Chestnut Ridge Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will open its sanctuary for Good Friday, April 2, 2021, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the community to drop in. COVID-19 precautions will be followed, including requiring masks and spacing the chairs in the sanctuary. The sanctuary will be open for a quiet and reflective time of prayer. The church will provide individual reflections on Bible stories during Jesus’ last week, focusing on who is speaking and who is staying silent.
There will also be space for a community response to the question “What breaks God’s heart?” Let’s take time to listen to each other and to sit with sorrow.
Chestnut Ridge is an Open and Affirming congregation that celebrates the spirital gifts and human dignity of all God’s children. You can see more details about the Good Friday event at chestnutridgechristianchurch.com/good-friday-2021.
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The Atlanta Israel Coalition is hosting Re-Discovering the Land of Israel, a series of five FREEvirtual tours beginning Sunday, March 28 at 10:00 am.
The Atlanta Israel Coalition, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeastern U.S., Herut, and the Evans Family Foundation, is presenting Re-Discovering the Land of Israel, a series of five FREE virtual tours of Israel beginning Sunday, March 28 at 10:00 am. These virtual tours, led by David Sussman Israel Tours, will be engaging for families, students, and individuals of all ages.
Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to connect to and learn more about Israel. You may register for all five tours or just pick specific tours. Register at https://bit.ly/TourIsrael-AIC. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Can’t attend on the specific dates? Register anyway and you’ll receive a recorded link of the tours.
Sunday, March 21st @ 10 am – The Biblical Heartland of Gush Etzion: This tour includes the Path of the Patriarchs, an ancient mikvah, biblical agriculture, Roman roads, and stunning landscapes
Sunday, April 25th @10 am – The Holy City of Hebron: Tour the tombs of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the ancient stairs and city gates where Abraham purchased the cave to bury Sarah, 1st & 2nd Temple period ruins, we will meet a soldier, and discover the modern development of Hebron
Sunday, May 23rd @10 am – The Artist Colony of Tzfat: Let’s walk the winding ally ways of this mystical city together as we tour the city of Kabbalah. We will visit important synagogues, meet local artists, learn about Jewish mysticism from a leading Rabbi, and delve into its history both ancient and modern.
Sunday, June 6th @10 am – The Old and the New in Tel Aviv/Jaffa: Described as the city that never sleeps, Tel Aviv is Israel’s financial capital. Let’s discover its roots, beaches, diversity, and the place where Israel’s independence was discovered.
Sunday, June 27th @10 am – The Golan Heights; One of Israel’s most scenic areas. It boasts extinct volcanoes, Israel’s largest mountain, sits along the border of Israel, and has a rich Jewish history. This episode will feature Major Ya’akov Selevan who will discuss with us the political climate of the Golan Heights.
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An East Cobb church that’s been a site for COVID testing in recent weeks posted a message Wednesday urging support for teachers and efforts to reduce the spread of the virus.
On its social media channels, East Cobb United Methodist Church called for a “For Our Teachers” initiative following the deaths of three Cobb school teachers.
Last Thursday, nearly 100 teachers protested outside Cobb Board of Education meetings to demand all-virtual learning. Last week the district went fully remote but this week returned to face-to-face instruction.
The board did not discuss COVID response at those meetings and Ragsdale only briefly mentioned the dead teachers by name during those meetings. Neither he nor board members David Banks and David Chastain of East Cobb put on masks.
Following “the blatant disrespect for teachers’ health and safety at last week’s school board meeting, silence for us is no longer an option,” said the East Cobb UMC message, which continues:
For our teachers, we listen.
They are saying this is the “craziest, most difficult, most frustrating school year” of their careers, and they feel “unsupported and unacknowledged” (a direct quote from a long-time county educator).
For our teachers, we pray.
We ask God to grant all educators the strength and perseverance needed during this difficult year.
For our teachers, we give thanks.
Thank you for the endless hours you have spent reworking the curriculum to fit modified and hybrid classrooms. Thank you for the extra time spent scrubbing desks and sanitizing markers. Your care and creativity do not go unnoticed.
For our teachers, we wear a mask.
Not just once-and-awhile, but every time we leave the house. We must #StopTheSpread.
For our teachers, we get the vaccine when we can.
Ultimately, this is the only way the dreadful pandemic will ever end.
For our teachers, we advocate.
We will contact our school board representatives and implore them to take the same actions we pledge to take.
