Case Study
The Church of the Epiphany in Glenburn, PA, is located within commuting distance of Scranton. Originally a one-room schoolhouse, the church sanctuary is over one hundred years old and the grounds feature an entrance to the popular rails-to-trails conservancy network (this specific section is called the “Trolley Trail”). Epiphany gets steady foot/cycling traffic because of its location, especially from April to November, and they are intentional about engaging this natural traffic: at the trailhead they have an enclosed bulletin board that they use to advertise church and community events, and they also hang banners there to help potential visitors make a contact point with the church community.
Beyond all this outward-facing activity, Epiphany intentionally builds up community renovations, have an ongoing relationship with a homeschooling consortium that uses the building and grounds to conduct science classes, and welcomed a local art program for children with disabilities to do a two-week program in the parish hall.
Working beyond these smaller groups, Epiphany also collaborated with the local conservancy to host a winter solstice concert that was organized with community partners such as the local library and the town. The event was on church grounds, so they opened the building to allow for visitors’ access to facilities and warmth in the church. Epiphany seeks to establish a kind of familiarity with the broader Glenburn community through
these kinds of engagements, helping people to feel like they know what the church is about before visiting a Sunday service. Epiphany also became a sponsor of a local public radio station, thereby getting regular advertisement over the airwaves and increasing this sense of familiarity with the station’s listeners.
Epiphany has always been involved in the broader Glenburn community. They work with the local food bank (located in a nearby Methodist church) and sponsor a twice- yearly highway clean up (SR-11 runs near the church). Furthermore, they regularly host local groups at their building and allow their space to be rented out: they hosted a local pottery group whose building was undergoing members who are already churchgoers. At the beginning of Covid, a parishioner set up an online church streaming operation that allows those watching online to participate in the service—they are able to do readings and offer the Prayers of the People during the liturgy. At the end of the service there is even a space dedicated to greetings and conversation between those worshipping online and the congregants physically present. As a result, Epiphany has the highest rate of live online worship viewing of any of the churches currently working with TryTank.
Epiphany uses technology in other ways, too, working with a text-messaging service to establish ongoing connections to members and visitors while providing spiritual content and meditations. This increased technological engagement has paired well with the church’s ongoing community engagement. In fact, Epiphany’s ASA has increased from averages in the low/mid 20s to high 30s and low 40s, almost doubling the size of the congregation.