Beyond Plastics

By Jean Luker, Glenn Environmental Committee

Plastic is everywhere. It is so much a part of our everyday lives that we can easily be oblivious to its effect on our world. But 350 million metric tons of plastic are produced globally each year. Plastic production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Plastic overwhelms our landfills and plastic waste chokes our waterways. Microplastic particles are hazardous to human health. Plastic-producing facilities harm low-income communities located in close proximity to them.

This January the Glenn Environmental Committee (GEC) decided to tackle the plastic pollution issue, first by educating ourselves, and then by advocating for change. We contacted Codi Norred, Executive Director of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL) about our interest in undertaking this, and he offered assistance immediately. He and GIPL Program Associate Hannah Shultz attended our February GEC meeting. We discussed ways to further educate ourselves on plastic pollution and looked at efforts now underway in Georgia to promote legislation on plastic waste.

Hannah offered to present a webinar on Ending Plastic Pollution which would be sponsored by Glenn's Ventures in Faith Sunday School class and open to all. The webinar, held on April 25, was co-hosted by Hannah and Alex Muir, Advocacy Coordinator for 100 Miles, an environmental organization on the Georgia coast. This very informative session looked at the environmental and public health concerns surrounding plastics, especially single-use plastics. We learned that recycling is not the answer - statistics show that only 9% of plastics are actually recycled, and China no longer imports our recycling. Information was shared about state and local efforts to ban single-use plastics.

We followed up this event with a Plastics Roundtable held via Zoom on May 17. Joining Hannah and Alex were Rev. Jenny Phillips of the UMC Board of Global Ministries and Rev. Millie Kim, pastor of Second Avenue UMC in Rome, Georgia. Representatives from three other local United Methodist churches also joined us for this session. The group shared a number of ideas about what churches have done to counteract plastic pollution. Rev. Jenny suggested drawing up and presenting a resolution to the North Georgia Annual Conference similar to the "Plastic and Foam Free" resolution the Florida Conference adopted. Alex Muir spoke about the basic steps involved in doing effective advocacy. GIPL’s webinars can be found on their Facebook page or check out their website gipl.org.

Further activity is in the planning stage. Holding an advocacy training workshop with GIPL is a possibility, as well as developing a partnership with other interested churches. If you would like to join Glenn's effort to help end plastic pollution, contact the GEC Chair, Lynn Speno, at lyspen@gmail.com, or jeanluker@gmail.com.

Ministry Spotlight: Ventures in Faith Sunday School Class

Gordon Boice has led the Ventures in Faith Sunday School class for over a decade.  The class pivoted to virtual gatherings during the pandemic and as they wrapped up their last virtual session this week before the Summer Lecture Series begins in June, Gordon shared this reflection, dedicated to the members of the Ventures in Faith class, “who have helped keep my faith inquisitive and growing.”

---

If Jesus said it to the disciples, did he say it to me?

The idea of biblical relevance for our personal spiritual lives is ancient. Early in the church practices were identified to focus on this aspect of Christian growth. The sixth-century monks had established a process of scripture reading that is known as Lectio Divina, or sacred reading. The practice follows several steps that focus attention and receptivity on the Bible passages.

Almost everywhere through the gospels we find verses that start something like, “And Jesus said to her,” or, “And Jesus said to him. . . .”

I often read or listen to these Bible stories in a very detached manner. The stories are ancient accounts told to distant biblical characters and useful as a window into the situation at that time. But every now and then a little voice in my head asks, “is Jesus talking to me?”

That little voice usually speaks up at the moment when I would rather not listen personally to that text, but would prefer to hear it as intended for someone else. I’m reminded of the story of the rich young man who received a difficult answer from Jesus. It seems he went away wishing Jesus had not been talking to him. [Mark 10:17-22]

However, if I am going to identify myself as a disciple, perhaps I cannot evade the messages from Jesus. Very often those Bible passages are just as accurately read, “And Jesus said to Gordon. . . .”

This is getting serious. My imagination makes it a very different experience to read or listen to a historical passage intended for someone else, or to read a message meant for me directly from Jesus, or to hear Jesus’s words spoken to me.

I think it is safe, though challenging, to say that within the Bible are words that speak directly from God to each of us.

“Follow me” Jesus says to the disciples. I also want to be a disciple, and the distance between then and now all of a sudden shrinks to nothing.

The young man in Mark’s story offers us these examples for approaching Jesus.

He went looking for Jesus.

He asked Jesus his questions.

He listened and heard.

He recognized that Jesus was speaking to him.

He went away and wrestled with his choices and decisions.

We are all in these Bible stories somewhere. Let’s continue seeking and asking and listening, and following.

-Gordon Boice

 For more information about our Sunday School classes, Bible Studies, and Spiritual Formation small groups, contact Rev. Brent Huckaby.

5 Days of Action

5 Days of Action - 2021

Still Resisting Evil, Injustice, and Oppression?

 One year ago, Glenn’s Racial Justice Caucus invited people to join in 5 Days of Action in response to the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery and in support of protests then happening against racism. For each day, we suggested multiple actions you could take to learn, speak, and advocate.

Much has changed in the last year. Between 15 million and 26 million people participated in protests last year, seeking an end to violence and inequity. George Floyd’s killer, Derrick Chauvin, was convicted of Floyd’s murder. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020. Georgia’s Citizen’s Arrest Law was repealed.

At the same time, much remains the same. Since the killing of George Floyd, another 967 people have been killed by police and, in most cases, no one has been charged for the killing. No one has been charged in Breonna Taylor’s killing. Several states have passed laws that restrict voting, make protesting a crime, and make it permissible to run over protestors. Legislation is being proposed in many states to ban the teaching of the true history of America.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on people without stable housing; people who held low-paying, frontline jobs; people who lacked access to healthcare; people who depended on public transportation; children who didn’t have access to the internet. Many of those are people of color.

So, a year later, we invite you once again to engage in 5 days of action, starting this Friday, June 4. And we also encourage you to take a look at the 5 days of action from last year. Did you find any of those actions particularly meaningful or challenging? If there are items you didn’t do last year, consider doing them now. In particular, we encourage you to reflect on what it means that so many of those actions are still called for.

Carol Allums and Karen Leary, Racial Justice Caucus

Friday, June 4

If you have:

3 minutes - Listen to this report on Black and white Americans’ differing views on race and policing

3+ minutes - read this piece on Asian-American racism

4 minutes - Watch this video of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On

5 minutes - Learn about the demographics of racial inequality

7 minutes - Read this article on the mythology of racial progress

A weekend - read White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson

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Keep acting:

*Follow Austin Channing Brown, Bernice King, Ijeoma Oluo, Sherrilyn Ifill, Carlos Rodriguez, Eddie S. Glaude, Nick Estes, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ibram X. Kendi,  Clint Smith, Jose Olivarez, Sam Hyun, George Takei, and others on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram

*Follow Glenn’s Racial Justice Caucus on Facebook

*Talk to Your Kids - Check out these tools on how to talk about racial justice with your kids

Saturday, June 5

If you have:

5 minutes - Listen to Clotilda’s On Fire by Shemekia Copeland, which tells the story of the burning of the last slave ship

10 minutes - Spend time with this visual guide to the removal of racist monuments over the last year

12 minutes - Read this story by Clint Smith on the Myth of the Lost Cause

13 minutes - Watch this episode of Crash Course Black American History focusing on The TransAtlantic Slave Trade

15 minutes - Watch this interview with Nikole Hannah-Jones on the 1619 Project

A weekend - read Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

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Keep acting:

*Visit the plaque memorializing the lynching of Porter Turner in the park at the corner of Oakdale Road and Ponce de Leon

*Rewatch films such as The Help and Driving Miss Daisy. Do you see them differently than you did before? Think about the relationships between the Black and white characters, and imagine what the Black characters might be feeling (and not showing) as they interact with the white characters. What is at the core of the Black/white relationships in these movies?

