The Temple Kol Emeth synagogue in East Cobb has announced it has hired a new senior rabbi.
Charles Foster has been the Rabbi of Engagement and Learning at jHub, an organization in Cleveland, Ohio that caters to interfaith couples and families exploring Jewish culture and values.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rabbi Foster to Temple Kol Emeth,” TKE president Sandi Davis said in a release. “His dedication to Judaism and impressive track record in advancing growth within Jewish communities make him an excellent fit as the spiritual leader to guide us into the future.”
Foster also has been an assistant Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Houston. He is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio who earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. He also earned a master’s degree in Hebrew literature and ordination from Hebrew Union College in New York City.
“I am honored to join a congregation with a rich history of engaging individuals and families often overlooked in other Jewish spaces,” he said in a statement. “I look forward to partnering with the Temple Kol Emeth family to inspire this community through meaningful spiritual experiences, pathways to a deeper sense of belonging, and nurturing a sense of love and care for all we encounter.”
Foster, who will begin on July 1, succeeds Larry Sernovitz, who left Kol Emeth in March 2023 after three years to take to become chief executive officer of Hillels of Georgia, which ministers to Jewish college students in the state.
Kol Emeth has been led by interim Rabbi Pamela Gottfried for the past. year.
Foster will be the third full-time rabbi in the history of Kol Emeth, a reform synagogue which began in 1981. It was led for many years by Rabbi Steven Lebow, who began an ecumenical Thanksgiving service in the wake of 9/11 that continues today.
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Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in East Cobb is hosting a free Vacation Bible School June 3-6 from 9:00 am to noon for ages 3 through rising 5th graders.
Join us for our Vacation Bible School adventure for 2024, Campfire Light: a summer camp adventure with God. Through stories, crafts, games, and interactive “campfire” sessions, our Campers will explore timeless Bible stories that show how people trusted God in the face of their own fears and learned to trust that God will go with us, lead the way, share wisdom, give us peace, and spark joy in our lives and the lives of people around us.
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A second Methodist church in East Cobb has disaffiliated from the second-largest Protestant denomination in the country in as many years.
Mountain View United Methodist Church, whose membership voted in July to leave the United Methodist Church, had that decision ratified earlier this month.
The UMC’s North Georgia Conference held a special meeting in Athens on Nov. 18 to allow 261 congregations to disaffiliate.
The church located at Jamerson Road and Trickum Road will be known as Mountain View Church, and will be joining the Global Methodist Church, a new denomination, after paying $60,000 in apportionment and other fees to the North Georgia Conference.
Dr. Joe McKechnie, Mountain View’s senior pastor, is staying on, and had to surrender his UMC ministerial credentials.
In an interview with East Cobb News, he said he is considered ordained in the GMC, which was formed in 2022 as a major schism erupted in the UMC.
Dr. Joe McKechnie, Mountain View Church senior pastor
“We’ve lost nobody,” McKechnie said, referencing a church with around 200 members and where he has served since 2020.
He said as the changes were announced to the membership last Sunday, “there were some tears. But this church has been the most amazing ever. We’ve been through a lot together, but our church is more cohesive than ever before.
“I continually sing the praises of our church,” McKechnie said. “We continue to love each other and pledge unity.”
Unlike Mt. Bethel Church—which last year paid the North Georgia Conference $13.1 million in a court settlement after a public and bitter dispute—the Mountain View congregation went through a traditional process to consider disaffiliating.
The UMC has been in turmoil in recent years over a number of theological issues, including human sexuality. There was to have been a vote on allowing congregations to leave in 2020, but that has been postponed due to COVID-19 closures.
The denomination’s Book of Discipline—its governing document—allowed churches to disaffiliate over the sexuality issue on a provisional basis. As that measure was set to expire at the end of this year, McKechnie said, Mountain View church leaders decided to engage in an information process that took several months.
“People were just frustrated,” McKechnie said. More than anything, he added, it was the continuing uncertainty over the future of the denomination that prompted Mountain View into action.
He said that “I never hear our people talk about politics” and specifically the cultural hot topics that have embroiled the UMC.
A page on Mountain View’s website called “The Path Forward” contained information and presentations in favor of and against disaffiliation.
McKechnie said that “I stayed out of it” and never offered his opinion on the matter, even though he was asked to.
“We wanted to focus on education,” he said. During the special meetings over disaffiliation, “there were no harsh words.”
A straw poll last January indicated that nearly 80 percent of Mountain View members favored disaffiliation.
But not long after that, the North Georgia Conference paused disaffiliation applications, saying that “many local churches have been misled about the disaffiliation process.”
In July, Mountain View members formally voted 87-13 to disaffiliate, and were in a state of limbo until this month, when the North Georgia Conference met to approve the 261 disaffiliation requests.
In Cobb, those churches include Covenant UMC in Smyrna; Due West UMC and St. Stephen UMC in Marietta; New Beginnings UMC and Shiloh UMC in Kennesaw; and County Line UMC of Acworth.
“I don’t think that anyone expected that many churches to get out,” McKechnie said.
Combined with more than 70 congregations disaffiliating last year, the North Georgia Conference has been reduced from nearly 900 churches to 440. The South Georgia Conference has lost 60 percent of its churches in disaffiliation votes in the last two years.