For our teachers, we do better.
After all, our children would not have an education if it was not… For Our Teachers.
Add the “For Our Teachers” frame to your profile picture and join us in solidarity with educators everywhere: https://tinyurl.com/xz1n4lp2
Along with this, we invite you to post a tangible way you will support teachers in your community. You may model ours or create one of your own. #ForOurTeachers
In November, East Cobb UMC became a pop-up site for COVID testing by a private company, and that part of the church parking lot has been busy ever since. The public can drive up without an appointment to get a test. There are no out-of-pocket costs and insurance is accepted.
On Monday three Cobb school board members signed a letter sent to Gov. Brian Kemp demanding more safety measures at schools, including prioritizing vaccines for teachers.
On Wednesday, the Cobb school district announced that Ragsdale had signed a similar letter from metro Atlanta superintendents.
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“Every day is a gift of Christ’s presence,” said Father Joseph Aquino of the Catholic Church of St. Ann.
Christians in East Cobb gathered in-person and online Thursday for Christmas Eve services hearing a familiar topic in a new light.
Celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ were conducted in different formats by many congregations in the community.
Some had limited worship in-person due to COVID-19 social-distancing protocols, with attendees wearing masks, saying “the peace” without touching and limiting music to designated vocalists and instrumentalists.
A few services were done outdoors under protective coverings on a cold and rainy day. Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church decided on Wednesday to hold its Christmas Eve services online-only after an emergency meeting of its COVID-19 task force.
At a Thursday afternoon Mass at the Catholic Church of St. Ann, senior pastor Father Joseph Aquino delivered a message of hope that is the essence of the arrival of Christ.
“Tonight we celebrate the final fruit of that hope,” Aquino said.
While he didn’t reference current circumstances, Aquino said that even through “all kinds of pain, all kinds of ailments and illnesses . . . there is hope.”
The message was similar at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, which held its Christmas Eve in a virtual-only format.
The service included music from socially-distanced choir members and bell ringers. Rev. Harden Hopper said in his sermon that “God wants to leave no one lost in the dark and that one day he will lead us into his light.
“For some, this season is the hardest of all. But take heart because there is refuge in the Wonderful Counselor, Our Savior.”
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church offered in-person services, and also produced a virtual candlelight service (video below).
Rev. Clay Smith said that “2020 has been a dark year for many,” referencing COVID-19, death and loss, political strife, racial protests and economic devastation.
“It’s exposed the reality that a lot of us are still scared of the dark,” Smith said. “We need the light, and that light is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is God’s light breaking into a dark world.”
Another large East Cobb church scrapped plans for in-person services on Wednesday. The COVID-19 task force at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church decided to conduct all services in virtual format.
On its Facebook page the church has been showing a prerecorded service, and on Christmas Day will be airing a “marathon” of previous caroling performances and other special programming.
Rev. Ricky Ray said the decision was based on the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the community.
“This has been an extremely difficult season and an extremely difficult decision to make,” he said in a video message. “I hope that you’ll be safe and have a very Merry Christmas.”
St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, which has had limited in-person services outdoors since the late fall, led a late-afternoon candlelight service under an awning at its entrance, with attendees and clergy bundled up.
A later outdoor service on Christmas Eve and another in-person service on Christmas morning were cancelled for weather reasons.
St. Catherine’s designated three local charities to receive its Christmas Eve offering proceeds: Cobb Communities in Schools, Family Promise of Cobb County and Simple Needs GA.
Some churches are having online and in-person services on Christmas Day. For details, visit the East Cobb NewsChristmas schedule page.
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Every year we update out Christmas Worship Schedule page with a summary of services at selected East Cobb churches, plus links for more information.
Due to very different circumstances this year, we’re obviously changing the format, but not all that much.
What you’ll find on that link is information about virtual services—most of them on Christmas Eve—and links to other details and livestream access.
Most churches have been requiring reservations for in-person worship, and a good number of those we checked are at full capacity. We’re linking to the main church website and other appropriate links for you to check if you’re interested in attending in person.
On Christmas Day we’ll round up some of the special messages, music and other programming that East Cobb churches have put together. Some of them have been posting beforehand, such as the Sing-Along at the Catholic Church of St. Ann below.
