While school teachers and administrators are on summer vacation, the Cobb County School District continues to make staffing changes for the 2025-26 school year, which begins in early August.
We noted last month the schools in East Cobb that will be getting new principals, and the district also has announced a number of changes with assistant principals.
Seven of those changes involve schools in East Cobb, and these new assignments will become effective on July 10:
Melissa Paige Guthrie, reassignment to Assistant Principal, Bells Ferry Elementary School from Assistant Principal, Bullard Elementary School;
Lashonda Smith, reassignment to Assistant Principal, Sedalia Park Elementary School from Assistant Principal, Pitner Elementary School;
Kris Teller, reassignment to Assistant Principal, East Side Elementary School from Assistant Principal, Hayes Elementary School;
Lynzee Courtney, reassignment to Assistant Principal, Mabry Middle School from Assistant Principal, Griffin Middle School;
Christopher Marshall, reassignment to Assistant Principal, McCleskey Middle School from Assistant Principal, Daniell Middle School;
Kendrick Kirkland, reassignment to Assistant Principal, Kennesaw Mountain High School from Assistant Principal, Wheeler High School.
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to spend $1.7 million in an emergency request to replace an air conditioning unit at the Cobb Adult Detention Center, but not before some—ahem—heated discussion.
Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the request by the Cobb Sheriff’s Office to purchase a new 500-ton chiller that is nearly 40 years old.
An agenda items states that “the unit is now at high risk of imminent failure, which poses a severe threat to the facility’s ability to maintain critical climate control.”
The agenda item states that the work will take six weeks to install, and that the vendor is MaxAir Mechanical of Marietta. The aging unit was first installed in 1987, according to the agenda item.
The funding will come out of the county’s general fund, which prompted questions by Commissioner Keli Gambrill, and as the county’s fiscal year 2026 budget hearings take place in July.
She noted that several representatives of the Sheriff’s Office were in attendance, “and that’s where the citizens tend to get upset . . . that the Sheriff’s Office isn’t a good steward of tax dollars when we have emergency issues like this.”
She asked why the funding wasn’t coming from the Sheriff’s Office capital budget, and whether it should be a county responsibility (meaning coming from the general fund).
While Cobb jail operations are funded by the county, the Sheriff is an elected Constitutional officer. Gambrill wondered if current Sheriff Craig Owens budgeted for a new chiller.
“We’re not budgeting for a simple thing that is needed to ensure that the facility remains habitable,” she said, “for people who choose not to be there.”
Commissioner Monique Sheffield said that “over the years, with the last administration in particular”—a reference to former Sheriff Neil Warren, whom Owens ousted in 2020—”the items were not addressed in a timely fashion. And we all know the longer you defer maintenance, the more costly it becomes.”
Gambrill had said that she was aware that Warren had been earmarking some operational funds for an eventual replacement, and asked why that money weren’t being used now.
Flynn Broady, a former Cobb District Attorney who is a legal advisor to the Sheriff’s Office, said the funding request was deferred from the current budget, and told Gambrill that “you knew that. We have pushed this back as far as we can. But the time has come” for new equipment, “and if you don’t do it now, we’re going to be in a world of hurt, and the county will be spending a whole lot more money.”
Broady said that “these chillers are a different breed than what we’ve had before” and they are easier to maintain.
He said that Sheriff’s Office staffers turned out Tuesday to stress the importance of getting new chillers.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb said she understands the urgency of the situation, but “I do have a problem with the way this was done.”
She said she didn’t like the funding coming from the general fund “when there’s no way to reimburse it.”
In response to Sheffield’s comments, she said that “this is [Owens’] fifth year in office. In five years, he would know that this was an issue.”
In a later interaction, Gambrill put another question to Broady, whom she called “Mr. Flynn,” and in his response he addressed her as “Ms. Gambrill.”
“That’s Commissioner Gambrill,” she shot back.
