You are invited to join us on April 9th for a free workshop and preview of the new PCUSA Confirmation Curriculum coming out in June 2018! Plus there will be a free brunch catered by Waffle House!

The workshop will be led by Rev. Meg Elliot Rift, Associate for Curriculum Development in Congregational Ministries Publishing at the Presbyterian Mission Agency. It is free of charge and open to anyone who wants to come learn about the new curriculum and share ideas about Confirmation. Click here to find out more about the new curriculum.

Feel free to pass this invitation along to colleagues and church leaders around the Presbytery. Even if you are unsure if you will use this curriculum, come join us for good fellowship and conversation. It's always helpful to gather in community for support, encouragement and new ideas throughout our ministries.

The workshop will be held April 9th from 10 -12:30 pm at Decatur Presbyterian Church. To RSVP email Jay York (jyork@firstpresatl.org) or Allysen Schaaf (aschaaf@dpchurch.org) by April 2nd. 

 

Please plan on joining us on May 1 from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Smyrna Presbyterian Church located at 2920 Highway 212 SW in Conyers, GA.

When Presbyterians talk about being a "connectional church," they're usually referring to an upcoming Presbytery meeting, a controversial General Assembly bill, or paperwork that needs to be sent off to Louisville. But this past January, two hundred seventy Presbyterians revolutionized my understanding of and gratitude for our "connectional church."

 

Memorial Drive Ministries' Background

As the membership of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Stone Mountain continued to decline, it became more and more difficult for them to maintain their large campus. Far from hunkering down in scarcity, the membership of MDPC has reached out to their changing neighborhood of Clarkston and Stone Mountain to welcome three Presbyterian new worshipping communities, a Mennonite congregation, and at least six non-profit organizations.

 

Responding to MDPC's request for support, in the summer of 2017, the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta convened members of five neighboring Presbyterian Churches to work alongside MDPC and its ministry partners in a visioning process that has become Memorial Drive Ministries (MDM). MDM is becoming a Presbyterian non-profit that will manage the Memorial Drive campus by gathering critical leadership, organization, and a wide network of loving neighbors to create a new expression of God's Beloved Community.

 

MLK Weekend

 

The MDM Board put the call out to all the churches in Greater Atlanta Presbytery, and, boy, did you Presbyterians rise to the occasion! At least two hundred seventy volunteers representing at least twelve Presbyterian Churches rolled up their sleeves, pulled on their work gloves, and got to work supporting their sister congregations.

 

Each congregation brought their God-given talents to build up the body of Christ. One church employed their tall sanctuary ladder and electrical skills to convert much of the lighting over to eco-friendly LED bulbs. Another church coordinated with the Inspire After School Tutoring program to paint their classrooms bright, cheerful colors. Yet another church utilized the artistic skills of their youth group to transform a black water cistern into a mural celebrating water as a gift of life. Still another church came forward to cook a hearty lunch so that everyone could break bread together. Presbyterians from many different churches teamed up to clean out closets, paint rooms, and scrub the facility. Three Presbyterian-owned businesses volunteered trash removal, landscaping, and building repairs. Over the course of Martin Luther King weekend, God multiplied the many gifts we brought as individual Christians and solitary congregations to transform the campus of Memorial Drive and to knit us closer together as the body of Christ.  

 

Connectional Church         

Like any good Presbyterian undertaking, the creation of Memorial Drive Ministries has involved countless committee meetings, reams of documents, and the pokey pacing of doing things "decently and in order." But never again will I think of polity or paperwork when someone uses the phrase "connectional church." Instead, I will remember the electric Spirit of over a dozen congregations uniting in love, hard work and hospitality over Martin Luther King weekend.

 

"Connectional church" is the discovery that we are capable of so much more together than apart. "Connectional church" is the blessing of my weakness being your strength. "Connection church" is the miracle of God making a stranger a neighbor and a neighbor a friend. Thanks be to God for "connectional church"!

 

St. Andrews invites you to join us for this important discussion! For additional information, contact Mary Evans, 770-493-9489, tmevans@bellsouth.net. Please find additional information and register online at www.sapctucker.org/5thseason.

The preschoolers of Conyers Presbyterian Preschool have been growing vegetables in their new garden over the last few months.

 

Last school year, several congregants of Conyers Presbyterian Church built raised planters in the Outside Classroom of the preschool. Soon after, the preschool began raising broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower in their new gardens with the plan to serve those vegetables at the Wednesday gatherings which are open to the community. 

 

The children tended their crops for several months, and their first harvest was on January 5th. Their harvest was used in the first meal of the 2018 year.  "It's a way for our children to learn about the outdoors, plant life-cycle, and participate in other STEM projects, while giving into the ministry of the church," said Preschool Director, Staci Lawrence. 

 

The vegetables grown by the preschoolers will be used for the church's Wednesday night dinners which are more likened to a community gathering. "We were thinking about what we were doing, which was providing a meal on Wednesday night. We put a nice, big sign in front of the church, inviting the community to eat, and it's free for anyone." These gatherings began about two years ago and have attracted a large number of community members. On average, CPC is feeding approximately 130 people each week.

 

Pastor Hicks said the gatherings are less of a soup kitchen-type atmosphere and more of a community gathering for members of the community, regardless of if they're members of the Conyers Presbyterian congregation or not. "We're not running a soup kitchen," Pastor Kevin said. "We're really inviting people to come in, go through the same food line, sit at the same tables for fellowship together. If you come in, you can't really tell who's a member and who's not."

 

The church and the preschool are looking for a volunteer who has expertise in gardening to help the children learn in the outside classroom. If you or someone you know has an interest, please contact Staci Lawrence at staci@conyerspres.org  or 770.929.0700.

 "Since the end of the year is all about enjoying time with family and friends, part of which involves decorating for the holidays, an end-of-year campaign that involved creating ornaments to decorate the sanctuary seemed like a good fundraising idea," says Dianne Bryant, treasurer for Rice Memorial.

 

In November, members were sent letters describing the campaign and asking them to submit names of their family members who were connected to the Rice Memorial family along with a small donation. For each name received a "We Are Family" snowflake ornament was created.

 

More than one hundred names were received, and three specially-designed memorial ornaments were also created. Beginning in early December, the ornaments were hung with garland to create a festive display around the main entrance to the church sanctuary.

 

It was heartwarming to watch as members searched and discovered the ornaments for their family members and to know that many would like to do it again next year. Perhaps this is the start of a new end-of-the-year tradition at Rice Memorial.