News

Dear Siblings, 

This Sunday will be Pride Sunday in the city of Atlanta. Our usual decor will be hung in the Sanctuary, with thanks to Julie McBride’s creation of these pieces over several years.. There will also be the start of a new communal Pride banner in the Commons. This piece was inspired by Marion Clein’s vision for a “queer collage” and my vision of a physical representation of the “God of rainbow, fiery pillar.” I’m thrilled that nearly 20 Central folks will be part of the Pride Parade. A celebration that this year gathers under the theme “rooted in resistance.” But, of course, our service will not just be about Pride.

Indeed, worship is the glad response to God’s saving acts through history… a Pentecostal celebration in response to the Good News. Over and over and over again, our sacred texts and stories reveal a God who loves without end. Again and again, we encounter saving acts that make more real the promise of the Kingdom of God. Yes, on Sunday, we will dance and delight in that kind of good news. 

On Sunday, the heavens will be singing the glories of God. And our service will be starting promptly at 11AM. Yes, really 🙂 

After this Sunday, I won’t see you all again until November. Most of my time away has been for continuing education or the Next Gen Leadership Initiative. These next two weeks will be an actual vacation for me! I’ll be traveling through parts of Europe. 

If I see you Sunday, I’ll say farewell then. If I don’t see you Sunday, know that I wish you grace and peace in the weeks ahead. 

Be well,

Thomas

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

In our next worship service, we join with Christians across the globe for World Communion Sunday. Somehow, it feels especially important to remind ourselves of the unity we share in Jesus Christ. Probably because unity among Christians seems so distant right now.

As we approach the Communion Table on Sunday, we will enact what we dream of and what Jesus prayed for in John 17:21-23, the words we recognize as the motto of the United Church of Christ: “that they may all be one.”

You are invited to place a small item on the Communion Table that recalls to you of the far-flung communion of believers in this time and beyond time around the world. It could be a family treasure, souvenir, a photograph, a candle—whatever brings those distant siblings near in memory.

Additionally, there is a collection of bread recipes from around the world here.

A recent article in the UCC News by Donna Jackson (September 23, 2025) is very helpful to provide fuller information about the origins of this observance and its theological grounding in our faith traditions. Here is an excerpt:

 United Church of Christ congregations are heading into the Oct. 5 celebration of World Communion Sunday, with a sense of urgency. After all, if ever there was a time to reaffirm the oneness in Christ with its siblings near and far, it is now.

 “World Communion Sunday powerfully reminds us of what is always true when we participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion: at Christ’s table we are all one. In a nation and world afflicted with so much conflict, hatred and division, we need this blessed reminder,” said Rev. Shari Prestemon, Associate General Minister for the United Church of Christ and Co-Executive of Global Ministries, a shared witness between the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the UCC. “We are also compelled to demonstrate a commitment to building unity and peace in our lives every day,” she added.

 One Lord, one faith, one baptism

World Communion Sunday, held the first Sunday in October, was the idea of Rev. Dr. Hugh Thompson Kerr. In 1933, the Presbyterian minister wanted to lift the biblical reality that through baptism, congregations worldwide were connected to one another. Kerr often cited Ephesians’ “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” In 1940, against the backdrop of World War II, when division and discourse were ripping apart the seam of unity, the Department of Evangelism of the Federal Council of Churches — the predecessor of today’s National Council of Churches — embraced World Communion Sunday. It was soon adopted by many denominations, including the UCC.

 Today, though, unity is once again being pulled at the seams as political dissension grows, and U.S. government funding cuts threaten global aid programs. “In a time when more boundaries are set up — physical and psychological — World Communion Sunday is a time to celebrate the ways the Church is enabling the breaking down of the dividing walls,” said Dr. Peter E. Makari, Global Relations Minister, Middle East and Europe for Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ.

 Scripture on unity anchors resources

From liturgy to music to children’s sermon illustrations, Global Ministries has created a plethora of World Communion resources for 2025 highlighting the many ways in which the UCC and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are strengthening the tie that binds God’s children together. As Makari points out, “we are all connected in many ways.” The resources are anchored in the following Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, where Paul talks about the Church as one body with many parts; Psalm 133:1, celebrating the goodness of God’s children living in harmony; and John 17:21-23, where Jesus prays that all believers may be one.