“My name is Mr. Broady,” he replied.
Gambrill, who ended up voting for the emergency funding, suggested that the board adopt a policy to appropriate funding for constitutional officers on a monthly basis, saying that “we have a spending problem in many areas of the county.”
Chairwoman Lisa Cupid was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
Commissioners also approved spending $278,900 to replace grass baseball fields with synthetic turf at Fullers Park. Most of the funding is coming from East Side Baseball, which is donating $207,000.
Another $145,151 will be spent to create a network security administrator position in the Cobb Information Technology Services Department, after a data breach was discovered in March that county officials acknowledged was a ransomware attack.
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Cobb County based Delta Community Credit Union is pleased to announce new branch managers at two of its locations in Cobb County. Corey Higman has been named manager of the Vinings branch at 3250 Riverwood Parkway, and Kara Buckner has been named manager of the Marietta branch at 1205 Johnson Ferry Road.
A graduate of Hillgrove High School with deep roots in Cobb County, Higman has been with Delta Community since 2018 and previously served as manager of the branch in Marietta. He is also involved in several of the credit union’s community outreach programs, particularly those focused on financial education and career development.
“As someone who grew up in Cobb County, I’m passionate about giving back to the community that shaped me,” Higman said. “At the Vinings branch, we’re committed to helping local families and businesses thrive by offering trusted guidance and exceptional member service. I am excited to lead this team and continue making a difference close to home.”
Buckner, who previously served as assistant manager of the credit union’s branch in Alpharetta, will now lead branch services for members in East Cobb County. She has more than eight years of experience in the financial services industry, having previously worked at United Community Bank before joining Delta Community in 2022.
“I love that credit unions have a people-first approach,” Buckner said. “Being part of a thriving, vibrant and welcoming community makes my role incredibly rewarding. I’m honored to serve our members in East Cobb and help them reach their financial goals.”
Higman and Buckner look forward to deepening relationships in Cobb County and forming new partnerships with local schools and organizations through Delta Community’s financial literacy and education initiatives.
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The first annual “Born to Be Cobb Senior” charity ride will start off in the East Cobb area on June 28.
The fundraiser to benefit Cobb Seniors Services and the MUST Ministries Senior Food Programs will begin at 10:30 a.m. at Williamson Bros. BBQ (1425 Roswell Road), and is open to Georgia drivers with motor vehicles.
The journey will conclude in Cartersville at Southern Devil Harley-Davidson (2281 U.S. 411 Highway) and will include live music and food.
The Senior Citizens Council of Cobb is partnering with the Metro Atlanta Motorcycle Riding Community, Williamson Bros. and Southern Devil Harley-Davidson to provide food to seniors who are in need.
Donation tickets are $20; for information and to donate visit seniorsofcobb.org and click on the meetings and events tab or go to at the Senior Citizens Council Facebook event at https://tinyurl.com/y7rzdmts.
For more information and for sponsorship opportunities visit info@seniorsofcobb.org.
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Police have identified the woman as Daphne Saddler, 38, and the man as Samuel Mills, 44. Police said that her next of kin have been identified, but they have been unable to locate next of kin for Mills.
Police did not say how they were related but that they lived in the home together, and that Mills killed Saddler before committing suicide, and that both of them died from apparent gunshot wounds.
Cobb property tax records show that Saddler was the owner of the home, and purchased it in 2021.
She was an attorney and the founder of Brick Law Firm in the Cumberland area.
ORIGINAL REPORT:
Cobb Police said they suspect that a man killed a woman at a residence in Northeast Cobb before taking his own life there Saturday morning.
They said that officers were called to a home on Research Drive, located off Morgan Road, shortly after 10:30 a.m., on a report of “a person down,” and found two people, a man and a woman, dead at the scene.
The address was located in the Ramblewood neighborhood near Sprayberry High School.
Their names of the dead individuals have not been released, and Cobb Police have not provided further information or indicated a possible motive.