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After so many events that didn’t happen in East Cobb in 2020, the organizers of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church’s Polar Bear run dropped some good news recently:
The 2021 Polar Bear Run WILL GO ON! Check out our safety precautions at www.polarbear-run.com, and make sure to get registered as live-runners are limited!
Now through Jan. 8 the cost for the 5K & 2K is $30. From Jan. 8-17 it rises to $35. Cub runs are $25. Phantom is $35.
The 5K is a qualifier for the Peachtree Road Race and gets underway at 8 a.m. The Cub Runs starts at 9 and the Cub 50-yard dash (ages 2-3 and indoors) starts at 9:15.
The Polar Bear Run, which started in 1989, will be in its 33rd year. The proceeds for the Polar Bear Run benefit students in the Johnson Ferry Academy’s high school music group who need financial assistance to attend an annual summer mission trip.
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Members of East Cobb Church have responded to the pressing needs of the poor in Cobb County by buying Simple Needs GA a brand-new box truck for picking up and delivering furniture.
In addition to the donation of the 16-foot GMC Savana box truck, the congregation also made a large financial donation that will cover the cost of insurance and maintenance for the vehicle over the course of its lifetime.
More than 250 church members also purchased about 3,000 full-sized toiletries and other useful items for distribution by SNGA to shelter check-ins and people experiencing homelessness in Cobb County.
Taken together, the gifts are by far the largest donation in the history of the Marietta-based nonprofit.
As a result, SNGA will no longer need to spend large sums of money to rent box trucks for picking up and delivering furniture and household items as part of its Simple Household Needs program, said Brenda Rhodes SNGA Founder and President.
“The donation of the box truck gives our volunteers much more capacity for picking up and delivering furniture as needed,” she noted. “We’ve already been making pickups and deliveries with the truck and have seen firsthand how being more efficient will allow us to help many more people over time.”
Located at 2450 Lower Roswell Rd., East Cobb Church was founded in January 2020.
The donation came as part of its first-ever “Be Rich” campaign, which gets its name from 1 Timothy 6:18 (“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”).
The goal of the fundraising portion was to help SNGA with its furniture logistics challenges. “Our volunteers often had to scramble to find a way to get much-needed furniture and household items to our clients in Cobb County,” Rhodes noted.
Initially, though, Pastor Jamey Dickens assumed the campaign would bring in enough money to buy the nonprofit a used pickup truck—not a far-more-expensive, brand-new box truck, he said. Dickens and Katie Peters, a pastoral counselor at East Cobb Church who coordinated the campaign, asked the church’s roughly 800 members to each donate at least $39.95.
The outpouring of generosity that resulted was remarkable, Dickens said. “The money just came pouring in,” he said.
On October 23, East Cobb Church delivered the truck to SNGA’s Marietta warehouse near Cobb Parkway to the applause and tears of SNGA board members, volunteers and other contributors.
Already deeply involved in community service, members of East Cobb Church were well aware of the disproportionate effects of the pandemic on the poor and were eager to answer the call when the Be Rich campaign was launched, Dickens said.
“Our people deserve a major shout out and so does Katie, who did a fantastic job leading this effort,” he said. “We’re grateful, too, for how God has led and moved in our church.”
As Dickens sees it, the successful campaign illustrates the power of people coming together as a community to help others.
“I loved that it was a very large group effort,” he said. “The ask was just basic, but people stepped up and did what they could—and look at what happened. People give where their heart is engaged.”
Hearts at Simple Needs GA were touched as well, said Yolanda Kingsberry, a member of SNGA’s board and frequent furniture volunteer.
“We’re so fortunate to live in a community of generous supporters who value our work and want to help us help others,” she said. “We will make East Cobb Church proud by using this truck to bring comfort to many more deserving families.”
In a reflection of the generosity of our community at this time, the largest prior donation to SNGA also came during the pandemic when Linked UP Church in Powder Springs donated $14,250 to SNGA this past summer.
Founded in 2010, SNGA has distributed thousands of duffel bags of full-sized toiletries to shelter check-ins and people experiencing homelessness. Among other activities, the Marietta-based nonprofit last year brought birthday presents and other useful items to more than 270 homeless children; brought furniture and household items to 151 clients; and provided 166 children in 64 families with $100 in requested Christmas gifts.
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For the past 15 years, people from dozens of faith-based groups have gathered together at Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta, GA to celebrate Thanksgiving by sharing uplifting messages, singing and laughing together, and supporting interfaith charities. In 2020, this unifying event will be hosted online with inspiring speakers, beautiful music, and an online chat to share your feelings and thoughts.