The property deed for the Mountain View Church property is expected to be transferred from the North Georgia Conference on Nov. 30.
“This is finally behind us,” McKechnie said.
The GMC has gained 3,500 congregations—almost all of them formerly in the UMC—since its inception. (Mt. Bethel and Grace Resurrection Methodist Church, which was formed by former Mt. Bethel members and its former senior pastor, are independent churches.)
Mountain View started in the early 1980s to serve northeast Cobb and southern Cherokee County. After holding services at a preschool and Lassiter High School, the church moved into its present facility in 1986. Mountain View also has a preschool with around 100 children enrolled.
McKechnie, who has been a pastor for 15 years, said Mountain View feels like home, and that he wouldn’t have been able to continue there without a move to a new denomination. Had he stayed in the UMC, he would have had to uproot his family, which lives in the parsonage on church grounds.
He grew up in West Cobb and his wife is an educator in Cherokee County schools. They have a son who is a senior at Kell High School and a daughter who will be a freshman there next year, and their extended families are also here.
“It is a big step to walk away from the denomination I have been a part of literally my entire life,” McKechnie said. “But staying at Mountain View and in this community is the best thing for my family and me, and I’m grateful that the church offered me the opportunity to stay.”
One of the first public events for Mountain View Church will be the continuation of its Bethlehem Walk display from Dec. 2-4. It debuted in 1992 and averages nearly 6,000 visitors a year.
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The Jewish Christian Discovery Center (JCDC) will kick off the holiday season with the 5th annual blessing of Christmas trees at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Marietta on Friday, Nov. 24 at 8 am. Each year JCDC Executive Director Rabbi Albert Slomovitz joins with the priests from St. Ann’s to bless the trees before the Knights of Columbus sell them. This event kicks off JCDC’s annual J Star Project.
The J Star Project focuses on practical and fun activities that promote understanding between Christians and Jews. Each family that attends this event will receive a holiday packet that includes a menorah Christmas tree ornament, dreidel (plastic spinning top), and some chocolates. Children can hang the ornaments on their trees at home. The fun continues as the children read the included instructions on how to play the dreidel game. It was a popular game played during the time of Jesus.
With the rise of antisemitism in the United States and here in the metro Atlanta area, JCDC partners with St. Ann’s clergy to show the wider community the close bond Jews and Christians should have with each other. For more than five years the JCDC has worked closely with the staff of St. Ann’s to promote interfaith dialogue and friendship including Rabbi Slomovitz’s annual blessing of the Christmas trees.
“It is a blessing to work with St. Ann’s and show everyone that Christians and Jews come together and learn about the shared Jewish traditions we all have. Jesus grew up as a practicing Jew. That included celebrating Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays,” said Rabbi Albert Slomovitz, the founder of the JCDC. “It is important for our Christian friends and neighbors to see not only coexistence but friendship among us all. I look forward to this annual tradition of blessing the Christmas trees.”
2023 marks the 5th year Rabbi Slomovitz is working with Atlanta area church leaders engaging in interfaith dialogue during the holiday season He emphasizes that now it is more important than ever to have these strong interfaith relationships as a defense against antisemitism and other forms of intolerance. During the Christmas and Hannukah season, it is the perfect time of year to educate Jews and Christians about their shared history and values.
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Dr. Nabile Safdar, at left, of the Roswell Community Masjid, and at right, Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner of Temple Beth Tikvah. ECN photos.
As they reflected on recent events in the Middle East, the leaders of two metro Atlanta faith communities acknowledged the difficulties they’ve been having absorbing what’s been happening in Israel and Gaza.
Dr. Nabile Safdar of the Roswell Community Masjid spoke of how he and his fellow Muslims supported their Jewish friends after a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner of Temple Beth Tikvah, also in Roswell, recalled reciprocating following a mass shooting at a mosque in New Zealand the following year.
At the 19th annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service Thursday at Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb, they admitted that the recent atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli civilians, and Israel’s military response in Gaza, have more than unnerved them, their congregants and those in their respective faiths.
“We can’t pretend that everything is okay with us,” Shuval-Weiner said as she spoke interchangeably with Safdar.
“We are not okay, and our communities are not okay.”
The service was begun in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by retired Kol Emeth Rabbi Steven Lebow and a local imam to forge better understandings of people of all faiths.
Hassan Faye of the Roswell Community Masjid with the Muslim call to prayer.
The theme of this year’s service, “Creating Courageous Connections,” had already been planned before the Israel-Hamas conflict began on Oct. 7.
Concerns over the response to those hostilities in the U.S. prompted service organizers to require online registration and issue a clear-bag policy as “safeguard” measures for the first time.
More than two dozen East Cobb and metro Atlanta faith communities and a few hundred attendees turned out.
“Tensions have soared,” Shuval-Weiner said. “There’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of anger. There’s a lot of pain.”
She added that “trustful relations between our communities are extremely strained.”
She and Safdar noted that those resulting tensions have led to tragedies in the U.S.: a Muslim boy in Chicago, and a Jewish community leader in Detroit, both of whom were murdered in what appear to be sectarian reprisals.
“We cannot allow that to be imported to our community here,” Safdar said to applause. “We are committed to seeing each other’s humanity.”
