We’re a church following what Jesus taught, modeled, and believed.
1. We have a Simple Focus: Discipleship
Discipleship is a lifestyle of following Jesus. Discipleship undergirds everything we do at Epiphany. It’s a simple focus, yes, but it’s the one focus that powered the early church’s incredible growth and fruit in that hostile Roman world. We don’t do consumeristic Christianity. We do discipleship.
2. We Value People
Our church is highly relational—we value people more than we value things. That’s why our strategy as a church plant has been to get people together. Strategically, this approach is purposely different than getting church stuff together. Like Jesus did, we’re investing in our people. Our greatest resources are our energy, creativity, and love for God and neighbors.
3. We Have Work to Do
We have a vision to start a disciple-making movement in Peoria. We want to be a healthy church with a rhythm of gathering together weekly to worship (UP), doing life together by being a tangible part of each others’ lives (IN), and serving the community in tangible ways (OUT). Together as we grow we will cover an amazingly diverse collection of networks and neighborhoods with God’s love and blessing.
4. We’re Anglican, and our Practices are Ancient
As Anglicans, we express our faith in and love for Jesus in ways Christians have since the time of Jesus. We highly value communion and baptism, as they are sacraments and outward signs in the inner works of God’s grace in our lives. We experience formation through our liturgies, the liturgical calendar, and the lectionary.
We are connected to the Anglican Diocese of Quincy, which is a part of the Anglican Church in North America.
Interested?
We invite you to visit our worship gathering and check out what we’re about.
Our Team
Fr. Greg Lynn
Vicar
Greg is married to Alicia and they have two daughters and one son. He’s a graduate of The University of Texas and Fuller Theological Seminary. He understands his call as being a missionary in his own culture, calling people to be disciples of Jesus (not converts), and developing leaders.
Greg resonates with Anglicanism, because it’s liturgical and sacramental, offers less pressure and more depth. Liturgical/sacramental worship trusts that God is active and at work, so he doesn’t have to try to microwave a church “experience” for others. There’s room to breathe. There’s room to be an introvert. He deeply appreciates the rooted formation cultivated by the liturgical/sacramental way.
Some of Greg’s favorite things: soccer, indoor rock climbing, electric guitar, reading Cormac McCarthy novels, skiing, and Phish.
Fr. Chris Marchand
Pastor
Chris is married to Elisa and they have three sons and one daughter. Chris leads our worship music here at Epiphany. He went to Eureka college and studied literature and music and then went on to attend Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.
Chris loves how theological truth is mixed with poetic beauty in Anglicanism’s liturgy. He also loves the way God meets us in the sacraments and how worship is ancient and traditional and yet able to be adapted for today’s people. He yearns to create an atmosphere where people feel the freedom to open themselves up to God and express their worship with their minds, bodies, and souls, but also desires to shepherd people by teaching them about the faith.
Some of Chris’ favorite things: tennis, Rich Mullins, Sufjan Stevens, podcasting, and discussing any kind of music, books, or film/tv.