Church Action eNewsletter Week of December13, 2020

[RCCAtl]

Church Action eNewsletter

Week of December 13, 2021

God calls us to some things we cannot do alone

We want your announcements! We are happy to help get the word out about anything you would like the greater faith community to know. Send announcements to [e-mail]. 

1. Winterlight 46 Winterlight - Kanuga  An inspiring, fun, spirit-filled conference, Dec. 28 – Jan. 1, reconnecting youth, grades 9-12, with each other, nature, and the Creator at Kanuga. Registration is due today, Dec. 13. The participation fee is $488 and includes lodging, the program, and meals. For financial assistance, please review carefully and submit the Scholarship Request Form. Apply for a Winterlight staff position.

2. All are welcome to a Service for Comfort & Hope on Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 7:00 p.m. in the Chapel at Shallowford Pres. Church, 2375 Shallowford Rd., Atlanta, and on Zoom via www.shallowford.org/event/service-of-comfort-hope/   You are invited for a service of remembrance, consolation, and assurance, ,a time of prayer, scripture, meditation, and song, attendees may light candles for loved ones or loss or concerns of any kind. Come and find Light in the darkness.

3. Wellsprings Prayer Circle, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 7 – 8:30 p.m., Atlanta Friends Meeting House, Decatur. Come for a time of community and quiet contemplation in reflection of Another Way to Approach Christmas.  Via Zoom on first and third Tuesdays, live on second and fourth Tuesdays. If you'd like to be on the mailing list for reminders and more details, including the Zoom link, email Kimberly at [e-mail] .

4. As part of his inaugural activities, Mayor-elect Andre Dickens is committed to include a Community Service Day on Saturday, January 1, New Year's Day. Will you please inform the group working on this of any events that are already scheduled?  Please send the information about those activities with web links to Jay Cranman [e-mail] and Ann Cramer [e-mail] by Wednesday, December 15. 

5. Welcoming the Stranger, Thurs., Dec. 16, 7 p.m. Presented by Catholic Information Center with instantaneous Spanish translation available. Migration, considered globally, is a structural phenomenon, not a passing emergency. The presence of so many people of different cultures here in the United States challenges us to a profound conversion. Migrants remind us of a basic aspect of our faith, that we are all ‘strangers and exiles on the earth.’ Click here to register

6. Not in Our Name: The Road to Abolishing the Death Penalty in Georgia will be held via Zoom on Thursday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. Panelists include Frank Mulcahy, E.D. of the Georgia Catholic Conference, and Rep. Scott Holcomb of Georgia’s 81st District and co-sponsor of the death penalty repeal bill currently pending in the House (H.B. 485). Click here to register.

7. All pastors, church and community leaders who would like to recharge in a prayerful, sacred space are invited to Ignatius House on Dec. 17 for as little or as much time as their schedules allow. Includes four invitations to prayer between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. by the retreat directors of Ignatius House. Free. Registration requested. More information here.   

8. The AMIS Christmas Party will be hosted by Central Presbyterian Church, 201 Washington St. NW, Atlanta 30303, Sunday afternoon, Dec. 19, from 1-3.  Lunch will be served and cookies will be decorated, ornaments will be made and gingerbread houses! AMIS is looking for volunteers to help with the crafts and engage in conversations with international students during the party.  You can learn more and let them know you can come by clicking  Sign up for the AMIS Christmas Party.  

9. The Rev. Dr. Dock Hollingsworth, pastor of Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, is the preacher Dec. 19 on “Day 1” with host Peter Wallace, the nationally broadcast ecumenical radio program also accessible online at Day1.org and by podcast. “‘Low Estate’ Is Not a Charleston Plantation,” Hollingsworth’s sermon for Dec. 19, is drawn from Luke 1:46b-55, Mary’s song of praise. Hear Day1 on WSB 95.5 and 750 AM, Sundays at 7:05 a.m.  The “Day1 Weekly Program” is available through podcast apps. For more information, check Day1.org. 