In a brief statement to East Cobb News, Cobb Police Sgt. Eric Smith said only that the “preliminary investigation indicates that this was a homicide, and the offender then committed suicide. The male was the offender, and the female was the victim. Both subjects resided at the residence.”
Police said their investigation is continuing, and that anyone with information is asked to call the Major Crimes Unit at 770) 499-3945.
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After we posted this photo of a juggler at the 2019 EAST COBBER parade, his mom wrote to thank us!
Since we launched East Cobb News in the summer of 2017, we’ve been committed to covering the news that matters the most to people in East Cobb.
That includes telling the stories of people, places and events, and reflecting a sense of home, as much as tracking the recurring news about local government, schools, traffic, crime, etc.
You see, there’s no other place to turn to get news from people who know East Cobb. That’s why East Cobb News looks for important stories with unique perspectives from voices that might otherwise go unheard.
A good example was a couple of weeks ago, when we talked to leaders at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church about their plans for the future.
And over the weekend, we followed up on a story we originally reported about an East Cobb couple caught up in immigration roundups that are occurring around the country.
No other news outlet is doing these stories like we do at East Cobb News.
Why? Because we’re the only daily news source covering the community with a primary commitment to solid local journalism. It’s the foundation of our editorial approach, one that includes useful community information like calendar listings, reader contributions, lifestyle stories and more.
We’ve got feet on the ground daily, doing original reporting, getting tips from readers and keeping tabs on important developments in this area. It’s old-school journalism with a timely, relevant focus, delivered to you in real-time online.
But in a time in which doing the news—especially local news—is becoming more challenging and costly, we need your help to continue to give you the local news that you love.
We loved speaking in 2020 with East Cobb resident Harry Kone as he turned 100. He passed away in early 2023.
Help us tell the stories of East Cobb!
Your gift of $6, $12, or even $25 a month helps us to tell countless stories—keeping you informed about what’s happening in East Cobb. And your gift delivers the news to readers—via email, social media, and of course, at eastcobbnews.com.
When you support East Cobb News, you ensure stories don’t slip through the cracks. Every story we tell matters —whether it’s about local events, school board and county commission decisions, interesting people, or how people are helping out one another in East Cobb.
Without you, stories like these don’t just go untold—they go unread.
East Cobb News informs you and encourages participation in local decision-making, shining a spotlight on the individuals and events that bring us together. And reminds us—always—of the importance of community.
East Cobb News has documented plenty of momentous events, including demands to address the blighted Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center that’s now the site of a new mixed-use development.
Will you become one of the 250?
We’ve set a special goal of getting to 250 monthly recurring donors by the end of June, and we’d like you to consider if you haven’t donated already.
Right now, we have only around 50 donors, and we want to add to that number substantially. Last week, I explained how we spend your money—mostly to help offset our office and basic business costs—and we would eventually like to expand that to pay for freelancers to do even more news than we do now.
After nearly eight years, we’re very proud of the work that we’ve done at East Cobb News to have an impact on how this community stays informed.
We love hearing from our readers, even those who have moved away. Last week, a reader got in touch to explain why they cancelled their donation, saying they’re no longer living in the area.
But she also told us this:
“Thank you so much for your work to bring local news and report in a fair and balanced way.”
While we hate to lose readers, especially those who have financially supported our work, it’s very heartening to read those words.
There’s no place else to find news and information that highlights our community and keeps it strong.
East Cobb News is proud to fill that role. As your local news provider, we pledge to provide free, relevant, local reporting about issues and events that affect you.
Please don’t take that for granted. We want to keep giving this to you for free, but we are considering some paywall options.
When you give today, you’ll ensure quality coverage with a local focus that is free and accessible to all.
Nobody else is doing this in our community, and our plans are to keep giving you the local news that you love for a long time to come.
