Hey folks!
I know you miss us (we miss you too), so we’re giving you EPIC all summer long! Experience EPIC Lite this summer, every other Tuesday, beginning May 14. We’re planning tons of fun events, from chill summer hangouts to photo scavenger hunts to… canoe paintballing? (We’ll see.) Sign up for our email list to hear all the latest!
Summer is coming!
Kirsten and the EPIC Crew
Come join us for a stress-relieving night of laughs with guest comedians Ed Childs and Nathan Leverette!
As usual, if it’s your first time, your drink is on us!
Thursday March 14th at Dewey’s Coffee Bar & Lounge, 6:30 pm
Just fyi, we’re not meeting over reading week! See you again Feb 28. :)
Hi Friends!
EPIC has moved its gatherings to THURSDAY nights this year! Otherwise, it’s the same great place (Dewey’s) at the same time (6:30pm).
See you there!
EPIC is a student church on the University of Alberta campus, but we think that being a church is way more than having a building or a once-a-week service that involves singing and listening to sermons.
We believe that being a “Christian” is a 24/7 lifestyle–not just for Sundays, or even Mondays–and that it’s meant to be lived in community with other people. EPIC is an organic, grassroots movement that was initiated by U of A students and staff who started gathering in November of 2007 to brainstorm ways of redefining church and what it means to be a Christ-followers in Canada, particularly on our university campus. That led into the formation of an official student group, EPIC Student Church, and the launch of a new church community on campus on September 23rd, 2008 (which happened to be the U of A’s 100th birthday–is that “epic” or what!). EPIC is by no means complete; we are continually learning (making mistakes, and doing some things well), growing, and morphing. Why don’t you join us for the journey?
EPIC Student Church is a community that journeys with people at the U of A, together finding our place in the “epic” Story of God, humanity, and the universe.
Specifically, EPIC seeks to accomplish three main objectives:
We highly value loving, meaningful relationships with other people. As a living, organic community, we want to grow in the quality and quantity of relationships we have with others. To describe the many ways we attempt to grow community would take up an entire webpage, so we’ve created a separate one for it! Check out our Community Page.
We believe in taking action to better our world according to Christian principles. This begins with each of us discovering our talents and passions and wholeheartedly using them in our immediate contexts: family, friends, neighborhood, school, work, city, province, country, world…. It involves taking action in areas like faith, humanitarian aid (including action to alleviate poverty), environmentalism, politics, better business practices, academics, arts, social relationships, recreation, and pretty much every other part of society. To see specific examples of how world-changing action is finding expression through our church community, check out our Community Page (again).
We desire to grow in an experiential knowledge of God through an intimate, everyday relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. We do that by:
Encouraging regular individual and group involvement in classic spiritual disciplines like prayer, meditation, study, fasting, service, confession, and celebration–in our weekly church gatherings, and in everyday individual or group experiences.
Encouraging a life-perspective that sees every activity in daily life as a potential for meaningful worship to God.
Sharing stories from our life journeys with others–in weekly church gatherings, and in everyday encounters with others.
As we’ve already said, EPIC is an organic, grassroots movement initiated at the University of Alberta, by U of A students and staff. That’s not to say that we stand alone, however.
EPIC is officially affiliated with:
Pentecostal Campus Ministries of the University of Alberta
Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
*Although EPIC embraces its Pentecostal roots, we are by no means exclusive. To us, EPIC is far more about welcoming people than excluding anyone.
We would love to have you become an official member of the EPIC Community!
There are no fees for becoming an EPIC member. You simply have to read through a copy of the EPIC Constitution, and sign a membership form acknowledging that you agree to act in harmony with it.
Keep in mind that you do not have to be an official member to attend most EPIC gatherings and events, although non-members are excluded from official business meetings and leadership involvement.
Send any questions or membership concerns to info@epicstudentchurch.com.
