404-633-4505 | Join Us On Sundays at 11AM!
404-633-4505 | Join Us On Sundays at 11AM!
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Aug 01, 2025
Dear Siblings,
Can you believe that it’s already August? I can’t, but that doesn’t change reality! And so, this Sunday we’ll join together for our 3rd Annual Blessing of the Backpacks service. I love this service for many reasons:
On a personal level, the service is also a marker of sorts for me. This is our 3rd Blessing of the Backpacks service, which means that it is the start of my fourth year as your Associate Minister. Around this time in 2022, I had just signed my call agreement and was getting ready to load my moving van and drive down here from Boston.
Yes, it’s hard to believe it’s August. And, even harder to believe that we’re closing three years in ministry together!
And yet! Here we are. A bunch of oddballs and outcasts doing our best to love God and love people too. So, come! Come this Sunday for the Blessing of the Backpacks, to gather around the table for Communion(with a new communion hymn), eat Pizza on the Playground after worship, and welcome our new Artist in the Commons, Charles Scogins, during our coffee hour.
Bring your backpack, briefcase, coffee mug, lunchbox, etc with you on Sunday!
Come, not because you must but because you may.
And keep coming!
Be well,
Rev. Thomas
Jul 25, 2025
Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,
If you’ve ever heard me say, “I don’t pray nearly enough,” it’s only because it’s true. And that’s not because I don’t know prayers or how to pray. Sometimes I tell myself, “It’s all prayer.” And I do hope so. A consecutive dialogue with God is almost always going on in my head, a sort of “screen within a screen” voice doing commentary during the actual play on the field. Of course, I was thrilled to read that Luther Smith feels something like that, as he wrote in Hope is Here.
It’s an ongoing, learning practice. Pray for grace.
Our gospel reading for Sunday is Luke 11:1-13 where the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. Yes, the first verses there are The Lord’s Prayer that many of us know by heart in one version or another. Do you say “trespasses” or “debts”? I learned it first with debts and stumble over anything else, to this day. Coming to Central, I found “Our Common Prayer”—except that this version is most un-common to me. Maybe the stumbling is the best part; it makes me think about the praying instead of going to auto-pilot and all the way (way, way) back to my childhood.
How often do you think about these words? This is how Jesus answered when asked how to pray. I’m worried now that I didn’t teach it to my children. I think I did. I must have… Uh oh.
Have you ever heard The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic, the language Jesus would have spoken to the disciples on that day? Have you ever heard any prayer in a language you don’t understand? When I worked as an interpreter, I was invited to withdraw at the time of prayer because he prayed in his “mother tongue;” God was addressed in language unknown to me, needing no translation. Search YouTube for “Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic” to hear any number of recordings. I am especially interested in the hour-long chant before sleeping (https://youtu.be/YzNONU6-kzo?si=WcI-BsOMPWaET9Bp). If you listen and have a story to tell, know that I will want to hear it.
Here’s poetic approach from Parker Palmer:
https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/07/lords-prayer-father-mother.html?m=1
Join us if you can for worship on Sunday where we will continue this exploration of The Prayer Jesus Taught Us and maybe learn yet another approach to share with All Ages. Streamers or Gatherers at the church, c’mon in the house of prayer. We’ve “always wanted to be in the neighborhood with you,” as Mr. Rogers would sing, and look forward to it.
On the following Sunday, August 3, we have a Service of Word and Table (Communion) and the Blessing of the Backpacks, because it’s first Sunday and school starts the next day. When it’s this hot and summer vacation is over (even if it doesn’t feel like it), we should double down on our prayers, all our prayers, any kind of prayer. Everyone will need it.