*Send a message to your US Representative asking them to approve reparations for descendants of enslaved persons

*Consider supporting the International African American Museum currently being built in Charleston, SC

*Think about your family history. If you are white and you had ancestors who lived in the United States prior to the Civil War, whether they lived in the North or South, consider how they may have participated in or benefitted from an economy built on chattel slavery. Were they farmers who traded with people who were slaveholders? Were they merchants who sold products created from the labor of the enslaved or supplied products to plantations? Did they wear clothes made from cotton picked by the enslaved? Our ancestors did not have to have been slaveholders to have benefitted from the institution of slavery

*Now that you are thinking about your family history, check out this website to learn what Indigenous land you live on

*Talk to Your Kids - For YA readers, read Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi; for younger kids, read Stamped (For Kids) by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi; for the littlest ones, read Anitracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi

Sunday, June 6

If you have:

4 minutes - Meditate on the words to this hymn

4 minutes - Listen to Glory  by John Legend and Common

5 minutes - Read Jesus is in the Streets by Dr. Jennifer Harvey in which she challenges us to “join the other America.”

8+ minutes - Watch this interview with Rev. Dr. William Barber and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

30 minutes - Read Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter From Birmingham Jail. This was on the original 5 Days of Action. If you read it last year, does it hit you differently now?

48 minutes - Listen to this podcast on the roots of racism in the United Methodist Church

A weekend - Read Shaking the Gates of Hell: A Search for Family and Truth in the Wake of the Civil Rights Revolution by John Archilbald as he reflects on his Methodist pastor father’s silence during the Civil Rights Movement and what that means for the Methodist Church today

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Keep acting:

*Check out the RJC’s resource list on Glenn’s website - pick one book, one movie, and one podcast to learn from this summer. Feel free to ask a member of RJC to talk about them with you 

*Encourage a small group you are a part of to take an action that the group decides on together. Reach out to the RJC for ideas and support

*Join the Be Love movement and sign the Be Love pledge

*Check out the library of resources compiled by UMC’s General Commission on Religion and Race (“GCORR”) and consider making a donation to GCORR

*Talk to Your Kids - Look at the children’s Bibles and Bible storybooks in your house. What color are Jesus and the other people in those books and why?

Monday, June 7

If you have:

20 seconds  - read A Small Needful Fact by Ross Gay

25 seconds - Listen to this from James Baldwin

1 minute - Listen to Clint Smith read his poem What the Cicada Said to the Black Boy

5 minutes - Watch this video of Bruce Springsteen singing American Skin. Do you know why this song is also referred to as 41 Shots?

4 minutes - Read this piece that argues that George Floyd died “because America is a racist country”

1 hour - Listen to this interview with Khalil Gibran Muhammad on the History of Policing

2+ hours - watch the movie Just Mercy

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Keep acting:

*Read this summary of  the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 and contact your Senators and ask them to pass the Act

*Find out if police in your area are allowed to use tactics such as no-knock warrants and chokeholds. Advocate for an end to practices such as those

*Learn about the Drop the Charges coalition and consider signing a petition for the dropping of charges against people participating in last summer’s protests

*Write your Congresspeople asking them to end qualified immunity

*Talk to Your Kids -  Watch this video on how to talk with your kids about policing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqF5lF2gvyA 

Tuesday, June 8

If you have:

40 seconds - Listen to this from James Baldwin

3 minutes - Read this Op-Ed on the necessity of social movements to creating change

3 minutes  - Listen to this song

4 minutes - Watch this Trevor Noah interview with Danai Gurira on difficult conversations with white friends

6 minutes - Read this essay on tools and tactics that lead to change

7 minutes - Read this piece on what it means to build community

A weekend - read How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

******************************************************************************************************

Keep acting:

*Get to know your state legislators and where they stand on issues that are important to you. 

*Identify an area of Georgia law you want to change (such as the death penalty, the Stand Your Ground law, laws restricting voting, etc.) and start advocating with your legislators and get your friends and family outside metro Atlanta to do the same

*Look at the leadership of companies and nonprofits you support. Are diverse voices being heard in leadership positions? Does the leadership of the nonprofits reflect the community being served?

*Check out the work of stonemountainaction.org towards a more inclusive Stone Mountain Park

*Contact your US Senators and ask them to support the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act

*Talk to Your Kids - Visit Sesame Street in Communities for resources on how to talk about racial justice and other tough topics with your children 

Walking Christ's (Radical, Gracious, Liberating, Beautiful) Way

When summer rolls around, are you a beach person or a mountain person? Or maybe you spend some time in both places. I’ll leave you to sort that out for yourself, but this summer, here at Glenn, we’re heading to the mountain—singular. Together there, we’ll hear some of Jesus’ most inspiring and challenging words.

Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, is one of the most remarkable sections in all of Scripture. It’s been called the “constitution of the kingdom of God.” It’s been called the law of Christ, who, like Moses, brought revelation from the mountaintop. It’s been called both an unattainable vision of a holy life and a realistic ethical prescription for Christians. More likely, it is simply too grand, too radical for any quick synopsis.

So, let’s see for ourselves what Jesus has to say. Over the course of summer 2021, you and I are invited to set our lives beside the words of Jesus and take some measure. There is grace to be found in Christ’s words. There is calling. There is vision. There is power. I believe we will find in the Sermon a way of living that is unique and divine, a way of love that can transform us and the world.

Over the course of the summer, you’ll hear from all four Glenn pastors, who will bring their own perspectives and experiences to the texts. We would love to hear your reactions to Jesus’ words as well.

We’ll begin Christ’s radical sermon this Sunday, May 30, with … words of blessing. In town for this holiday weekend? Reserve your spot now on the mountain. And if you’re away, join us online live or anytime during the week.

Also, plan to stay for a few moments following Sunday’s service to welcome Käthe Wright Kaufman with some refreshments on the front lawn.

In Christ,
The Rev. Mark Westmoreland, Senior Pastor

‘Openness and Transparency’: A Failure and An Attempt

I write today in response to the recent open letter to Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson by “United Methodist Laity for Openness and Transparency.” With a couple of exceptions, I won’t try to respond point for point. Instead, I’ll take this opportunity to be as transparent as I can be about where I stand.