This year’s theme, “Act Now: Silence Is Not An Option,” is the inspiration for messages from various religious and community leaders about speaking up for compassion and humanity, a common value of people of all faiths. The event will also spotlight the non-profit The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, one of the recipients of donations made to the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Give-A-Gobble program.
Event facilitator Hal Schlenger says, “Our transition from a large in-person gathering to a virtual event is an example of the multiple religious’ belief that, ‘Silence is not an option.’ Christian, Jews, Muslims, Hindu and so many others believe that we are responsible for our words, our actions, and the success of our community. Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world.’ Now is the time not to be silent.”
Please join us on Thursday, Nov. 19th for this one-of-a-kind 16th annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Celebration—an event organized by twenty faith-based groups in the Cobb, Fulton and Cherokee counties—because people of faith need to stand together and serve others now more than ever. The event will take place online at http://bit.ly/TKEstream at 6:30pm for musical performances, and the program begins at 7pm.
As we gather together, we collect funds through the Give-A-Gobble program to purchase turkeys and Thanksgiving dinners for our neighbors in need.
Please donate today at: https://www.kolemeth.net/gobble. Give-A-Gobble’s success depends directly on your generous donations of which 100% goes toward purchasing turkeys, food staples, and Thanksgiving dinners to those in need. The organizations we support that provide help to those in need during Thanksgiving all promote peace and good-will, and this year’s featured organization, The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, is prominently included.
Participating religions in this year’s Ecumenical Thanksgiving Celebration:
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Art of Living Foundation
Baha’i Faith Center
East Cobb Islamic Center
East Cobb UMC
Emerson Universalist Unitarian
Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta
Interfaith Community Initiatives
Islamic Center of Marietta
Masjid Al-Muminum
Pilgrimage United Church of Christ
Roswell Community Masjid
Sandy Springs Christian Church
Sikh Educational Welfare Association
St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church
Temple Beth Tikvah
Temple Kol Emeth
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Roswell and Marietta
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Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Temple Kol Emeth said “the strength of the community is how we respond” to recent incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti in East Cobb. (ECN photos and video)
A rash of anti-Semitic incidents in East Cobb in recent weeks has jarred an area with a sizable Jewish community.
In response, representatives of that Jewish community, along with other East Cobb faith leaders and local public officials, said Monday their message will be that such actions won’t be tolerated.
With the Southern Division of the Anti-Defamation League they announced the launching of an education campaign that will include bias training and a chance for the larger public to become allies with those unlike themselves.
The first of those sessions will take place virtually on Sept. 9 starting at 7:30 p.m. It’s free to attend but you must register and can do so by clicking here.
Most of all, their response is that love and understanding are the only ways to overcome hatred.
“I want to say ‘I love you,’ ” said Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Temple Kol Emeth, one of three synagogues in East Cobb, and where Monday’s gathering was held.
Graffiti found in the Kings Farm neighborhood of East Cobb on Aug. 23. Source: ADL
“I don’t need to know you to love you.”
He said those who scrawled graffiti in East Cobb—there are at least a half-dozen known incidents since the middle of August—were educated that such expressions can be tolerated.
What’s needed again and again, Sernovitz said, is “a million acts of kindness,” and he referenced the Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who “believed that redemption can save the world.”
The gathering was prompted by swastika and other graffiti discovered in a neighborhood near Post Oak Tritt Road and Holly Springs Road. Residents there cleaned the spray-paint quickly.
On Sunday, Sernovitz told his congregation that at least five more similar incidents are being investigated.
Cobb Police Chief Tim Cox, who attended Monday’s event at Kol Emeth, said the first incident took place on Aug. 16, and investigators are not sure if the other incidents happened at once or on separate dates.
Lt. Bruce Danz, an investigator with Cobb Police Precinct 4, said all the incidents were in East Cobb. They included anti-Semitic graffiti being spray-painted on road signs on Post Oak Tritt Road that was removed by Cobb DOT.
He said in two-and-a-half years in Precinct 4, this is the first time he’s known of such incidents.
Danz said that “right now, we don’t have any leads,” but that police are “actively investigating.”
Cox said that anyone in the public who may have information about these or similar incidents should contact Lt. Abbott of the Precinct 4 Criminal Investigations Unit at 770-499-4184.
