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M A Y 2 0 2 1
In Th is Issue Page 2 Clerk 's Corner
March Financ ia ls
May B ir thdays
Page 3 Worsh ip May Stewards
Page 5 Get Involved
Do We See Anything?
Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man's eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, "Do you see anything?" He looked up. "I see men. They look like walking trees." So Jesus laid hands on his eyes again. The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered per-
fect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus. -Mark 8:23-25 The Message Translation
This healing miracle, in Mark, conjures images of Jesus at the ophthalmoscope, the device used by eye doctors to diagnose vision problems, turning knobs and continually asking, “how about now?” What fascinates me about this miracle is that the healing took a couple of tries to get right, and required input on behalf of the man who was healed. After the right combination of saliva and touching, the task was done and his vision was restored. We began a season of “re-visioning” in the Fall, in response to the Church Assessment Tool, taken in February 2020. What came next was unprecedented and certainly unpredictable. We gained some insight and made some helpful goals, but ultimately, knew that our work was far from over. When the return to our space was in focus, we knew the work of re-visioning, of see-ing whom God was calling us to be, would resume. That time is upon us, and we are excited to be partnering with Cindy Cheatham (https://good-advisors.com/). Cindy is the former VP of Consulting at the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, and has extensive experience with a variety of Christian organizations and churches, including her home church (North Avenue Presbyterian), Central Presbyterian, and Peachtree Road UMC. With Cindy’s leadership and outside perspective, we will begin to faithfully take part in the next step of re-visioning. I’m hopeful this process will help us define a new, compelling mission statement that compels us in living into our emerging identity. Christ continues to ask us: “Do you see anything?” How will we answer? What do we see? Let us pray that Christ will continue to work through our community in this season to come.
Grace and Peace,
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CLERK ’S CORN ER Action Items from April 18, 2021 Session Meeting
> Approved Mike’s vacation request for the dates of June 18-26 (5 vacation days) > Approved motion to permit the church to do a special ask to raise funds for the strategic planning process and related expenses > Approved motion to equally increase salary and housing allowance by 4% to Mike’s terms of call pending congregational approval > Approved motion to accept the proposal/contract with Good Advisors LLC for $8,437.50 for the purpose of advising on and facilitating the creation of strategic planning and implementation of the plan
The next meeting will be held May 16 at 12:30 pm, using Zoom. Oglethorpe Presbyterian maintains an open book policy. All financial reports and session
minutes are available at request. Updated financials can always be found on our website at opcbrookhaven.org/financials/financials.pdf
MAY BIRTHDAYS
1 – Mary Smith 1 – Adam Weaver
1 – Claire O’Donnell 11 – Edyie DaVia 14 – Carl Texter
16 – Deborah O’Donnell 18 – Campbell Jackson
19 – Tom Edmunds 22 – Marianne Martin 23 – Georgia Rappole
26 – Ellen Patrick 26 – Alec Stephenson
27 – Ethan Gillespie 28 – Reyn Langwell 28 – Amy Chance
29 – Erica Hartman 31 – Frankie Snyder
MA RCH FI N A N CIA LS
MAY LITURGISTS
PEOP LE I N OUR P RAY ERS Jeremy Cannada (friend of Mike Watson); Roberta Widman (Emily Texter's mother); all those
who have been diagnosed with Covid-19; those working in the healthcare industry and other essential services; students, teachers.
G Anderson, Chris O’Donnell and the medical team at Emory; Mary Smith; Edyie DaVia; Shan-non Love (friend of Genie Stringer); Virginia Quillian; Mary Ratliff; Elona Street-Stewart and Rev.
Gregory Bentley, Co-Moderators, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Our condolences to the family of Mitch Brownrigg (Friend of Reyn Langwell).
Our condolences to the family of Vickie Colson.
May 2 Georgia Gunter May 23 Melody Wat-son
May 9 Nicholas Cox May 30 Mary Ann Hawthorne
May 16 Reyn Langwell
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WORSHIP
WORSHIP ONL INE Although we will be worshipping outdoors every Sunday, as we are able, worship services will
continue to be streamed at: facebook.com/opcbrookhaven. Previous services can be found at opcbrookhaven.org/worship-at-home.
“What is saving your life now?” These words were spoken by a wise old priest to author,
Barbara Brown Taylor, and told in the introduction to her book, An Altar in the World. Though her answer to that question changes, the principle remains, she states. “What is saving my life right now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth...What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.”
Inspired by her book, we will be entering this Easter season reflecting on the way the resurrected Christ appears in our real life in the real world. How has Christ appeared to you? What story of Christ’s appearance do you have to tell?