Love and hugs,
Rev. Liz
Jul 22, 2025
Dear Siblings,
This email is a quick recap of my time at General Synod 35 in Kansas City! General Synod is a biannual (tri-annual beginning in 2028) gathering of people all across the UCC who come together as delegates, visitors, and guests to discern the call of some of our work in the world. Synod is also a sort of family reunion. This was my fourth Synod! I was glad to spend time with my colleagues in the Next Generation Leadership Initiative, catch up with Harvard Divinity alumni, spend time with my youth pastor(now a conference minister in Colorado), and visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The museum was very surprising. I learned that there were four teams owned by women, and there was an all-white team composed of members of the House of David religious group. Kansas City also has a fairly nice public transit system… perhaps MARTA’s next leaders will take a few cues from them.
Back to Synod:
As a matter of the United Church of Christ’s polity(governing structure), Synod speaks for the national setting of the UCC (our General and Associate General Ministers, national staff, etc). Synod speaks to the conference, association, and local church settings. There is indeed a difference between for and to! Curious about what that means for the UCC? Ask me!
If you do nothing else with this email, please please please make time for these two things:
Rev. Shari Prestemon was elected as the Associate General Minister for Love of Neighbor and Co-Executive of Global Ministries. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone in the convention hall who received more applause and love than Shari did. Read More about her historic election…
As Vice Chair, I presented part of the General Synod Nominating Committee’s report alongside our Chair, Rev. June Boutwell. I will now serve as the Chair of this committee through General Synod 36! And, we have our work cut out for us to solicit, interview, and nominate the slate of folks who will be elected to the UCC Board of Directors and lead General Synod 37.
Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson delivered her first State of the Church Address. Among many highlights was a call for churches to “stop counting empty pews as though their emptiness illustrates the full breadth of your congregation’s vitality.” She instead invited us to consider how we might all more clearly and boldly craft the narrative of our work. She also issued a clear rebuke of Christian Nationalism, calling it an “oxymoron” while also noting the ways that it harms the church. Watch the State of the Church address here.
Rev. Tony Coleman, Pastor of First Congregational Church in Memphis, delivered a powerful sermon during closing worship. He called all of us into a space of wonder and curiosity about the how and why we do things in our churches. The real invitation: an invitation not to do more work, but instead to do radically less. And he did this with a very creative metaphor about lawns, turf grass, and sweetgrass! Watch Rev. Tony’s sermon here.
Synod voted down a motion from the Board to amend the UCC bylaws and Constitution that would have shifted the positions of Associate General Minister from a called position of Synod to a hired position by the General Minister. The UCC and Unified Governance
Synod approved several resolutions of witness addressing:
The UCC moved forward in establishing full communion with two more denominations:
And finally, we celebrated 25 years of the Our Whole Lives (OWL) program; affirmed our goals of faithfully responding to the evolving language of mental health; and, approved the formation of the Keystone Conference.
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If you’ve read this far, yay! Find me on Sunday and you’ll get candy 🙂
And, if you’re thinking “hmm, maybe I’d like to go to Synod with Rev. Thomas in 2028,” let me know that too! … three years goes by very quickly. In 2028, we’ll celebrate the UCC’s 70th birthday in our hometown of Cleveland, Ohio! There are more frequent and near-by options to explore the wider life of the UCC. From August 15th – 16th folks across the Southeast Conference will gather for our annual meeting (mini-Synod) in Huntsville, Alabama. You can find more info here: Grace Upon Grace
Be well, Rev. Thomas Associate Minister |
Jul 18, 2025
Dear Siblings,
Recently, the conference staff hosted a series of clergy conversations to reflect on what it means to be church in these times. I was able to attend one of those sessions and found that many of the same concerns and questions I hold were echoed by my colleagues and by those they serve. The injustice we see around us seems to grow daily, and yet the roots of what we see now trace back to the earliest days of our society.
These types of conversations seem to be increasingly common. A few months ago, Rev. Thomas invited folks to gather on a Wednesday to ponder our own role in these times. You know something is important if you can get Central people to church on a weekday. In these conversations – here, among colleagues, or in other places – I have heard many things. I have heard frustration, fear, anger, grief and a lot of uncertainty. All these feelings are valid, and it’s important that we attend to these feelings and our own needs even as we attend to our work.