As I read the letter, I thought at times, “That’s a decent question,” or That’s a fair discussion to have.” But with whom should Bishop Sue address her answers or have such a discussion?

And that, of course, is the letter’s most obvious and serious flaw. 

It’s unsigned. I learned a long time ago not to read unsigned letters, though I admit a full-page ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is a little more difficult to ignore. Still, when all is said and done, this is just an anonymous letter, more harmful than constructive, and Bishop Sue should feel no obligation to respond since no real discussion is possible. It is also troubling that the writers claim to speak for all UM laity of the conference. 

That, of course, is absurd and disingenuous.

The other specific question I’d like to address is bullet-point two: “Why are so many clergy unwilling to hold open discussions with laity about the future of the UMC? Do they have reasons to fear retribution?”

That’s a legitimate question, but from whom might the clergy fear retribution—the bishop/cabinet or, say, the conservative leadership of the clergy’s own churches? The reality is that the divisions over LGBT+ issues run THROUGH local congregations as surely as AMONG churches and clergy. Pastors, seeking to maintain unity of ministry, might avoid an open forum on LGBT+ issues because they have seen the intense emotions and divisive rancor such forums can arouse. You can certainly argue that such avoidance is far from healthy (admittedly, it has at times been my own choice), but please understand that watching faithful people, who for years have loved and cared and served together, suddenly counting heads and marshalling forces is gut-wrenching.

Here at Glenn, I don’t have to worry about a congregational split. This church made clear its stance on the issue of full inclusion long ago, and I am proud to serve such a church. If there is division in our congregation, it is over how long to tolerate the denomination’s conservative stance on marriage and ordination. I have been criticized for not acting more clearly in defiance of the denomination, and a letter addressed to Emory President Greg Fenves even suggested that our congregation be removed from our facilities for not disobeying the UM Book of Discipline. Threats of retribution, it seems, can come from many sources. Life isn’t simple, so we follow Christ and serve justice as faithfully and lovingly as we can.

Back when I worked for the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, I often received letters saying, in effect, “Mr. Editor, if you will only print this letter in full, I believe we can put this entire issue of the Bible and sexuality behind us.” 

I suffer no such illusion about my own thoughts. I will not settle things here (indeed, I’m more likely to stir disagreements), but I want to lay out some of my personal views, recognizing that my thoughts might seem simplistic to those of you who are far more articulate on this issue than I.

I am for full participation by all people in the rights and rites of the church (I certainly hope that’s clear by now). I believe the motivation for inclusive rights is scriptural and true to the fundamental mission of the church. I believe the movement of the gospel of Jesus Christ, propelled by the Holy Spirit, is always outward, and that God’s definition of “us” is ever expanding. Church leaders, being decidedly human, have tried more than a few times to name who’s in and who’s out, only to have God overrule them. We glorify God and strengthen the body of Christ when we welcome all, bless holy commitments, and acknowledge, with wisdom, grace, and accountability, that God can call anyone to God’s service. I cannot imagine my life in Christ without the diversity of individuals and families here at Glenn, some of whom have felt unwelcomed elsewhere.

As a lifelong United Methodist, ordained as an elder 36 years ago in the Glenn sanctuary, I seek to honor my vows to serve Christ through the church. 

I also respect our Book of Discipline, of human origin to be sure, but rules and guides we have agreed to hold in common. Therefore, I want to see the Discipline changed, not ignored. That is why I have not been willing to disregard our UM church law. As it is now, we offer the sanctuary and chapel for any Christian wedding properly officiated. As for me, I will continue to welcome all people into Christ’s fellowship and strive to involve everyone fully in ministry, while also working to change the Discipline’s language that devalues too many lives.

I confess I am a “big-tent” Methodist. I believe we are stronger together than apart and that conservative and progressive Christians need each other. I believe the construction of twin towers of Babel, allowing us to dwell exclusively with those who agree with us, is harmful to the realm of God. 

I’m realistic enough to know that separation might be the only way forward, but should that day come, I will not rejoice in severing ties with people I love and with whom I have shared Christian service for years.

I long for the day when our current disciplinary language is changed, when respect for conscience guides our relationships, and we work together joyously to serve the Savior who claims us all. Imagine us UMs united in love and intentionally inviting all people to experience the grace of Christ. Imagine us trusting the Holy Spirit to move in surprising ways. It is in intentional inviting that we progressive UMs can learn a thing or two from our more evangelical brothers and sisters. It is in the affirmation of all people that our more conservative siblings can learn from us. It is in trusting the Holy Spirit that we can all learn and grow together.

Recognizing the limits of my own knowledge and words, I remain,

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Mark Westmoreland, Senior Pastor

An Announcement from SPRC

The Glenn Staff-Parish Relations Committee is excited to announce the hiring of Käthe Wright Kaufman as Glenn's new Associate Director of Music and Worship Arts, effective May 1. Käthe (pronounced KAY-tuh) will collaborate with Michael Dauterman in planning and implementing all aspects of or music and worship arts ministry and serve as our primary organist and pianist.

Käthe brings an impressive background to Glenn. She holds a bachelor's and master's from Eastman School of Music and served as Organ Scholar at Peterborough Cathedral and Truro Cathedral in the UK. The search committee was resoundingly impressed with Käthe's authenticity, warm personality, high level of musicianship, and ease with connecting with the Glenn staff and congregation. Please join us in welcoming Käthe to our staff as she moves to Atlanta from the Chicago area this month. We are excited for the congregation to get to know Käthe and for her to begin contributing to our worship next month.

Tommy McGarrah Sharp, Chair
Staff-Parish Relations Committee

Separation Anxiety

By REV. SUSAN PINSON

Anyone else feeling like you have a newfound empathy for what separation anxiety must feel like for children?  I can close my eyes and hear the cries of my children as I dropped them off with loving childcare providers at church or school and my heart starts racing just remembering it.  It doesn't mean that separation was not good for all of us, but the anxiety was real.  After being primarily at home for the duration of the pandemic for over a year, re-entry into even safe social settings seems daunting to me.  As much as I miss friends and church family and the buzz of a crowd in some ways, in other ways, my dining-room-turned-office and the family that lives under my roof with no need for a mask has become literally and figuratively my safe space.  And so the transition anxiety is real now, no doubt complicated by the very real risk of covid. 

The pandemic is not over even as I am so grateful that so many adults and teens in our circles are vaccinated.   Informal surveys of my friends and research coming out from mental health professionals affirm that I'm not alone.  So as we look towards the days and weeks and months ahead, I want to simply remind you to be gentle with yourselves, your children, and one another.   

I hope you'll continue to reach out to connect with our amazing Glenn Church family in ways that meet the spiritual needs of yourself and your children -- online and in person.  Even if you are a lifelong member of this congregation, we are all about to be first-time worshippers and 1st-time Sunday School students and 1st-time parents dropping off at childcare again. 

I am here to listen to your family for ways we can still safely meet the goals of faith-formation in ways that feel comfortable to each family, while still gently challenging ourselves that sometimes it's okay to work through a little separation anxiety in safe ways (in big and small ways, as I'll be having separation anxiety from my yoga pants, too!).

