Pastoral Note | In Sure and Certain Hope


It is with sadness, and yet with the hope of the Resurrection, that we share the news that three beloved members of our parish family have died this week.


Dot Williams died yesterday, and her service is next Friday, March 20 at 11:00 am.

Susan Smith died February 27, and her service is here on Saturday, March 28 at 2:00 PM.

Ouida Bell died March 8th, and her service is here on Friday, April 17 at 10:00 AM.

We give thanks for their lives, their faith, and the many ways they blessed this community. Please keep their families and loved ones in your prayers.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered:
Accept our prayers on behalf of your servants,

Dot, Susan, and Ouida, and grant them entrance
into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of your saints;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


May their souls, and the souls of all the departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.



Easter Flowers & Music

Help us prepare for a beautiful and meaningful celebration of Easter! We invite you to make a donation to provide flowers and our excellent brass ensemble and timpani. You may dedicate your gift In Memory of or In Thanksgiving for a loved one. Please use this online form or the envelopes in the pew to donate. Use the memo line to indicate how you would like your gift to printed in the bulletins. Deadline for donations is March 29. For more information, please contact Renee Stephens at rstephens@holyinnocents.org



NEW ARRIVAL IN CHRIST CHAPEL!

O, Happy Day! We have a new piano in Christ Chapel! Hurrah for the music department, hurrah for the congregation, and hurrah for our guests who worship with us in that wondrous space.

For years, we have been challenged with a piano in the chapel that was not up to par and was not adequate for our needs. The instrument in that space is used regularly for Sunday-evening services, for weddings, for memorial services/funerals, and for other seasonal services of the church year like Ash Wednesday.

The new instrument is a Steinway upright piano. It emanates from the Crown Jewel collection of the company and has a walnut finish and a professional accompanist/performer bench as well. Three cheers to the generosity of those providing our new piano and to the Vestry for rapidly approving the acquisition.



Randy Romig, Interim Director of Music

Faith in Hard Places:
Lessons from St. Patrick During Lent 

Megan Atkinson 



Each year on March 17, we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. We see the color green everywhere, shamrocks, parades, and celebrations of Irish culture. But many people don’t realize that the story behind the day begins in a much darker place. 

As a teenager, Saint Patrick was kidnapped from his home in Britain by raiders and taken across the sea to Ireland, where he was forced into slavery. For six years he worked as a shepherd, isolated and far from home. It was during this difficult season that Patrick later wrote his faithhad deepened. In his loneliness and fear, he began to pray constantly and grew closer to God. 

Eventually, Patrick escaped and returned home. But the most remarkable part of his story is what happened next. Years later, he felt called by God to return to the very place where he had once been enslaved. He went back to Ireland, not with anger or revenge, but with the hope of sharing the message of Christ. 

Patrick’s story reminds us that faith is often formed in hard places. Many of us would never choose seasons of struggle, loss, or uncertainty. Yet again and again in the story of God’s people, those very places become where faith grows strongest. 

Perhaps that is also why this story speaks so clearly during the season of Lent. Lent invites us to slow down, reflect, and trust that God is present even in difficult seasons. Like Patrick tending sheep far from home, we may not always understand the circumstances we find ourselves in. But the quiet, challenging moments of life can become the very places where our faith grows deeper and where God begins to shape a calling we never expected. 



This Lent, let's remember that even in the wilderness seasons of our lives, God is quietly at work, forming our faith, guiding our steps, and preparing us for the places where love and grace are still needed most. 

Stock the Shelves
Community Assistance Center

During Lent, we turn our hearts and hands toward neighbors in need by supporting this Food Drive. This vital outreach effort depends on the generosity of our parishioners to help meet the growing need right here in our community.

Every donated item goes directly to local families who rely on CAC or support. Each month, the pantry provides food for more than 600 families—many of whom visit weekly. A family of four requires approximately 37 pounds of food per week, representing an average cost of $66.23.

Donations may be placed in the CAC collection barrels located in Bishop Commons throughout the month of March. For more information, contact Charles Crosby charles@corepm.net or Jan Paul janpaul1005@gmail.com.