What does it mean to be the church in this time and moment? I can’t claim to have THE answer to that question, but I can invite us to continue to explore it together. Discerning our role in justice work has always been important – where am I called? What skills or gifts do I have that can be used for this work? Yet in a time when things feel more uncertain and unpredictable, and when some of our typical means of change are falling short, discernment becomes even more important. What does it mean for us to be the church in this moment? I don’t know that answer, but I believe that we might start to hear it little by little when we listen deeply to the Spirit – in our spiritual practices as well as in contemplation and conversation together. There is much that is uncertain and unjust in this time. The good news is we don’t face it alone. We are guided by the Spirit as we walk together toward a more just and compassionate world.
In Solidarity,
Rev. Kimble
Jul 11, 2025
Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,
Thomas has gone to General Synod 35 in Kansas City, MO. Why am I so excited? Here’s why.
When the United Church of Christ meets, there is nothing quite like it. You can never see such a diverse, energized, “multi-racial, multi-cultural” gathering in your life, apart perhaps from ComicCon. And it’s not just the Pacific Islanders who walk around in their traditional garb. It’s the elderly saints from the Great Plains whose straight-forward faith shows in their Bermuda shorts and their frank, faithful gaze. There are children and young people who are growing in faith and communion there, some to bear witness, all to learn. Children! Teenagers! I’ll never forget two girls I met once—Heaven and Grace. They were best friends.
Without fail, the meeting space is designed to the Synod theme on a modest budget with thrilling effect, and worship is where this people of God lift prayers, song, and praise in one voice. The speakers, the preachers, the worship leaders and musicians, the entertainment—everything is superlative and uplifting, enough to make one have visions and prophesy. The business meetings, well, this is where grace and mercy and the patience of God’s Own Self show up. It must be done, of course, and the saints of the church persevere. (I suspect the moderators have been touched by God, directly.) The atmosphere fairly vibrates.
General Synod is where you can see with your eyes what our denomination looks like and believes. Which brings to mind a story: When our son was a freshman in college and heavily (ruthlessly) evangelized by one very aggressive student group, he asked to go with them to “bring people to Jesus” on the beaches of South Carolina. Mr. Clement and I were agreed, this would not happen. Instead, I took him to General Synod (in Kansas City, as it happened) and later sent him to the Taizé community in France for a week. He saw a very different people of God. He is an Episcopalian now.
For those of us who will not go to Kansas City, there will be streaming opportunities through the session. I urge you to take advantage of these. Have a look-in on our church for an un-common view of an old faith alive and well in the 21st Century. Perhaps we’ll catch a glimpse of Thomas on the screen. See this link: https://www.ucc.org/gs-livestream/.
Meantime, back at Central, we have the parable of the Samaritan (the good one because mostly they were hated). Another old story in which to find new meaning. Come join us for worship on Sunday, Streamers and Gatherers, all y’all. We’ll hope to see you or be seen by you, whatever works.
Love and hugs,
Rev. Liz
Jul 03, 2025
Jun 27, 2025
Dear Siblings,
This Sunday is “Open & Affirming Sunday” in the United Church of Christ. Across our denomination, churches will gather and celebrate the good news of God’s love for us and our belovedness. Central already knows a bit about that, as many of you were here when you took the step of becoming an Open & Affirming congregation of the UCC. 20 years later, I hope that these words still ring true:
We affirm the diversity within our midst and beyond our doors and welcome persons of any race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, ability, and economic circumstance to full participation in the life and leadership, ministry and fellowship, worship, sacraments, responsibilities and blessings of participation in our congregation.
Central was the 490th congregation to become Open & Affirming. Just this week, the 1913th church in the UCC adopted an Open & Affirming covenant.
Many of those congregations, like Central, adopted a far-reaching statement of inclusion. We should celebrate that! We should also note that the focus of Open & Affirming has always been on inclusion of sexuality and gender. Indeed, that will be much of the conversation on Sunday.