Organ Notes

“Wow! That’s loud.” “I’d like that played at my funeral.” “That was pretty.” “I think I heard that in a horror movie once.” These comments, all spoken by me at one time or another, capture pretty well the breadth of my knowledge of church organ music. Nonetheless, there I was, along with 20 or so other folks, to hear a candidate for our open position here at Glenn. My presence was ex officio. Being senior pastor has its responsibilities and its perks, and my presence that evening fell blessedly into both categories.

As I took a seat in our sanctuary, with late light shining through the windows, my anxieties decided to take a break, and my soul seemed suddenly, surprisingly settled. I looked around at the people scattered across the pews. They were my people—and I say that not possessively, but communally. We shared a place, a time, and, for a while that day, a task—ex officio all.

Michael Dauterman introduced the candidate and laid out the plan for our time together. Then she played. In case you’re interested, it was Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D Major (I had to ask Michael again today). Some of our group, I’m sure, took note of her interpretive choices and the subtleties of technique. I, on the other hand, noticed that her hands and feet actually moved separately but somehow in sync. Coordination always amazes me. She was playing the organ, but she could just as easily have been juggling while riding a unicycle.

But then—ah!—there were the sounds her juggling produced! I can’t explain to you one note she played or one choice she made. But I could sit there in the pew and be in it all. That was good enough for me. From pipes through ears to heart.

An artist puts jots on a page, and 400 years later another artist brings them to life. DNA plucked from a mosquito in amber? No, it’s a duet across centuries; it’s time rendered meaningless; it’s the kind of beauty that only those beings who are a little lower than the angels can create—a beauty that brushes against heaven and plumbs the depths of souls. And I was there for it, held in those notes with the 20 others in the room.

Remember when we shared pews? When we gathered in soaring notes together and sang together and slipped out of time together and rejoiced and prayed together and found in hymns sung and words spoken the truth we needed? We rather casually called it “going to church.” One evening, with 20 or so other folks, during an interview with a music candidate, I remembered how that feels. It’s like nothing else in the world.
Soon. Again.

In Christ,
Mark Westmoreland,
Senior Pastor

Spring Is In the Air … Or at Least in the Church

As I write this, I feel I should be outside frolicking or something.  The weather is downright spring-ish—sunny and 65—and, as I think about that, it seems very appropriate somehow.  We’re a week away from Ash Wednesday, after all, and the start of Lent, a word that comes from the Old English for “spring.”

Now, obviously, it’s still February, so cold weather hasn’t fled for good, but we know it will.  The world will keep moving and tilting until at last winter heads south for the summer.  In the meantime, whatever the weather outside, it’s spring for the church—Lent—a season of anticipation and preparation for something even more wonderful than the arrival of daffodils or birdsong.  The earth is turning toward Easter with its good news of love triumphant, hope undefeatable, and life eternal.  The only question for us is how much attention we will pay to the season of 40 days (not counting Sundays) leading to Easter’s dawn.

It’s heartbreaking to think that this will be our second Lent of the pandemic.  I never imagined our physical separation would go on this long.  BUT we’ve certainly learned over these months that COVID’s cruelty can’t rob us of the life we share in Christ.  And neither will it steal the meaning and power of this season.  As we do every year, we will share during this season times for worship, study, prayer and giving.  No pandemic can silence the good and holy call to prepare our hearts for the Day of Resurrection. 

So, let me share with you a few of the opportunities before you during our “church spring”:

·         On Ash Wednesday (February 17), 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 5:30 p.m., you’re invited to visit the church sanctuary and a variety of stations for reflection in that holy space.  There will be meditative music, and, before leaving, you can pause at the chancel rail for a time of prayer.  A pastor will be available to pray with you if you wish.

·         Ash Wednesday Worship, 7 p.m.: Our worship, live on Facebook, will offer a mix of live segments from the chapel and pre-recorded music and hymns.  The Rev. Connor Bell will be our preacher.  A children’s Ash Wednesday video from the Rev. Susan Pinson will also be available beginning on Wednesday morning.

·         This year, as a daily guide for reflection and prayer, we’re offering a Lenten Devotional book written by the Glenn pastors.  It will be available for pick-up in the sanctuary during the Ash Wednesday prayer times or by download through the church website.  If you can’t be present on Ash Wednesday but would like print copy, we’ll arrange delivery.  The devotionals are based on the lectionary readings for the season.

·         Our Lenten Study this year will also be based on the lectionary readings, as well as our Sunday sermons.  We’ll offer several Zoom groups and times for weekly gatherings and discussion.

·         Our Lenten Offering this year will support the ongoing work of our Snack in a Backpack food ministry for local students and families.  You’ll be able to give online or on Sundays or during our morning worship.

Giving, prayer, study, and worship—think of them all as part of our Spring Training—ways of renewing our spirits that we might embody and serve more joyously the justice, love, and grace of our risen Christ.  I hope you’ll join in.  It’s amazing the difference 40 days can make.

In Christ,

Mark Westmoreland

Still in Mission: Update from Intown Collaborative Ministries

By CHLOE COOK, Glenn Memorial Member and Director Of Operations at Intown Collaborative Ministries

Born out of and supported by faith-based congregations including Glenn Memorial UMC, Intown Collaborative Ministries mobilizes our community to serve our neighbors who are most vulnerable: those experiencing homelessness and hunger.  Intown operates two programs: our food pantry and our homeless outreach program.

At the pantry we provide each guest with a week’s worth of groceries for their family or household when they visit. In addition to responding to the immediate need of hunger, our pantry is a space where relationships can begin to be built with a focus on long-term and sustainable solutions.  In 2020, we served over 3,500 people at the food pantry.  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we tripled the number of days the pantry was open, distributed 300% more pounds of food than the previous year, and served 140% more families.

All of this was and continues to be possible because of our community of supporters.  We have 8 volunteers in the pantry each day it is open, many of whom are members of Glenn.  We can offer a variety of food and meet the growing need in our community because of food drives.  Since March, Glenn has hosted food drives during the Souper Bowl of Caring, vacation Bible school, the pumpkin patch, Advent, and more!

As we look into the future, Intown is exploring ways to safely offer more choice to our food pantry guests.  We are also looking towards safe distribution models, such as contactless delivery, for our guests who are extremely vulnerable or unable to afford to travel to the pantry.

Intownʼs Homeless Outreach Program is based on the Housing First philosophy – everyone is ready for and deserving of housing right now.  We work with individuals experiencing homelessness within the City of Atlanta, using a harm reduction and person-centered approach.  Our team of social workers, case managers, and peer specialists meet folks where they are – under bridges, in encampments, on the street corner – and help the individual address his or her barriers to permanent, stable housing.  The key outcome of the homeless outreach program is sustainable permanent housing for clients who have experienced homelessness.

Last year, the Homeless Outreach Program moved 139 individuals experiencing homelessness into their own home.  We saw a 20% increase in the number of individuals accessing housing services.  While this is in part due to the increase in need in the community, Intown was also able to grow our team in 2020.  Since June 2020, we added 9 team members and new programs to address housing instability in the trans community, individuals with substance use issues, and individuals in repeated contact with law enforcement.