A local Cobb political response fell through earlier this week, when the Board of Commissioners decided not to vote on a resolution condemning Hamas.
The resolution by East Cobb District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell—who attended the Ecumenical service—faced objections from the Cobb Muslim and Palestinian community.
There were meetings with faith leaders to recraft the resolution to include more perspectives, but ultimately they could not agree on a message.
That matter wasn’t referenced at the Thursday interfaith service, which included music as well as reflections from local clergy. It also continued a practice of having a Muslim call to prayer from a member of Safdar’s mosque.
Rev. Kristin Lee of East Cobb United Methodist Church organized an interfaith service in June after neo-Nazi protestors held up swastika flags in front of the Chabad of Cobb synagogue on Lower Roswell Road.
On Thursday, she vowed that “hate will never have the last word. Love and light will” and she praised “a community that’s courageous enough to love.”
Shuval-Weiner concluded her remarks by stressing the need “to keep the door cracked open, so that when the time is right, we can again strive to build meaningful relationships between our communities, and for generations to come.”
Then she and Safdar exchanged copies of the Torah and the Koran and shook hands.
A choir representing nine faith communities in East Cobb and north metro Atlanta sings “We Are One” as a finale.
In his closing marks, Kol Emeth Rabbi-educator Daniel Alter said that “with our presence here tonight, we’re trying to be a testament to the power of community.”
The offering will benefit Solidarity-Sandy Springs, which feeds several hundred needy families every week in metro Atlanta.
The other East Cobb faith communities taking part were the Catholic Church of St. Ann, Congregation Etz Chaim, East Cobb Islamic Center, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Pilgrimage United Church of Christ, St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, Transfiguration Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Trickum Road, Unity North Atlanta Church and Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church.
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The Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service at the Temple Kol Emeth synagogue has regularly included a Muslim call to prayer. ECN file.
The organizers of the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service at an East Cobb synagogue have added what they’re calling some additional “safeguard” measures in light of heightened tensions regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East.
The service, which is free and open to the public, is on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at Temple Kol Emeth (1415 Old Canton Road).
Rachel Barich, the senior administrator at Temple Kol Emeth, told East Cobb News that those wishing to attend are being asked to register online, and that a clear-bag policy will be followed, similar to what happens at sports stadiums and at larger public events.
“This is to make sure it’s a safe event for everyone,” Barich said, adding that “the purpose of the service remains the same.”
She said the extra measures were decided upon “in light of concerns in a number of religious communities,” and that “it seems prudent,” based on discussions with the synagogue’s security detail and the service’s organizing committee.
The service includes representatives from 21 faith communities in East Cobb and metro Atlanta, representing Christian, Jewish, Islamic and other faiths, and the program features music, reflections and an offering to benefit various charities and non-profits for Thanksgiving.
“It’s an expression of Thanksgiving,” Barich said. “It’s about what we are connecting between our many faiths.”
The service also has regularly included a Muslim call to prayer, and this year’s service, themed “Creating Courageous Connections,” includes four Islamic faith communities: The East Cobb Islamic Center, the West Cobb Islamic Center, the Roswell Community Masjid and the Islamic Speakers’ Bureau of Atlanta.
“We continue to have the representation of all the major religions,” Barich said.
She said there will be walk-up registration at the door for those who cannot do so online (click here). The clear-bag policy applies to all items, including women’s purses.
The service was started by Kol Emeth Rabbi Emeritus Stephen Lebow in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to foster a better understanding among people of different faiths.
Other East Cobb faith communities participating in this year’s service include the Catholic Church of St. Ann; Congregation Etz Chaim; East Cobb United Methodist Church; Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation; Pilgrimage United Church of Christ; St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; Transfiguration Catholic Church; Unity North Atlanta Church; and Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church.
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A year after breaking away from Mt. Bethel Church, Grace Resurrection Methodist Church held a special “homecoming” celebration last weekend.
The independent congregation meets at the former location of the now-closed Lutheran Church of the Incarnation (1200 Indian Hills Parkway) and is led by Rev. Randy Mickler, who was the senior pastor at Mt. Bethel for 29 years.
During a special service last Sunday, Grace Resurrection members dedicated commemorative items, children filled a time capsule with mementos and had a church picnic lunch to mark their first year.
“These folks have worked so hard over the past year to create this church,” Mickler said in a release issued by the church, referring to a mostly volunteer initiative. “It warms our hearts to see everyone celebrating and connecting.”
Among those taking part in the festivities was a 106-year-old member who handed that day’s newspaper to a 10-year-old girl to put in the time capsule box.
Grace Resurrection started with 30 members who left Mt. Bethel after that congregation’s dispute with the United Methodist Church’s North Georgia Conference, and that ultimately resulted in a $13.1 million settlement (see previous ECN coverage here).
Since opening, Grace Resurrection has added mission programs, a music ministry, small groups, service projects, Sunday Schools, and children’s moments.
Services are composed of very familiar hymns and follow the traditional liturgy, but the congregation is focused on the future. “We welcome everyone. Three generations can often be seen in our pews,” said Rev. Charlie Marus, associate pastor.
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A conceptual drawing of East Cobb Church, which is at least two years away from being constructed at Johnson Ferry Road and Shallowford Road.