                                                                                                              © United Church of Christ 2025

 Come join us at the Table of World Communion on Sunday, either gathered at the table in the sanctuary or among the online Streamers (don’t forget to ready your bread and “wine”). If you are as much in need of refreshment as I am, we’ll see you there.

 Love and hugs,

 Rev. Liz

We are excited to present to you “The Monthly” for October 2025.

Check out this month’s newsletter for:

• A Note from Rev. Liz.
• A Story from Central’s History: “The Unicorn”.
• An invitation to join two annual events: ”Pumpkin Carving Event” and “Let’s do Brunch”.
• Faith Formation Opportunities.
• Advocacy and Action Opportunities.
• The “Recipe of the Month”: ”Pumpkin Bundt Cake”.

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!

New Art Exhibit: Welcome Reception for Raven Waters

Sunday, October 5, @ 12 pm, The Commons

“Honoring the Sacred in the Urban Environment” by Raven Waters is the new art exhibit that will be presented in the Commons starting October 5th. Raven creates art that enhances quality of life and brings hope and joy. He received a Fine Arts degree from Georgia Southern University and he paints in what is called ala prima, meaning the painting is finished in one setting, however long that might be. 

You can find out more about him and his story on Sunday, October 5th, after worship. Steve Siminski, Central’s art exhibit coordinator, is organizing a Welcome reception for Raven Waters in the Commons, during the Coffee Hour.

Dear Siblings, 

This Sunday we’ll celebrate the ministry of Plymouth Harbor! When I was in Charlotte this past week for a continuing ed program, one of the questions asked was “what would be missed in your community if your church/org no longer existed.” My immediate answer was Plymouth Harbor. For more than 30 years, this church has invested in offering respite care for adults in the early stages of alzheimers and dementia. And it’s offered support groups for their caregivers. 

As a matter of timing, when I was called to Central, Plymouth Harbor wasn’t running! COVID + retirements paused the program. People kept talking about the program, but I had no conception of what it was nor what it could be. Berthe Megie was hired to lead the program a few months after I started. Then came Jana and Angie too. Together, with the help of many volunteers from Central, they have unpaused and expanded this incredible ministry. 

So, it is right and good that we celebrate Plymouth Harbor again. On Sunday, we’ll be joined by clients and caregivers of the program who will reflect on the impact of our ministry, and we’ll have a BBQ lunch after worship. 

See you Sunday, 

Thomas

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

If you read the UCC Daily Devotional (and you will be glad you did, even if you check in only now and then), you will have seen Lillian Daniel’s offering, “Sometimes, It Takes a Book.” Oh, what a balm that was for my sagging soul. I thank God and do a little happy dance when some courageous soul finds just the words for what I have been struggling with and shares them. Link: https://www.ucc.org/daily-devotional/sometimes-it-takes-a-book-2/

In an age of algorithmic indignation and digital squawking, I’m tired of darting from one screenshot to another in a state of online outrage…I thirst for the Peace of Christ that passes all human ranting and writing.…As a result, I stop reading the news…There, I have confessed it. (italics are mine)

You already know that I am afraid of the news and that, when something sneaks in, I run and hide under the bed for a renewed, even longer period of abstinence. All the while crying, “Lord, have mercy on us!” And looking up the Canadian Consulate’s phone number to ask how many US citizens they will allow to emigrate this year. I am not proud of it, and it seems I am not alone. Not alone now and never have been.

Someone said the Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” because he felt so deeply for the Exile community. Foreign armies had destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and then forced the Israelites to live elsewhere. Remember “by the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered [Mount] Zion.” Some of us think we are in exile right now.

My dear friend, Reid, sent an email today that spoke directly to me. (Another gift in words that help me make sense of me, and a happy dance.) Her rector at the Cathedral of Saint Philip, The Rev. George Maxwell, writes fictional letters and this one was especially uplifting to me, as in “nailed it!”