The Homeless Outreach team, with its deep trusting relationships with the members of our city’s homeless community, led efforts throughout the pandemic to ensure community members had knowledge, resources, and access to testing to keep safe.  In the coming months, the team will help with efforts to make the vaccine available to the community.

Dying for Lies, Living in Truth

 On Wednesday, January 6, 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt, Air Force veteran and business owner from Ocean Beach, California, was shot and killed by an officer of the Capitol Police as she attempted to climb through a shattered window and toward the House Chamber.

In an interview with a San Diego news station, her uncle, Anthony Mazziott Jr., said, with tears, that Ms. Babbitt “loved people,” and that she “served her country and loved it, and our democracy, and ultimately gave her life for it.”  Please pray for Mr. Mazziott and for Ms. Babbitt’s husband, parents, family, and friends in this time of profound loss and grief.

But let us be clear.  Ms. Babbitt did not die for her country or for democracy.  Ashli Babbitt died for lies.

Dig into this tragic death and Ms. Babbitt’s choices leading to the fatal moment, and you will find illusions embraced and allegiances misplaced.  Evil has a way of taking something good and twisting it until it is dead, or worse, deadly.  Ms. Babbitt’s love for people and country was twisted by QAnon conspiracy theories that resonated with her own suspicions and by lies repeated often enough to become credal affirmations.  Add to that a gathering of like-minded folks and some final words from her Commander in Chief, and devotion began its sprint toward death.

Ashli Babbitt died for lies.  Can you and I live in Truth?

Before we get to the big-T Truth, let’s start with the little-t.  So, the obvious: Check facts; read diverse sources; don’t share stuff online just because it FEELS true or, hey, it COULD be.  Distinguish between opinion and fact.  Don’t demonize people who disagree with you.  And before you tell me that those OTHER people do those same things, trust me, I know that.  Let’s all acknowledge that words have power, and words repeated often enough take root and bear fruit, healthy or destructive.  And yes, we are all capable of lying or passing lies along.  Can we try not to?

Now, the big-T Truth.  For me, that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I think it’s time for a revival.  And if that conjures for you images of a big tent and repeated refrains of “Just As I Am,” I’m fine with that.  Just be sure it’s a really big tent with room for all of us.

I watched with disgust Wednesday as rioters carried signs and placards bearing the name of Jesus.  We can’t forbid such use of Christ’s name, but I can certainly challenge it.  Jesus doesn’t look very comfortable in a QAnon T-shirt or, for that matter, wrapped in an American flag.  Jesus didn’t lead those rioters to that moment; they dragged him along for the ride, using his name to clothe in holy garb their own anger and fears.  That’s nothing new, of course; it’s been a popular Christian practice for a couple of millennia.  It’s amazing, isn’t it, how much God looks and thinks like you or me?

Let’s go to the tent.  Let’s read the Bible.  Let’s listen to people we don’t normally hear.  Let’s search our souls.  You and I are sinners saved by grace, but sin keeps nudging at us, doesn’t it?  The old ways are not easily escaped.  We can fool ourselves (Not a racist bone in MY body); we can deflect (I’m not perfect, but you’re not so great yourself); we can mistake knowledge for righteousness and ignorance for faith.  We’re human.  But the good news is … we’re human, just a little lower than the angels, and God has chosen to meet us in the perfectly human Jesus.  Look to him.  Watch Jesus.  Where might he lead you?

As the news interview with Ashli Babbitt’s uncle neared its end, he said, “I wish we could all come down and figure out how to get along”—a sentiment we’ve heard or spoken how many times?  Yet, here we are, of course, still haunted by, still enraged by, still frightened by, still fighting over, our differences of class, race, opinion, or politics, to name a few.

Howard Thurman said that “hatred often begins in a situation in which there is contact without fellowship” (emphasis mine, and with gratitude to Connor Bell and Mindy McGarrah-Sharp for the reference).

Thurman wrote those words long before the echo chambers of social media allowed us to segregate comfortably in our neighborhoods of ideas, but truth is truth.  While there is online “contact” and trolling aplenty among those who disagree, there is less “fellowship” than ever.   And hatred grows.

I really appreciate Thurman’s use of the word, “fellowship.”  It’s a good church word.  Can we perhaps recover some fellowship in our big-tent revival?  Singing together, praying together, (and for each other), listening to the Word of God, maybe even listening to each other.  This isn’t rocket science (though, in all honesty, it might be more challenging).  To gather in the tent is to strive for that which I truly believe 99 percent of us want—to “figure out how to get along” in a just, loving, and caring community.

Before the Pandemic slowed us down, we United Methodists were ready to divorce over issues of sexuality, rites, and rights, and, more than likely, that break-up will proceed once we can get back together long enough to go our separate ways.  But, in the meantime—and even if/when division happens—I hope we’ll agree to gather for the revival.  The ugliness of these days needs to be tamped down, and who better to do that than the Holy Spirit?

Now, the truth is our revival doesn’t really require a big tent.  It can be virtual, this revival; it can be one congregation gathered with another from a different geographical or ideological neighborhood; it can be a few folks together for prayer and Bible study; and it can start with you, alone with Christ, considering the state of your own soul.  The revival is an invitation to know Truth and to live in that Truth.

And this is Truth—that God loves us, and we are called to love.  Simple enough, isn’t it?  But we can only discover the fullness of that Truth as we let go of the lies that deceive, divide and destroy, and that takes honesty, prayer, faith, and grace.  Revival.

Jean Paul Sartre once said, quite perceptively, that “hell is other people,” but so too, the Scriptures make clear, is heaven.  The difference?  I believe we can best find the answer in the big tent.  Together.

In Christ,

Rev. Mark Westmoreland

Support Glenn Church with End of Year Giving

There is still time to make your final 2020 contribution to Glenn.

It has been a challenging year, but our vital ministries for and with our members, community, and world have continued. Your faithful giving, as always, makes that work possible. Thank you also for gifts to our Good Samaritan Fund that has allowed us to offer immediate help to families and individuals in need.

Please consider what you can do now before the year ends, then choose one of the following options:

Online

• Click Here

• Click the “Give Now” box

• You can then make a one-time donation or set up a recurring donation.

Text to Give  

• Simply send a text to the number (833)795-0325 with the amount you wish to donate to the operating fund typed into the message space, then press Send.

• You will receive a text reply with a link. Click the link, which will take you to a giving screen (processed via Vanco) with our church name and a giving template.

• Enter your name, address, email address, method of payment details, and confirm the gift amount in that template.

• You will receive a receipt by return text to your phone stating the amount donated to Glenn Memorial UMC.

• A receipt also will be emailed to you if you complete the email address line.

Bank Draft

• Log in directly to your banking institution and create a bill-pay payment to Glenn Memorial UMC.

• Use the church address:

  • 1660 N. Decatur Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30307. Your bank will send payment directly to the church.

• Please indicate in the memo field of the bill payment where to post the donation.