Let us know what you think about all of this: e-mail me: wendy@eastcobbnews.com. I’m interested in hearing from you.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Osnei and Sandra Lima were taken into custody at their home in East Cobb on April 30.
The son of an East Cobb couple we wrote about last month after their detention on immigration grounds said Friday that his mother has been released, but that his father is still in custody.
Juan Lima wrote on a GoFundMe page he started to pay for his parents’ legal expenses that Sandra Lima was released on bond three weeks ago, “and is now home, healing, and working alongside me to continue our efforts in fighting for my dad’s release, which is priority number 1.”
Lima also wrote that his father, Osnei Lima, was transferred “without warning” from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Georgia to another in Natchez, Miss., more than seven hours away.
“With that being said, please continue praying for our family, and that although what may look like a setback, may actually turn into a divine set-up for God to show off and perform a miracle before our very own eyes,” Juan Lima said in the GoFundMe message.
“We are believing for speedy connections and a divine release for my dad—we will not settle for anything less.”
The Limas emigrated from Brazil in 1999, according to their son, who was an infant at the time, and settled in the East Cobb area, where they have been running a house-cleaning business. Juan Lima said that plainclothes ICE officials visited the Limas’ home on April 30, then took them into custody at the ICE Atlanta office before sending them to a detention facility in Georgia.
But other specifics about the Limas’ situation are lacking.
Juan Lima, who attended Pope High School, has not explained why his parents were being detained. In an interview with former CNN anchor Jim Acosta in early May he indicated that the matter may have involved them overstaying their visas but he didn’t elaborate.
Juan Lima has declined to be interviewed by East Cobb News, saying that “we are trying to proceed with as much caution and wisdom as possible.”
East Cobb News also has left messages with ICE in Atlanta, but has not received any response, and has left a message with ICE seeking information on Osnei Lima’s relocation to Mississippi.
The Limas were detained during a massive nationwide immigration sweep by the Trump administration that has generated widespread controversy, and is being fought in the courts by immigration advocates.
When announcing his parents’ detention in early May, Lima said that they have been model immigrants, with no criminal background and have been very involved in their church.
“I’m just a son trying to advocate for my parents,” Juan Lima told Acosta. “These are the real Americans we need to embrace. . . . Amid the questions, we still have hope.”
The fundraiser for the legal challenge has raised more than $53,000.
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Cobb County PARKS invites the community to experience Scene on the Green at The Art Place, a dynamic new summer entertainment series featuring free outdoor theatre, movies and live music performances. This innovative program transforms summer evenings into unforgettable experiences for families, friends, and arts enthusiasts under the stars.
The summer lineup begins with a bang as The Art Place’s Cabaret Camp presents the spirited musical Beetlejuice Jr. June 13 – 14, followed by the Irish stylings of The Jared Bogle Band on June 28. Grab your aviators and watch the action unfold with the blockbuster hit Top Gun: Maverick on July 10. Mad Artists Entertainment then takes the stage with Shakespeare beneath the summer sky in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, July 18 – 19.
Inside Out 2 is set to light up the lawn with laughter, heart, and a little emotional chaos on July 24. Get swept away with the high-octane excitement of Twisters on August 14 before award-winning End of the Line rounds out the series with a foot-stomping set of bluegrass and genre-spanning favorites on August 16.
Pack your picnic baskets and bring blankets for an evening of entertainment on the lawn. Gates open at 6:00 p.m., giving families time to settle in and socialize before performances begin at 7:00 p.m. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, with lawn and grass seating available, along with a limited number of bistro tables and chairs.
“Scene on the Green blends the best of what Cobb PARKS offers — community, creativity, and the outdoors,” says Cobb Cultural Affairs Manager Marie Jernigan. “By bringing high-quality arts programming into our parks, we’re making culture more accessible, more casual, and more connected to everyday life.”
