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Dear Siblings, 

This Sunday, we’ll gather in the bittersweet celebration of Rev. Liz’s ministry with Central. I’m grateful to our History Team, particularly Allen Moye, who combed through our archives and determined that Rev. Liz is the 33rd Senior Minister of Central Congregational UCC. Our service on Sunday will reflect on the words of the psalmist found in Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18. We’ll have special music during the service too! 

Please be sure to plan to stay after the service for a farewell luncheon in honor of Rev. Liz!

See you Sunday,

Thomas

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

 Happy Juneteenth!

Blessed Juneteenth, too, if you can manage it. It’s a new observance for many of us and a wonderful excuse to celebrate our checkered history as a nation. Two hundred and fifty years of trying to get along with each other and find forgiveness, reconciliation, and grace. It has not been “all lambs and bunnies,” as Roberta Bondi would say, but I have to believe we have come a long, long way and perhaps even done our best. Jeez, it’s hard to leave what we know for a place we don’t.

On this last, please see Ken Samuels’ Daily Devotional here!  

And now, speaking of what we know (or think we do) and what we don’t, you may be asking what I was doing in Paris. And you may not be asking but I want to tell, so. If I told you this story before, please forgive me.

When I lived in Paris, lo, these many years ago, it became my practice on Fridays to leave the first dance class I had ever had, where I constantly fell short of the glory of God and the dance teacher, and where my inability to understand either dance language or French was on display mercilessly, to take a bus ride. To console my wounded spirit, I would look for a route that I had not ridden before and take it to the end of the line, where I would get down and get lost. In a neighborhood that I’d not seen before. (Paris has hundreds of neighborhoods, all unique and fascinating.)

To make these little sojourns interesting, I had two goals in mind as I wandered. First, to find a different bus to go home and, second, to sample the pastries of a different patisserie. Over time, a little contest emerged to see who made the best croissant, then pain au raisin, and finally, gâteaux aux amandes. Oh, the butter! I got lost, repeatedly. I got found just as often. I saw parts Paris that I would never have seen and have not seen since. And I learned this: To be found, you must first be lost. (The best croissant turned out to be downstairs from me, chez M. Weber.)

The gospel reading for this week is Matthew 10:24-39. That passage is full of the wonderful paradoxes included in “the cost and joy of discipleship” and the Christian life. All the week’s readings brought my Paris practice to mind. My personal paraphrase of Matt 10:39: “Those who find life in following in the way of Jesus will lose it, those who lose life for Jesus’ sake will find it.” But you gotta risk being lost for a time, find the faith and trust in between. This is the really hard part. Pray God there’s a patisserie along the way to keep your courage and faith up. The risks of lost are many, the rewards even more.

This is my last Friday eNote as Designated Term Senior Minister at Central Church. It’s time to “find my way” and the bus that will take me to a neighborhood I don’t know and then find my way home to another location and vocation. I’m sure I did not know that when I set out on that trip earlier this month, but I had a practiced pattern there. At home now, I am sure there was method I could not yet see in the trip. “And G-d heard…” Genesis 21:17

Sunday at Central has lots to offer including, adult Sunday School classes at 9:30 am; 11:00 am worship, in the house and online; children in the foreground and background, making their precious noises; a congregational budget meeting (whohoo!); and the fellowship of all of us together on this journey by stages with music, prayer, flowers and Coffee & Conversation. A time to gather in celebration of Fathers, and communion with God and neighbors. I hope your wanderings will find you “home” with us.

Love and hugs,

Rev. Liz

PS I did miss you, Paris notwithstanding. I will miss you again. It’s been a great ride.

Join Jillian W. and Rev. Thomas on Thursday nights for a summer discussion group where we’ll explore Christian imagery and themes in the works of Lady Gaga. Please sign up, so we know who’s interested: Electric Chapel Sign Up.

Thursdays at 7pm | Connie & JoAnne’s house | Sign up for address info.

I’m looking forward to being with you again on Sunday. I’m grateful to Rev. Cecelia for offering the sermon last week, and to everyone in the Gen XYZ(formerly 20s/30s) group for leading worship alongside Josh.

Rev. Liz was(and still is) in France! And I was in Savannah and Tybee Island. Returning to work was really fun this week. On Wednesday, we closed our first cohort of the Sacred Seasons conversation group. I wasn’t sure what would happen in that space, nor who all would show up, but I’m so glad that for six Wednesdays, a dozen people showed up for two hours, to sit and talk about the reality of death. That space became, in the words of almost every participant, a “trusted and safe space” to talk about the things that are in their hearts and on their minds. I’m sad that our cohort has ended, but I’m also looking forward to the group that will gather in the fall… perhaps you’ll be part of that group.

On Thursday, I spent an afternoon with the Harrisons, touring Red’s Farm Preserve in Ormewood. The urban farm is a really wonderful testament to vision, stewardship, and community partnership. It’s also home to some wonderfully ripe blueberries :).

You can learn more about Bill Harrison’s late son “Red” in this beautiful obituary published in the AJC.

In both of these experiences, I’ve thought a lot about the work that we’re called to do in the world. Who calls us? How do we know? Do we do it together or alone? And I think there’s probably some question of “worthiness” in there too. On Sunday, the lectionary invites us into the story of Jesus commissioning the disciples, which hits on all the things I’ve already been thinking about. I have a hunch you’re thinking about them too. So, let’s make meaning together on Sunday, according to our best endeavors… the Lord assisting us. 

See you Sunday, 

Thomas

Friends, Christians, countrymen, 

We’ve heard descriptions of the Holy Spirit quite a bit in recent sermons: it’s present but invisible, like a breeze; comforting and dependable, like a blanket. The week before Jesus ascended to heaven, he described the Holy Spirit as an “advocate” or “comforter” he was leaving with the disciples. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire that made the disciples understandable in every language.