In a world where the name of Jesus and the love of God are increasingly being invoked in ways that hurt and harm queer people, trans people, and anyone else whose experience of gender or sexuality falls outside of the “norm,” it’s important that we acknowledge the joy of knowing that God made all of creation and called it GOOD… indeed, VERY GOOD!
Sunday will be a celebration! A joyful service filled with the same spirit that carries the Open & Affirming work of the UCC. So, come. Not because you must, but because you may… and because you want to experience a glitter blessing too!
ALSO: Please don’t forget that our Budget meeting will gather right after the worship service.
Be well! And, be gentle to yourselves and one another,
Rev. Thomas
Jun 20, 2025
Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,
The lectionary text for Sunday is Luke 8:26-29, which I am inclined to give this headline: “Jesus Among the Demoniacs!” How appropriate. Isn’t it wonderful the way the readings in the Revised Common Lectionary—selected randomly about the time I was born—somehow meet us where we are right now, today? It’s spooky, to be honest, and most unsettling.
In Disciplines of the Spirit, Howard Thurman offers a telling that opens this passage for me in a way that makes it unforgettable. Have a look:
In the numerous encounters the Master had with individuals, none is more dramatic than his meeting with a certain madman, who stood staring at Him out of eyes that reflected agonizing turmoil within. From his wrists dangled broken chains. He was regarded by his community as possessed by devils; there were times when he became so violent that, as a measure of collective defense, he was seized and chained to rocks. Even then he could not be restrained when the turbulence within him leaped into muscle, bone, and sinew. The chains burst with the pressure and he would go shrieking through the waste places like a wounded animal. This was the creature who faced Him. He cried out to be let alone. And with gentleness, tenderness, and vast compassion, soft words issued from the mouth of Jesus: “What is your name? Who are you?” And the whole dam broke, and he cried, “My name is Legion!” He might have said: “This is the pit of my agony. There are so many of me, they riot in my street. If only I could know who I am—which one is me—then I would be whole again. I would have a center, a self, a rallying point deep within me for all the chaos, until at last the chaos would become order.”
Fundamental, then, to any experience of commitment is the yielding of the real citadel… Within us all are so many claims and counterclaims that to honor the true self is not easy. (Disciplines of the Spirit, Harper & Row, NY, 1963; pp 26-27)
These feel like times when demon spirits are taking over, running wild. “Jesus, do you notice? The tempest is raging! Don’t you care?” Those words are from Luke 8:22-25, the verses just before our text for Sunday, where Jesus calms the storm on the sea. Now, he has turned to the inner riots where we live. Interesting flow.
This book and this passage are unforgettable to me for more reasons than one. Mr. Clement and I read this book together very early on in our fifty-plus year relationship. (That’s impressive: courting with a soundtrack by Howard Thurman. The copy of the book we shared is so marked and obviously handled that it needs to be put in archival storage before it falls apart.) There were riots in my street back then, too, but I was in good company. The best!
FYI: As I read Howard Thurman these days, I notice that his language is not at all “inclusive.” I have decided that I will not let it bother me. Thurman’s grandmother was born in slavery and knew the most oppressive experience of “the Master” but that fact does not seem to make use of the same name for Jesus hurtful or off-putting for Thurman or his grandmother. I will honor his usage choices and extraordinary gifts as a teacher and pastor. I make no effort to rephrase or “update” it.
We’ll see what all this becomes by way of A Sermon for All Ages in worship on Sunday. Look for us, dear Streamers and Gatherers, online or in the building. Hope you can make it. Until then,
Grace upon grace, love and hugs,
Rev. Liz
Jun 13, 2025
Dear Siblings,
All throughout this week, I’ve had the British hymn “I Vow To Thee My Country” stuck in my head. The hymn is based on a poem called “The City of God” and it’s set to a portion of the movement “Jupiter” in Gustav Holst’s The Planets. The first verse is about Britain. The second verse is about heaven. Certainly, in my thinking of the hymn, I think of the US not Britain. I’ll share a few more thoughts on this on Sunday.