By Mail

• You can mail your offering to:

  • Glenn Memorial UMC – Finance Office
    1660 N. Decatur Road, NE
    Atlanta, GA 30307

Remember that any mailed donation for 2020 must be postmarked by December 31 to be recorded for this year.

And one more reminder:

Have you recorded an estimate of giving for 2021? This, too, is vitally important as we finalize our operating budget for the coming year. You can do this right now online HERE, OR you can mail the card sent you earlier to the church, OR you can call Pam Gwinner at (404) 634-3936, ext. 102.

Thank you for your faithfulness to Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church and our work in the name and love of Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Rev. Mark Westmoreland

In the Bleak Midwinter

Dear friends,

The Advent/Christmas season is often a time of joy and peace with friends, family, and church.  But here we are in 2020 with a global pandemic separating us from friends, family, and church and for so many of us who have experienced the death of a loved one, feelings of grief and loneliness surface with each carol or greeting card.

        While we cannot gather in person for our traditional In the Bleak Midwinter – A Service of Grief of Hope, we invite you to come together via Facebook Live on Wednesday, December 16, 7:00pm.  This service will be a time to virtually gather with others who may feel that all the hustle and bustle of this season can be too much to bear.  We’ll share in prayer, song, Scripture, and a short message as we acknowledge the struggles in our lives that make being jolly and merry the farthest things from our hearts and minds. On one of winter's longest nights “in the bleak midwinter,” we’ll seek comfort and hope in the midst of this season.

        As a part of this virtual service, available to watch anytime after 7pm on December 16th, we invite you to share a photo of an Advent/Christmas memory that brings you comfort even in grief.  No names or comments will be included in the slideshow – simply images of joyful memories.  Text or e-mail the photo to Susan at spinson@glennumc.org.

        We, your pastors — as well as our Lay Ministers — will be logged on together on December 16th. We are also as close as a phone call if you ever want to talk.  Finally, and most importantly, we want to remind you of the hope we have in Jesus Christ.  His words of comfort and guidance, the gift of his life, death, and resurrection, and promise of coming again.  The depth of the emotion of the Gospel is expressed beautifully in a verse from “O Holy Night”:

The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, Oh, hear the angel voices
O night divine, O night when Christ was born

        May your Advent and Christmas season be rich with warm memories of those we have loved as we prepare once again for the hope of the Christ Child to be born in our hearts and lives.

We Count - More Election Season Encouragement from the Racial Justice Caucus

We are all about instant gratification, and election results are no different. We all want to go to bed at a decent hour on November 3 knowing how the election turned out. But this year is different; because of the volume of votes to be counted, we must assume that there will be no “election night” winners.                

Every vote counts, and it will take time to count every vote, partly because of the number of votes expected to be cast, but also because of the labor-intensive processing of absentee ballots. Many states do not even start processing absentee ballots until Nov. 3, while other states accept mailed in ballots for several days thereafter. So it will take some time, and that’s OK. We want accurate results, not fast results.

The media, candidates, and even your friends and family may holler, complain, and demand an end to the counting. Resist their impatience, and educate them if you can.

We can go ahead and remind the Georgia elected officials who supervise the counting and certification of the vote, as well as any legal challenges to election procedures, that Georgia voters want certainty in election results, not speed.

Here’s a draft request you can send to the officials (it seems abrupt because their email message boxes have space limitations):

Please make the following commitments publicly, either through a press release or on video.

• I commit to listen to and amplify the voice of all my constituents.

• I commit to use my authority to protect every vote and refuse to accept election results until all votes are counted.

• I commit to defend the voice of the people of Georgia, as evidenced by their votes,  when presenting Georgia’s election results.

Protect our democracy.

Please send the message today, and feel free to share it with your friends. Email it to Gov. Brian Kemp at  https://georgia.gov/message, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger at  https://sos.ga.gov/cgi-bin/email.asp, and Attorney General Chris Carr at  http://carrforgeorgia.com (scroll down the page).

Because every vote counts.

Election Day, and I Believe

When I voted this morning, I ran into three Glenn Church members, not in line to vote (no wait when I voted) but serving as poll workers.  Mackay Asbury is the poll manager there at Druid Hills High School; Ellen McFee checked me in; and Dan Macfarlane was monitoring and assisting voters.

And that is why I feel optimistic today.  The backbone of American representative democracy is people like Dan, Ellen, and Mackay, who do what is right and good in their communities on election day and, for that matter, every other day, too.  They are our neighbors, and today they are serving us and the highest ideals of our nation.  That’s big, folks, and it reminds me of what I believe, and it gives me hope.

Call me foolish, but I truly believe in the goodness of Americans because, through my years, I have come across a lot of really good Americans.  I don’t agree with all of them, but I have seen the good they do; I have seen them care for neighbors and strangers.  I believe in them, not necessarily their political opinions or passions, but them.

I know; I know.  These are ugly days.  And I am as tired of it all as you.  I have grown weary of listening to politicians—yes, our president among them—who have swapped any pretense of statesmanship for fear-mongering, belittling insults that we wouldn’t tolerate from our children, and divisive pandering—and, yes, neither our president nor his party holds a monopoly on any of the ugliness.

But in the midst of the noise and the fears of what the days ahead might bring, I am hopeful, because good people keep doing good things.  I know folks here at Glenn who work faithfully and tirelessly to feed the hungry, while others are tending to the needs of the incarcerated, and others are taking real action against racism, and others are seeing to the needs of the elderly who cannot afford essentials, and others, in the midst of a pandemic, are quietly checking on their neighbors and their fellow church members.  My preacher word for all of this goodness is grace.  Grace is care shown for the other; grace is acceptance of the neighbor; grace gives.  And grace abounds, still.  Just look around and count the gracious people.

On the national level, an unprecedented 100 million Americans voted early this year, while millions more of us ventured out today to our local polling places and the familiar faces awaiting us there.  I confess that at heart I am a skeptic when it comes to the natural inclinations of us human beings, but today I see millions of reasons for hope.  I believe that, despite all our grousing and nitpicking and finger-pointing, we Americans take this citizenship stuff pretty seriously.  There are still shared values that guide us, and despite the ugliness at the fringes, we are a people who believe in doing good for each other.

So, today, before the votes are counted, I sing America, and I sing gracious people like you who serve every day, and I sing good people like Ellen, Dan, and Mackay, who guard quietly and faithfully the rights you and I claim on this election day 2020.

In Christ,

Rev. Mark Westmoreland

Together Called: A Season of Stewardship

Dear friends,

It seems a long time ago now, but back on January 26, as we celebrated our 100th anniversary as a church, I preached on the ties that bind. I spoke of those invisible cords of love and grace that connect us to one another and to all the saints who came before us at Glenn. They fill our sanctuary, those cords; they are holy ties.

Now, nine months later, I wonder: Do the cords remain unbroken?

This long season of COVID has rattled our assumptions, challenged our habits, and threatened our livelihoods and people we hold dear. We’ve been forced to work, study, play, and worship in ways we could not have imagined a year ago. We’ve worried more, gotten on each other’s nerves a little more, and we’ve had to think very intentionally about the stuff that fills our days. What is important? What is necessary? What is good? Good enough? Best?

