The Epiphany Offering

Many years ago, the Epiphany Offering was begun by the Episcopal Church Women with a corporate communion service and a "thanks be to God" offering reminding us of the first missionaries - the Wise Men - who took the good news of the birth of the Christ child to the Gentiles in the "eastern lands afar."

With the passing of time, all communicants in our diocese - men, women and children - joined together in participating in the Epiphany Offering.

Some churches plan a special Epiphany service and the offering collected at this service is given to the missionary chosen for the year by the Diocesan ECW.

This offering, which should be mailed to the Diocesan ECW Treasurer by March 1, goes to a missionary whose name is presented at the ECW Annual Meeting for diocesan-wide acceptance.

In 2006, the Epiphany Offering was sent to Celeste Handy, a missionary serving through Intervarsity Christian Fellowship with Native Americans in Gallup, New Mexico.

The 2007 Epiphany offering was sent to Camp Coast Care in Long Beach, Mississippi to aid the ongoing work of this Episcopal and Lutheran mission in a two-state area devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.