404-633-4505 | Join Us On Sundays at 11AM!
404-633-4505 | Join Us On Sundays at 11AM!
Read the latest news for our church.
Mar 27, 2026
We are happy to let you know that this Sunday we are welcoming new members!
Come meet them!
You can connect more after service, during the Coffee Hour hosted in their honor.
Mar 27, 2026
Easter Lilies order by Wednesday, April 1st
Easter Mission Project by Wednesday, April 15th
It’s time to order Easter Lilies or offer a gift to our Easter Mission Project. Both of these are beautiful ways to honor or memorialize a loved one.
For both of them you can use the online form or the printed form that you can find at the entrance to the Sanctuary.
Mar 26, 2026
We are excited to present to you “The Monthly” for April 2026.
Check out this month‘s newsletter for:
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!
What’s the deal with taxes anyways? Nobody really wants to pay them. It is increasingly more difficult to understand what tax dollars actually go toward. And many Americans’ thoughts on taxes oscillate based on which party is in power. And yet! We pay. Taxes are simply an obligation that we owe to the state. It won’t surprise that Jesus has some thoughts on that. I’m sure you do too.
The title of this Sunday’s sermon, “Unfinished,” is not a reflection of its current state! Rather, it’s my understanding of our work in the world. This Sunday, we will sit the reality of power and the church; and of power and our faith. And we might trouble the waters and dare to imagine a world where the church as an institution says “actually, we don’t need power… at least not like this.”
What do we owe to Caesar? What do we owe to God? Where do we belong in the world? Think about those questions.
We live in a world that works awfully hard to make us believe that our value comes through our relationship to power and authority. The Good News rejects that and invites us to embrace our value as bearers of the Image of God. An important lesson to remember as we move closer to Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and the Resurrection.
Come on Sunday, and we’ll chat more about this together.
See you soon,
Thomas
P.S. Great things are happening before and after worship. Check em’ out below!
We need you! We’re launching two new teams to share our Central story & connect with visitors and new members.
We need your help to share our story in our neighborhood and across Atlanta!
Our new communications committee will help refine what we say as Central, inside and outside the station.
Some of the things this group may address are . . .
We will hold our first meeting in the next few weeks!
Central is growing! We need your help welcoming strangers and becoming friends.
The Deacons are forming a sub-committee to review how we welcome—not only visitors, but new and old members as well. We’ll look at what seems to work well and ways in which we might improve. Additionally, we hope to create new ways to welcome more intentionally.
We hope to have a committee of people who have had varied welcoming experiences both here at Central and elsewhere. We want to consider ways in which we can clearly establish that “You are welcome here.”
We have some ideas, but we need more assistance in considering them and then implementing. Some of those are:
And this is just the beginning!
Are you willing to join us on this “welcoming” journey? If so, please contact:
One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) is a Special Mission Offering of the United Church of Christ that supports partners worldwide with ministries that fund health, education, and agricultural development, emergency relief, refugee ministries, and both international and domestic disaster response.
Your offering helps rebuild from disaster, feed the hungry, provide clean water to the thirsty, empower the oppressed, and restore hope. Find more details here!
The Board of Mission & Action invites you to give generously to this offering. You may donate in the offering plate on March 15th, or online on Central’s website at any time. Thank you!
Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,
Well, the Search Committee for Central’s next ministerial leader has formed and met. Central has taken the next step in embracing the challenges and opportunities that the future God has in mind in hand. A courageous group and formidable undertaking. We must pray for them and for their work. That will be important.
And this comes as we approach the fourth Sunday in Lent and a focus on the text in John 10:1-18, in which we are invited to reflect on accountable leadership. (Isn’t it wonderful when these ancient texts somehow know exactly where we are and what’s going on right here, right now? I love it, but it’s also kinda spooky.)
The invitation in this passage is to consider “the kind of leader Jesus is and what it means to follow someone who stays and protects,” as the good folk at Illustrated Ministry put it. Of course, we’re not searching for Jesus–well we are, of course, always, but that’s not the Search Committee’s job–but we are looking carefully at pastoral leadership. So, why not look here?
This (long) reading puts the shepherd in contrast with the hired hand. Clearly, while they both tend the sheep, they are not the same thing. The relationship is different. The commitments are different.
The good shepherd is prepared to lay her own life on the line. It’s not about duties and responsibilities, the tasks of the job. The shepherd and the sheep have given themselves to one another, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, through many dangers, toils and snares, going along together, in season and out of season.
I always say, metaphors are a way of looking at one thing to gain new insight into something completely different. When Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd,” the hearers get to think of him, their new leader, in terms of something they already know well. They know about sheep and shepherds, everybody does.