2025 Scene on the Green Schedule:
June 13 – 14: Beetlejuice Jr. – Youth Theatre Production
June 28: The Jared Bogle Band – Concert
July 10: Top Gun: Maverick – Movie
July 18 – 19: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Adult Theatre Production
July 24: Inside Out 2 – Movie
August 14: Twisters – Movie
August 16: End of the Line – Concert
All events and parking are FREE and open to the public. The Art Place is located at 3330 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta.
Send us your event news!
If your organization or entity is holding an event that’s open to the public, please send East Cobb News your information and we’ll be glad to post it!
This can include festivals, pumpkin patches, Thanksgiving activities, holiday concerts, Christmas tree and Menorah lightings, New Year’s celebrations and fundraisers.
Pass along your details to: editor@eastcobbnews.com, and please observe the following guidelines to ensure we get everything properly and can post it promptly.
Send the body of your announcement, calendar item or news release IN TEXT FORM ONLY in the text field of your e-mail template. Reformatting text from PDF, JPG and doc files takes us longer to prepare your message for publication.
We accept PDFs as an accompaniment to your item. Images are fine too, but we prefer those to be JPG files (more than jpeg and png). PLEASE DO NOT send photos inside a PDF or text or any other kind of file. Of course, send us links that are relevant to your message so we can direct people to your website.
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Fields at Fullers Park, where the East Side Baseball Association plays. (East Cobb News photo)
The East Side Baseball Association is asking the Cobb Board of Commissioners to donate more than $207,000 for an improvement project at Fullers Park, where the youth baseball organization plays.
According to an agenda item for Tuesday’s meeting, East Side is requesting to donate $207,482.52 for a 2011 SPLOST (Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax) project that includes replacing natural grass fields to synthetic turf.
The agenda item states that “this donation will allow this project to move forward as there are not enough funds to complete this project without the Eastside Baseball donation.”
The agenda item indicated that only $71,461.48 remains in the line item for Fullers Park, which has eight baseball fields.
The 2011 SPLOST collected $82 million for parks and recreation improvements, including $2.9 million for Fullers Park.
Previous renovations at Fullers Park included new concession buildings and scoreboards, irrigation improvements and electrical upgrades and updated interiors at the recreation center.
The Board of Commissioners meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the county office building at 100 Cherokee Street, Marietta. You can view the full agenda by clicking here.
You also can watch the hearing on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Chattahoochee National Park Conservancy, a non-profit organization that supports Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area activities, has begun a resource page to inform the public about federal policy and funding changes in Washington.
On the resource page, the philanthropy said that “CRNRA is facing some challenges that are affecting how the park operates and serves our community, and we want to make sure you’re informed about what’s happening and how it could impact your experience.”
Tbe CRNRA includes several units in East Cobb, including the Gold Branch unit on Lower Roswell Road and the Cochran Shoals unit at the end of Columns Drive.
The most recent update concerned the present budget bill in Congress (aka the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”) and noted that the legislation that passed the U.S. House this week cuts “$267 million in remaining funds from the Inflation Reduction Act designated for the National Park Service. These funds were intended to support critical staffing needs, including positions for rangers, emergency responders, curators, and scientists.
“While the full impact on CRNRA is not yet clear, we are deeply concerned about what this could mean for our park — which already operates with limited resources and staffing. Further cuts, combined with an ongoing federal hiring freeze, could severely hinder the park’s ability to function effectively.
“We worry that CRNRA may be stretched so thin that it will be forced to shift from proactive stewardship to reactive triage, focusing primarily on essential operations to keep the park open and support visitor needs. This could jeopardize critical efforts like protecting natural resources, conducting scientific research, and offering the programs and experiences that connect our community to the park.”
On its Facebook page, the conservancy stated that “these obstacles are real, but so is the spirit of the community that loves and supports CRNRA. Together, we can overcome these challenges and continue to enhance and preserve this treasured space for generations to come.”