And the church? Through it all, we have worshiped together—differently, yes—but we have worshiped. YouTube and Facebook are our chapel and sanctuary, but we gather still, praying, singing, and hearing the word preached. Zoom is our meeting room, where committees and mission groups do their vital work and groups meet for study and fellowship.

Through it all, we have focused on what is good and best. We’ve confirmed young people in the faith, prayed for the sick, welcomed new members, and baptized babies. We’ve spoken out for social justice and helped families in need; and our giving has fueled vital ministries in our community and around the world. Much has changed, but what is important has not.

So, those cords? I believe they’ve been tested and proven.

No pandemic can change who we are. You and I are the church, together called to be hope in times of chaos, to speak salvation to broken lives, and to serve God’s realm of justice and wholeness. Over the next four weeks, as we prepare to renew our personal and financial commitment to God’s work in the world, we will ponder what it means to be “together called.” This year’s campaign will be a little different, of course, but Christ’s work still calls for our faithful support. And the church? In God’s grace and power, we remain nothing less than the body of Christ for the world, a holy fellowship grounded in love.

In Christ,
The Rev. Mark Westmoreland,
Senior Pastor

Decisions, Decisions

Decision making during a pandemic is challenging.  Never knowing if we are making the right choices for ourselves, our families, our communities.  Physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual health all needing tender care in these interesting times. As parents/guardians of children have decisions to make about visiting the Pumpkin Patch, attending the drive-thru Trunk or Treat, safe options for trick or treating, and attending outdoor worship, this old Kids @ Glenn newsletter article for the 2015 archives seemed apropos:

Does anyone happen to remember that time I waxed eloquently about reflecting on the type of mother I wanted to be one day?  I even preached about it in my first-Sunday-back-to-work-sleep-deprived-state-of-new-motherhood sermon. I remember that I made some correlation to how we each have to constantly ask ourselves what type of Christian we want to be.  

What I know now that I didn't know then is that I am probably two dozen different types mothers in any given day!  I'm the cuddly, loving mom who will of course read one more story. The silly-sing-songs-about-everything mom.  The impatient, frustrated mom. The exhausted-I-just-want-you-to-go-to-sleep mom.  The I-wish-you-would-wake-up-so-I-could-actually-have-time-with-you-today mom. The hippy "we don't watch tv" mom.  The modern "here - entertain yourself with my cell phone" mom.  The healthy meal-planner mom.  The bribe-the-child-with-a-cookie mom.  The schedules and routines matter mom. The flexible and it'll-be-a-good-experience mom.  And these were all just this afternoon!

And so, yes, I do still believe that we can and should reflect on the types of parents (grands/teachers /guardians, etc.) we want to be.  But we also need to remember that our relationships are fluid and ever-changing. And that's okay.  Jesus himself once said, "blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God"  (Clearly, he spoke old English...), as well as saying he came not to bring peace, but a sword. So confusing. Truth be told, it is probably going to be as hard for our children to figure out what types of parents we were to them (hopefully with the help of caring therapists!) as it is for us to figure out what Jesus really was like during his time on earth and what God was, and is, and ever will be.  And that's okay.  Because relationships are fluid and ever-changing.  

Sometimes I need God to be my cuddly mom who will bear with me for one more story. Sometimes I need God to be the schedules and routines matter parent and other times need the flexibility. Oftentimes, I need grace that's as sweet as the promise of a cookie. When we try to describe our relationship with God, I hope and pray that it is as complicated as describing our relationship with our children.  Because it doesn't mean that God is changing in who God is.  It's just this simple:  we are beloved children of God...with an ever-changing relationship with our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. 

Grace and Peace,
Rev. Susan Pinson
(the mom who gave her child pieces of candy corn in between bites of peas just to have her eat SOMETHING for dinner tonight!)  

How To Vote in Georgia

By GLENN CHURCH’S RACIAL JUSTICE CAUCUS

If you have access to the internet, you can find a lot of information and get ready to vote online. Go to the Glenn website for a complete guide to voting. This guide is intended to help those who don’t have access to the internet.

First, decide when and how you are going to vote. To vote in the November 3 election, you must be a registered voter, and you can either

1. Vote early at designated precincts October 12 through October 30 OR vote in person at your precinct on November 3 OR

2. Vote by mail with an absentee ballot.

VOTE IN PERSON

EARLY VOTING starts October 12 and continues through October 30. For information about early voting locations, including dates and times when polls are open, call your county registrar (numbers for DeKalb County and Fulton County below).

ON NOVEMBER 3, you can vote at your home precinct from 7 am until 7 pm. You will probably vote at the same place where you usually vote, but some locations have changed because of COVID-19. For information about precinct changes, call your county registrar.         

IF YOU VOTE IN PERSON, take your photo ID and expect very long lines and wait times, as election workers will clean equipment frequently and ask you to maintain safe distances from other voters and poll workers. Do not wear clothes or hats with the names of candidates or parties or other political content or controversial language.

VOTE BY MAIL

You may have already received your ballot from your county registrar or an application for an absentee ballot from your county registrar or a voting rights group. If you have your ballot, skip down to the heading “How to Vote Your Absentee Ballot.”

How to Get Your Absentee Ballot

If you are planning to vote by mail and you have an application for an absentee ballot, you should fill it out and return it to your county registrar immediately (see below for addresses).

If you want to vote by mail and have not received either a ballot or an application for a ballot, you can request an application for a ballot from your county registrar in writing, providing the following information:

• Your name

• Date of birth

• The address at which you are registered to vote

• Temporary out of county address to which the ballot should be sent (if applicable)

• Type of election (general)

• Date of election (November 3)

• Your signature, including the date of the request.

Mail your request to your county registrar (address below).

How to Vote Your Absentee Ballot

First, remove the perforated stub at the top of the ballot.

Next, mark the ballot with a blue or black pen (don’t use a felt tip pen or Sharpie), and color in the oval to the left of the name of the candidate you want to vote for. Fill the oval completely, and don’t make stray marks on the ballot. Ballots marked with an X or a checkmark run a very high risk of being rejected.

Once the ink is dry on your marked ballot, fold it and place it in the white envelope and seal it.

Now place the white envelope (with ballot inside) inside the second, yellow and white, pre-addressed envelope, and seal that envelope.

On the envelope flap, sign the “Oath of Elector” (that’s you) on the line labeled “Sign Here.” Sign your name as you usually do; elections officials will compare it to your signature on file to confirm that you are the person voting. Then print your name on the line below and to the left of the signature line that says “Printed Name of Elector.” If someone helped you mark your ballot, that person must date, sign, print name, and check the reason for assistance in the lower left-hand corner of the back of the envelope.

Now you are ready to deliver your ballot to your county registrar. The registrar must receive it by 7 pm on November 3. If you mail your ballot, affix two first class stamps to it and mail it at least two weeks before election day.

You can also deliver your ballot directly to your county registrar’s office or to one of the many secure dropboxes in your county. Call your county election officials to find the dropbox nearest to you.