After conducting Sunday afternoon services at Eastside Baptist Church since its inception in 2019, East Cobb Church is relocating to space for worship on Sunday mornings.
The congregation of North Point Ministries has announced that starting Nov. 12, it will be meeting at Fellowship Christian School in Roswell.
Specific times for the services and other activities are still to be determined.
“We recognize that meeting for church on Sunday afternoons is not optimal for most people in our community,” the church announced on its website, adding that Fellowship Christian—located at 10965 Woodstock Road—”is much closer to our property where we are building our permanent home.”
It’s been nearly two years since North Point was granted rezoning approval for the 33-acre site at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford Road for the church, retail and a residential development.
North Point sold roughly 20 acres of that assemblage to a residential developer, and in March, was granted a land disturbance permit for church construction.
East Cobb Church said that it is hoping to have a groundbreaking for the 125,000-square-foot church and parking lot “later in 2023” but was no more specific than that.
The first task on the North Point property has been dam reconstruction and relocating Waterfront Drive that has been underway since the spring.
The church project is expected to be completed in two years. Updates can be found by clicking here.
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Workers were completing finals tasks after a new steeple was raised at Sandy Plains Baptist Church Wednesday. ECN photo
It’s been nearly three years since the steeple at Sandy Plains Baptist Church (2825 Sandy Plains Road) was destroyed during a storm.
So at long last—and after numerous delays—the new steeple was ready to be put into place on Wednesday, and the congregation decided to make an event out of it.
News media were contacted, church members set up tents to cool off while they and the public watched, and the proceedings were live-streamed for nearly six hours (see video link below).
A large crane lifted up the base, which was fastened into place by two workers, and then the steeple was lifted up and fastened above that, finished off by the installation of thecross
It was a painstaking process to replace the destroyed steeple that went up in the 1990s, when the church had to be rebuilt due to a fire.
The initial delays were prompted by COVID-19. Later, the replacement steeple exceeded county height restrictions and had to be redesigned.
The first services with the new steeple take place on Sunday.
Sandy Plains Baptist Church photos and livestream.
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Last weekend, Habitat for Humanity of NW Metro Atlanta and the Cobb Interfaith Habitat Coalition (CIHC) hammered the first nails and raised the first walls on their 22rd annual Habitat house.
This year’s faith groups include Smyrna First United Methodist Church, Bethany United Methodist Church, the Islamic Center of Marietta, East Cobb Islamic Center, Temple Kol Emeth, St. Thomas the Apostle, Log Cabin Church, Covenant UMC, Unity North Church, McEachern United Methodist Church, St. Catherine’s Episcopal, First Presbyterian of Marietta, and Due West United Methodist Church.
This year’s corporate partners include Pinkerton & Laws Construction of Atlanta, Fortune Johnson, Foresite Group, Moore Colson, Atlanta West Carpets, and Nissan.
The build is for future homeowner Vernita, who has worked as a General Manager at McDonald’s for 21 years. Vernita is always willing to lend a helping hand, a quality that has allowed her to create a family environment with her work staff. She chose this role because it gave her the flexibility to spend time with her daughter Diamond, who is now 21.
The family of two lives in a Villa Rica apartment where the living conditions are very stressful. Vernita didn’t think she would be able to afford the down payment on a home, but now that she is approved for Habitat for Humanity’s affordable homeownership program, she is so excited to have a place to call home. She is most excited about spending time outside working in the yard.
“For more than two decades multiple religious organizations from many different faiths and denominational backgrounds, come together with corporate partners for the common purpose to build,” says Jessica Gill, CEO, Cobb County Habitat Coalition.”
The CIHC coalition uses the motto, ‘We Build to Coexist, We Coexist to Build’. Henry Hene, longtime coalition co-chair said, “Despite obstacles, and regardless of the economy, for 22 years, this coalition stayed the course of showing selfless service and demonstrating faith in action.”
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“Do justice now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now,” East Cobb UMC pastor Rev. Kristin Lee said. ECN photos.
In the seven years he has been the senior rabbi at Congregation Etz Chaim in East Cobb, Daniel Dorsch said that the responses to anti-Semitic acts in the community were always organized by Jews.
Wednesday was different.
At a “prayer and action” service at East Cobb United Methodist Church, faith leaders and citizens turned out to pack the sanctuary.
So did elected and law enforcement officials.
Five days after several Neo-Nazis waved swastika flags and held up anti-Semitic signs in front of the Chabad of Cobb synagogue, a sweeping, community-wide celebration of love, hopefulness and justice followed the condemnations and expressions of outrage.
“What’s different is you,” Dorsch said. “You saw us. You did this and we came. Thank you for seeing us tonight.”
With several Cobb Police vehicles patrolling the East Cobb UMC parking lot, and Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer attending the service inside, Dorsch noted the expenses that synagogues pay for security.
That money, he said, could be spent instead to help feed the hungry and attend to other community needs.
Jews can be reluctant to attend services, he said, because “Pittsburgh, Poway and Jersey City”—cities where mass shootings took place in 2019—”are in the back of their minds.
“Anti-Semitism isn’t a Jewish problem. It’s an everyone problem.”
Saturday’s protest along Lower Roswell Road by the Goyim Defense League drew many more counter-protestors who gathered across the road.
East Cobb real estate agent Mechel McKinney-Hoffman was one of them.
