Church Action eNewsletter Week of April 16, 2012

[RCCAtl]

 

 God calls us to some things we cannot do alone.   

  

 RCCAtl.org   

Remember that all events listed in the eNewsletter are placed in the Community Events Listings on our website.  Newsletters are archived there at  eNewsletters --- with the most recent featured below the slide show of member churches on our home page under Featured RCCA Activities.   

 Go to www.rccatl.org and click on Join the Regional Council to open an application.  

 

What's going on at the Academy of Preachers? Check out news on the National Festival of Young Preachers  --  Atlanta  in 2013! Read more..    

1. Monthly Meeting of Coalition for Homeless People with a Mental Illness, Wednesday, April 18, 3:30 to 5 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 16th Street at Peachtree Street, Room 156.  Regina Cannon, Project Manager, Innovation Delivery Team, Office of the Mayor, City of Atlanta, will speak on Homeless People In the Criminal Justice System, about our criminal justice system as a whole and by area--the courts, law enforcement, and the Department of Corrections, and wants your ideas on what can be done differently to assist our homeless individuals with mental illnesses. Alan Harris, coalition facilitator, emphasizes that all interested people are welcome. 

2. Wednesday Night at the Cathedral Book Store this spring offers a six-session DVD study of Embracing the Prophets in Contemporary Culture: Walter Brueggemann on Confronting Today's Pharaohs.   This study is led by the Rev. Rev. Wallace Marsh, Canon for Congregational Life. The first session is today, April 18. All meetings  are from  6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Philip, Room 382. A participant's workbook may be purchased from the Cathedral Book Store but is not required. Come early for supper-- available in Child Hall beginning at 5:30 p.m.

3. The Housing Authority of Fulton County and the Resident Advisory Board, sponsoring the 3rd Annual Prom Closet Program, are seeking donations of gently used and clean prom/formal dresses and tuxedoes of all sizes for high school seniors graduating in May.  The donated formal wear will allow young men and women without the financial resources to purchase a tuxedo or dress to choose a free outfit with accessories. Priority will be given to Housing Authority of Fulton County residents. This is coming up on Saturday and drop off ends on Friday, April 20, at 4:30. Formalwear and accessories can be dropped off is 9 – 4:30 every day this week at the Housing Authority at 4273 Wendell Drive, Atlanta  30336.  The Prom Dress Giveaway Program is scheduled for Saturday.

4. Experts will examine The Intersection of Poverty and the Environment in a live webcast beginning at noon Saturday, April 21. The program will be available at no charge at www.episcopalchurch.org.   Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will lead the program with the keynote address. Prior to ordination, she was an oceanographer, and she is well-versed in environmental matters.  The event will be moderated by Kim Lawton of PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. The forum is ideal for group watching and discussion, or on demand viewing for Earth Day observations as well as Sunday School, discussions groups, community gatherings, and other get-togethers. Resources to optimize viewing and participation and all information are available  here .  

5. Festival Singers in Spring concerts:

• William Baker Festival Singers in an Atlanta Performance for Mass/Mini-Concert, Saturday, April 21, 5:30 p.m., Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Downtown Atlanta
• The Lynn Swanson Festival Singers, Saturday, April 28, 7:00 p.m., First Presbyterian Church in Cartersville, Georgia   $10 online or before the day of the concert. On the day of the concert they are $15 online and at the door.
• Northside Young Singers & Lynn Swanson Festival Singers,  Sunday, April 29, at 4 p.m.,  Murray Arts Center,  1275 Stanley Road, Kennesaw  30152. Tickets $10 in advance or $15 on day of concert.  Children 12 and under attend for free

Visit www.FestivalSingers.org or call 678.787.9189 for tickets

6. At 108 years old, pianist Alice Herz-Sommer is the oldest living survivor of the Holocaust and the world’s oldest concert pianist. She is also witness to the twentieth century—its wonders and horrors—surviving the Theresienstadt concentration camp, attending the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem, and coming into contact with some of the most fascinating historical figures of our time. Caroline Stoessinger tells this remarkable and inspiring story in A Century of Wisdom Lessons from the life of Alice Herz-Sommer. Talk and book signing, 2 p.m., April 22, Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, 30338. Following this event, Stoessinger will be the keynote speaker at the MJCCA’s Yom Hashoah Commemoration, held in the Besser Holocaust Memorial Garden at 4:00 p.m.

