February 14, 2019

Dear Peachtree Road Family,

I hope you are doing well. Last Sunday, we began a series of messages focused upon maximizing good mental health. Jamie Jenkins got us off to a great start. Those of you who heard his message entitled “Enemies of the Mind: Depression” know why I invited him to preach. Jamie helped all of us to know more about this debilitating illness, and his testimony of how he and his wife Lena have coped was comforting. I believe his sermon will resemble the dropping of a pebble into a lake – the ripples will impact folks far and wide in a positive way. If you have not heard the message, please watch it here and share it with someone you know who needs to hear it. 

We are pleased to welcome Rev. Larry Adams as our preacher for this Sunday, February 16. He will be preaching in the morning services on the topic “Enemies of the Mind: Anxiety.” Many of you know Larry as the founding director of Peachtree Road’s Pastoral Counseling Center, a “straight-shooter,” and a man with a compassionate heart for the people of this community. Some have suggested that many in our day have substituted healthy relational communities for digital networks, and we are emotionally poorer for it. Larry will help us understand the debilitating effect anxiety can have on our lives and point us toward health. These are important messages. It goes without saying that I hope you will be present on Sunday, and I especially encourage you to invite someone you know who may find these sermons to be a healing balm for their lives.

Jamie and Lena Jenkins and I are leaving tomorrow to take a group from Peachtree Road to the Holy Land . This is an amazing pilgrimage as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus from Bethlehem to the Jordan River to the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem. I invite you to keep us in your prayers as we travel. 

I do want to make you aware of four upcoming opportunities:

  • Great Day of Service – folks have begun to sign up for this year’s Great Day which is set for Saturday, March 21. We have projects throughout the city for all ages and stages of life. You may go online here and sign up for a project today.

  • Midweek Worship – beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 26, the prayer services that take place at noon on Wednesdays in the Moore Chapel will become worship services with congregational singing, prayers, and a message. The services will still last thirty minutes, but we believe this might be a helpful service to members of the Buckhead business community – a thirty-minute midweek service to help nourish the soul. I once had a professor remind me that people often worship near where they live, not where they sleep. There are thousands who “live” in Buckhead during the week as they work, but “sleep” in other communities. What would happen if we offered a time of worship for them? I hope you will help us pass the word about this new opportunity. 

  • Bishop’s Town Hall Meeting – Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson is holding town-hall meetings in several communities throughout North Georgia to discuss the future of the United Methodist Church in our conference and beyond. One of the meetings is being held here at Peachtree Road on Sunday, March 8 at 2:00 pm. Both clergy and laity are invited to attend, so please know you are welcome. I hope to see many of you there.

  • Hospitality the Disney Way – on Sunday, March 15, we will offer a forum on hospitality in the sanctuary at 10:00 am. I am pleased that Alice Williams, a 25 year veteran of the Disney organization, will be joining us to share insights into strengthening our ministry of hospitality. Alice is a lifelong Methodist, a member of St. Luke's UMC in Orlando, and a leader in the Florida Conference of the UMC. With her faith tradition and Disney expertise in leadership development, Alice will help us take our hospitality initiatives further than we could imagine. Please plan on attending and enjoying this rare opportunity to learn from one of the best! All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Thank you for your faithfulness to the ministry of Peachtree Road. May the peace of Christ be with you always!

Bill