04 | January | 2014 | ' Ace Worldwide History '

#AceHistoryNews says on the 6th January as many other countries and people’s will be celebrating their “Christmas Day” it will be the Day of Epiphany” also, but the real roots of this day was a lot deeper than l first realise.

A Brief History

The Church of the Epiphany had its beginnings around 1894, in the informal gatherings of like-spirited Atlantans in the city’s first planned suburb, Inman Park. By 1898, the group’s lay services and Sunday school classes had grown sufficiently to warrant mission status. Bishop C. K. Nelson suggested the name Epiphany because it had been the name of his first parish, and because the new mission’s locale was the easternmost suburb of Atlanta—the Magi having come from the East. (Epiphany’s logo, a five-pointed star, serves as an apt, though unintentional, reminder of the parish’s first neighborhood, Little Five Points.) The chapel’s cornerstone of Stone Mountain granite was laid in March of 1898, and the first service was held in the building in May.Ten years later, in December 1908, the Church of the Epiphany was admitted to the year-old Diocese of Atlanta as a parish and called its first rector, the Reverend Russell K. Smith. In 1922, having outgrown its first building, the parish sold the Little Five Points property and moved to nearby Seminole Avenue. Epiphany flourished in this location, growing to 667 communicants in the next seventeen years.

The city’s outward expansion and social dislocations following World War II brought demographic transition to Inman Park, however; by 1953 the number of communicants at Epiphany had dwindled to 165. That same year, The Reverend Dr. Norman Gore was called as Epiphany’s sixth rector. Under his leadership, the congregation moved to its third location, having purchased the current property on Ponce de Leon Avenue from nearby Emory University in 1956. The first services were held in the new chapel in October 1957. An expansion of the church in 1961 increased the length of the nave, and in 1963 a new wing was built to include a parish hall and offices.

The last half-century has witnessed further demographic transition brought on by gentrification in the neighbourhoods surrounding the church. Throughout this period the parish has experienced continual growth and renewal. Membership grew steadily under the leadership of the Reverend Stanley McGraw (1971-79) and the Reverend Benjamin Turnage (1980-84). During this time, women began serving in leadership positions. (Betty Walton, the first woman elected to Vestry, in 1971, became the first female senior warden in 1973). By 1984, about 130 different households, including some 300 adults and children, were associated with the Church of the Epiphany.

In the Spring of 1985, at a time when women were only slowly gaining acceptance in the Episcopal priesthood, the Reverend E. Claiborne Jones accepted the call to Epiphany, the first woman to become rector of an Episcopal church in Georgia. Under her leadership, the parish undertook two major renovations. First, in 1988-89, the nave and narthex were completely renovated and expanded and a memorial garden was dedicated on the east side of the building.

Ten years later, in the wake of burgeoning membership and increased activity, the clergy and leadership recognized the need for room to grow. The resulting 2003-04 construction expanded the Parish Hall, added classrooms and provided room for the dynamic community life of the parish. The first services were held in the new building on Palm Sunday 2004. Membership at that time was 718. At about the same time, adjoining residential property became available, and the parish prayerfully determined to raise funds and take advantage of this rare opportunity to plan for future growth.

The ministries of the Church of the Epiphany have expanded along with, or even ahead of, the parish’s space. The full-time staff has grown to include an organist and choirmaster, an associate rector, and a parish administrator, as well as a facilities manager. In February 2006, Epiphany called The Reverend Benno D. Pattison to be its tenth rector. Benno has an infectious and exuberant enthusiasm for the work God calls. We believe that his leadership and our shared vision will galvanize Epiphany to strive to live out the Gospel’s radical values with gladness of heart. As of December 2012, membership was 1101, representing 469 households.

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