East Cobb faith leaders have pledged to send a message of love to combat hatred and intolerance.
Several clergy members of the East Cobb faith communities were invited to speak, including Congregation Etz Chaim, Emerson Universalist Unitarian Congregation, Unity North Church East Cobb Church, the Church of Latter-Day Saints and the East Cobb Islamic Center.
Also speaking were U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes and Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb.
Ott said Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris will be presenting a measure in September to reconstitute the county’s dormant Human Relations Commission.
Those plans had been in the works before the anti-Semitic attacks, but Ott said the timing of these events makes it more imperative to build bridges of understanding in the community.
“This is not who we are,” Ott said. “This is not what we are about.”
The human relations panel was created in the early 1990s, after county commissioners approved a controversial anti-gay resolution.
Among those leading the outcry against the resolution was Steven Lebow, the longtime Kol Emeth rabbi who retired this summer.
Sernovitz started in July as Lebow’s successor, and calls one of his first public actions in his new role “a teachable moment.”
“This can happen anywhere,” he said. “The strength of our community is how we respond.”
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Swastika graffiti in an East Cobb neighborhood last weekend. Source: Anti-Defamation League
The leaders of the Temple Kol Emeth synagogue told their congregation Sunday that following the discovery of swastika graffiti in an East Cobb neighborhood last weekend, they’ve learned of other similar incidents.
Rabbi Larry Sernovitz and Rachel Barich, president of the congregation, said that “through our connections with local law enforcement, we are now aware of at least five similar incidents that have occurred over the past few weeks. This is a serious concern to us and to the Cobb County Police.”
They didn’t elaborate on the specifics of the incidents or when and where they took place, but said that “we know that the actions of a few do not represent East Cobb.”
Their message comes a day before Kol Emeth will be holding a gathering to announce a community response to acts of anti-Semitism.
That meeting will include representatives of the Anti-Defamation League of Atlanta, Atlanta Israeli Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon, Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott and Capt. James Fincher, commander of the Cobb Police Precinct 4 in East Cobb.
The initiative is to include bias training and other educational programs:
“Through a partnership with the ADL, we will present to the wider East Cobb community a comprehensive program of education which will include bias training and how to be ally. Our fellow Jewish congregations and the interfaith community support this initiative with a high amount of interest. This is the spirit of Cobb County!”
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Monday’s gathering, which begins at 10 a.m., is not open to the general public. Sernovitz and Barich said an educational program to follow will be available to all via Zoom in the coming weeks.
“We also know that we cannot be silent, as silence does not make these things go away. Rather we are drawing on our friendships and ties with so many others in our community to provide a teachable moment, an opportunity for everyone to come together, speak together, and learn together.”
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UPDATED, Sunday Aug. 30.: Temple Kol Emeth leaders said they’ve learned of “at least five more” similar incidents in recent weeks.
Following Monday’s story about swastikas and other graffiti found in an East Cobb neighborhood comes word of an event next week that will launch a new community initiative a local Jewish leader said is designed “to build understanding and allyship.”
Allison Padilla-Goodman, vice president of the Southern division of the Anti-Defamation League, told East Cobb News that a gathering at 10 a.m. Monday at the Temple Kol Emeth synagogue in East Cobb will include a developing list of partners in the interfaith effort.
She said “we have several confirmed Cobb County officials and interfaith leaders in the area.” Larry Sernovitz, the new rabbi at Kol Emeth, said “it is a growing list and we are so blessed to know that so many organizations, including the Cobb County Government and Police Department, will be present.”
The event isn’t open to the general public due to physical distancing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the event will consist of plans to conduct anti-bias training events in the community over the coming weeks.
Sernovitz sent out a message to his congregation on Monday that “multiple swastikas” were found in a neighborhood in the area around Holly Springs Road and Post Oak Tritt Road, and that residents of that community worked to remove the graffiti.
Also spray-painted on a decorative slab was “MAGA 2020,” or “Make America Great Again,” a slogan for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.
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Local Jewish leaders are planning a response to an act of vandalism over the weekend in an East Cobb neighborhood that included swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti being scrawled on fences.
Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Temple Kol Emeth, one of three synagogues in East Cobb, said in a message to his congregation that several fences were spray-painted with “multiple swastikas.”
“The swastika has come to be known as a symbol of Nazism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism. This act and this symbol is not representative of the Cobb County that we know and love and has no place in our community,” he said.