The updates also are being provided on the Facebook page,
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Fourteen recent high school graduates from East Cobb have been named recipients of National Merit Scholarships that are given out by the university or college of the student’s choice.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced more than 2,000 recipients nationwide this week, and they are awards that provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.
The scholarships are awarded based on a number of factors, including test scores and grade-point averages, essay and information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions.
The students from East Cobb attended six different public and private high schools and will be enrolled at nine different universities in the fall.
Most have declared intended fields of study in engineering fields, but they also include business, education, the arts and marine biology.
Ella Arnett, Lassiter: University of Georgia (project management)
Maksymilian Bardwell, NorthCobb: University of Georgia (education)
Adam W. Bethea, Walton: University of Alabama (computer engineering)
Samuel J. Garrow, Lassiter: American University (software engineering)
John Hovsepian, Wheeler: Texas A & M (chemical engineering)
Sean Shangrui Jiao, Walton: Indiana University (musical performance)
Owen Murphy, Walton: Florida State (law)
Connor Park, Walton: University of Georgia (biochemical engineering)
Carter Ray, Walton: University of Georgia (political science)
Dylan S. Song, The Westminster Schools: Tufts University (medicine)
Ella Tse, Walton: University of Georgia (mechanical engineering)
Anna Claire Wright, Pope: Auburn University (marine biology)
Jack Hansen, Lassiter: Brigham Young University (business administration)
Caroline Young, Lassiter: University of Georgia, biochemical engineering
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up and you’re good to go!
We appreciate all your support, and thank those of you who have contributed.
In this message, I want to tell you how we spend that money.
East Cobb News is a very lean, thrifty news operation that is funded mostly with advertising revenue, but we have been asking for more reader support in recent months.
Why? Small businesses of all types need additional streams of revenue, and we’re no exception.
Advertising revenue pays for the labor and benefits of yours truly, to bring you the local news that you love with a more than full-time effort.
It has been a pleasure to be able to provide this community news and resource information to the place where I grew up, and that I am proud to call home.
East Cobb News also has some modest recurring businesses expenses that we want to fund with the generous support of our readers.
That includes office rent and business insurance, telephone, technology expenses (ad manager software, newsletter platform and e-mail and business management software) and related expenses.
We have a small space in a commercial business park that is convenient for news and business activities, and it’s been beneficial in delivering improved editorial and advertising services.
Those costs are all very economical given the affluent market we live in, but they do add up.
We want to get to 250 recurring donors—contributing as little as $6 a month—to cover most of those expenses. That’s $1,500.
So if you haven’t contributed yet, please consider doing so on a monthly basis. You can donate any amount you like, but that $6 figure is doable for just about anyone.
We have a safe and secure online payment platform, Press Patron, that you can manage easily.
We want to keep East Cobb News free because local news is important to everyone. But right now we have fewer than 50 recurring monthly donors and we’re considering some paywall options.
Please help us get to 250 by setting up your contribution plan today!
Nobody else is doing this in our community, and our plans are to keep giving you the local news that you love for a long time to come.
Let us know what you think about all of this: e-mail me: wendy@eastcobbnews.com. I’m interested in hearing from you.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The main sanctuary at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church holds a single traditional service, comprising a quarter of the Sunday worship attendance. ECN photos.
As Easter was celebrated at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in April, a 40-day period of fasting and prayer came to an end for other reasons.
Members of the 4,700-member congregation were being asked do so as church leaders ponder the future of the church, which is one of the most influential institutions in East Cobb as well as the Southern Baptist Convention.
A special exploratory committee has been collecting feedback for several months about a proposal to build a singular worship facility to address capacity issues.
The main sanctuary that fronts Johnson Ferry Road and that opened in 1983 holds around 1,200 people, and has one traditional worship service on Sunday mornings.
At the same time, the church’s sprawling gymnasium in a special activities center along Woodlawn Drive is conducting three services on Sunday, in a modern worship format, with many families with young children in attendance.
