Friday, November 22 2002

By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

There are times that a simple "thank you" is terribly insufficient. In most cases, the passage of time is necessary for a person to truly understand what sacrifices some people have made on his or her behalf. For example, when my father had to work several jobs, my grandfather, my mother's stepfather, stepped in to take up the slack. Hardly a weekend passed by that he didn't take me fishing at Warrior's Path State Park or at Boone Dam or at some other eastern Tennessee lake. It wasn't until he was gone and I had sons of my own that I began to understand how he had extended himself to me. I thanked him each time he took me fishing, or digging for worms, or puttering in the woods-but the thanks were never enough.

Now, I find myself desiring, somehow, to convey a tremendous depth of gratitude to a special person and a special group of people. In August 1996, a small group of people began meeting in my living room for prayer. In a few weeks, we had grown to about 40 people and the living room was no longer adequate. For days, we searched for a suitable place to begin a new church, all to no avail. Either the property was too expensive or already occupied. Then, Paul Massey, a member of the budding congregation, called me and asked, "Have you ever thought about meeting in a funeral home?" Frankly, I thought he was nuts. But, since Paul had a track record of faithfulness and good ideas, we began to explore that unlikely possibility. It turned out that Paul had heard from the Lord.

We approached three area funeral homes and, to our amazement, Greg Hall, the Director of Carmichael-Hemperley Funeral Home in Peachtree City, opened his arms and doors to us. We moved in on the second Sunday of September 1996. We thought we'd only be there from six months to a year, but, this past September, we celebrated our sixth anniversary of the Church in the Carmichael-Hemperley chapel. Sometimes, we felt like the relative that came to visit and never left but Greg always made us feel welcome and wanted.

It's been an eventful six years. During that time, we have baptized 70 people, 66 of them in the chapel of Carmichael-Hemperley. Of the 19 weddings, three were performed in the funeral home. There have been 72 people confirmed with 8 more scheduled to be confirmed in January. While at Carmichael-Hemperley, we have been visited and ministered to by two men who would be elected bishops over territory in Africa, the bishop of Pakistan, the bishops of Alabama and Georgia, and three archbishops.

We have sent our curate (associate rector), Father Mark Johnson, to be the rector (senior pastor) of a church in North Carolina and Ron Clemmer, who will be ordained to the ministry Sunday evening, to Hogansville to be the vicar (mission pastor) of St. Matthew's Church. In all, nine men have been ordained to the ministry as either priests or deacons (not your Protestant version but the ancient, historic, and authentic office of deacon) and two women have been commissioned as ministers. A dozen or two of our folks have received designation as either Lay Eucharistic Ministers or Licensed Liturgical Ministers. Our church has grown from a handful of people to over 200 who call the church their spiritual home. Our people have made a total of five missionary trips to Africa and we consistently give away 15-20% of our church income to ministries beyond ourselves. Most of our children under the age of seven have never known a church home other than the funeral home. During the last six years, some of our people have died or have had relatives who died. We couldn't have asked for more compassionate, professional, or caring people than the folks at Carmichael's. But we have also seen our share of miracles these past six years, including a couple of children that weren't expected to be born and a couple of cancers that seemingly "disappeared."

Yet, Sunday morning all that comes to an end as we conduct our last worship service at Carmichael-Hemperley. The following Sunday, a new era will begin as we move into our new sanctuary on 11.5 acres of land on Highway 34. We are terribly excited but, truthfully, more than a few tears will be shed as we pack up for the last time. Most of our equipment has already been moved to the new location and we will finish the job Sunday. Although he would deny it, we couldn't have accomplished all that we have without Greg Hall, the people in management up the chain, and the other people who work at Carmichael-Hemperley. I suspect that, in the years to come, we will only begin to realize how much we owe these wonderful people.

So, although it seems so inadequate, "Thank you Greg. Thank you owners and supervisors. Thanks to you, those who work and have worked at the funeral home over the last six years. We have prayed for you, your families, and your prosperity for over six years. We will not cease to do that in the days ahead. We appreciate you guys and have come to love you. Especially you, Greg. Most especially you. May the blessing of God Almighty, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

[Father David Epps is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church which serves the Coweta/Fayette County area of south metro Atlanta. He may be contacted at 770-252-2428, FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ctkcec.org.]

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