7. Is your congregational designated veteran friendly? Even if not officially you will want to let your military families know about an opportunity for their families. Imagine It Children’s Museum offer free admission for military families on Monday, April 23. Complimentary admission will be for active service members and up to three immediate family members. Proper military identification is required. For more information visit www.childrensmuseumatlanta.org

Care for the Troops has a comprehensive list of events and trainings  Care for the Troops is dedicated to the mental health care of our returning troops and their families providing education to mental health professionals on treating the military and information to civilian groups. Perhaps of most interest to you is the program by which congregations become designated “veteran friendly.” Look at the website and see what a difference a new way of  being attentive, a new way of praying,  a new kind of inclusion can make in the lives of the men and womenand their families who have given so much to us.

8. Interfaith Sisters Dialogue, Monday, April 23, Rock Spring Presbyterian Church,1824 Piedmont Ave. NE, Atlanta, 404-874-7483, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Plemon El-Amin and Robert Thompson will discuss the Parliament of Religions. Bring your own dinner and some to share....Great dialogue and discussion.

9. There will be good food, storytelling, and music on April 27, 7 – 9 p.m., at Community Grounds, 1297 Jonesboro Road, Atlanta 30315. Speakers from the Metro Atlanta Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau will share their great tales of resiliency and spirit. No cost for admittance, however, cash donations gratefully accepted.

10. April 28,  HomeSafe Georgia Event, D&E has partnered with Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in a Statewide effort to bring awareness and options to the unemployment and mortgage crisis with a Mortgage Payment Assistance program to prevent foreclosures for Georgians, under HomeSafe Georgia.  HomeSafe Georgia will help by providing "bridge" mortgage assistance, for up to 18 months, to Georgians who are unemployed or have seen a dramatic decrease in their income due to national economic conditions.  See  more details.

11. Am Yisrael Chai! is a non profit organization that focuses on holocaust education and awareness. Each year it holds a major event to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.  This year the theme of the community-wide interfaith event will be Rescuers of the Holocaust focusing on the town Le Chambon in France where the entire community of 5,000 people saved the lives of 5,000 Jews including the parents of Keynote speaker, Pierre Sauvage. He has made a documentary film entitled “Weapons of the Spirit”, which tells the story of the people of the town and the people they saved.  April 29 at Congregation Beth Tefillah, 5065 High Point Road, Atlanta 30342.  There will be a VIP Reception at 5 p.m. followed by the program at 6 p.m. Please R.s.v.p. to [e-mail] Everyone is welcome at this commemoration !   Whoever saves one single life - it is as if they have saved the whole world! from the Talmud

12. The IMPACT! Group is partnering with HUD and Gwinnett County Government to offer a day of free housing education and counseling to the public, May 3. Learn about the tools available for foreclosure prevention and home retention and how to avoid scams, predatory lending practices, and mortgage fraud. Housing counselors from The IMPACT! Group will be available. More

13. Christian Community Leaders Luncheon, Thursday, May 3,  Capital City Country Club, 53 West Brookhaven Drive, NE , Atlanta 30319,  11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Sponsored by Lutheran Services of Georgia.  Keynote speaker Jeffery Tobias Halter will discuss how to keep your business afloat in stormy waters with his keynote address: “Your Business, 2020 - Smooth Waters or a Perfect Storm.”  Jeffery is the former of Director of Diversity Strategy at The Coca-Cola Company and is currently a consultant, author, gender strategist and the President of YWomen, a strategic consulting company. He is a member of Rivercliff Lutheran Church in Sandy Springs Cost of attendance is $25 per person, and can be paid online by clicking here. If paying online, please select "Other" under fund and type in CCLL in the comment box.  Payment can also be made over the phone by calling 678-686-9601, or by mailing a check to Lutheran Services of Georgia at 1330 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309, with CCLL in the memo line. Please R.s.v.p. by April 27 to Mary Kay Kates at [e-mail] or 678-686-9601.