In other news, we’re officially in “Ordinary Time” now. Green is the color for much of the season. This season is the story of us and God. The Holy Spirit plays a big part here! Sometimes, I think “ordinary” is such an interesting way to describe major events. Every part of what we read encountered in our sacred texts and stories seems historic.
But that is kind of the point. When you step back for a moment it really is ordinary.
The terrible kings that ravaged the Northern and Southern kingdoms? Ordinary.
The toil and oppression of the people under those kings? Ordinary.
The small acts of courage and resistance? A big deal perhaps, but still ordinary in the grand scheme of things.
Ordinary time is our time. Amid moments that seem historic and simple, how do we respond to the story of Jesus? How do we find a way to make meaning and a bit of good trouble?
I cannot ignore the events of the world. As I’m writing this note, there are federalized National Guard members on the ground in Los Angeles. Israel and Iran appear to be at war. The final touches are being made for a massive parade in Washington DC to celebrate the 250th birthday of what is now the US Armed Forces. And in cities all across this country, there are predictions that millions of people will participate in what is being called “No Kings” Day in an effort to challenge the president.
Amid all of that, there will be picnics and BBQS. Summer trips will start and end. People will live, laugh, love, cry, and more.
Moments historic and simple all happening side by side. Yes, this is ordinary time… the time for the story of God and us… the story of how we respond to the story of Jesus.
Whatever you might do this weekend, I hope that you carry the courage and confidence of your convictions. I pray that you might reflect upon where and how the Holy Spirit is guiding you.
Regardless of how you spend your weekend, be good to yourselves and one another.
Rev. Thomas
P.S. We are very close to our goal of donating 700 cans of black beans. Can you bring 1 can with you on Sunday? We’ll pass our goal by the start of our service. 🙂
May 30, 2025
Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,
As you will remember, our guest preacher on Sunday will be Rev. Dr. Luther E. Smith, husband of our own Rev. Helen Pearson Smith, gentle and loving spirit, distinguished theologian and educator, and dear friend. Dr. Smith’s latest book is Hope is Here: Spiritual Practices for Pursuing Justice and Beloved Community (Westminster John Knox, 2023). After worship, he will join us for a Community Conversation in the Fireplace Room. The book will be available for purchase.
I trust you are making plans to be with us on Sunday and to stay for our time with Dr. Smith. This is an opportunity I very much look forward to and you don’t want to miss.
In The Monthly magazine that was issued earlier this week, you read about the “Summer of Exploration: A Journey Inward Together” that begins in June. With journeying inward fresh in my mind, I happened upon the following excerpt in Hope is Here and wanted to share it with you here. Under the subheading “Questions for the Quest,” Luther writes:
“Journey” is frequently used to describe how one is living the spiritual life. It evokes images of movement, seeking, engaging new realities and new meanings, the risk. The journey is a quest. A quest inspired by hope. A quest to feed the spirit’s hunger for fulfillment. A quest, whether or not we are aware of it, to give ourselves to God’s dream of beloved community.
A journey’s realities and our feelings about those realities are known and not known. Reliable maps? Maybe. Trustworthy testimony from previous travelers? Maybe. Support from others? Maybe. A strong desire to have a successful journey? Yes. Certainty that it will match our desire? No. Will I be safe? Maybe. Will I be the same at journey’s end. No. Is there an end to the journey? Begin and see.
The questions evoke more questions. Even answers evoke more questions. Questions are not our nemesis. Certainty may be our downfall, but not questions. With questions we quest with a searching heart and humility that are crucial to being alive to wisdom and confusion. The work of hope is accomplished with our embrace of the questions that inform and form us.
We will look to see you on Sunday for worship or Streamers, you can look for us. It will be a great day to be together around the Table of Communion (Streamers, have your elements ready) and to visit with Dr. Luther Smith for questions and conversation. We’ll do our best to stream that, too.
Love and hugs,
Rev. Liz
PS Please don’t forget the 700 cans of black beans for the Toco Hills Community Alliance until June 15th. THCA reminds us that “Hunger doesn’t take a vacation.” We can help keep the shelves full.
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