Jarred not only by a Neo-Nazi presence in East Cobb but also a previous rally earlier in the week in her hometown of Macon, McKinney-Hoffman sprung to action in the aftermath.
Working with Rev. Kristin Lee, the East Cobb UMC pastor, she and others put together the special service, which also was called in response to anti-Semitic flyers that have been distributed in neighborhoods in Cobb County and metro Atlanta.
“Just standing by to watch wasn’t an option,” McKinney-Hoffman said, her voice breaking with emotion at times.
“That is what has brought us together as a community. Living in outrage isn’t an option. Living in anger is easy. Living in love is hard.”
State Rep. Solomon Adesanya of East Cobb speaks, with legislators John Carson and Esther Panitch listening.
That was the constant message through the nearly 90-minute service, whose attendees included the Israeli Consul-General in Atlanta and representatives of Atlanta-area Jewish organizations.
In her remarks, Lee stressed the urgency for citizens to “do justice now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now. . . . You don’t have to do it all now and you don’t have to do it alone. But I pray that we will do this with the same calling that we will find to complete this work. As a community. One.”
State lawmakers who sponsored a hate crimes bill that would write anti-Semitism into state law also spoke.
State Rep. John Carson, an East Cobb Republican, was a main sponsor, and said that he was “disgusted” by the open anti-Semitic act in his community.
“What you have done is unite us,” Carson said, referencing the Neo-Nazis. “You are not welcome here, and we will win on this issue. What you see here is a united front against this action.
“This is a wonderful showing of love.”
Citizens were asked to text ‘acts of kindness” that formed a word cloud.
The bill, HB 30, passed the Georgia House this session but got bottled up in the Senate. Some lawmakers, including Cobb State Sen. Ed Setzler, expressed concern that a criticism of the Israeli government could be considered anti-Semitic.
Current hate crime laws cover race, religion and national origin.
State Rep. Esther Panitch, a Democrat from Sandy Springs and the only Jewish member of the legislature, says current law “doesn’t go far enough. . . . We were almost there. We need Georgia to adopt it.”
“I want you to walk away feeling encouraged and inspired,” she said. “The East Cobb community—it’s a special one.”
She also joined the counter-protestors Saturday, and said “it was absolutely beautiful. It was in the face of hatred that love stood out.
“That was inspiring. That was our community coming together. That’s the only way that we can push back against hate in all its forms. I want to make sure that hate isn’t met with silence.”
Nearly the end of the service, and overwhelmed by the community response, Etyan Davidson, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Atlanta, noted that he is the grandson of Holocaust survivors.
“They didn’t have neighbors like you,” he said. “We lost six million people because they didn’t have neighbors like you. You showed up. Thank you. Thank you.
“When we stand together, hate cannot win.”
After the service, Dorsch said that he initially was torn about organizing a response, not wanting to give a small band of anti-Semitic protestors too much attention.
At the service, he read a statement from Chabad Rabbi Ephraim Silverman, who was not in attendance, and recited a Holocaust Kaddish.
“But this was inspiring,” Dorsch said. “I came away from this inspired.”
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1st Row, L-R: Tim Roberts, Henry Hene, Bill Lerner, Stuart Weiss. 2nd Row, L-R: John Herbst, Aric Fine, Robert Corby, Frank Mix.
Submitted information and photos:
As part of its year-long celebration of the 40th anniversary of its founding, Cobb County-basedTemple Kol Emeth (TKE) held a “There’s No Place Like Home” themed Ruby Jubilee on Saturday, April 29. More than 200 members of the TKE community gathered for the gala event co-chaired by Sarah Thalheimer and Ryan Singer, which included dinner, a silent auction and entertainment by comedic magician Jake Schwartz, who kept the crowd laughing.
The Cobb County Commission provided a proclamation to honor the past, present and future of the Reform Jewish temple, which was founded in 1982 by seven families and has grown to encompass more than400 families. In the four decades since opening its doors, TKE has been a welcoming Jewish presence in Cobb County, serving a diverse congregation that includes interfaith families and members of every race, age and background. Past presidents, including founding member and longest-serving president Jane Aronoff, were honored at the event.
“Temple Kol Emeth’s 40th Anniversary Ruby Jubilee was a wonderful occasion to come together as a community to honor our past and celebrate our future,” said Temple Kol Emeth President Jodi Roberts. “We are a dynamic, inclusive and growing community, grounded in our Jewish faith. Celebrations such as this provide the opportunity to reflect on our past and share our excitement for the future of our temple community.”
The celebration continues with the installation of the Birthright Bench by nationally recognized wood sculpture artist and congregant Doug Pisik. The 600-pound wooden bench will provide a new sitting area, featuring a wall of cubbies along the back, which includes prayers and thoughts from TKE congregants, symbolic of the Western Wall.
Prayers from the bench will be taken to Israel by 45 congregants participating in the 40th Anniversary Israel trip, taking place May 27 through June 7. During the trip, TKE members will participate in hands-on learning and a spiritual unearthing of Israel, exploring both ancient artifacts and new-age discoveries throughout Tel Aviv, Galilee, the Dead Sea and Jerusalem.
