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SSCC is  launching a parenting series called P.E.A.C.E., an acronym for Parents Embracing All Channels of Education.  Through a series of lectures, integration and hands-on events, parents will hear from doctors, coaches, and specialists in child development, physical and spiritual wholeness, family communication and more. The goal of the series is to empower parents to make great choices for themselves and their children based on the freshest and most progressive information available.
 
Our inaugural event is a lecture and recipe-tasting.  Our speaker, Dr. Marc D'Andrea, DC, will cut through all of the media hype and give you ten simple things that you can do to give your kids a jump start in life by developing a healthy lifestyle.  He will explore the relationship between what we eat, exercise, and sleep and how healthy we are.  The event will conclude with an opportunity to taste nutritious, easy-to-prepare recipes that follow his simple principles. 
                                                                                                                                            
Dr. Marc is a certified clinical nutritionist and has maintained a nutritionally-based practice in the Dunwoody area for 25 years.  He is especially interested in the health of children because the precursors of many chronic illnesses begin in childhood.  His talk will reflect the wisdom gained through his years of practice, his teaching, and his personal experience raising two daughters with his wife, Jeanne, who manages his practice.
 
Although the P.E.A.C.E. series is oriented toward parents of The Day School students, members of the congregation are invited.  To help us prepare, please sign up on the website or in the Centrum by September 9th.  
 

 

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Time flies - years go by - in a flash someone we've taken too much for granted for the past 18 years is stepping down.   Someone who leads us in so many ways each and every Sunday morning for two services, is saying goodbye.  Dr. N. Lee Orr is moving on to other things in October and will no longer serve us.  It seems only yesterday Lee came to us and began his work as our Organist, not only in the service but in vast numbers of rehearsals for both the choir and any soloist or special group who might be offering special music.  He also works with special musicians who share their talent.  His behind-the-scenes work goes unnoticed; we just see the final production.  In the absence of a director, Lee has also served as our conductor.  "Lee," as he is lovingly called by all, makes it happen. 
 
Dr. N. Lee Orr is the Professor of Music at Georgia State University.  He is also an avid writer, including but not limited to his 1996  published book, "Alfred Barili and the Rise of Classical Music in Atlanta."  He also published "The Church Music Handbook" in 1991and has contributed to many journals.  He is currently completing a bibliography on 19th Century American church music 
                                                                                                                                               
Dr. Orr has surrounded his avid listeners with beautifully performed music to lighten our souls, while listening to our high notes and low notes and those that aren't so high or low, without complaint.  He has adapted to sudden changes at a moment's notice without anyone being the wiser.   Do you ever notice during the service how soft and special the music is during the Offertory, and then without a break he flows into the Doxology and we all stand up - automatically.  It is a special talent Lee has brought to us and that we take for granted. 
 
Lee, you will be greatly missed.  We wish you good fortune in all your endeavors and hope you will come back and visit us often.  God Bless!
 

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Spiritual Formation involves the building and shaping of your innermost dimensions for both life and ministry within the body of Christ.  This process requires one being conformed into the image of Christ.  One important thing I learned about this transformative process is that we experience growth spurts throughout our spiritual development.  During these times, we often find ourselves on a different level in life and we experience our relationship with God in new ways.  The process of spiritual shaping is a primal reality of human existence.  Everyone is in a process of spiritual formation.  Every thought we hold and every decision we make impact our spiritual development.  This includes every action we take, every emotion we allow to shape our behavior, and every response we make to the world around us.  All of these things shape us into who we are.  If we are being productive in our spiritual formation process, we are being shaped into the image of Christ.  Consequently, if we are not shaped into the image of Christ, we are not only destructive to ourselves, but also to others.  Unproductive spiritual formation results in the infliction of our brokenness upon others.
 

GUESS WHO WENT TO DINNER!  Nine representatives of our church took dinner to Trinity House-Big Bethel on Sunday, August 15.  They were black, brown, and white.  They were male and female.  Their ages ranged from 14 to 82.  They included students, a physician, a lawyer, and retirees.  Some were poor; others were rich.  They all went to learn from, to serve, and to share food and experiences with the residents of Trinity House.
 
