Rev. Danny Gulden, Senior Minister

A few important items for you to consider this month:

Easter and Holy Week at SSCC

As we draw deeper into the season of Lent, our attention begins to turn towards a parade, a final meal, the cross, and an empty tomb. Referred to as Holy Week, the week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday is the most important week in the Christian year.  I want to encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities before you to deepen your faith and to experience this important week through the worship opportunities. You can see a description of these in this edition of the Wellspring. The Maundy Thursday service at SSCC is one of the most powerful worship experiences

for me each year. Marking Jesus' last meal with the disciples followed by being led through his last hours by our liturgists and storytellers is truly moving. Add in meaningful song from our Music Ministry and it truly is a life-changing experience. Easter Sunday promises to be a festive, wonderful celebration of the resurrection with powerful services at both 9 and 11:15 AM. There will be a pancake breakfast continuing all morning and an Easter Egg Hunt and more for kids at 10. Be thinking and praying about who you might invite with you to church that day. How wonderful would it be for every member and regular attendee of SSCC to invite someone to worship on Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection!

Grace Alive!

Thank you again for your generosity in supporting Grace Alive! The security upgrade is complete and the audio/visual upgrades in the Sanctuary and Dunlap Hall are complete as well. The excitement level will grow as the renovation and remodel of the Centrum, Narthex, Parlor, and other areas of the upper level begin in April. You can read more about this phase of the project from Nancy Trusty, the project lead, in this edition of the Wellspring.

Baptism Class and Beginnings Class

There are a number of people who are participating in our Baptism Class, preparing for baptism on Easter Sunday.  Others are exploring a commitment to SSCC in our Beginnings Class. Please keep these friends in your thoughts and prayers as they consider these important steps in their faith journeys.

Mexico Mission Trip

Our youth and adult sponsors are in the process of preparing for SSCC's 18th trip to Mexico April 6-13 to build a home for a family in need. Throughout the month of March, we will have the opportunity to support them through prayer, encouraging words as well as participating with them through our gifts and resources. One of the great things about giving to the church is that we are really giving to God and God's mission. This is true with our regular giving and with opportunities such as Mexico. Appropriately, we will commission our Mexico missionaries on Easter Sunday.

I think that is enough for now. I continue to be humbled to serve as part of this extraordinary community of faith.

Grace and peace,

Katie & Bryant Gibson, Co-Directors, Youth Ministries

The 10th annual Candlelight Café was held on Saturday, February 2nd in Dunlap Hall.  The SSCC youth and their friends worked hard to create an enjoyable evening for all those attending, serving as the waiters and entertainers. As guests arrived, they were ushered into Dunlap Hall which had been transformed into an elegant restaurant, with beautiful table decorations and special lighting.  We started the evening with appetizers and sparkling cider.  Dinner was prepared by Jim and Marilyn Torbert and friends, and our guests feasted on a delicious meal of beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes and green beans.  Our special dessert for the evening was baked fudge. Entertainment was especially delightful and included piano, viola, drums and trumpet performances, as well as singing and a special ice skating video. Our youth did an exceptional job showcasing their talents and making this a night to remember!   

Candlelight Café is our largest fundraiser for the Mexico Mission Trip, and we are touched by your generosity and very thankful for your many donations. On the Mexico Mission trip we will work with AMOR Ministries to build a home for a Mexican family who is in desperate need of shelter.  Your financial support helps to cover the costs associated with the trip. Your emotional support gives them strength, courage and confidence to go out into the world and participate in this unique mission opportunity.  The youth thank you for supporting them in this trip which is guaranteed to change lives on both sides of the border.

Please enjoy these pictures from the 10th annual Candlelight Café. Thank you to Shelton Blackburn, our photographer.

Click here for a Smilebox slideshow (includes some great pictures of our couples)

 
  

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Epworth-By-The-Sea

As one of the largest groups at this year's youth assembly, Sandy Springs Christian Church had a great time in fellowship and worship with other youth and adults from around the region.  We learned new songs, talked about God's grace, played games, danced, made friends and ate great food!  The weekend was a great success!  

  

Click here to check out more pictures from the weekend.