Dear Anna,

In your last note you asked what I mean when I speak of “Anglican consciousness.” Urban T. Holmes, in his little book What Is Anglicanism? says it is not a system of doctrines so much as a way of inhabiting tensions. Anglicans are marked, he says, by a dialectical imagination, able to hold opposites together until grace shows its face.

Think of how we read Scripture: we prize study and scholarship, yet we also chant psalms and linger over poetry. Or how we approach the sacraments: we trust that bread and wine truly bear Christ’s presence, but we do not insist on explaining how. We live with paradox, and that is our strength. Holmes even calls it a “poetic” sensibility—truth discovered by resonance more than by argument.

This instinct goes back to the early monks who entered the desert in the third and fourth centuries to live more truthfully. They discovered that solitude needed community, silence needed speech, prayer needed service. They taught that tensions are not problems to be solved but invitations to wisdom.

So when I speak of Anglican consciousness, I mean a way of life that holds mystery and reason, solitude and companionship, earthiness and transcendence, in creative tension. It is less about solving and more about staying—remaining with the questions, the prayers, the people—until God’s grace becomes apparent to us.

Your affectionate uncle,

Ames

© The Cathedral of St. Philip. All rights reserved.

Ah, there it is. The Peace of Christ and the struggles of a living with our neighbors together, not mutually exclusive options, in creative—that is, life-giving, future-making—tension. (Oh boy, is this tension creative.) Our own Luther Smith’s testimony is that “hope is here because God is here” and in our practices that maintain That Presence, alive—solitude and community, silence and speech, prayer and service, and more.

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 is our text for Sunday, and I am looking for a good word for this journey, one I can proclaim without reservation and unspeakable joy. But it is Yahweh who is crying, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” What?!?

So, what if “the voice of Jeremiah’s judgment brings with it a powerful voice of hope? The suffering of exile is for the Old Testament the martrix in which the hope of God is most powerfully and characteristically at work. The Exile is the place where God’s faithful promises work a profound newness.” (WB) We’re in that matrix.

It’s a mess out here, true. But Israel’s fundamental conviction—OUR fundamental conviction–is that Yahweh (compassionate) is sovereign over the present situation and can work good out of it. (WB) That must be what our enslaved ancestors knew for sure. I’m just holding to God’s unchanging hand.

Annual meeting will follow the 11:00 am worship and I will try to be brief. Streamers and Gatherers, I hope to see you there or to be seen in your company. It’s all better together.

Love and hugs,

RL

Dear Siblings, the note below is in two parts. The first was written on Tuesday morning. The second was written yesterday(Thursday) evening. And, as such it is a far longer note than I intended. Nonetheless, I appreciate your reading it. 

Woah! There were so many of you in worship last Sunday, and it was wonderful to see. Several of us took the short trip next door to celebrate Interfaith Children’s Movement (ICM) 25th anniversary. Our own Evelyn Brewer was awarded the Diamond Joy Award for exceptional volunteerism. 

This Sunday promises to be just as big! After worship, we’ll have our Discovery Expo and Pizza on the Playground. Please stick around for one or the other… or both 🙂

The UCC recognizes this coming Sunday as both Faith Formation and Just Peace Sunday. We’ll focus on the faith formation part, while exploring the Parable of the Lost Sheep and considering what the prophet Jeremiah might offer to us today. 

Faith formation is work that is never really finished. As I often share, I am inspired by these words from the UCC’s organizing documents:

[The UCC] looks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, to prosper its creative and redemptive work in the world. It claims as its own the faith of the historic Church expressed in the ancient creeds and reclaimed in the basic insights of the Protestant Reformers. It affirms the responsibility of the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God.

Yes! We look to the Scriptures and the Sacred Texts, invite the Holy Spirit to journey alongside us, and together we find our way. This too is part of the UCC’s practice of “continuing testament,” or the commitment to encountering God’s ancient story anew in our lives today.

—

I wrote the above on Tuesday afternoon. 24 hours later, a leading conservative commentator, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed at his “American Comeback Tour” event in Orem, Utah. There has been much offered in the past few days about him, his murder, and what it means for our body politic. Indeed, Kirk is not the only political figure who was murdered this year. Just a few months ago, Minnesota House Majority Leader Melissa Hortmann and her husband Mark were killed in their home. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot, but survived. Gov. Josh Shapiro saw his mansion set on fire in April. There have been so many substantiated threats against the lives of federal lawmakers that unprecedented security measures are now being enforced. 