The neighborhood is along Holly Springs Road in the vicinity of Post Oak Tritt Road. That’s near the former site of the Marcus Jewish Community Center’s Shirley Blumenthal Park, which is now the high school campus of Mt. Bethel Christian Academy.
Sernovitz also thanked Cobb Police “for their timely response to the incident. Additionally, we applaud the actions of the residents of this neighborhood for coming together as a community to take back their space and to clean and refresh their public fencing. Thirty members of this neighborhood, children and adults from many different faith backgrounds, worked together to erase the damage that had been done to their neighborhood on Sunday afternoon.”
Kol Emeth was to have held a community event Monday with the Anti-Defamation League of Atlanta, but scheduling conflicts have put that on hold.
“We look forward to working in concert with our interfaith community to combat hate in all of its forms,” Sernovitz said. “Over the coming days, we will be organizing opportunities for dialogue within our TKE community and in concert with our neighbors. As plans progress, we will keep you updated.”
Allison Padilla-Goodman vice president of the ADL’s Southern office in Atlanta, told East Cobb News “stay tuned for a future event!”
Sernovitz just began his tenure in July at Kol Emeth, succeeding longtime Rabbi Steven Lebow, who retired after 34 years.
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When we talked last week with Cheryl Lassiter of the Marietta Campmeeting about a shortened schedule for this year’s event, she said the prospect of having those few services next weekend was “still pretty iffy.’
On Friday the decision was made to call off the whole thing, over concerns about growing COVID-19 cases in Cobb County and Georgia:
“It is with much prayer and consideration that Campmeeting leadership has decided to cancel our shortened Campmeeting this year. We hope you will join us in prayer for the safety and health of our nation during this time. We are already looking forward to Campmeeting 2021 when we can all be together safely again!”
As we noted in our story last week, Lassiter said the only other time the Campmeeting, which dates back to 1837, was cancelled was during the Civil War.
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Organizers of the summer religious revival discussed the possibility of calling off this year’s event due to COVID-19. They heard from longtime attendees, some of whom said they would not be coming under any circumstances. Others said that if there was a campmeeting, they would definitely be there.
“We tried to reach a happy medium,” said Cheryl Lassiter, president of the Marietta Campmeeting Tentholders Association, explaining the decision to go on.
“We just hated to just not completely have it at all.”
Most large-gathering festivals and events in East Cobb have been either postponed or cancelled altogether since March and into the fall, including the EAST COBBER parade and festival.
Instead of the usual 10 days of worship, music and food and social activities at the 23-acre Marietta Campground on Roswell Road, this year’s campmeeting will be reduced to one weekend, July 17-19.
Lassiter said the schedule change also accommodates the Georgia public health emergency, which is set to expire July 12.
The public is still invited to attend the campmeeting, but there will be only four services: One on Friday night, two on Saturday and another on Sunday morning. There also will be a tentholders’ meeting for those occupying the nearly two dozen cabins on the campground property.
But there won’t be the usual opening night picnic, watermelon-cutting, ice cream social, ministry feeding events and the children’s church service.
Instead of full choirs, singing will be led by a handful of people under the arbor, a covered outdoor tabernacle that’s the focal point of the revival.
Reusable programs and hymnals will be replaced by throwaway songsheets with familiar tunes.
The arbor can hold up to 400 people, but Lassiter said in recent years that daytime worship services have averaged between 25-50 people, and 150-250 people at night.
The campmeeting will follow social distancing protocols, she said, allowing for families to be able to sit together. There also will be hand sanitizing stations on the property and masks and gloves will be available.
Despite all the rearrangements, Lassiter admitted there is a chance everything may have to be cancelled, given growing concerns over continuing rises in positive COVID cases in Georgia, especially in the metro Atlanta area.
“I don’t think anyone would doubt our reasons if we did,” she said.
Lassiter noted that during the Spanish Flu pandemic which hit the United States hard in the winter of 1919, the Marietta Campmeeting went on the following summer.
That was a stroke of good seasonal fortune.
However, like so many aspects of daily life today, and especially special events like a venerable religious revival, planning for the Marietta Campmeeting has been a very fluid thing.
“It’s still pretty iffy,” Lassiter said, “but we’re gonna try.”
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With churches and other houses of worship closed due to the Coronavirus-related shelter-in-place order in Georgia, many congregations have prepared for Holy Week and Easter services online.
