Friday, November 29 2002

By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

It's been an exciting and eventful six years for me.

In August of 1996, my family joined with eleven other people to begin something that had never before existed in this area. We began a "charismatic Episcopal church." In December of that year, Cal Beverly asked me to consider writing a weekly column in The Citizen newspapers. So, in a real sense, the church and this column have grown together.

Sometimes people ask, "What the heck is a 'charismatic Episcopal church?'"

I usually define that term by saying that "charismatic" comes from the Greek "charismata" and refers to the giftings of the Holy Spirit. Simply put, we believe that if something was possible in the New Testament church, it is possible today. We also believe that if something was normative in the New Testament church, it ought to be normative today.

"Episcopal" is also from the Greek, "episkopos," and is often translated "bishop." Our bishops and other clergy, for those who are knowledgeable about such things, are ordained in "historic apostolic succession," which means that their "ministerial pedigree" can be traced all the way back to one of the Apostles. Cool, huh?

The word for "church" is "ekklesia," another Greek word meaning "those who are called out to gather together."

So, we are people who have been called out to gather together, who believe that God still works among his people just as he always has, and who are under the care and nurture of bishops. I am not a bishop, I hasten to add, but our church, and the other churches like us in Georgia have a caring shepherd who watches over the flocks and "pastors the pastors."

People will also ask, "What kind of column do you write?" Well, it's not a religion column, or a political column, or a humor column. It's an opinion column and in it I share my opinion. I may be right and am sometimes probably wrong but, in America, it's a basic fundamental right to think and say what we believe. Sometimes that involves religion, politics, and even humor.

Over the course of the last six years, I have discovered that quite a number of you actually read my little contribution to this paper, and I am profoundly honored. Sometimes you send letters of agreement; at other times, you blast me for what you believe to be my wrong-headed thought processes.

I have had people ask about members of my family, send condolences when my dad died, and ask how the church is doing. There was even one lady who moved to this community a while back and felt she had left all her friends behind. Somehow, she read the column, liked my face (imagine that!), and felt a connection. She confessed that she faithfully read the column every week.

Almost by chance, I met her in the hospital and we struck up a friendship. I visited her several times in the hospital and then in the hospice. I prayed for her and brought her Holy Communion. She died a few weeks ago. She enriched me much more than she knew.

Several people have become members of our congregation as a result of this column. After having read these ramblings for several weeks or months, they finally visited us, hoping, I'm sure, that my sermons would be as interesting and as brief as the columns. One out of two ain't bad.

I have also met several people who have said, "We've thought about visiting you at church but we would rather wait until you are in your own permanent building." In fact, there are at least four waitresses in two restaurants, a nurse in a hospital, and a salesperson in a Christian bookstore who, in the last two months, have promised to visit us in our new church building.

So, I'm departing from my practice of sharing my opinion in this week's column and am desirous to do two things:

First of all, I want to thank those readers who have shared this column with me over the years. Your feedback, both positive and constructive, has helped to shape me, challenge me, and, in some cases, toughen me. Not a week goes by that someone doesn't stop me in the community to discuss a recent column. Thank you for joining with me in this venture.

Secondly, for all those who are without a church home, for whatever reason, I would like to invite you to our very first service in our brand new sanctuary this coming Sunday, Dec. 1, at 10 a.m. You may have just moved to the area, you may have dropped out of church long ago, you may have been hurt by religious people, or you just may be exploring this whole issue of faith and spirituality. We don't have a large congregation, just about 215 or so if everybody were to show up all at once, which they never do. The upside is that I get to know everybody personally!

Over 40 percent of our people were not in church prior to coming to Christ the King. We are not a typical "charismatic" church and we are certainly not a typical "Episcopal" church. In fact, I'd wager that you have probably never been to a church quite like ours. You may love us or we may not be your cup of tea. But I promise that you will be made welcome and I promise that you will be loved-which is especially important if you have been wounded elsewhere.

We aren't perfect and we know you aren't either, but we do trust God to transform the lot of us. So, here's my invitation to you to join with us Sunday. I'd be honored, after all these years, to finally get to meet you.

[Father David Epps is Rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church, which meets Sundays at 10 a.m. at 4881 E. Highway 34 between Peachtree City and Newnan. He may be contacted at 770-252-2428, at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ctkcec.org.]

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