We have answers for some of these events. Rationales and motives have been shared too. As someone whose chief priority is the care of souls. I lament my diagnosis of the American condition: The Soul of America is sick. I refuse to believe that this sickness is terminal, but it is very clearly, very swiftly tearing through all of the organs of our society.  The signs and symptoms of this disease have been present for some time. Those who called them out were often called “agitators,” or worse. Yes, the signs and symptoms have been present for some time, and now the reality of our condition is too far advanced to ignore. 

There are book groups, podcasts, studies, articles, and more that might offer some sense of “here’s where we go from here.” But I also think that our faith and our sacred texts offer something too. It was quite serendipitous that in my reading of commentaries and other texts in preparation for Sunday, I found a transcript of a sermon offered by our own Jon Gunneman in the days following 9/11. He closed that sermon with these words:

Perhaps we should at this time [read a psalm], standing in solidarity with more than two millennia of Jews and Christians who have turned to the Psalms at times of personal and communal agony, when the question “Why?” defies answer, and we find ourselves able only to express the pain and suffering in our hearts while at the same time singing praise to the maker of heaven and earth, the wind of life, the author of our being. That too shapes the impulses of the heart.

To be clear, I am not comparing 9/11 to Charlie Kirk’s murder. Jon’s words seems to capture much of my own thoughts about the sum of our body politic today. 

My siblings, the Maker of Heaven and Earth challenges us to sow seeds of justice and to know peace. The Maker calls us to seek the lost and to celebrate the found. And amid all the agony and despair of the world, The Maker invites us to join together and lift our hearts in praise. Can we commit ourselves to such tasks? Are we ready? My answers, at least right now, are yes and kind of. 

I hope that yours are close to that too.

With unyielding confidence in our ability to make real the kingdom of heaven,

I hope to see you Sunday,

Rev. Thomas

In the gospel lection for this coming Sunday, Jesus describes what it takes to follow in his way. That is, he speaks to the large crowds that were gathered around him that day, and he speaks to us who listen across the millennia. “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:26)

Now, this is troublesome. I’m supposed to be proclaiming the Good News, struggling mightily and daily with my emotions and fears about those in power who (in my mind) are wrecking the world and gleefully stomping on small people like me and even smaller than me, reciting a new mantra, “You must not hate. We’re not allowed to hate,” and here comes Jesus giving me permission to hate—no, commanding, for goodness’ sake—but not the people that make my teeth itch and give nightmares, but the people I love most! I’m not liking this verse.

So, I go looking for help to understand what’s going on here before everything I think I know about this Christian way of life gets put in the recycling bin. First, I go to Luke Timothy Johnson my favorite New Testament professor. He turns up so often in my sermons my that love and appreciation for this man should be well known by now. (Joanne Stone and I met in his office.❤️) In my house, he is known as “Luke Skywalker” which is perfectly apt. He gets his evangel-writing namesake, and I count on him to help me get down from climbing the walls when I read stuff like this.

The terms denote attitude and modes of action, not emotions. The point is not how one feels toward parents and family but one’s effective attitude when it comes to a choice for the kingdom.” (Sacra Pagina, p. 229)

Those are my italics. What does that mean? Saved by AI!

Effective attitude refers to one’s actions and behaviors concerning a particular situation, rather than internal feelings. It emphasizes the tangible outcome or impact of your approach, focusing on what you do rather than what you simply feel. This distinction is particularly important when evaluating a person’s priorities or commitment. An effective attitude is one that produces real, measurable results…. (Google AI Mode)

So, love and compassion and the Way of Jesus are a matter of intended behavior. What we do will reveal our choices, our commitments. I used to tell my Confirmands, if Martians landed in the parking lot on a Sunday afternoon knowing nothing about us or our language, by Wednesday they would know exactly who we are and what intend. They would know our true effective attitude. Remember “tangibilitate”?