That space can hold 1,600 folding chairs that are laid out every Saturday, then removed on Sunday afternoons. But there aren’t many chairs that are empty.
It’s a good problem to have, Johnson Ferry Baptist executive pastor Shane Bruce acknowledged in an interview this week with East Cobb News.
The church is not just running out of room to hold services. It’s also trying to adapt to the way younger generations not only choose to worship, but how they practice their faith in general.
“How are we going forward?” Bruce said while speaking at Johnson Ferry’s Provision Cafe, located in the activities center adjacent to the gym.
“Who do we want to be in 10, 15, 20 years?”
Church elders are taking the feedback under advisement and are deciding this summer about whether to build a new worship center.
Johnson Ferry Baptist’s main sanctuary opened in 1983 and holds a traditional service on Sunday.
The roots of ‘Vision 2025’
What Johnson Ferry Baptist leaders are calling “Vision 2025” sprung out of a mission statement in 2022 by Rev. Clay Smith, the church’s senior pastor since 2019, that called for church-planting in two other locations in metro Atlanta.
But Bruce, who is the church’s official in charge of operations, said as discussions continued, the topic swung around to how Johnson Ferry can appeal to a younger generation of people to “find truth, belonging and purpose in Jesus” while honoring long-time members, many of them who helped start the church in the early 1980s.
“Vision 2025” also states a goal of becoming a “multi-general, multi-ethnic congregation.” With that, the focus became about how to cultivate that church community on the sprawling 37-acre campus in East Cobb.
Bruce said many older members tend to go to the traditional service in the sanctuary “but it isn’t connected to anything.”
The activities center has become the real hub of Johnson Ferry, with the cafe, Johnson Ferry Christian Academy and the gymnasium all under a single roof, with people milling about most every day of the week.
The issues, Bruce said, aren’t just about the physical limitations of the worship space, but bringing together a large congregation that at times can feel fragmented.
“They don’t always have community together,” Bruce said. “You can’t pass your faith down if you’re not sitting in the same room.”
The question for the church elders is this, according to Bruce: “Are we ready to build a new worship center?”
Modern worship services in the gymnasium draw three-quarters of Johnson Ferry’s weekly attendance.
‘It’s been a blessing’
He said such a building would have a capacity of 2,500, with multiple services on Sundays. The site options include the north parking lot, closer to Little Willeo Road, or the south lot, closer to the athletic fields.
Johnson Ferry has hired an architect to work up renderings for both possibilities, should the decision go ahead, but Bruce admitted that “I think we’re going to max this campus out” in the next year or so.
Those trends were apparent even before the COVID-19 pandemic. “In the last 8-10 years, we’ve seen a big shift” in where and how church members worship, Bruce said.
In 2009, 33 percent of Johnson Ferry’s Sunday attendance was in the gym for modern services, according to figures presented to church members as part of “Vision 2025.”
Now, it’s up to 74 percent, with an average weekly figure of around 2,000 there, compared to 800 in the sanctuary.
“The experience in there isn’t ideal,” Bruce said of the gym. “But it’s been a blessing.”
In addition, most of the baptisms take place in the gym, and this past December all of the Christmas Eve services took place there as well.
It reflects a younger generation of Johnson Ferry families that’s the sign of a healthy faith community.
The 2024 figures indicate that 900 or so students are part of the weekly worship average, up from 500 in 2022.
Johnson Ferry, Bruce said, has one of the largest student gatherings in the Southern Baptist Convention—the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.
And soon a group of 125 of them will go on a summer trip to Poland.
The Johnson Ferry gym is at 80 percent capacity for three Sunday services.
Maintaining traditional ties
But church leaders say they are mindful of the connections to Johnson Ferry’s past as they plot what’s to come.
Some of the feedback includes questions about how the mix of services might look in a single worship space. TJ King, Johnson Ferry’s director of communications, noted that the services in the gym includes traditional worship elements.
