - 7:30pm Jr. & Sr. EYC

Jan 31 4:00pm - 7:00pm Jr. & Sr. EYC Bowling

EYC January Calendar

ROOM IN THE INN Friday January 15th

The Jr. & Sr. EYC will be meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 15th to set up the sleeping areas, help make dinner, eat dinner, help clean up and spend time in community with our homeless neighbors.

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The IRA charitable rollover legislation passed by Congress has been signed by the President. This law extends the IRA charitable rollover retroactively for 2015 and makes it permanent. The legislation is part of a larger package on other tax extenders and the budget.

Under this legislation, if you are 70 ½ or older, you will be allowed to make certain charitable contributions directly from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to an eligible charity, and the transferred assets will not be recognized as income for tax purposes.

As a rule, withdrawals from IRAs are taxed as income; you would receive a tax deduction for your donation, but other federal, and sometimes state, tax rules can prevent the deduction from fully offsetting taxable income.

The charitable IRA rollover, or qualified charitable distribution, makes it easier for you to use your IRA assets to make charitable gifts. It is a special provision that allows individuals age 70 1/2 or older to exclude from taxable income - and count toward their required minimum distribution - transfers of IRA assets, up to a total of $100,000, that are made directly to public charities, such as The Church of the Epiphany. To take advantage of the extension for 2015, donors need to arrange a direct transfer from their IRA to an eligible charity by December 31, 2015. Direct transfers from IRAs to an eligible charity made earlier in 2015 in anticipation of the IRA charitable rollover being extended will also count.

Making a donation under this provision is simple and straightforward. If you would like to make a contribution to such as The Church of the Epiphany from your Individual Retirement Account, please speak with your IRA administrator.

2015 IRA Charitable Rollover

Friday, January 22, 2016

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Update on Ogden House

As you may have heard, this year Ogden House did not receive the Basic Center grant that has funded the youth shelter for

many years, the same shelter that has been in operation since the 1970’s. The Ogden House served juvenile court children

between the ages of 12-18 who had behavioral issues or were first time offenders.

After identifying all other sources of funds and reviewing the low projected occupancy rate from the Department of Youth

Services (DYS), the Tennessee Valley Family Services (TVFS) Board of Directors recently made the unanimous decision to

close Ogden House permanently. The facility will be sold, preferably to another non-profit that would benefit the people of

Marshall County and surrounding counties.

Ogden House closed on October 24th. At that time, one self-referred child was released to her home from the 14 bed facility.

Two court-referred children were released to their homes a few days earlier. There were no children waiting for placement.

The Board of Directors worked diligently to identify if there is a continuing need for a temporary shelter in Marshall County,

because the court referrals from DYS have been shrinking steadily since 2011.

There was discussion about selling the larger facility for a profit, and purchasing a smaller house with rooms for four or five

children. A representative from the DYS side of the court system discussed the shrinking referrals and stated that many juve-

nile courts no longer supervise the types of cases that have filled Ogden House beds in the past. This trend is likely to contin-

ue as courts continue to undergo reform.

The Board discussed the fact that TVFS could compete again for the Basic Center grant for FY2017 with a smaller facility, but

should not if there will be no long-term need. In addition, selling the property for a profit might preclude some non-profits

who have a need for such a facility from being able to purchase the property.

The shrinking occupancy rate is due to an award-winning project called “Right Sizing Juvenile Justice” implemented by the

State of Alabama Department of Youth Services in 2012 (Marshall County participated in a pilot program in 2011). Right-

sizing juvenile justice in Alabama has reduced commitments to institutional facilities and doubled the number of community

based programs for youth.

By emphasizing and supporting local diversion programs and supporting institutionalization as a last resort, the State DYS

has turned a $9 million per year investment in local programs at the county level into $53,750,000 per year in long term sav-

ings at the state level. Most importantly, most youth are better served while remaining at home with their families rather

than being placed in institutional settings. This can and should be interpreted as a positive sign. *Paraphrased from