40th Anniversary Chairs Ryan Singer and Sarah Thalheimer. L-R: Steve Harris, Lon Goodman, Marnie Harris, Madeline Sable, Sonya Powers, Craig Aronoff.L-R: Mitzi Schepps, Frank Mix, Sandi Davis, John Herbst.L-R: TKE President Jodi Roberts with Proclamation.L-R: Henry Hene, Teri Singer, Shep Orlow, Jen Orlow.
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Mountain View UMC in East Cobb is one of the plaintiffs suing the North Georgia Conference.
A Cobb Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that nearly 200 congregations in the United Methodist Church’s North Georgia Conference can proceed with disaffiliation votes.
The ruling by Judge Stephen Shuster came after an emergency hearing in a packed courtroom.
A total of 186 member churches of the North Georgia Conference filed a lawsuit in March against the denomination’s regional body after it initiated a “pause” on the disaffiliation process.
More than 70 North Georgia Conference churches left the UMC last summer after going through the disaffiliation process, following a high-profile legal dispute with Mt. Bethel Church that led to the East Cobb congregation’s departure in a $13.1 million settlement.
The North Georgia Conference said the pause was needed to quell “misinformation” about the disaffiliation process.
The United Methodist Church has been roiling in division for several years on a number of social and cultural issues, including human sexuality and other theological issues.
The plaintiffs filed for the emergency hearing due to the North Georgia Conference’s upcoming annual convention, June 1-3, at which disaffiliation is expected to be a major topic.
The conference has 800 congregations, including several in East Cobb.
One of the plaintiffs, Mountain View UMC, located at Jamerson Road and Trickum Road, had requested a disaffiliation vote after holding a discernment period last fall, with church members hearing the pros and cons of leaving the denomination.
But the church said that vote was denied by Bishop Robin Dease, who succeeded former Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, who issued the pause before leaving in December for another UMC post in Virginia.
East Cobb News has left a message with Mountain View UMC seeking comment.
The North Georgia Conference said Wednesday that it “is exploring our opportunity to appeal” and was still waiting to receive Shuster’s full court order before deciding further action.
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Temple Kol Emeth held a Holocaust Remembrance Day observance with a special Shabbat service at the East Cobb synagogue on April 14 and participated in the Parade of Scrolls in Savannah on April 16.
The solemn observation—Yom HaShoah—preceded the international day of observance from sundown on April 17 to the evening of April 18.
The observation also includes educational programs, testimonials from survivors and the lighting of yahrzeit, odr memorial, candles.
“As fewer survivors remain, the congregation at Temple Kol Emeth feels it is more important than ever to remind the next generations about the atrocities of the Holocaust so that it may never happen again,” said Temple Kol Emeth President Jodi Roberts.
“In a time in history when we recognize the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Yom HaShoah calls upon all of us —Jews and non-Jews—to remember the six million Jewish victims and their efforts to resist the Nazi forces. Holocaust Survivor Day reminds us to fight antisemitism and other prejudices in order to be the upstanders the world needs.”
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Mountain View UMC of East Cobb said it was denied a disaffiliation vote by the North Georgia Conference in January.
A total of 186 Georgia congregations of the United Methodist Church—including one in East Cobb–have filed a lawsuit seeking the restoration of a disaffiliation process that was halted at the end of 2022.
Mountain View United Methodist Church, located on Jamerson Road, is listed as a plaintiff in the suit, which was filed Thursday in Cobb Superior Court.
Several other Cobb County UMC churches also are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, whose attorneys also have filed a motion for an emergency hearing before Judge Kellie Hill.
The suit alleges that the UMC’s North Georgia Conference, which oversees nearly 900 churches, improperly closed down the disaffiliation process on Dec. 28, 2022, “leaving tens of thousands of Christians begging for the process to get back on track,” according to a release issued with the lawsuit (you can read it here).
Former North Georgia Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson—a central figure in the conference’s dispute with Mt. Bethel Church in East Cobb in 2021 and 2022—is named as a defendant, along with her successor, Robin Dease, the conference board of trustees and several conference district superintendents.
The conference said in December that the disaffiliation process needed to be paused because “many local churches have been misled about the disaffiliation process and have been presented with information about the process, and about The United Methodist Church and its leadership, that is factually incorrect and defamatory.”
Without giving specifics, the conference said that “this information presented to members of local churches about disaffiliation has been outside the bounds of normal and acceptable civil discourse. It has not only been false and misleading but has been antithetical to the concept of a gracious exit or a commitment to honoring the mission and ministry of all Christians.”
In the lawsuit, the suing churches said that the conference is violating the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing documents by stopping the process, and that the current disaffiliation process will be sunsetting at the end of 2023.
The UMC enacted a disaffiliation process in 2019 for conservative churches to leave the denomination under Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline.
That provision allowed departing churches to keep much of their property and assets.
The UMC has been split for years on a number of theological issues, especially over human sexuality. The nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination does not currently allow for lesbian and gay clergy or same-sex marriages in the current Book of Discipline, but that is expected to change.
A formal protocol was to have been voted on at the UMC General Conference in 2020, but that was cancelled due to COVID-19. The conference has been further delayed to 2024.
“The United Methodist Church website specifically states that when General Conference 2024 meets Paragraph 2553 will not exist and therefore, it is not possible to ‘extend’ a provision that does not exist,” the lawsuit states.
