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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

Dear Siblings, 

I’m sure you know that we are blessed to have a truly remarkable church campus. There are not many places that so carefully and intentionally engage the built environment with the goodness of God’s creation. One of my deepest prayers with our congregation is that we don’t ever take this space for granted. 

Recently, I’ve followed Rev. Liz’s lead and now sit in the pews during the sermon. It changes things for me. Listening to a meditation on our sacred texts, while looking at the world that God made, offers a different way of engaging with my faith. I’m sure many of you know this well. 

Recognizing the value of our place in the world, I’m glad for all the chances we have to care for creation. This Sunday, we’ll welcome Hannah Schultz, MDiv., the Program Director at Georgia Interfaith Power and Light. Hannah has a deep interest in the intersections of justice, theology, and the environment. After earning her MDiv at the Candler School of Theology, Hannah worked in college chaplaincy, before joining the team at GIPL. At GIPL, she leads an array of programs including Solar Wise, Power Wise, Water Wise, Zero-Waste, and Rewilding programs. 

Rev. Liz and I are so excited that she’ll bring us the Good News on Sunday, and lead a workshop after worship in the Fellowship Hall. 

See you Sunday,

Thomas

First and foremost, Deacons play an integral role in supporting the worship life of our church, including the celebration of the sacraments, greeting members and guests, and ushering. Deacons may also work to sustain the music and arts programs at the church.

Deacons strive to support and care for members of the congregation.

Deacons recommend “in care” status for members of Central pursuing ordination in the United Church of Christ including the examination of those candidates as part of the process.

Deacons facilitate receptions for special events.

Meetings are typically held via Zoom on the 4th Thursday of the month, 7 p.m.

Contact Fred Childers ([email protected]) or Karen Torghele ([email protected]) with questions about the Deacon Board or any of the other opportunities to love, to grow, and to serve at Central.

Called To Do This Work

Mary Ellen Myers, now in her 65th year as a member at Central, will offer reflections this Sunday as we consider the ways we – the Central community – are called to use our time, our talents and our treasure in service to and support of one another, the local community and the world.  She has served Central in many capacities, and we honored her at the 2023 annual meeting by naming her a Life Deacon. 

Dear Siblings, 

Every now and then, I don’t quite know what to write for the week. And that’s mostly because so much has happened over the past few days. I won’t recall all of those things in this note. But I will say that I am in a sort of mourning. Mourning for the world as it is, because I know how different it could all be. I am thinking most urgent about the rapid changes in the political representation of Black Americans. Yesterday afternoon, Tennessee split the city of Memphis, where I lived for college, into three separate congressional districts. Regardless of partisan positions, the result is a diluted voice for Black Tennesseans.

Unfortunately, this same scene is being played out in South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana too. Yes, I am mourning the reality that it seems this reconstructed country is turning away from the fulfillment of one its most grand ideas and still incomplete experiments: that in this new world, out of the ashes of the peculiar institution that was race-based slavery and civil war, a multi-racial democracy could rise and thrive. Yes, I am in mourning over our shrinking away from the possibility of such a vision. 

These words, shared by Dr. Terrence Johnson, the new Dean of Candler School of Theology, have sat in my head:

Mighty causes are calling us– the freeing of women, the training of children, the putting down of hate and murder and poverty– all these and more. But they call with voices that mean work and sacrifices and death. Mercifully grant us, O God, the spirit of Esther, that we say: I will go unt0 the King and I perish, I perish. Amen. – Prayers for Dark People (1980)

In a rather abrupt turn from the above, this Sunday is also Mother’s Day. This is a day that is filled with joy and for many people also sadness. And so, my prayer for you this weekend is that you receive what you need for this occasion. If you need the joy and celebration, the breakfast in bed, and handmade cards or phone calls, I pray you get all of that and more. But if what you need is a moment to visit a graveside, or to look at an old picture, or play an old voicemail, then I hope that you can make time for that too. If you’re someone who doesn’t quite know how to define your relationship to the person who birthed you, and would like for this day to simply not exist, then I hope that Sunday is simply Sunday. I pray that you receive what you need to receive on Mother’s Day. 

On Sunday, we’ll be open to an encounter with the Holy Spirit and sit with John’s Gospel. I hope to see you in worship, on-site or online! 

Thomas