News

On February 8th, Lena’s Place had a wonderful concert, including the folk music luminary, Frank Hamilton, who helped found the Old Town School of Music & was among the musician-activists of The Highlander School. He led us in singing “We Shall Overcome” reminding us that music can help fuel our efforts through these difficult times.

This month’s funds support Interfaith Children’s Movement! We raised $600 for their work.

Founded in 1984,  Lena’s Place Coffeehouse, is Atlanta’s longest running month music coffeehouse and showcase. Lena’s Place is a monthly opportunity to experience an eclectic mix of acoustic artists in a coffeehouse atmosphere. Lena’s is staffed by volunteers who love (and often play) music and who take pride in a professional presentation. Join us every Second Saturday at Central, in the Sanctuary. Doors open at 7pm! A suggested donation to support our rotating nonprofit gift designees is $10 at the door. For more information, you can check our calendar or visit Lena’s Place on Facebook.

At the end of 2024, the National Ministries of the United Church of Christ awarded a Neighbors-in-Need grant of $2500 to Central UCC to support the bagged lunch project for the Central Outreach & Advocacy Center (OAC). The award recognizes the embodiment of faith in the service of community. Once a month, Maureen O’Brien and her team provide bagged lunches for Central OAC clients experiencing homelessness. Congratulations to Maureen and all who have contributed to this justice-building project!

Steve Siminski, Central’s art exhibit coordinator, is presenting his own paintings in the Commons from Jan 5th through March 31st, 2025! During his early childhood, Steve was inspired by his grandmother as she periodically mailed him painting and art supplies while he attended North Carolina School for the Deaf and Fort Lauderdale Oral School. “As a manufacturer and designer of young girl dresses, she endlessly did sketches and drawings of dresses for her business. I was so fascinated by her proficient drawings and strong fashion knowledge. She was a genius in designing dresses”, Steve said.

Rev. Thomas was selected as one of 14 young ministers in the UCC to participate in the 15th cohort of the UCC Pension Board’s Next Generation Leadership Initiative. NGLI works to identify ministers who demonstrate promise for transformational leadership in the local church, and then equip them to do just that!

At long last, we have a new website. We hope that you’ll share this link with friends and family, and we hope that you’ll use it too.

“Can you hear me now?” asked Rev. Liz in celebrating the completion of our new AV system’s installation and training for our volunteer “Stream Team.” This project has been on Rev. Thomas’ “vision board” since his first few months at Central. And it has now come to fruition.

It’s been a busy year for the Trustees. From boosting our energy efficiency, addressing our HVAC system, and sprucing up some well-loved spaces, our team has been hard at work!

Dear Ones,

We continue to hear from many of you about your anxieties for the end of our election season. As a “swing state,” we have been blanketed by advertisements and commercials, inundated by phone calls and text messages, and visited by the major candidates more times than some of us would like to count.

Our state’s flurry of political activity has made clear that our country and culture are very divided right now. These divisions may be felt in our neighborhoods, rec leagues, jobs, schools, churches, and even our families. People from all parts of the political spectrum view this particular election as life or death.

It is okay for your heart to feel heavy. For your mind to be exhausted. And for you to feel the weight of your anxieties in this election. It is okay to be overwhelmed.