Some have been doing this since early in the Lenten season in Early March.
We’ve compiled Easter Sunday listings and you can find them here, in similar fashion to what we do for the Advent and Christmas season.
The individual church links have more information about other special services and events, including a few Easter Vigil services on Saturday.
If you’d like to add what your church is doing, and don’t see it here, or need to correct or update information that we have listed, please let us know.
Send all information to: editor@eastcobbbnews.com.
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With numerous organizations mobilizing to feed needy families during the Coronavirus shutdowns, two large East Cobb churches are joining forces to help out.
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church are partnering for a food drive.
Both churches sent out messages today that they’ll begin taking collections starting Wednesday through April 1 (weekdays only) to be distributed to MUST Ministries and Mosaic Church Marietta.
Mosiac is a church and community resource center in Austell that has partnered with Johnson Ferry Baptist on previous ministry projects.
The initiative includes volunteer opportunities to pack and distribute food boxes with Mosiac (you can sign up here).
The collection times for the Johnson Ferry-Mt. Bethel food drive are from 9-5 Monday-Friday, through Friday, April 1. Food items can be dropped off at the portico entrance of Johnson Ferry Baptist (955 Johnson Ferry Road).
Here’s a list of the food items (non-perishable only) they’ll be needing:
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Mt Zion United Methodist Church is among the East Cobb churches cancelling Sunday services.
We’re starting to get word about closings, cancellations and changes to the service and activity schedules at East Cobb churches and faith communities.
The following is a running list that will be continuously updated. If you have any Coronavirus-related cancellations, changes or news to share with the East Cobb community (religious or otherwise), let us know. E-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll include it in future posts.
Be advised that this information is subject to change; many of the following faith communities frequently update their Facebook pages:
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church: Sunday, March 15 services will continue, but without communion, except by individual request; services also will be live-streamed on the church’s YouTube channel; Sunday school classes are cancelled for March 15 and 22;
Catholic Church of St. Ann: Only Masses, weddings, funerals and reconciliation will take place through the end of March; live-streaming is available for 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday Masses;
Chattahoochee Baptist Church: Online services only March 15 and 22; group activities and meetings cancelled through March 27;
Chestnut Ridge Christian Church: In-person services are cancelled through the end of March; live-streaming is available for the 11 a.m. Sunday service;
Christ Orthodox Presbyterian: Sunday services are cancelled for March 15;
Congregation Etz Chaim: Shabbat Sasson service scheduled for Friday, March 13 is scheduled to take place, but a Shabbat Sasson dinner to follow has been cancelled; the preschool will be closed starting Monday until further notice;
East Cobb Church of Christ: All Sunday services cancelled March 15 and Wednesday services and activities are cancelled until further notice;
East Cobb Islamic Center: Jumu’ah prayer and all other programs cancelled indefinitely;
East Cobb UMC: Sunday worship services March 15 and activities next week are cancelled;
Eastminster Presbyterian Church: Worship services for March 15 have been cancelled;
Eastside Baptist Church: Regular Sunday worship services on Sunday, March 15, will be held, but members are encouraged to watch online; preschool and weekday activities cancelled;
Emerson Universalist Unitarian Congregation: All services and gatherings are suspended until further notice;
Faith Lutheran Church: All services and activities are cancelled for March 15;
Holy Family Catholic Church: Lenten Fish Fry for Friday, March 13 is cancelled; all faith formation classes are cancelled; Mass services will continue as schedule on Sunday, March 15;
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church: This Sunday’s worship services will be held as scheduled, but Sunday school classes are cancelled;
Hope Presbyterian Church: 11 a.m. Sunday worship service is on, but Sunday school and Sunday evening worship is cancelled for March 15 and 22;
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church: Two services will be available online this Sunday, March 15, 8:30 a.m. traditional in the sanctuary and 9:50 a.m. modern in the Activities Center. Both services will be live-streamed; preschool Bible study will go on at the same times. No adult, student or children’s Sunday Bible studies and no Kids Church. Starting Monday, all other regularly scheduled ministry and programming events will be suspended until further notice;
Lutheran Church of the Incarnation: Sunday, March 15 service is still scheduled; future services and activities to be determined;
