On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Epiphany School welcomed Bishop Alan M. Gates for a visit. Gates spent the morning touring with Head of School John Finley, meeting students and faculty, and learning more about daily life at the school. After lunch, the entire school gathered for Wednesday chapel service, with Gates presiding. The Rev. Cathy George served as chaplain to the bishop. The event was coordinated by the Rev. Cliff Brown and supported by an Epiphany favorite, the Rev. Edwin Johnson. Epiphany School uses an interfaith
Ann-Margaret Caljouw
Bishop Gates at Epiphany School
lectionary in its weekly worship, and students take the lead: reading the lessons, giving the homilies, providing the music and offering the prayers.
The students were intrigued with the bishop’s elaborate garb—mitre, robes and cross—and he capitalized on their curiosity to talk about the importance of “living up to the person you are, inside and out.” He invited several members of the community to stand and serve as examples, noting that each displayed something in their outer appearance that reflected who they are on the inside. “Living this way, being true to yourself,” Gates said, “is called having integrity.”
Gates then explained to students how his mitre and cross remind him of who he is, that they serve as symbols of the job he needs to do. He spoke about how he knows every time he puts on these special adornments that he needs to do his best to live up to the job his clothes represent. The symbols remind him of “the promise he made to be an ambassador of God’s love.” Gates reminded Epiphany students, as they stood there clad in Epiphany shirts and sweatshirts, that, like him, it is their job to live up to the school their clothes represent, “by working hard, being honest and by having goals and dreams.”
Gates said that in talking with students and in witnessing firsthand Epiphany’s program and approach to worship, he saw a genuine eagerness to learn, to grow, to fulfill potential. He also commented on the true sense of community at Epiphany, most notably in the way in which students support each other. Gates said that what he felt most about Epiphany was that it was “a joyous place.”
--Ann-Margaret Caljouw