Dear Siblings,

I’m curious: Can the birth of a baby challenge the empire? The deep stories of our faith say “yes!” This Sunday, we celebrate Joy in the life of the church and sit with the songs of Elizabeth and Mary. I am always moved by their response to the unexpected news of carrying children. Much like we considered in last week’s Story for All Ages about John the Baptist, what does it mean for us that God uses the last and least to show us a better way?

I hope you’re curious about that this weekend.

On a very different note, I hope you’ve noticed how worship has felt so far this season. Each Sunday, we’ve welcomed more folks than usual in the Sanctuary! We’re running out of bulletins(an easy fix). One other easy thing to do in this season is to wear your nametag. This allows all of us to greet one another by name. A growing church is a welcoming church first. Speaking of welcome… on Sunday, we’ll welcome a half dozen folks as members of Central. 

And finally, it’s sometimes hard to consider our church building and land as a ministry, but they really are! We’re host to a lot of wonderful groups and organizations in our community: Lena’s Place, Plymouth Harbor, Interfaith Children’s Movement, the Atlanta Freedom Bands, Toastmasters, and Turning Sun School’s Clairmont Campus. 

This weekend, we’ll also be hosting a holiday celebration for the Georgia Mushroom Club, and a funeral for a member of Kirkwood UCC. I hope each of you will take a moment to offer gratitude for those who came before us, armed with wisdom & confidence that a place like Central could be a ministry for our whole community too.

See you Sunday,

Thomas