“Further, there is no legislation presently before the General Conference to create a new or similar Paragraph 2553.”
In the release, Pastor John Kenney of The Quest Church, in Grovetown, Ga., one of the plaintiff congregations, said that “churches in North Georgia that want to disaffiliate using the previously approved process are stuck.”
The release also claims that only the North Georgia Conference is preventing formal disaffiliation procedures.
In response to a message from East Cobb News, the North Georgia Conference repeated some of its December explanation for pausing the disaffiliation process, saying that conference leaders “have significant concerns about this misinformation and are well aware that it has the potential to do irreparable harm.”
Dease said that “conference leaders remain committed to handling this matter in a fair, transparent, uniform, and good-faith manner that affirms the one universal church in service to Christ and honors the mission and ministry of all Christians” and that they “are prayerfully exploring the best methods for moving forward and next steps available as set forth in the Book of Discipline.”
Among the churches in limbo is Mountain View UMC of East Cobb, which began a discernment process last fall it calls “The Path Forward.”
Meetings were held to offer members viewpoints for and against disaffiliation. A straw poll in January revealed that nearly 80 percent of voting Mountain View members wanted to leave the UMC.
At the same time, that timelines states that conservative Wesleyan Covenant Association—of which Mt. Bethel is a leading member—was denied a meeting with Dease, who in January succeeded Haupert-Johnson, now a bishop in Virginia.
The WCA and its new Global Methodist Church denomination began working with the National Center for Life and Liberty, a conservative, Florida-based religious liberty organization, to “to assist North Georgia legal strategies,” according to the Mountain View timeline.
In February, Mountain View agreed to become part of the lawsuit, which includes some 70 churches that were allowed to formally disaffiliate in 2022.
Mt. Bethel attorneys said they wanted to have a disaffiliation vote, but the conference rejected that option.
Mt. Bethel is prevented from selling properties on its main campus on Lower Roswell Road for seven and a half years without giving the UMC and the North Georgia Conference the right of first refusal to purchase them.
Mt. Bethel also cannot house a denominational office on its grounds on the main campus for that period of time.
Mt. Bethel formally left the UMC in July 2022 without a vote, and some former disaffected members began a new church, Grace Resurrection Methodist Church.
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Rabbi Albert Slomowitz, Jewish Christian Discovery Center
Local Jewish and Christian leaders will hold an interfaith service at the Catholic Church of St. Ann Monday as their religions mark high and holy observances.
Rabbi Albert Slomowitz of the Jewish Christian Discovery Center will lead the service, along with Father Ray Cadran of St. Ann and Pastor Michael Tutterow of Heritage Baptist Church in Cartersville.
Christian Holy Week begins on Monday, and Passover in the Jewish faith begins Wednesday.
“In a time of increasing antisemitism and intolerance, the three interfaith clergy believe it is vital to show religious unity and peace,” according to a release from the Atlanta-based JCDC.
Each worshipper will be given a piece of matzah, which Jews eat during Passover to commemorate their exodus from Egypt.
The matzah will be broken into smaller pieces as participants pledge a commitment “to reject hate and embrace love of one’s neighbor regardless of religious belief.”
Congregants will burn the smaller pieces in an outdoor firepit, symbolizing the eradication of religious intolerance, and will have group discussions on the subject.
Slomovitz, who met with Christian leaders at St. Ann and Mt. Bethel Church over the Christmas holidays, said that “we are living in unprecedented and sad times with age-old stereotypes and hatred against Jews reemerging. It is vital that we come together as Jews and Christians and embrace God’s commandment that we love one another.”
This special service, he added, “will bring strangers together from many faiths and give them an opportunity to share in the symbolic act of rejecting hatred through the breaking of a large piece of matzah and then commit themselves and their families to ‘love they neighbor.’ ”
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Rabbi Larry Sernovitz at Temple Kol Emeth’s 2021 Yom Kippur service.
After three years, Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of the Temple Kol Emeth synagogue is leaving.
In a video presentation and an e-mail to the congregation on Tuesday, Kol Emeth President Jodi Roberts said Sernovitz will step down effective June 30 to become the chief executive officer of Hillels of Georgia, which works with undergraduate students at 24 colleges and universities in the state.
Speaking with congregation members and retired Kol Emeth Rabbi Steven Lebow behind her in the synagogue sanctuary, Roberts said that Sernovitz is taking a “dream job” and that “and we support him in making the best decision for his family. We are excited that he and his family will continue to be members of the Temple Kol Emeth family as they have become an integral part of our community—community they have come to love.”
Sernovitz was not in attendance but spoke in a recorded message from an unspecified remote location.
“It has been an incredible three years,” Sernovitz said. “We have gotten through COVID, we have raised enough money to pay off the mortgage, we have doubled the size of our religious school, stabilized our finances. We are in amazing shape.”
He said that the opportunity with Hillel “is not something I looked for, but it’s chance of a lifetime to make an impact on the frontlines of the Jewish community.”
Sernovitz was tapped to succeed Lebow, the Reform Jewish congregation’s first full-time rabbi, in 2020. Sernovitz came to Kol Emeth from Cherry Hill, N.J., where he was a police chaplain and was a rabbi for non-affiliated Jews.