Most needed items: Cereal, Sweet peas, Diced tomatoes, Tomato sauce, Canned vegetables (no green beans), Baking goods Canned chicken, tuna, Broth, Pork & beans, Diapers (sizes 5 and 6), Deodorant, Shampoo, Soap

Habitat for Humanity Build 

through March 28

Holy Innocents, along with several local churches, is sponsoring Atlanta Habitat for Humanity’s Faith Build. Adult parishioners and teens ages 16 and up are invited to take part in this meaningful work. Each Saturday, at least four members of Holy Innocents will have the opportunity to serve. No skills required, just the desire to help an Atlanta family buy a home at a very affordable price.

Third Friday: Men of HI

March 20, 7:30 AM

Enjoy warm hospitality, engaging discussions, and a fresh breakfast in the Frost Youth Center. Come for the conversation and stay for the fellowship.

Contact Charles Crosby | charles@corepm.net

Church of the Common Ground 
Sandwich Build

March 22, 11:15 AM

Please join us in the Parish Hall after the 10:15 service to help make sandwiches for our unhoused siblings who worship in Woodruff Park weekly. If you would like to help deliver the lunches and worship with our friends, we will leave at 12:15 PM and will return to Holy Innocents after the service.

Contact Robin Hickey | hickeys5040@gmail.com

Prayer Shawl

April 7, 7:00-8:30 PM

Join us in the Parlor on Tuesday, April 7, 7:00–8:30 PM. We knit and crochet shawls for those in need, but bring any project—needlepoint, cross-stitch, even mending—and enjoy fellowship while you work.

Contact Cammie Ives | cammieives@gmail.com

Men's Retreat

April 24-26 

Bill Harkins returns as retreat leader for the Men of HI Retreat at Lake Logan Episcopal Center in the mountains of North Carolina. This year’s theme is “Arete, Faith, and a Rule of Life for Connection Among Men.” Bill will serve as both facilitator and homilist, offering the grounded presence and depth many have come to value over the years.

Contact John Harris harris4338@gmail.com

Reading Connections

April 13, 6:00 PM

The Women’s Reading Connections meeting will be held on Monday, April 13, in the Inglett Hall Small Conference Room C, at 6:00 PM. The meeting begins with light refreshments and the book discussion begins at 6:30 PM. This month’s book is March by Geraldine Brooks. The novel expands on the character of the absent father from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, following him as a Union chaplain during the Civil War and explores his idealistic beliefs as they are challenged by the brutality of war, racism, and the horrors he witnesses, forcing him to confront the complexities of his faith and his family life. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2006.



Contact Michelle Driscoll

dris1296@yahoo.com

Bucket List Book Club

April 7, 1:00 PM

This co-ed group is reading Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K Jerome. We’ll meet at 1:00 pm in the Parlor room.

Contact Audrey Sumner audreysum4833@gmail.com

Men's Dinner & a Book

May 12, 6:30 PM

The next Men's Dinner and a Book is Tuesday, May 12 at 6:30 PM and the book is Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose by Jennifer Wallace. Kevin Nuffer is hosting. If you would like to attend, please contact Jeremy Webber for details. All men at Holy Innocents are included and invited.



Contact Jeremy Webber

jhwwebber@gmail.com

Click the video above to watch last Sunday's service!

Realm Access

Realm is our database system, which allows us to communicate all of the things that the clergy and staff do behind the scenes to make Holy Innocents' our home. You are also now able to connect to your record with instant access to the directory, your giving, event registration, and more. To connect to your account:

• Email Renee Stephens at rstephens@holyinnocents.org for an invitation link.
• Create your password and remember it!
• Use your email address and password to log in through a browser or the Connect app

Connect app for iPhone: click here.

Connect app for Android: click here.

Once you have your account access, update your contact information and upload a picture that will be used in the directory. Contact Renee for help. rstephens@holyinnocents.org

Pastoral Notes 

If someone is in the hospital, has died, or has some other pastoral emergency, please contact our clergy directly. Call the church office at 404-255-4023 and follow the prompts. This will connect you directly with the clergyperson on call. 

If you have joys to share, new births, grandbabies, graduations, or job announcements, we will gladly share them in our weekly Hi-Lights email if you send a note to communications@holyinnocents.org