“Jesus isn’t here, He’s risen from the dead. Go and tell the others” -Mark 16:6-7
May 2 -Fifth Sunday of Easter John 15:1-8
Acts 8:26-40
May 9 -Sixth Sunday of Easter Rachel Sutphin Preaching
Acts 10:44–48 Psalm 98
1 John 5:1–6 John 15:9–17
May 16-Ascension Sunday
Christ seen time and time again Acts 1:1–11
Luke 24:44–53
May 23-Day of Pentecost Ezekiel 37:1–14
Acts 2:1–21 John 15:26–27; 16:4b–15
May 30-Trinity Sunday
Isaiah 6:1–8 Psalm 29
Romans 8:12–17 John 3:1–17
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OPC Music Ministry Playlist
Did you know you can enjoy all of our virtual choir perfor-mances on Youtube? Check them out here: https://
opcbrookhaven.org/musicministry
Join us outdoors in May and June! As long as weather conditions are favora-ble, we will gather on our front lawn for the Sunday service. If weather is unfa-vorable, we will move to a live stream only format. We’ll continue to meet at 11am through May, then move to 10am starting in June. Masks and social dis-tancing will still be required. The Covid Task Force will continue to monitor our
situation throughout these months.
With the move to outdoor wor-ship services, we have an emerg-ing need for a new set of Sunday Stewards. We need YOU to be part of helping our Sunday morn-ings run as smoothly as possible. Please consider helping in one of these areas and email [email protected] with your desired role.. These roles will begin on Sunday, May 2nd.
>Opener - help set up the outdoor worship space. Includes moving heavy items like speakers, chairs, and other worship service elements. Arrival by 9:45am. >Greeter - welcome people as they arrive, pass out bulletins, and assist with other service logistics as needed. Arrival by 10:30am. >Kids Tent - sit with, play with, craft with, and attend to our OPC young disciples during the worship service at our designated kids tent. Arrival by 10:30am.
Thank you, Rachel! On Sunday, May 9th, we will hear a final sermon from our seminary intern, Rachel Sut-phin. Rachel has been an incredible blessing to serve with us in such a challenging year. Through zoom meetings, worship streams, and outdoor events, she has been a wonderful presence in our congregation. We hope you consider joining us this Sunday to express gratitude for the year she’s had with us and blessings on what comes next.
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G ET INVOLVED Book Group
The OPC book group will be meeting in our usual Zoom manner on Monday, May 10th, to discuss the non-fiction selection for May, The Yellow House by Sarah Broome, facilitated by Donna Poseidon. Please join us if you are able to, even if you have not read or completed the book yet. If you do not receive the email with the Zoom link in it, please let the church office know you would like to be included on that distribution list.
COMING UP FOR JUNE: Fiction novel Deacon King Kong by James McBride will be discussed on Monday, June 14th. Hope to see you on Zoom to talk about these great books!
Blessing of the Animals Service OPC is excited to host a service to honor and bless the wonderful animal com-panions in our lives. On May 23 at 4pm you are invited to bring your pets to the OPC front lawn for the service. Your pets must be safe to have around peo-ple, particularly children and other ani-mals. Space will be offered to say a few words about your pets - those that are
still with us and those who have passed on. We hope you and your pets are able to join us!
Blood Drive: Volunteer Hosts Needed! OPC is hosting a Blood Drive with the American Red Cross on Wednesday, June 2nd, and we could use your help! Two volunteers are needed at a time throughout the course of the drive. Shifts will be no longer than 2 hours. Roles in-clude welcoming donors as they arrive, ensuring they are registered, re-supplying the snack table, and wiping
areas down in between donors. Sign up for a shift here and thank you! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A094BAEAF2EA2FC1-opcblood
OPC Blood Drives: June 2nd and July 7th Help us save some lives! We’ll be hosting Blood drives on the first Wednesday of every month, from 2:00-7:00pm, in the OPC Fellowship Hall (3016 Lanier Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30319). First-time donors / unknown blood types are welcome! If you are a first-time donor, please visit the eligibility guidelines page or email Haley at [email protected] for guidance. Schedule online here: (https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=opcbrookhaven) or call 1-800-RED CROSS.
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Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church Online Worship, 11am
404.233.5469 ٠ www.opcbrookhaven.org ٠ [email protected]
Thank you OPC! I am so thankful for you all welcoming me in as your pastoral intern during the pandemic. I have benefited from learning alongside you as we have been challenged to reimagine worship and fellowship. I have loved participating with your leadership teams and leading worship. I wish you all the best as you continue with out-door worship and move into the summer. My last day at Oglethorpe will be May 9th and I will be graduating May 22nd. After graduation, I plan to intern with another church this summer before beginning a third master’s program at Louisville Presbyterian Theo-logical Seminary in marriage and family therapy. In the fu-ture, I hope to be bi-vocational as an ordained pastor and licensed therapist. Peace, Rachel
Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church 3016 Lanier Drive, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30319
A Prayer for Re-Visioning
Open my eyes, Lord. I struggle to open them, myself. It's much easier to keep them closed: to keep resting, to pretend that what is in front of me, really isn't in front of me. Open my eyes, Lord, to what is being revealed. Help me to see each new possibility, each moment of grace, each helping hand, and every manifestation of your grace. Remind me that there is much good in this world, in my life, in our church, in my community, to behold. Guide our eyes to the path ahead, that as we take steps, one at a time, we may move every closer to the church you have called us to be. Amen.
