Who We Are

Epiphany Lutheran Church is a congregation located in Carbondale, Illinois with about 130 members and many additional friends.  Members consist of people of all ages, individuals, and family units, life-long Lutherans and people trying to understand what “Lutheran” even means.  Epiphany partners locally with ecumenical and interfaith groups including SIU Campus Ministries; regionally with other ELCA congregations, state-wide through social service agencies, as well as nationally and internationally through the ELCA church-wide office.

Core to our belief is that each of us is made right with God through the love, grace, and forgiveness given by God through the crucified and resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ. We are met by God in two sacraments: Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion. While we cannot earn God’s love (it is a gift), we are equipped, empowered, and commissioned to love our neighbors, using our time, talent, and treasure. 

Mission Statement

We, the members of Epiphany Lutheran Church, seek to be a welcoming and caring community of faith, proclaiming and celebrating the love of God in Jesus Christ, and living humbly as God’s servants in the world.

Church Body

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a protestant denomination in the United States and the Caribbean region. The ELCA has nearly 9,000 congregations with a membership of 3.3 million people.

This is Christ’s church.

There is a place for you here.

We are the church that shares a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. Liberated by our faith, we embrace you as a whole person–questions, complexities, and all. Join us as we do God’s work in Christ’s name for the life of the world. Epiphany is united with churches near and far in the denomination, but partners in ministry with other congregations within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Central/Southern Illinois Synod. 

History

The Central/Southern Illinois Synod (CSIS) is a geographic area of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  It includes 117 congregations contained within approximately two-thirds of the state of Illinois.

Epiphany Lutheran Church is a tale of two church bodies. Epiphany Lutheran Church was founded in 1960 and The Lutheran Church of All Saints was founded in 1976. When the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was created in 1989 as a result of a merger between the Lutheran Church in America and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, Epiphany and All Saints followed to form one ELCA church in Carbondale in 1990. In 1997 the Epiphany building was renovated and a new worship space created. 

History of the ELCA

For a complete history of Epiphany Lutheran Church, go to our History Page