Lutheran Church of the Resurrection: Sunday services for March 15 and 22 have been cancelled; all meetings and group activities are cancelled through March 28;
Mt. Bethel UMC: Services will be online only on March 15 and 22 and will be streamed starting at 11 a.m.;
Mt. Paran North Church of God: Online service only on Sunday, March 15, at 11:15 a.m.;
Mt. Zion UMC: All activities and March 15 Sunday worship services are cancelled;
Piedmont Church: Sunday online services only this Sunday, March 15, at 9:30 and 11 a.m. are streamed on the church’s Facebook page;
Pilgrimage United Church of Christ: A modified service will be live-streamed Sunday, March 15, at 10 a.m.;
Powers Ferry Road Church of Christ: Sunday and Wednesday services cancelled;
St. Andrew UMC: All Sunday worship services and Sunday classes are cancelled March 15 and 22;
St. Catherine’s Episcopal: All church and preschool activities are cancelled until further notice; daily evening prayer at 8 p.m. and one Sunday service at 10 a.m. will be streamed on church’s Facebook page;
Sandy Plains Baptist Church: All services and activities are cancelled until further notice;
Temple Kol Emeth: Services and Purim Spiel on Friday, March 13, will only be available as a live-stream event. No in-person programming on Friday; All other programming scheduled in the building for Sunday, March 15 and Monday, March 16, is being postponed or held online;
Transfiguration Catholic Church: All parish activities cancelled, including Saturday Seder meal; Masses, Stations of the Cross, and Adoration will continue as scheduled;
Unity North Church: Sunday worship services cancelled for March 15 and 22;
Wesley Chapel UMC: Sunday services March 15 and 22 and most other activities are cancelled.
Temple Kol Emeth, a Reform synagogue in East Cobb, announced Monday that Rabbi Lawrence “Larry” Sernovitz has been chosen to succeed the retiring Rabbi Steven Lebow, effective July 1.
Sernovitz comes from Cherry Hill, N.J., where he was the founding rabbi of Nafshenu, an egalitarian Jewish community catering to non-affiliated Jews. He also was a chaplain for the Cherry Hill Police Department.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Rabbi Sernovitz to lead the next chapter of Temple Kol Emeth’s rich history,” Rachel Barich, President of the Board of Trustees for the synagogue, said in a statement.
Lebow, who became Kol Emeth’s first full-time rabbi in 1986, announced his retirement last fall. In November, he presided over his final Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service, which he began as an interfaith community effort in the wake of 9/11.
“Temple Kol Emeth is an important part of the East Cobb community,” Sernovitz in a statement issued by the synagogue. “Rabbi Lebow has built an inclusive Jewish community that truly stands for something, and I’m eager to help existing members and new unaffiliated families find spirituality, connect and help to repair the world.”
Lebow’s community activities included protesting against an anti-gay resolution by the Cobb Board of Commissioners in 1993. He was honored for his community service and social change efforts by the Cobb Citizens Coalition, Creative Loafing magazine, the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the State of Georgia Holocaust Commission.
Sernovitz has been named a recipient of the Camden County MLK Freedom Medal for his efforts to bring South Jersey communities together following the fatal shootings at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018.
Lebow will become the Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Kol Emeth, conducting occasional sermons at the synagogue. He also plans to continue service through teaching, writing and lending his rabbinic expertise to smaller regional congregations.
Kol Emeth will have a farewell celebration for Lebow in April.
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Coming up this week is the start of Lent, and several East Cobb churches will be having Ash Wednesday services and other special events.
We’ve compiled those listings and you can find them here, in similar fashion to what we do for the Advent and Christmas season.
The individual church links have more information about meals and other special events surrounding Ash Wednesday.
We’ll be adding more Lenten and Easter events and services at the link above. If you’d like to add what your church is doing, and don’t see it here, or need to correct or update information that we have listed, please let us know.
Send all information to: editor@eastcobbbnews.com.
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!
Mass and services with the distribution of Ashes (next Wednesday, Feb. 26) will be held at the following times at Holy Family Catholic Church (3401 Lower Roswell Road). All services will be held in English unless otherwise noted.
7:00 AM Mass
9:00 AM Mass
12 Noon Service (Ashes only)
5:00 PM Mass
6:30 PM Misa en Espanol
8:00 PM Missa em Portuguese
If you’ve got Ash Wednesday, Lent and Easter service information to share, please e-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
We’ll be compiling a combined listings page, similar to what we do for Christmas services.
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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!