So, my strong, angry feelings about certain people and movements are legitimate. But I do not get to act without compassion. I must choose loving and compassionate action—I must intend a good for my neighbor—like Jesus. That is the highest priority. And there could be a price to pay. We may be surprised who we are required to love. Sigh.

In an important editorial about Christian Nationalism by Nancy Wetzel that appeared in the May issue of The Monthly, she writes:

Besides using our votes, I’m not sure what the answers are as to how to counteract this pseudo-Christian movement and the damage it has already inflicted on our country and our citizens. Maybe we can begin by praying for inspiration and direction that can be put into action.

Yes, we must pray for inspiration and direction that we can put into action. That is what God calls us to. “Yes, AND,” as they say in improv, we must take time to be very clear about what we intend—our effective attitude. That iterative work of reflection and discernment over a lifetime for each of us and this congregation of God’s people takes first in our priorities. After that, we figure it out together like every disciple (improv) group has.

See you Sunday, God willing and all lanes on I-285 are open. It will be good to be together again.

Love and hugs,

Rev. Liz

Volunteers needed!

The Green Team needs volunteers to serve on ad-hoc workgroups for activities related to the composting pilot project, reducing plastic pollution in our community, and voter turnout for the upcoming Georgia Public Service Commission election. These workgroups are short-term and open to anyone; no need to be a Green Team or church member. If interested, please contact Mary W.

Sun Day – September 21 & Advocacy cards for members of Congress!

On September 21, the United Christ of Christ will join other national organizations to celebrate Sun Day, a day to recognize God’s gift of clean energy like solar and wind and take action to protect our climate. The National Setting of the United Church of Christ will provide our congregation with advocacy cards to write messages to members of Congress. Look for these cards from early to mid-September at church. Once completed, the cards will be collected and then delivered to local congressional offices.

World Rivers Day – September 28 – Interfaith Community River Cleanup

Our partners at Georgia Interfaith Power and Light are joining with other faith organizations to celebrate World Rivers Day with a special Interfaith Community River Cleanup on Sunday, September 28, from 2:00PM to 4:00PM, at six metro Atlanta sites, including Mason Mill Park.

For more information and to register: https://gipl.org/events/wrd25 .

Does anyone remember “humility”? Before this week’s gospel reading in Luke 14:1, 7-14, I hadn’t put that old word together with the unrest I have experienced lately but there it is. (The way these lectionary texts appear just as they’re needed is spooky, or maybe I should just acknowledge, “it’s a God thing.”) Is meanness the opposite of humility? There’s a bull market in that.

This is from Frederick Buechner:

      Humility is often confused with saying you’re not much of a bridge player when you know perfectly well you are. Conscious or otherwise, this kind of humility is a form of gamesmanship.

      If you really aren’t much of a bridge player, you’re apt to be rather proud of yourself for admitting it so humbly. This kind of humility is a form of low comedy.

     True humility doesn’t consist of thinking ill of yourself but of not thinking of yourself much differently from the way you’d be apt to think of anybody else. It is the capacity for being no more and no less pleased when you play your own hand well than when your opponents do.

       (~originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words; frederickbuechner.com)

Frankly, that sounds a little too distant from the way we play in this culture. But then, so does Jesus’ lesson in this passage about humility and hospitality. When was anyone ever rewarded for not thinking more highly of themselves than others? How can you win if you don’t imagine yourself better than your foe? Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike competition?

Once upon a time, when I used to gather with a Bible study group on Wednesdays at lunchtime, my dearest deacon friend checked in telling us about his grandson whose T-ball team had lost their game and how grandad had scolded him. Silly me, I asked: “Is winning that important?” To which he replied, “Winning is everything.” But, by your measure, I thought to myself, Jesus lost…

 Recently, it seemed I might be ready to sneak a peek at the news more than once a week. Alas, I’m not quite there yet. A little more time with cultivating my internal capacity for grace and mercy and love is needed. Especially if I am to have a word of Good News by Sunday morning.

 Streamers and Gatherers, come join us for worship on Sunday. I look forward to praise, prayer and singing together with you, and to renewing in our fellowship the courage and love to continue to attempt the Christian life. Gotta refuel. 

Love and hugs,

 Rev. Liz