All of those residents were homeless and addicted to drugs before going to Trinity House.  They are now recovering from their addictions in a long-term, comprehensive program at Trinity House.  They live together in a structured and close community.  They receive professional counseling.  They discipline, guide,  and support each other, while sharing housing, food, house-keeping responsibilities, and feeding their hungry neighbors in the heart of Atlanta.  They attend AA and NA meetings, go to school, obtain jobs, become financially independent, and find conventional housing--they "turn their lives around."  Many have become positive leaders in their communities.  Some have even completed college and medical school.
 
GUESS WHO FURNISHED DINNER!  Fourteen of our church's best cooks and most caring members.  The Trinity House men raved about the delicious fresh fruit, home-cooked bread, desserts, casseroles, and other dishes those members furnished.  
 
GUESS WHAT SOME OF OUR REPRESENTATIVES SAID!  High-school senior Fred Akhile said, "I indeed had a great experience at Trinity House. I was blown away by some of the stories I heard.  I enjoyed helping them clean up afterward.  I only wish more of the youth had come.  Other than that, the visit was well worth it."  Edurado Ochoa, our youngest representative, commented, "It was a great experience-getting to know people who have had some problems I have had.  They made me feel comfortable and welcome."  Elinor Tollman said, "The experience at Trinity was revealing of a process by which men were being enabled to lift themselves from self-destructive behavior to become persons with hope for their future."
 
For more information about Trinity Community Ministries, Inc., go to www.tcmatlanta.org.

Dear Friends,                                                                                                                     

We had our first P.A.C. meeting of the year, our Day School families started back to school, our Youth Group has convened, and we have introduced our Sunday School programs with an "Ice Cream Sundae Kickoff."  Wheels are turning, and we are off to a great start.

I have a few prayer requests for you to raise as we enter into our new season of ministry.  Please pray for the safety and well-being of our children and teachers while they are at school.  Pray for the exciting ministries that are going to happen this year.  Give a prayer of celebration for the ministry of the Day School. Ask God to bless our Sunday School teachers.  Pray for parents as they learn and grow.

 

Please see the latest issue of SPROUT, our newsletter for Children's Ministries for a calendar of exciting activities from now through December.  A copy is available in the church Centrum.
 

I volunteered my company's services (Level Team Contracting) to build a cover for the equipment at Camp Christian.  I designed, scheduled, organized and worked on the job.  My business partner, Scott Burks, and I went down  one day before all the summer camps started and formed and poured the concrete slab.  Then last week [July], on a day with triple digit temperatures, I brought a crew down to camp and we finished the structure. 

 

It is basically a carport or pavilion now, but it is designed to easily be enclosed and converted to a full garage down the road.  The fundraising was organized by Michael Weeks and other volunteers and carried out through newsletters and Facebook across Georgia.  The garage cover will extend the life of the tractor and other expensive camp maintenance equipment that was exposed to the extreme south GA weather.  In the long run, this will ease the camp's maintenance cost and leave more money for other necessities that help make Camp Christian the life changing experience to our youth. 

 

 

 

     

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                     Generation"
   Sept. 17 - The Cathedral of St. Phillip/"Refining God in Today's Scientific World"
   Sept. 18 - The Cathedral of St. Phillip/"Rethinking the Role of Jesus in Today's Post-Darwinian

                      World," "The Role of Christians in a Scientific, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Faith World"
   Sept. 19 -  Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. InternationalChapel/"Religious Victimization:

                      Are Sexuality and Gender the Basis of  a New Segregation?"
                                                                                                 

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September is here and fall will very soon be upon us, thankfully ... as we all look forward to a reprieve from the sweltering summer heat and to the cooler climes ahead.  Please be sure to make special note of our upcoming fall programs surrounding Stewardship, Mission Development and Congregational Growth.  Each of these programs will be centered on "Faithfulness" and our own unique and individual faith growth in the life of SSCC.  The fall programs will be an invitation and opportunity to "discover joy through simplicity and generosity" ... of self and of spirit.   Be on the lookout for more details from church and Sunday school leaders, and other SSCC communications vehicles.  
 

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