“Two weeks ago, we sang ‘How Great Thou Art,’ and it was phenomenal,” he said.
He said that “while we’ve done strategic things to bring everyone together, we can’t do that on Sunday mornings.”
During the exploratory process, there has been plenty of behind-the-scenes work to gauge the feasibility and affordability of a new worship center. King didn’t cite a specific figure when asked how much such a building would cost, but said that “we’ve been doing our due diligence.”
He also acknowledged that “not everyone has loved the idea” of the possible changes being explored, “but they’ve seen the need.”
The elders—who include Bruce and Smith—are taking all of those factors into consideration, and the congregation is expected to be notified by the fall.
“We’ve seen God in more people’s hearts, and we’ve asked if God would give us clarity,” King said.
Provisions Cafe is the centerpiece of Johnson Ferry’s activities center, which is open on a daily basis.
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The 187th Marietta Campmeeting will take place July 11-20 at the Marietta Campground (2301 Roswell Road, across from East Cobb United Methodist Church), starting with the traditional opening night picnic from 6-7 p.m.
That’s one of several special events and guest speakers who will feature at the revival that dates back to 1837 (full schedule here).
Other long-standing events include a watermelon-cutting (Saturday, July 12), an ice cream social (Tuesday, July 15) and tentholder meetings for members.
Daily services will take place at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., and the public also is invited. There’s also a special children’s church Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to noon with Bible lessons, games and crafts.
The guest preachers this year include Rev. Kim McGarr of Mt. Bethel Church, Rev. Kristen Lee of East Cobb UMC, Kevin Scott of Eastwood Baptist Church, and Rev. Ike Reighard of Piedmont Church and the CEO of MUST Ministries.
The list of musical entertainment is still being completed, but the Campmeeting announced Friday that on the final day, July 20, the special musical guests will be the Mylon Hayes Family at 7:30 p.m.
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The Cobb Board of Tax Assessors mailed residential assessment notices last week. Taxpayers are encouraged to visit the Tax Assessors webpage, cobbassessor.org, for all information. The deadline to file appeals is located on the assessment notice and all appeals must be filed by that date. Appeals can be filed electronically. For more information on filing an appeal, visit cobbassessor.org/appeals.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A state championship banner will be going up soon at Walton High School’s new baseball facility, The Yard.
Walton’s state championship run in baseball clinched the second consecutive Georgia Athletic Directors Association Director’s Cup title for the Raiders.
Walton prevailed over West Forsyth to capture the Class 6A Director’s Cup trophy, which is awarded for sports excellence across the board and was begun in 1999.
Schools are awarded points for their finishes in Georgia High School Association state tournaments. For example, 100 points is awarded for a state championship, with points for lower places varying by sport.
The Director’s Cup title is the 11th for Walton in school history, and was also marked by a state championship in girls soccer and second-place finishes in cheerleading, boys swimming and diving, girls lacrosse and girls and boys tennis.
Walton teams also finished third in GHSA competition in volleyball and girls swimming and diving.
Wheeler won the boys basketball title in Class 6A, becoming only the sixth school in Georgia history to win 10 or more championships in that sport.
In Class 5A, Pope finished second behind Milton on the strength of state championships in girls cross country, flag football, volleyball and girls track and field.
Pope was second in the state in girls swimming and diving, while Greyhounds teams finished third in boys cross country, girls lacrosse and girls soccer, and fourth in boys swimming and diving.
Lassiter finished 8th overall in Class 5A, with a state championship in girls swimming and diving. Trojans teams earned second-place finishes in fast-pitch softball, boy swimming and diving, and boys lacrosse, and third place in girls lacrosse.
Sprayberry was 38th in Class A, while Kell was 20th in Class 4A.
The Yellow Jackets had their best-ever season in football with 11 wins and reached the semifinals, and the boys soccer team finished second in the state.
The Longhorns fast-pitch softball team finished fourth and the baseball and girls soccer teams finished fifth.
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