Epiphany Fellowship

Generally, I believe, the consensus is you either write a review about a place if you have a fantastic experience or miserable experience. I am writing a blog post because I have had an extraordinary, absolutely incredible, experience. 

Let me first say, I am being reintroduced to Christ and I  l o v e  it. I could not be more grateful for God's grace and provision in my life and truly keeping me when I did not even know I did not want to be kept. If you know me, you know I never dreamed, thought, wanted to, desired to, knew, would have guessed I would marry a preacher. But, God knew I would need his incredible knowledge, wisdom, and insight to help me grow deeper in Him. 

A couple weeks ago, Kevin mentioned wanting to go to Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia for their Good Friday service, if our church didn't have one. Luckily, our 7 Last Words of Christ from the Cross service was on Thursday in place of our regular Thursday night service! 

Kev has followed Dr. Eric Mason (Pastor and Founder) for several years now, and of course has recently put me on to his ministry, books, and podcasts. Pastor Mason is currently doing a series on family that Kev and I are into, and more than every so often Kev revisits his book Manhood Restored. He has a clear passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, planting churches, particularly in urban, underdeveloped neighborhoods, manhood and Blackness. So, needless to say, we were hyped to go. 

And needless to say, by the simple fact that I'm writing this post, our expectations were exceeded. 

We drove into Philly, down Girard Avenue, past Temple University, through the hood, straight to the doors of Epiphany. It's in a big building that resembles what could have previously been a school, it held true to Pastor Mason's mission of being in the CENTER of an urban neighborhood. 

The service started at 7, we walked in around 7:45 through front double doors, up three flights of stairs to a vestibule of about 8 people standing and windows looking into a packed church. They were on the 3rd of the last utterances of Christ, "Mother, behold your son. Disciple, behold your mother" (John 19:26-27) The usher, in regular clothes, instructed us that they were at capacity, but we could head to the balcony to stand. We found seats at the back and shared our row with a mother of two pre-teen boys. Our section of the balcony held about 20 people - Black people, White people, Hispanic people, young and old, with jeans, joggers, sneakers and skater skirts on. The church was filled with Black people, White people, Hispanic people, Asian people, young, old, super young and super old with jeans, joggers, sneakers, skater skirts, blazers, graphic t-shirts and leather jackets on. The two people who stood out most to me were a young White man and young Black girl, probably college-aged or a little older, who both were sitting separately in my section with physical Bibles in their hands. Whet?! 

The service went like this:

• "Mother, behold your son. Disciple, behold your mother" (by a spoken word poet)

• Video presentation of members who had felt forsaken in their lives

• "My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?" (by a preacher who preached)

• Choir sang

• "I Thirst" (by a spoken word poet)

• Children presentation

• "It Is Finished!" (by a preacher who preached)

• Violin selection of The Blood Will Never Loose It's Power

• "Father into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit" (by a preacher who talked)

• Praise team sang about 4 songs

• Pastor thanked everyone who was involved, mentioned he had no part in organizing the service, and gave a benediction

I got half way through the service before I realized there was no moderator. There. was. no. moderator. In "traditional" church, this is unheard of. No one told us who was coming next, I have no idea of anyone's names, there were no pauses or delays, everyone got up when they were supposed to and sat down when they were supposed to. It flowed perfectly with no help. Incredible! 

During the benediction, Pastor Mason called it "old school" to put up your right hand while praying, I got a kick out of that one. But, after the benediction, an Associate Pastor asked everyone to wait a minute so that the church could collectively pray over the Pastor and Yvette (Mason's wife - whom they don't refer to as "First Lady" because that was also "old school"). He explained that while they've had the opportunity to travel and proclaim the Gospel all across the country, they have encountered health challenges and asked the church to pray "Popcorn Prayers". Slowly, but surely, and amazingly, the church energetically began praying Scripture, prayers of health, prayers of strength and prayers of encouragement - out loud, one by one. They finished, closed the prayer, and went home. Incredible! 

They didn't take an offering. Incredible! 

E v e r y minister, elder, person who put their lips to a mic was PHENOMENAL. They EACH spoke eloquently and with conviction, clearly studied, not only their text, but the whole Gospel, they were relatable and smart and thorough, they pointed e v e r y t h i n g to Jesus Christ! Every song the choir and praise team sang was about Jesus, it was a healthy mix of new school stuff I'd never heard of about sin being great, but Jesus being greater, and Great is Thy Faithfulness.  INCREDIBLE! 

God was there. You could not miss Him. More importantly, He was glorified! Epiphany Fellowship is a true reflection of who they say they are and what they say they stand for. Their website states: 

Epiphany Fellowship is a church located in the heart of Philadelphia, PA. We are a local church learning what it means to follow Jesus. We continually grow in our relationship with Jesus and one another through bible studies, life groups, and various events that ignite us to be agents of change in our city. Similar to the early disciples, we are a community of various ethnicities, families, singles, professionals, Philadelphia natives, college students, artists, and seasoned saints, which makes us quite the motley crew to serve Jesus.

Facts. Facts. And more facts. I was impressed. Beyond impressed. I was elated. I am encouraged. 

Thank you Pastor Mason and Epiphany Fellowship! I pray God's continued blessings and favor as you all and all the Epiphany's continue to follow Christ for real. We'll be back!