www.alabama.dys.gov

The TVFS Board of Directors considered using the shelter as a Department of Human Resources (DHR) home for long-term placement of children, and even held a meeting with representatives of the Marshall County DHR to identify the need. The Board determined that without a contract from DHR, which is competed and awarded on a three year cycle, the daily allow-ance was not sufficient to operate the facility, even with robust community support. Further complicating this issue, there are already numerous foster homes in the county, and the Board members determined that the temporary shelter facility itself is not conducive to long term placement of children. There are other non-profit organizations in the area that have expressed an interest in purchasing the facility. TVFS will re-main a non-profit after the sale of the Ogden House property in order to manage the fully-funded Transitional Living Pro-gram (TLP) in Huntsville. That program serves displaced 18-21 year-olds by providing shelter, life skills training, GED training, and job training. Tennessee Valley Family Services is in need of your prayers as these changes are implemented. If you have any questions, you may contact Phillip Collie, TVFS Board President at pcollie@live.com or 256-572-5985; or Shari Harrison, TVFS Treasurer, at sbharrison@aol.com, or 256-673-3458.

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JANUARY 2016

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

Office Closed RITI 6pm—6am

Nicky Erwin

2

Rick Cooley

3 HE 8 & 10:30am

Nursery 10am

Jordan Bolding Gayle Roadruck

4 EfM 6pm

5 School back in

session Morning Prayer

9am

6 The Epiphany

Healing Service 11:30 HE 5:30pm

Nursery 5:30pm Dinner 6pm

Programs 6:30pm Jr. & Sr. EYC 6:30pm

Ben Auman Alex Baker

7 Morning Prayer

9am Finance Ministry

mtg. 6:00pm

Mary Davis

8 Men’s B&B 7am

9 Outreach

Ministry mtg. 9am

Beans & Rice 10—1pm

10 Bishop’s Visit

Meet & Greet 9:15am SS & Nursery 9:30am

HE 10:30am CC 10:30am

Reception 12pm Sr. EYC 5pm

Barbara Panazze Barbara Wayne

11 DOK 11:30am

EfM 6pm

12 Morning Prayer

9am Health &

Wellness 6pm Building &

Grounds 6pm

13 Healing Service 11:30

HE 5:30pm Nursery 5:30pm

Dinner 6pm Programs 6:30pm

Jr. & Sr. EYC 6:30pm

Doug Dixon Melanie Dorman

14 Morning Prayer

9am Vestry Budget mtg. 6:30pm

Bill Barker Anita Duncan Mitch Harbin

15 Men’s B&B 7am RITI 6pm—6am

16

Cole Nichols Katy Watz

17 HE 8 & 10:30am Breakfast 8:45am Lectionary Group

9:30am SS & Nursery 9:30am

CC 10:30am

18

Office Closed EfM 6pm

John Breyfogle Jackie Camper

19 Morning Prayer

9am

Annual Ministry Reports due

Guy Caffey

20 Healing Service 11:30

HE 5:30pm Nursery 5:30pm

Dinner 6pm Programs 6:30pm

Jr. & Sr. EYC 6:30pm

21 Morning Prayer

9am

Randal Hardin

22 Men’s B&B 7am Vestry Retreat

Wine Tasting at Kala’s Cottage to

benefit Home Place

5:30pm

Ellen Perryman Alex Watts

23 Vestry Retreat

24 Vestry Retreat

HE 8 & 10:30am Breakfast 8:45am

SS & Nursery 9:30am CC 10:30am Sr. EYC 5pm

25 DOK 11:30am

EfM 6pm

Articles due for February

newsletter

26 Morning Prayer

9am

27 Healing Service 11:30

HE 5:30pm Nursery 5:30pm

Dinner 6pm Programs 6:30pm

Jr. & Sr. EYC 6:30pm

28 Morning Prayer

9am

Leigh Grass

29 Men’s B&B 7am RITI 6pm—6am

Billy Blevins Robert Thornton

30

31 HE 8 & 10:30am Breakfast 8:45am

Parish Business Mtg. 9:15am

SS & Nursery 9:30am CC 10:30am

Jr. & Sr. EYC 4pm Ultreya 5:30 pm

Vestry Person for January

Sara Hembree

256-302-3033

CODE: CC—Children’s Church; DOK—Daughters of the King; EYC—Episcopal Youth Community; HE—Holy Eucharist;

Men’s B&B—Men’s Breakfast & Bible Study; RITI—Room in the Inn; SS—Sunday School; VYP—Very Young Persons; Birthdays