EPIC Gatherings
Weekly EPIC Student Church Gatherings 6:30 p.m. Thursday Nights @ Dewey’s Coffee Bar, Lounge, & Eatery
(Click here for Map)
What you can expect at EPIC Gatherings (it’s not your typical ‘songs and a sermon’ church service!):
EPIC Socials
At EPIC, we think that being a community includes doing some FUN stuff together. What stuff? Well that all depends on what we’re up for…
EPIC Socials are periodic EPIC community social events like house parties, BBQs, and retreats.
Check the EPIC Calendar on our homepage for our next Social!
EPIC Giveaways
Like any church community, EPIC needs money. We have regular operational expenses, and we rely on donations to cover them. We do not; however, like keeping things to ourselves. That’s why we give away part of everything we get.
At minimum, 20% of every donation received by EPIC automatically goes into something we call the Mercy Fund.
The purpose of the Mercy Fund is for money to be used to creatively fill the needs of the community around us. How does this look? We’re not exactly sure–because it’s different every time.
Once every semester the EPIC Student Church community does something called The EPIC Giveaway. We empty the coffers of our Mercy Fund, divide the money up equally, and give it to groups of EPIC members (ya–that means YOU, if you’re a member!). We then tell each group to think of the best way they can give the money away. The group may re-distribute it to another student group, a family in need, a local community service, an aspiring entrepreneur who needs a boost–the options are pretty broad. All we ask is that each group take a camera along and take some pictures of the giveaway (if the setting is appropriate and it protects the recipients’ privacy and dignity). The pictures help each group tell the story about their giveaway when we get together and have our Giveaway Celebration gathering towards the end of the semester.
By doing this we want people to become aware of the many different needs around them in which they can help out. The Mercy Giveaways should open our eyes and help build encouraging relationships with those around us. We want to bring creativity and excitement back into the act of giving to the poor and providing for those in need.
So go ahead and become an EPIC Member, and check the EPIC Calendar for the next EPIC Giveaway that you can get involved in!
EPIC Networking
One of EPIC’s main objectives is to better our world. There are a lot of other groups besides EPIC taking action on this from a variety of perspectives. Social justice, environmentalism, recreation, politics, academics, and arts are just a few. EPIC agrees. We want in.
EPIC thinks that passion is important. We think people are passionate about all sorts of things, and we want to work with people to do what they are passionate about. In short, we want to encourage you to connect to the things that make you tick – ending poverty, politics, playing sports, even engineering – and help you work with people who think the same way.
EPIC doesn’t want to start its own campaigns for these things. We want to join up. We want to help out. And here is where we want to start:
EPIC wants to make a constantly expanding ‘hub’ for these connections. We want to keep track of the other groups EPIC members are involved in, keep track of other groups that exist to get involved with, and help people get connected. We encourage our members – and non-members – to think about what they love to do the most, figure out how they can use it to help the world, and do it. We also want to help groups work together. Those that do similar things should work together, and EPIC wants to be one of the common strands that can help tie it all together.
If you want to link your student group or community initiative to EPIC’s growing network, email us!
EPIC Neighbourhood
At a fundamental level, EPIC wants to be a caring community–not just a bunch of people doing programs.
We know that people are great at stuff, and other people are great at other stuff. We also know that people need help sometimes.
So… EPIC wants to help out.
This help can come in a variety of different forms. Since EPIC is based at the University of Alberta, schoolwork is a good example. Some courses are tough and the nature of a university is that there are people around who know that stuff. EPIC wants to get people in the community who are good at stuff to help others with it. If you are having trouble with your killer calculus course, then someone who knows calculus like the back of their hand should be able to offer some assistance. Maybe you’re wrestling with confusion and that overwhelming feeling that started when university did. The good news is that there are people around who have dealt with it before and can presumably can offer some advice.
It goes further, too. Is your car broken down? Maybe you need a ride. Are you moving next weekend? Maybe you need an extra set of hands. Do the walls need painting?
You get the idea. Life isn’t meant to be attacked alone, so don’t be afraid to ask for a little help.
In peer-to-peer fashion, the EPIC community wants to lend you a hand.
So if you have a need just email us.
Office: 6-24 SUB (Students Union Building)
Phone: 780-492-5118
Email: info@epicstudentchurch.com
