My Own Epiphany
"Arise, Shine, for your light has come." Isaiah 60:1
Surprise! I have not announced this anywhere on social media, but on January 1, 2026, I was appointed the new Senior Pastor at my church, West Los Angeles UMC. The past few months have been wild. If you told me a year ago that I would be typing this from the Senior Pastor’s office, at my new desk, I would have laughed.
In 100 years of this church’s history, there has been one female senior pastor. In 100 years of this church’s history, I am the youngest senior pastor to be appointed — probably by at least 20(+ ish?) years.
[A photo of me and our retiring Senior Pastor, Rev. Keith Inouye]
Perhaps that is why I’ve been a bit quieter here. I’ve known that come January, writing and speaking words would become my full-time job.
I am really excited to be sharing a lot more on here, now that I will be forced (with gratitude : ) to write and reflect each week. I’m hoping to share snippets of sermons or other musings.
Today, Tuesday, January 6th is the day of Epiphany. We observed Epiphany Sunday this past weekend, so I’ll include a portion of the sermon here.
I pray that wherever you are today, the light and love of Christ finds you.
Epiphany, from the Greek ephiphania, means appearance or manifestation. Appearance or manifestation. It is a day when we remember the magi who saw a star in the sky, a light illuminating their path, which would lead them to a newborn Christ. We remember this day as the appearance of the star, but also the public appearance of Christ to the world.
The night sky was dark, except for the bright star. They wouldn’t have found their way to the Christ child without it. So they journeyed out into the darkness, like so many of us do, not knowing what they would find. But what they find changes them, transforms them. In encountering the Christ child, the scripture says they left for their home country by another way. They did not return the way they came. They did not go back to the powerful ruler. The encounter with the child changed their present, their future, their direction.
Epiphany Sunday, along with the whole Epiphany season, reminds us that every year we have a new chance to look for the light of Christ. We do not outgrow Epiphany and we do not outgrow the possibility of God working something new in us. And as we seek this light, we, like the magi, can be changed again. We, too, can be transformed again. We, too, can let this light show us a new way to live.
A question for reflection I’d like to pose today, which I will mention again is this:
Where might the light of Epiphany be calling you, anew?
Where might the light of Epiphany be calling you in,
calling you out,
calling you, again?
I’d like to share with you one of my own epiphany moments, a moment of clarity and transformation, which is part of the reason I ended up here.
When I was a high school student leading a spiritual formation group of junior high girls, my youth pastor told me, “you were made to be a minister.” While my home church today does ordain women as pastors, at the time this was not the case. This was the first of a handful of memories I have from different people in my life affirming my passion and gifts to serve the church. For years, that affirmation stayed with me, even as I continued to wrestle with God about what faithfulness would look like. In my journey toward Christ’ light and toward God’s plan for my life, my direction felt blurry. Moving from California to attend a master’s program at Duke Divinity School in North Carolina, too, felt like a leap of faith, a step in the dark, unsure of where it would lead me. Even as I was in seminary, I found myself continuing to wrestle with God, asking God, “what do you want with me?”
Throughout seminary, my specific focus was on women in the Hebrew Bible. I spent all three years in my master’s program studying the language of Biblical Hebrew and taking classes on the different books of the Old Testament. By this time, I had figured out the question of what I wanted. I loved the academy and the sense of being surrounded by curious people, always wanting to learn more and ask questions. Because of these interests, I was aiming to apply for a PhD program in Hebrew Bible. My epiphany moment, a moment that caused me to change directions entirely, came in the very last semester of seminary.
I was in a class on the book of Jeremiah and its history of interpretation. The prophet Jeremiah and his call story had always stood out to me. He was called to be a prophet by God, but he was nervous about being too young. In Jeremiah’s story, he is told to “go” even if he does not know what to do or what to say. It was in this class, when I felt a stirring that I was not being called to do more graduate work at that time; instead, like Jeremiah, I was being called to “go” (Jer 1:7) and serve the community. I knew in my heart that my own plan and my own intention to continue in another program did not feel completely aligned. Having this epiphany moment, a moment of light and clarity, pointed me in a new direction. Though much of my time in seminary had been long moments of uncertainty, this epiphany moment gave me a sense of peace. I didn’t know what would come next, but I had this peace that God would provide the way, that God was working something out.
A few weeks later, I had a God-timed interaction with a pastor whom I deeply admired. She was someone I always wanted to work with, but I had assumed she would not have any interest in me, someone who was fresh out of seminary. To my shock and surprise, she shared with me that she was looking for an Associate Pastor for her growing church community. A few months later, her SPRC invited me to serve alongside her in her church as the Pastor of Community Life and Spiritual Formation. I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. The job, the staff (pictured below), and the church were like pieces of a beautiful painting that I could not have put together if I had tried.
In 2023, the decision to get married to a medical student shifted many things for me. My husband Phifer and I got married right after he finished medical school and right before his first year of medical residency. He was matched to UCLA’s surgery program and we moved here to LA. After a season of major life transitions, leaving my job at the church, and moving away from North Carolina, I questioned whether God was still calling me to the local church context. I wondered if I could find a church as joyful and life-giving as our church in North Carolina. Then, I met Rev. Keith, a good friend of my aunt and uncle. Then, I met you all (at West LA UMC). My continual call to the ministry was re-affirmed. God continued to open doors, lighting my way.
When I think about Epiphany, the concept of following Christ’s light and Christ’s light changing us, it really seems like our whole lives are a journey of Epiphany. Our whole lives, as children of God, are a journey to follow the light of Christ, to let Christ’s light guide us in the darkness, to step out even when we don’t know what’s next, and have faith that God is guiding. It’s a journey to let the light transform us, from the inside out, over and over again.
As we enter into 2026, there opens a path for a new way before us. Like the magi, we do not know what the journey ahead will entail. In this new year, there will be darkness in the sky. There may be storms or harsh weather, making it hard to discern our direction or what God is calling us to. There will be distractions, like other lights in the sky, fighting for our attention, daring us to take our eyes off of Christ and following something shinier.
We are being invited this year, in 2026, to follow that star again. To allow the light to guide us to Christ anew, so that we might re-discover the God who is always with us. We are being invited to step out into the wilderness and allow Christ Jesus to transform us again.
I’ll return again to the reflection question I asked earlier:
Where might the light of Epiphany be calling you?
May we seek it. May we find it. Together.
“Lift up your eyes and look around; Arise, shine, for your light has come” Isaiah 60