Several months into his tenure, Sernovitz presided over a community response to several anti-Semitic incidents, including swastika graffiti posted in an East Cobb neighborhood in 2020 and swastikas spray-painted at Pope and Lassiter high schools in 2021.
He spoke to Pope students and invited then-Cobb school board chairman Randy Scamihorn to Kol Emeth’s Yom Kippur service, where he held the Torah.
Sernovitz continued the long-standing Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service begun by Lebow. At the 2022 service, Sernovitz delivered a reflection that sharing fellowship across many faiths isn’t enough.
“This isn’t a show. This is a call to action.”
In recalling the tale of Abraham smashing idols, he said that “we live in a world that still worships idols . . . and doesn’t value people like we need to.
“Our faith has to stand for something. If our faith doesn’t stand for humanity, it’s not faith, it’s politics.”
Roberts said that Kol Emeth will appoint an interim rabbi while it searches for Sernovitz’ successor, a process that could take a year.
“We have a strong leadership team that will guide us into this exciting new phase at Temple Kol Emeth,” she said.
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The Atlanta branch of the American Jewish Committee is organizing two Unity Seder events next week, including one at Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb.
That event is Wednesday, March 29, at 7 p.m. at the synagogue (1415 Old Canton Road), and you can sign up by clicking here.
The Unity Seder celebrates the Jewish holiday of Passover, commemorating the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, from slavery to freedom, and uses the lessons of that observance “to tell stories of freedom and responsibility from all of our faith and ethnic traditions, applying lessons to envision a better future for our city and world,” according to the Atlanta Jewish Committee.
This year the official Passover dates are April 5-13, which includes Seder observances the first two nights.
Kosher dietary laws will be observed at the Temple Kol Emeth dinner.
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The Mt. Bethel Church choir sings “Joy to the World” at a Christmas Eve service Saturday.
Christians around East Cobb attended Christmas Eve services Saturday, hearing messages about hope, peace, love and eternal light as they celebrated the birth of Jesus.
Pastors at several churches cited current events, as they urged their congregations to live out the meaning of Christ’s arrival.
“We ought to look out for one another,” said Rev. Dr. Ike Reighard of Piedmont Church. “That’s what being part of family of God is all about. It’s about love.
Rev. Dr. Ike Reighard
“God reached down to the world and did something that’s an absolute mystery,” he continued. “Love is from God,” and is manifested in humans through the life of Jesus.
Reighard, who is also the CEO of Marietta-based MUST Ministries, spoke of tragedy in his own life. His first wife died in childbirth with their first child.
“A troubled faith is better than no faith at all,” he said.
Mt. Bethel Church observed its first Christmas since breaking from the United Methodist Church following a court settlement earlier this year.
Rev. Dr. Jody Ray spoke of the first Christmas—the time of Jesus’ birth—as a “dark time . . . under the iron fist of Rome.”
Rev. Dr. Jody Ray
The darkness of contemporary times—death, divorce, addiction and other maladies—continues, Ray said, but the Bible says “there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Reading from the book of Isaiah, he said that “the light of Christmas shines in the midst of the darkness” and
“gives us the hope that we can keep going forward.”
Ray said that “the darkness never overtakes the light . . . . never ever ever . . . Light always always always always overtakes the darkness.”
At Mt. Paran Church of God North, the subject of senior pastor Dr. Kirk Walters’ sermon was about how to find peace.
“We are divided over everything—politics, religion, race, gender—everything,” he said.
Dr. Kirk Walters
But we don’t “understand what Biblical peace is.” It’s not an absence of problems, said Walters, whose wife died in August after battling cancer.
“Peace is available to those with whom God is pleased, those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior.
“Jesus has to be Lord of your life to have that kind of peace.”
Several East Cobb churches will be having Christmas Day services on Sunday. For more information, click here.
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Rabbi Albert Slomovitz (at right) hands Jewish faith materials to children at the Catholic Church of St. Ann with Father Ray Cadran. Photo courtesy Josh Azriel
What’s called J Star—a Jewish-Christian understanding project that’s been conducted during the holidays the last three years—is making its rounds in the Atlanta area.
The 4th annual J Star is underway, with clergy from both faiths making presentations at area churches and handing out materials, in particular to children.
He recently teamed up with Father Ray Cadran at the Catholic Church of St. Ann, and will be visiting Mt. Bethel Church on Dec. 18, the first day of Hanukkah.
“The goal of this program,” according to a J Star release, “is to highlight interfaith awareness and education.”
Practical and fun activities are designed to promote understanding across the two faiths. Each family associated with a JCDC-partnered church receives a holiday packet that includes a Jewish Star, dreidel (plastic spinning top), and some chocolates.
Children take home the stars, and play with them and use them as tree decorations, then learn to play the dreidel game, which was popular during the time of Jesus.
“Christians and Jews can come together and learn about the shared Jewish traditions we all have. Jesus grew up as a practicing Jew. That included celebrating Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays,” Slomovitz said.
“The message of the Hanukkah story itself is one that all can relate to, it was a fight for religious freedom. The Jewish community fought against their Greek rulers who were trying to suppress their religious practices.”
Given increasing concerns about anti-Semitism, Slomovitz stressed the need to continue interfaith dialogues. “I am blessed to have Christian friends across the metro area whose churches are our partners for the J Star Project,” Slomovitz said.
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