10. Sunday afternoon, Dec. 19, at 4:00, the Cathedral of St. Philip will offer its annual Festival of Nine Christmas Lessons & Carols, sung by the Cathedral Schola, available in person or livestreamed via the Cathedral website (cathedralATL.org/concerts). Biblical readings narrating the prophecy and birth of Jesus are illuminated by congregational carols and choral music of the Christmas season: This service is free and open to all. Amid the frenetic pace of the Christmas season, this is a perfect opportunity to take a few moments to enjoy its real meaning.  2744 Peachtree Road NW, Atlanta 30305.

11. There will be a Blue Christmas Service at Sandy Springs Christian Church, Sunday, Dec. 19, at 5:30 p.m., 302 Johnson Ferry Road NW, Sandy Springs 30328. If the Christmas season is bringing you sadness this year, come and feel God's love and healing during this meaningful time of worship.

12. Festival Sounds of the Season, Sunday, Dec. 19, 6 p.m., First Baptist Church, 308 Clairemont Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030. The Trey Clegg Singers 6th Annual Christmas Concert Tickets, Sun, Dec 19, 2021 at 6:00 P...

13. Year-End Retreat, Dec. 28 – 31, Adults of all ages are invited to rest and renew heart, mind, and soul ahead of New Year 2022. Your three-night retreat draws from the 500-year-old tradition of Ignatian spirituality to help you reflect, then rejoin loved ones to celebrate New Year’s Eve. At Ignatius House, 6700 Riverside Dr. NW, Atlanta. $395 per person includes private room + bath, all meals, guided prayer, Mass, and use of 20 acres.  bit.ly/YearEndRetreat2021

14. Offered by The Candler Foundry, Candler’s initiative in public theological education, Courses in the Community address topics related to faith, theology, and issues of public life. Courses vary in length and format. Check out the current list of offerings, including “Women in the Hebrew Bible,” taught by Gale A. Yee , Nancy W. King Professor Emerita of Biblical Studies at Episcopal Divinity School (beginning Jan. 10), and “Advancement for Churches and Nonprofits,” taught by Robert Townes 82T (beginning Feb. 7). See all courses here.

15. Save the date or register now for GBPI’s Insights 2022 policy conference “Treating Care Workers as Essential, Not Invisible.” Programming will include virtual sessions exploring opportunities for Georgia to support our care workers. The COVID-19 crisis has emphasized how critical care workers are, yet these roles have historically been underserved in the policy space. Sign up now to learn about policies that support Georgia’s care wor...  Insights will be free and virtual. GBPI encourages donations from those who are able to give. Agenda will be released soon. Thursday, Jan. 20, 1-5 p.m. and Friday, Jan. 21, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

16. The Academy of Preachers has announced that this will be a Spring Festival of Young Preachers, one day in Nashville at Belmont University, March 26. Registration and more information soon.
 
 Reminders of events this week:
Book launch of the Rev. Stuart Higginbotham’s “The Heart of a Calling” Wed, Dec. 15, at 6:30 p.m., following dinner at 5:30 at Grace Episcopal Church, 422 Brenau Avenue, Gainesville 30501. Reservations are required for dinner. It is not necessary to purchase a book. 

Los Posadas Bi-Lingual Service, St. David’s Episcopal Church, 1015 Old Roswell Rd., ​Roswell 30076, Thursday, December 16, 7:00 p.m., All are welcome!

Atlanta Women's Chorus, Remembrance & Joy, Morningside Presbyterian Sanctuary, Dec. 18, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.  Buy tickets at AWC Tickets.

“Messiah” Sing Along, Grace Episcopal Church, 422 Brenau Avenue, Gainesville, 4:00 p.m.  Dec. 19. Admission is a non-perishable food item for the Hall County Food Pantry.   

Visit our website for a clergy tool box for mental health ministry, and more . . . 

Peace,
Ethel Ware Carter