News

It will be such a joy on Sunday to see our Sanctuary overflow with the lilies you offered in honor of, or in memory of someone. Here is this year’s Lilies and Easter Mission Project Donor List .

And remember you have a few more days to offer a gift to our Easter Mission Project, which benefits El Refugio. El Refugio envisions a world without immigration detention. To maximize our support, we will accept donations to this fund by the end of April. You can use the online form or the printed form that you can find at the entrance to the Sanctuary.

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

“We welcome glad Easter when Jesus arose!” And we look forward to welcoming you for worship on Resurrection Sunday in the sanctuary or online. It’s always like a family reunion in the best possible way.

This Holy Week has been wonderful at Central, beginning on Palm Sunday. We know these stories, of course, but they reveal newness each time we hear and tell them. You’d think by now there is no more to say. Somehow, there is. The mystery of this season–everything I cannot explain or understand fully–is what I like best about the space between Ash Wednesday and the Season of Easter.

The Maundy Thursday service inspired us to look deeper within. Our Good Friday service should make the journey to the Cross come alive, and we will take time to honor the grief that surrounds us. For Holy Saturday, you may find the two poems here to be helpful in your devotions between today and Sunday. I have.

Easter Sunday will be a day of rejoicing as we greet the resurrected Christ and each other. We’ll look for you in worship online or somewhere around this place. Until then, grace to you and peace. Also, love and hugs.

Rev. Liz

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Thursday, April 10, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Room 102

An educator from the Dekalb County Fire Department will provide in-person CPR/AED training (without cost) for our church community at Central. All are welcome. Please note, this training will not lead to formal CPR certification.

To sign up for this training, or to obtain additional information, please contact Mary White at [email protected].

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

I can’t help it. This piece still has me stunned and rooted to the floor. So, I must share it. It’s from the UCC Daily Devotionals this past week. If you don’t get them, you’re missing a treat. www.ucc.org/daily-devotional/

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday. Rev. Thomas will be away, and we’ve been left in charge! On our best behavior, of course. We will have our fourth Lenten Lunch following worship—where does the time go?—and we’re uncovering Central’s “imaginal discs” (see below). One Great Hour of Sharing is this Sunday. That’s in our DNA, too. Please make your plans to give as generously as you can.

See you on Sunday and be seen streaming. We’ll be looking forward to it. Love and hugs,

Rev. Liz

Imaginal

And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NRSV)

Come Easter, much will be made of butterflies. The inching, munching caterpillar transforming into the bright, soaring butterfly is just too good a resurrection metaphor for some of us to pass on.

Something you may not know: once the caterpillar hangs itself up, a grand drama plays out. If the caterpillar itself can’t imagine the butterfly it will become, its cells sure can. As soon as the chrysalis closes, tiny structures called imaginal discs (that’s really what they’re called!) form in its body. Inside these discs are the genome of the butterfly, largely separate from the genome of the caterpillar. As such, the caterpillar’s body sees them as invaders. Its immune system attacks and kills them. But the genetic image of the butterfly will not be denied. The imaginal discs keep coming.

Eventually, the caterpillar’s immune system becomes overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. By then, the struggle has basically liquefied the caterpillar’s body. The imaginal discs then use the caterpillar soup to build a butterfly.

Maintaining homeostasis is often the way to go. It’s usually the best way to survive. Fighting unto liquefication can seem preferable to changing. But what if the thing you’re fighting is the seed of a great transformation?

What if the thing you’re attacking so hard is the image of what you were always meant to become?

Prayer

I may not be able to imagine my future, but I know you already have. When the image of you that you’ve implanted inside me makes itself known, help me to not fight too hard. Amen.

Quinn G. Caldwell is Chaplain of the Protestant Cooperative Ministry at Cornell University. His most recent book is a series of daily reflections for Advent and Christmas called All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas.

On April 12, Lena’s Place will host “Bob & The Beatles!“–a beloved tradition at the Coffeehouse. Come, bring your friends to listen to your Dylan and Beatles favorites–we all know the words!

Proceeds for this concert have traditionally gone to The Lena Werking Fund, which provides grants to area nonprofits, helping to fulfill the dream of its initial benefactor and Coffeehouse namesake, Lena Werking.

You won’t want to miss this show! Doors open at 6:30 pm. The concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Contact Evelyn Brewer for more information: [email protected] .

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.