We, on other hand, may have trouble relating to sheep. And to following…like sheep? Americans don’t do sheep. Highly educated, privileged, well resourced, justice-loving, progressive Christians–can we relate to sheep? Hmm?
What is your metaphor for good, pastoral leadership? What’s the image or story that comes to you in your own experience of–your appreciation of--leaders in ministry?
Yes, I believe I did ask us to reflect on these things and, while I’ve not heard much yet, I hope we are going back through our memories. And we will gather next Sunday, on March 22, after morning worship, to share. We’re all getting ready. Right? Hint: sometimes the best way to see what you appreciate is to recognize what you don’t, then flip that experience to reveal what you longed for and found missing.
You know my metaphor for leadership already: Creating and holding space for a long conversation among friends, going along together, making sense of life as it happens, acting for good, between meals (Sacraments). Yes, it’s very low tech and slow (like gardening), with lots of inputs and outputs, and short on deliverables and outcomes that are quickly and easily seen. But it is the relationship to which the shepherd and the sheep are called, the social field we are part of.
Well, expect me to be finding a way to make these musings a Sermon for All Ages on Sunday. In the meantime, I trust you are making plans to join us for worship, online or in person (live, not a moving picture), if you can. It’s always good to see you among the far-flung flock. (Beg pardon. I know we don’t do sheep.)
Love and hugs,
Rev. Liz
As a friend and I traveled in Europe last fall, we did what any former divinity school students would do, we visited (just a few) churches. One thing that really bothered me was the number of them that required a paid ticket for entry. Yes, maintenance is a huge consideration, but it just felt icky thinking about paying for the opportunity to dance and delight in a house made to honor and glorify God. To me, it’s putting up a barrier where one doesn’t really need to be.
I share this story because it’s what I thought about as I read our texts earlier this month. The Canaanite woman, marked by her exclusion of the nation, is deemed unworthy of approaching Jesus. In one of his less than prophetic moments, even Jesus calls her a dog! Nevertheless, she persisted. She demanded to be seen, heard, and treated like any other person seeking mercy and healing. In doing so, she not only challenged assumptions about inclusion and belonging, but she also illustrated a kind of collaborative ministry that we should all look more closely at. Seriously. She wasn’t arrogant, or rude, or disrespectful. She simply looked at Jesus and dared him to imagine that maybe he and his disciples were wrong. And Jesus was transformed by that.
I wasn’t there, so I don’t really know what that moment looked or felt like to those who witnessed it. But a part of me feels rather confident that Jesus’ ministry was forever changed by this encounter, this holy confrontation. I think that because this story is an illustration of the inclusive dimensions of Jesus’ ministry. And it’s an invitation for us to consider what exclusionary ideas or practices we hold, perhaps unwittingly, that make it difficult for everyone, everyone, everyone to flourish.
On Sunday, we’ll consider that and more during our time together. We’re springing forward this weekend, and I have to remind myself to be positive about that. We’re exchanging one hour of sleep for a season of more sunlight.
If you haven’t been to church in a while, our Sundays are bustling with activity. Read below to check out our Sunday School hour groups before worship and opportunities for connection that follow worship.
Finally, there is a secret to entering those old churches for free: tell them you’re there to receive communion. And that’s the beginning of the story of how I ended up on my knees in Westminster Abbey, drinking from a common cup that was brought to each of our lips…
See you Sunday,
Thomas
P.S.
Now, a few weeks ago, I mentioned that the church has a “power problem” that we need to deal with. And then I promptly said “nobody wants to talk about this!! And I’m not going to today either.” I saw a few frowns and watched a few faces express disappointment. Fear not… we will get there by Easter.
Mar 06, 2026
Rev. Thomas will moderate an engaging discussion with Rev. Brandan Robertson, focused on his new book Queer & Christian. Robertson is a nationally recognized author, public theologian, and advocate for LGBTQ+ Christians to reclaim their faith and take their place in the church and society. Q&A, and book signing. Free event. Snacks & drinks provided.
Tuesday, March 17th, 6pm @ Virginia Highland Church
473 Virginia Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30316
Registration is not required, but is helpful for our planning: https://bit.ly/centralQC or use the QR code.
@ First Presbyterian Church of Jonesboro (1842 Lake Jodeco Road, Jonesboro 30236)
Central’s own Will Hiltman is starring as Tevye in Front Porch Players’ production of Fiddler on the Roof, the classic musical about tradition, change, and family. There are several opportunities to see him over the run of the show:
Friday, March 6th at 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 7th at 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 8th at 2:30 pm
Friday March 13th 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 14th at 2:30 pm & 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 15th at 2:30 pm
General Admission seats are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors.
Reserved seats are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors, and can be reserved online at Tickets & FAQs – The Front Porch Players.
The Hiltmans have 10 General Admission available for purchase – good for any performance – contact Dianne H if interested.
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