14. Workshop 2 in the Foundations series from Coalition to End Homelessness: Trauma Informed Care is coming up, May 8, at MUST Ministries Foothills office. Read more and register .   

 15. Writing the Sacred Workshop – Saturday, May 12, 2012, Two sessions:  9:30-11:45 am and 12:45-3:00 pm, at Amerson House Spirituality Center  , located at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta.  In this workshop, writer and seasoned workshop leader Ray McGinnis invites you to nurture your spirit though playing with words.  Exploring how the Psalms and other poetry can deepen self-understanding and creative expression, Ray guides participants in simple exercises to help you write your own psalms. Designed for those who enjoy writing and those who have never put pen to paper, this workshop is open to older children, youth and adults. Come and discover how God is still speaking! Cost for one session is $30; Both sessions $55, Lunch included.  Contact: Kimberly Broerman, Spiritual Director, Deep Waters Center for Prayer & Exploration, at 404-275-3328 or [e-mail] . 

16. An enlightening evening from SICD whose mission is to provide addictions education and resources to congregations and communities-- Addiction, Recovery and Prescription Drugs Educational Workshop.  Instruction is led by professionals from the field of substance abuse and addictions, thus bringing faith and science together and enabling all of us to become active agents of prevention and supporters of recovery Thursday, May 17,  7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Dunwoody United Methodist Church  1548 Mount Vernon Road, Dunwoody  Register   

 17. CATCH Healthy Habits, the program where volunteers help children learn the benefits of healthy eating and physical activity and maybe pick up a healthy habit themselves, has posted the summer schedule.  Adults age 50+ work with children ages 5-10 at area YMCAs and Boys & Girls Clubs. CATCH summertime sessions start June 4.   Information and the summer schedule are here  or contact Mary Newton at 404-463-4554 or  [e-mail].

18. DOOR Atlanta has a spot for outstanding young adults, ages 18-23, interested in leadership development in an urban context. Work with young people on weeklong service learning trips that focus on modeling service as an essential part of the life of faith. June 1 – August 9, stipend of $2000 plus room and board.  Check out doornetwork.org and call David York at 404-295-9922 or Tim Showalter-Ehst at 404-438-9859.

19. Sacred Acts is available now at Cathedral Book Store, 2744 Peachtree Road NW.  And, author Mallory McDuff will be the speaker at the Annual Jane Baird Lecture at the Cathedral of St. Philip this fall, September 20. This is a free event but reservations are required. More on that later. Mallory’s narrative on the church’s role in environmental issues is rich in story and detail as she recounts how churches are working to protect God’s creation.

20. Can you imagine John Rutter 's  giving your choir a few pointers? The parish of Christ Church Christiana Hundred, Delaware, puts music to work in service of mission-- “a way to bring people into relationship with God in Jesus Christ,” according to the Rev. Ruth Lawson Kirk, rector. Sir John Rutter recently inaugurated the Letty Downs Musician in Residence endowed program. Take a minute to see a bit of this.  

 21. Atlanta Community Food Bank is looking for some volunteers for special events. Check it out  here.  

22. Information about health fairs in Fulton County for older adults in your congregations is at  RCCAtl.org 

23. Every Girl in the world deserves education, safety, and dignity is the motto of Days for Girls. A Days for Girls Chapter has been organized in Georgia, in Decatur. Find out about this organization at  http://www.daysforgirls.org/#!    And contact the Georgia Chapter at [e-mail]

 

Join Twitter and follow us as we tweet the Bible one chapter at a time. We are @RCCAtl   

 

Peace,

Ethel Ware Carter

Regional Council of Churches of Atlanta

404-538-0246

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