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Dear Siblings,

This weekend, I invite you to think about your faith journeys. In particular, who are the key figures in your journey of faith? Why might you consider them as key to your engagement with the Divine today?

Our worship focus will be the opening lines of a letter from Paul to Timothy, in which he acknowledges Timothy’s faith development as the product of his mother and grandmother.

Yes, I chose this text for Mother’s Day! Although our service will not focus on Mother’s Day, it will acknowledge the idea of “Mother God.” In our unceasing and unfailing efforts to fully know and understand the Mystery of God, we apply human language as best we can in the hopes that we’ll find our way. For the vast majority of the history of our faith, God has always been “Father.” It’s still somewhat new to view God as “Mother.” That distinction is slight, but it matters. And, I think it opens up a whole new way of imagining, engaging, and understanding God.

So, come! Our Story for All Ages will talk about the Lord’s Prayer and our sermon will dive  into the “grammar of the Spirit.”

As we approach Mother’s Day, it’s important to acknowledge all of the joy, celebration, and “best mom in the world” feelings! I pray that we will also keep in mind folks who don’t have the best relationship with their mothers, folks who wanted to be mothers but were unable due to circumstances and situations that they couldn’t control, and for those who are grieving the loss of their mothers too.

See you Sunday,

Thomas.

Sunday, May 4, @ 12 pm, The Commons

Featured ONE-WOMAN EXHIBIT artist this spring and summer 2025 is Elizabeth Samoluk. Her artworks include oil, acrylic, watercolor, and drawing, with most works created “En Plein Air” throughout Atlanta, from the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Sandy Springs, Roswell, and Savannah, Georgia. Elizabeth also included some pieces from her western journeys to capture the beauty of our U.S. National Parks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites! Elizabeth is happy to donate a portion of her sales to the church.

You can find out more about her and her story this Sunday, after worship. Steve Siminski, Central’s art exhibit coordinator, is organizing a Welcome reception for Elizabeth in the Commons, during the Coffee Hour.

Dear Siblings,

Alleluia! What a wonderful Holy Week and Easter we shared together. Of course, none of this happened on its own.

A little more than two dozen folks joined us on Maundy Thursday, and shared the story of the Last Supper before serving communion to one another. The same number joined us for a dramatic recounting of the story of Good Friday. In those spaces, we sang old and familiar hymns, while introducing a few new ones too.

On Easter Sunday, almost 20 kids hunted for eggs on the playground and in the memorial garden, 80 people were in the Fellowship Hall for the Easter Breakfast, and 180 people joined us for Easter worship.

Again, none of this happened on its own. It took people baking and bringing food for breakfast, folks who stepped out of breakfast to help the Easter Bunny hide eggs, people to buy and cut the bread for communion, an AV tech, singers, banner hangers, greeters, Zoom worship hosts, someone who smiled and said “peace” to a new face in the room, dedicated folks to hang back in Kids Space, an invitation to combine the Story for All Ages and the sermon, a stirring in the heart and mind to simply show up, and whole lot more!

My heart is glad that we are a church of a whole lot more.

Someone with us on Sunday didn’t believe that a church like ours could exist… and now they do. Thanks be to God!

Historically, folks take a short break from church on the Sunday after Easter, but I hope you’ll join us. We’ll talk about the first supper after the Resurrection.

Be well,

Rev. Thomas

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.

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.