Last Sunday, the Rev. Natosha Reid Rice invited All Saints’ to imagine what a mountain-moving faith looks like as she unpacked Jesus’ teaching in Scripture: a tiny, mustard-seed-sized faith is a biblical image of all it takes for God to multiply faith in us until it grows so powerful that even an obstacle like Stone Mountain could be transformed into an oasis of refreshment like a cenote (the likes of which Natosha once witnessed in the Yucatán peninsula). If you missed her preaching live, you can still catch her sermon
here
.
A recent transplant to Georgia, who fondly remembers my own years residing near the Rockies, I love Stone Mountain. I’ve visited Stone Mountain three times since Thanksgiving, climbing to the summit twice. I was no less out of breath that second time than I was the first go round. Some things in life don’t become any less daunting or difficult even after we become acquainted with the terrain, much as I might prefer it.
The Atlanta History Center hosted hundreds of guests on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2020. I was among the many there aspiring to remember the revolutionary justice Dr. King embodied, though it cost him his life, and to chip away at my knowledge gap around the complexities of race relations in the American South. Spending six months as a youngster in rural Alabama had not given me any head start on that difficult project. And periodic incursions into our murky history around race in America—through literature, film, and other museum visits as an adult—merely had muddied the waters of my understanding when it comes to pursuing healing in this aspect of our present day national life.
One particular interactive exhibit on MLK Day touched me deeply. The Freedom Ride simulation introduced participants to the Fellowship of Reconciliation that included Diane Nash, John Lewis, and James Zwerg, black and white college students who organized, participated, and were willing to give their very lives, enduring mob violence to conduct acts of non-violent resistance during the 1961 Freedom Rides to protest racist policies in the South by stepping onto those fateful buses. Against extraordinary odds, their mountain moving faith in God’s just future seeded a movement that ultimately ended the injustice of Jim Crow (you can read more about these courageous young people
here
).
The Rev. Dr. William Barber, II spoke at Clark Atlanta University yesterday, as part of the “Rooted in Jesus” Conference taking place around our city this week (watch the recording
here
). Bishop Barber is the leader of the
Poor People's Campaign
. He explored how Jesus revealed God’s prophetic good news, especially to the poor and downtrodden. Barber harnessed Ghandi’s lens of deadly societal sins to name a mountain in our religious midst, chiefly “worship without sacrifice.” Jesus knows, now as then, how easy it is for religious folks to harden our hearts against change, rather than embrace the vulnerable whom God loves. The church’s historic unwillingness to move mountains of privilege, power, and position in order to welcome Jesus and his Gospel, coming with freedom, justice, and transformation, especially for the oppressed, is a mountain that many of us have yet to acknowledge, let alone attempt to understand or move. But God will grow our mustard seed-sized faith.
Where are the seeds of faith growing in us? How will we ask God to multiply them to transform our community and our world?
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With hopeful expectation for how this mountain-moving faith is alive in us,
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The Rev. Sarah Stewart
Associate Rector for Young Adults and Innovation
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This Sunday: All Saints' History Month
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Parish Forum: A Heritage to Build On
- Sunday, January 26
- 10:20—11:05 a.m.
- Ellis Hall, 1st Floor, Parish House
As All Saints' History Month draws to a close, give thanks for our history with our rector, Simon Mainwaring, as he offers a personal reflection on themes of the All Saints’ story that strike him the most, and we enjoy tastes of southern favorites from bygone years (ham biscuits, coffee cake, ambrosia, and more!).
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Young Adult Formation Series:
Sink Your Teeth Into This
- Wednesday, January 29
- 7:00—8:30 p.m.
- P307, 3rd Floor, Parish House
On the last Wednesday of each month, be part of a discussion that invites us to sink our teeth into spiritual resources for living with courage and faith in an ever-changing world.
Winter/Spring Dates
: January 29, February 19*, March 25, April 29, and May 27.
*Please note that we’ll meet on the third Wednesday in February due to Ash Wednesday.
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Share a Meal with the Men of Covenant Community
- Thursday, January 30, 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Covenant Community, 623 Spring Street NW (on the Spring Street side of the All Saints’ campus)
From Alexsis Skeen:
Just as Jesus invites us to break bread with Him, we are called to share a meal and build community with our friends in Christ.
Join us in sharing a meal with the men of Covenant Community on Thursday, January 30th from 5:00-8:00 pm. Covenant Community is a residential life stabilization program for addicted men, located on the Spring Street side of our church campus.
We will be having a chicken broccoli casserole for dinner. If you are able to able to join and would like to bring a side item share, please
sign-up here
. 5:00-6:00 pm will be spent getting to know the guys better and preparing the meal in Covenant’s kitchen. We are planning to eat at 6:00 pm and will clean-up afterwards. Feel free to join at any point!
If you have any questions or need to RSVP, please email me (Alexsis Skeen) at
aleskeen@gmail.com
Hope to see you for a night of food, fun and fellowship!
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Next Sunday: Faith in the City Series Begins
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Faith in the City Series:
Atlanta’s Renaissance and America’s Urban Housing Crisis
- Forum
- Sunday, February 2, 10:20—11:05 a.m.
- Ellis Hall, 1st Floor, Parish House
- Follow-Up Discussion
- Wednesday, February 5, 6:30—8:00 p.m.
- Ross Room, 3rd Floor, Parish House
Join us for the first session in our
Faith in the City series
, led by Simon Mainwaring and Natosha Reid Rice, to deepen understanding of issues, widen appreciation of differing perspectives, and inspire lives of faithfulness in the public square. Each Sunday session of the series will be followed by an in-depth discussion on the following Wednesday night.
The topic of the first session is
Atlanta’s Renaissance and America’s Urban Housing Crisis
. Rev. Natosha Reid Rice will preach at the 9:00 and 11:15 a.m. services and we're excited to welcome Renee Glover as our guest speaker for the forum. Ms. Glover is an expert on the topics of urban revitalization, real estate development, and community building. Her leadership has guided the Atlanta Housing Authority, Habitat for Humanity International, and the Bipartisan Policy Center Housing Commission.
Click here
to learn more about Ms. Glover and this series.
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Will you help us? Take this survey about service!
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The
All Saints' Young Adults Service Team
wants to gain a better understanding of the types of service opportunities that you are interested in and which days of the week work best. Please take a few minutes to provide your input via this survey. Thank you!
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True Justice: A Movie, Panel, and Conversation about Racial Inequality in our Criminal Justice System
- Sunday, February 9
- 4:30 p.m.—7:30 p.m.
- The Temple, 1589 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta
Join members of the All Saints' community and The Temple’s Racial Justice Committee for a screening of the documentary about the life and work Bryan Stevenson, the public interest lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.
The event includes a condensed version of this film, which tracks the intertwined histories of slavery, lynching, segregation, and mass incarceration, followed by a panel discussion and conversation over dinner. The cost is $12 per person;
click here
to register online.
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Saturday, January 25
Sunday, January 26
Wednesday, January 29
Thursday, January 30
Sunday, February 2
Wednesday, February 5
Sunday, February 9
Sunday, February 16
Tuesday, February 18
Thursday, February 20
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We publish this email newsletter every week or two to provide updates about what's coming up for young adults at All Saints', as well as parish-wide events that might interest you. If you do not wish to receive these updates, you can unsubscribe at any time (scroll to the bottom of the email). If you'd prefer to receive the parish-wide weekly newsletter instead (or in addition),
click here
and select the Main Parish-Wide Email List.
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For more information contact The Rev. Sarah Stewart
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