QUESTIONS ABOUT VOTING

Your county registrar or the Georgia Voting Hotline (number below) can answer your voting questions.

DEKALB COUNTY BOARD OF REGISTRARS     
(404) 298-4020    
4380 Memorial Drive       
Decatur, GA 30032-1239        
                    

FULTON COUNTY REGISTRATION & ELECTIONS                         
(404) 612-7020
Absentee Ballot Division               
130 Peachtree St SW, Suite 218
Atlanta, GA 30303

Georgia Voter Hotline 888-730-5816

Before and Someday, After

By CLAIRE ASBURY LENNOX, Glenn Church Member

The last weekend in the blissful world of hugs and high fives and not caring if people breathed on you, we went two for two on Glenn Confirmation activities: day retreat on Saturday, Sunday School the next morning.

Spring was just peeking out, and early on Saturday we gathered yawning at North DeKalb Mall and into the bowl of its community garden (which I had driven past countless times but never entered) to move mulch, pick up trash, and—to the delight of my forever Glenn Youth heart—belt “Bohemian Rhapsody” on top of what I believe was ultimately dubbed Mulch Mountain. In this first year of parenthood, I savored getting out of the house and chatting with my fellow Friends in Faith, all members of Glenn’s young adult group. Besides being in slight disbelief that I don’t technically count as a young adult anymore, I felt such deep gratitude for the gifts and graces they have brought to our church family and for the chance to get to know them better. 

And these seventh graders! Talkative, engaged, smart, silly. I usually feel in the upper echelon of lame around teenagers, but not these folks. We drove to Chick-fil-A and sat in the brisk sunny wind of the patio, the only place that would hold us all, laughing and dipping fried goodness in Polynesian sauce.

Back at the YAAB (Youth and Activities Building), we wrote a creed for Confirmation Sunday, the students deciding how they would frame the Holy Trinity through their own words and ideas—a practice we’d gone through on my Glenn Confirmation retreat 19 years before. And we played “Telestrations,” definitely my favorite version of Telephone by far, passing notecards and pens around the cluster of couches, chuckling and groaning at one another’s artistic (in)ability as we struggled, on the clock, to figure out the original word.

The next morning, we gathered back in the same room for our lesson on grace. Connor had us all take off our shoes and socks, go outside to the YAAB yard, and walk on the frosty straw dew in (mostly) quiet contemplation. Anyone who walked down North Decatur Road for those ten minutes was probably confused. But Connor wanted us to have the experience of really getting up close to something that we pass by a lot, that’s always there (the yard), but that we don’t always notice or pay deep attention to. Like God’s grace.

Why am I recounting all this when it happened six months ago? I’m not sure. I think because part of me can’t believe it’s been half a year since I last set foot inside our church buildings that mean so much to me, and more importantly, spent quality in-person time with the people who make up our community, old friends and new. I’m almost still processing that on this early spring day, everything seemed set and solid—even knowing that COVID was lurking, no way it would take over with such magnitude—but by the end of the week, I would be leaving my office for a still-unknown period of time.

And I’m glad that some of my last days in that “before” time, outside of a small family bubble, were spent with these people. With Glenn people.

I’m grateful that I still feel close to our community of faith, and for the many folks who are working doubly hard to make connection possible in the age of COVID.

But I think back to that last in-person Sunday morning, bare feet gingerly pressing into the cold wet ground outside the YAAB, recalling pumpkin unloadings long past and experiencing up close a place that I would typically walk by fondly, but without a second glance.

How many times since then and now have I wished to delve deeply into the (extra)ordinary gatherings of worship and fellowship that I never expected to go without? To take off my metaphorical shoes and sink down into the messy, joyful details of community?

A lot. A lot of times.

I’m not sure how to end this piece since we don’t yet know how and when any of this will end. Nothing will feel fully satisfying until we can safely reunite and rejoice.

On Sunday mornings these days, I watch my toddling, babbling son—who, last time we were in worship, was still content to be held and rocked—smile and wave at the musicians and pastors on the laptop screen, in the midst of milk and toys and goldfish.

It is small, but it is something. A grace-filled reminder of who still surrounds us, a reminder of what’s to come.

Frenetic

A wonderful Glenn mama friend texted me this morning:

"How are you right now?  (I can't answer general "how are you questions anymore so I try not to ask them either.)"

What a great question!  My answer, I will disclose here in this quasi-public sphere:

"Love it!  Yeah, I am holding steady with overall frenetic world/family.  How about you?"

fre·net·ic     /frəˈnedik/     adjective

1.    fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way.

Pandemic.  Hurricanes.  Wildfires.  Another senseless shooting of a black man by police.  Protests.  Riots.  Murder.  Another senseless shooting of a child.  Protests. Riots.  Murder.  Political conventions that dominate the media with a dizzying pendulum of hope and despair; pride and disgust, no matter which way you swing. 

Another Zoom call dropped.  A different username and password needed for every. single. site.

Students and teachers and parents and administrators frustrated.  

Confusing news reports as politics and media meddles with research.  Worrying about our church members and my loved ones in the hospital.  Worried about healthcare workers and other frontline workers.  Grateful for a telemedicine appointment and a prescription, but skeptical it's going to help my minor ailment, as I know good and well that my poor sleeping and eating right now is what is keeping me from my best health.

Yet...
Children laughing with delight as they beat me in another race with sidewalk chalk start & finish lines.  Delight in the bag full of snacks and lunch provided by the county school system at the bus stop.  Pride in my self-care as I unsubscribe from e-mail lists and social media that do not bring me joy. Teaching my kids to do the same with toys and clothes we don't need.  Nothing quite as cute as a toddler scrunching his nose and holding up a junky plastic toy and saying in a high pitched voice, "Donate?!"  (I think there's a book turned verb about this -- Marie Kondo?!)

Text threads that take days to respond to the correct one.  Odd and sometimes hilarious texts from friends and families that were meant for someone else.  At least it seems I'm not the only frenetic one these days! A few passing moments with my spouse to reminisce about B.C. (before COVID) and talk about our lofty dreams of a date night when this, too, finally passes.

And so I stop and breathe.  And make that breath into a prayer.  Breathe in...God be with me.  Help me listen and focus and be present and forgive.  Breathe out...God protect those in harm's way.  God - please help us end the racism and violence and vitriolic divisiveness that is seeping into every area of our lives.  Bring healing to those who are sick.  God, there is not enough time nor words to pray for all the heartache of the world.  Help us, God.  Lead us, Lord.  I don't even know what to pray.

My prayer is interrupted by my desire to "fix it" and I switch mental gears and go ahead and work on advertising our upcoming Praying in Color virtual workshop.  I start drafting an e-mail on my laptop and then, once again, interrupted, "MOMMY!"

Kids rush excitedly into the dining room turned (hopefully) temporary office:  "We did it!  Teamwork makes the dream work!  High five!"  Pride and delight at finishing a puzzle brings me back to the present moment with gratefulness (and guilt) that my little corner of quarantine life isn't so bad.

With love and prayers from one frenetic life to yours!
Grace & Peace,
Rev. Susan Pinson