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My neighbor works with the Atlanta Public Schools in her role as program manager for her company's grant to the APS.  She asked the principal of a K through 2 school what the biggest challenge is in her school.  Is it finding dedicated teachers?  Is it aging materials or buildings?  Is it lack of support at home?  The principal responded, "It is the fighting."  Shocked to hear that fighting is prevalent among such young children she asked for clarification.  The principal said the kids fight, especially on Fridays, over food.  They know that when they leave school it is likely they won't eat again until they return on Monday for a free breakfast.  They fight each other at lunch for food to take home to get them through the night or the weekend.

It is hard to believe that almost one in three children in our community is food insecure. This isn't just a problem in downtown Atlanta.  Ask our SSCC volunteers from the CAC Food Pantry how the demand for food has increased right here in Sandy Springs.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help feed our neighbors. Through the Atlanta Community Food Bank, your donation will have 8.47 times the buying power that your dollar would have at the local store.  In their estimation, your $1 donation can provide one meal for a family of four.  Your donation will be used in the Atlanta community, including food programs at the CAC and Sandy Springs United Methodist's Sunday Soup Kitchen.  It doesn't take a lot to make a big difference.  Simply write a check payable to SSCC and note "hunger walk donation" in the memo line.  If you prefer, you may make a donation by credit card at HWR2013.org.  Select the square "Atlanta Community Food Bank" then "join a team".  Type "SSCCWALK" as team name, then click "search for team".  Choose "join". Scroll down to make a donation.

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Daphne C. Reiley

My call and vocation is to be a compassionate presence in the lives of individuals living with dementia and their caregivers; to companion caregivers in their ministries to those for whom they care; to assist caregivers in the creation and development of personal, meaningful spiritual practices to aid in bringing them and their care-receivers into closer communion with God. 

 
It is my hope and desire to share this call with the members of Sandy Springs Christian Church and with the members of the community in which we worship and serve.  I am very excited to have been invited in so completely and lovingly and truly look forward to listening to the stories we all have to share. The more often we are heard, the greater value our words have in our own hearts. Sometimes simply being heard helps us to understand our own stories in different ways.
 
As part of the Pastoral Care ministries of SSCC,  I will be available in the Pastoral Care office to meet with caregivers and others who would like to share their stories with me on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month from 10 am until 1 pm.  I look forward to hearing from you!  Feel free to call me on my cell phone (770-366-1206) or email me at daphne.reiley@gmail.com to arrange an appointment.

Come...share your story.

Read Daphne's vita

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Each month for three years now, your Wellspring has brought you an article related to our Legacy Builder ministry at SSCC. So I KNOW you have seeds planted in your heart related to whether or  not this is something you need to do. May I add a bit of water and sonlight to those seeds? Being a Legacy Builder is no more than choosing to invest in the future of your church, choosing to invest in the future of the ministries that live beyond your own time here. It is contributing to the continuation of that which you want continued, our outreach and Christian Education programming, the protection of our building and grounds that allow this place to be a place of welcome and service to all people. Now, who doesn't want to be a part of that?

Of course, it does mean that you must do three things. First, you must decide what part of your material blessings you choose to leave your church family. For some this might be a given amount of money or stock or assets such as a car or piece of property that could be sold and invested on behalf of the ministries of SSCC.  Second, you need to put into place the legal documents (a will, a life insurance or IRA beneficiary change, a Trust agreement, etc.) that will ensure your wishes are carried out after your death.  And third, you need to let the church know: Yes! I choose to be a Legacy Builder for Christ at SSCC.  (That's the easiest part of all: just tell Danny or me and we will add you to our growing list.)

And to also make the first two steps easy, a ministry of the greater church of which we are a part, the Christian Church Foundation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), provides you at no cost, confidential consultation so that you can determine how best to become a legacy builder (that's those first two steps mentioned above.) So what's stopping you? Rev. Randy Johnson, Southeastern Vice President for the Christian Church Foundation will be here May 5 to meet with our members and assist you in the decisions you need to make to be a Legacy Builder. You may contact him directly to set up an appointment at rjohnson@ccf.disciples.org.

Join in the witness of what our God is doing now in your life and the life of your church into the future. Be a Legacy Builder for Christ at SSCC! Brochures on the ministry are available on the Connect desk. 

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In the Life of SSCC

Go to www.SandySpringsCC.org to view our monthly calendar 

"Invitable events" are highlighted in red