In the GenXYZ class, we’re picking up the story right after this happens. We’re exploring the lives and actions of the nascent Christian church after Jesus left. We”ve discovered how they express their remarkable experience to others and what they did in response to the message, “you have been saved”. I’m not really sure where to find the Holy Spirit in my life, or where it’s leading me. That’s one of the things that drew me to the class.

Together, we’ve found some guidance on where to begin  The early church in Acts 2:42 “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers”. In pursuing those tenets: apostles’ teachings, fellowship, shared meals, and prayers, we’ve been able to take small steps towards listening to the Holy Spirit when it calls us and emulating Jesus in our everyday actions. Quoth Reverend Liz, “Have you seen him?”

So far in our reading, the Holy Spirit has filled and empowered the apostles to share the truth of Jesus. In Acts Chapter 2, while witnessing to crowds in Jerusalem on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit made them understandable in every language. When they were questioned in Acts Chapter 4 after being imprisoned for speaking of Jesus’ resurrection, it filled the uneducated disciples with the boldness to proclaim Jesus’ message of salvation for all. Moreover, the church’s actions after Jesus left are radical, then and now: they held all possessions in common, gave their material wealth to those in need, and focused their lives on supporting one another and spreading witness. 

In that light, the Holy Spirit looks like something incredible; a momentous force that can spur large groups of people to act with peace, love, and understanding. I want to experience it, but my everyday life feels very far from the world of the early church. How can I become filled with the Holy Spirit? From what we’ve read thus far, I think it’s about leaning into boldness, spontaneity, and action, as the early church did. I don’t have the full picture, though, so I’m excited to hear your thoughts on Sunday. 

I do think I’ve heard the Holy Spirit in my life before. You might be familiar–that pain you feel when you see someone in need, the little voice that says “Someone should do something”? I think that’s a whisper of the Holy Spirit, pushing us to action in the things we care about. Because God loves us, he gives us the ability to add more love, kindness, and justice to the chaotic world we inhabit. Each person is uniquely skilled in some part of making the world better, no matter how small. I hope you’ll join the conversation on how to reflect God’s love in our world. It wouldn’t be the same without you. 

Thanks for lending your ears, 

Autumn Siebold

Dear Siblings,

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. Last week, I went up to Tennessee to be with my family, as my grandfather’s health continues to decline. He’s fine for now. Thank you for your prayers.

In the middle of the week, I went to Utah to visit a few friends. I enjoyed returning to Salt Lake City! This Sunday, we’ll encounter the Trinity and sit with the many names of God. I’m often curious what it is that we intend to do when we name God. Perhaps you’ll think about this a bit too over the next few days.

As always, there are many things happening in the life of our community, so be sure to check out the big updates below and check out the June edition of the The Monthly!

See you Sunday,

Thomas

We are excited to present to you “The Monthly” for June 2026.

Check out this month’s newsletter for:

• “Three Pictures and a Prayer” by Rev. Liz
• Community Conversations with Larry J. Anderson, MD
• Annual Budget & Leadership meeting
• Faith Formation opportunities
• A Story from Central’s History: “Dr. Amey Chappell and the Saving of Central”

Click here to download “The Monthly”! There are also paper copies in The Commons, in The Sanctuary, and in the Church office. Be sure to add events and gatherings that you‘re interested in to your calendar.

Enjoy “The Monthly” and all the events and gatherings you are going to attend!

Hallelujah! It’s here. The Day of Pentecost has finally come again. It’s my favorite, you know. Well, of course you know. I won’t let you not know. And, besides, as you often hear me say, Pentecost is never far away…even if it seems not near enough to suit me.

 Why, you ask? For a few reasons, the first of which is the wonderful surprise of it all. Religious life should have surprises, early and often. Don’t you think? The kind of surprises that draw us out of our certainties and limits, and into the realm of what is possible and beyond our knowing. Oswald Chambers once wrote, “The God who made birds did not make bird cages.” On the Day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God was set free to fly where it will.

 Another reason—as our XYZ Acts class knows—is that the Pentecost story in Acts 2 takes us out of the experience the apostles have with Jesus and into their own experience of what his life and power can mean in them and in the world. Hey, and WE are those followers, too. Like them on that day, that power and Spirit can give us bold proclamation in acts and speech it makes us able for.

 The experience of the Holy Spirit is a bit of a pivot, if you will. In the Christian calendar, it marks the shift from “the Story of Jesus” to “the Story of the People of God.” It is also the promise of power redistributed; from what the power and spirit of God in Jesus Christ was able to do, to what the power and spirit of God IS able to do IN US, real time. All of us. Note the extraordinary diversity of that list of nations present. No respecter of persons, this Spirit. More possibilities than we can imagine, omni-competent, face fantastic, wicked smart and well-resourced as we surely are.

Still another reason to love Pentecost is that it answers the question “So Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead—so what?” It does not, however, answer definitively for everybody and always. Instead, Pentecost offers the experience of that day—the confusion, the astonishment, the awe—as a question to live with and live in. If the Resurrection is real, it will be visible in empirical forms in and through us. Can we know how? Perhaps, but only if we can open to and receive what is possible beyond our knowing. If we can be Pentecostal.

OK, that was a mouthful. 

Join us for worship this week, if you can. We will be singing in tongues, and hoping to see you and be seen in our gathering. The Phoenix Sewing Bee will present a Veteran’s quilt to James Holley, this by way saluting those who have served our country and especially those who gave their lives, as is appropriate this Memorial Day weekend.

Love and hugs,

Rev. Liz