Our journey through Advent is coming to a close, and I really am looking forward to Sunday. During this season our theme has been “Deck the Halls!” We are preparing for Christmas by decking the halls of our lives with some of God’s good gifts. We’ve been traveling a little off the beaten path as we have listened to the words of Zechariah, John the Baptist, and Elizabeth – not exactly main characters in the traditional Christmas story. I hope you have found these services to be helpful sources of hope, peace, and joy. We will bring this series to a close on Sunday as we experience the birth of Jesus through the eyes of Joseph and consider God’s gift of love to us.
Continue readingGod’s Promise of Joy
It has been good to see many of you in person the last couple of weeks in worship, and I hope you are planning to join us this Sunday as we continue our series entitled “Deck the Halls!” This week we will light the third candle on our advent wreath and consider God’s promise of joy in this season. The hymns this week promise to warm your soul: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, The First Noel, and O Little Town of Bethlehem. Sunday’s anthem by the Chancel Choir is See Amid the Winter’s Snow and features the line: “As we watched at dead of night, low, we saw a wondrous light; angels, singing ‘Peace on earth,’ told us of a Savior’s birth.”
Continue readingAdvent – A Special Season
This is the best time of year at Peachtree Road UMC as we gather in our beautiful sanctuary to light candles, sing our favorite Advent hymns and Christmas carols, and hear beautiful music from our choirs. This week’s hymns include Heralds of Christ, Angels from the Realms of Glory, and It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. In addition, the Chancel Choir will sing Glory to God from Handel’s Messiah, and we will light the second candle on the Advent wreath.
Continue readingHappy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving! I am writing you this Thursday morning to wish you a wonderful holiday and express my gratitude for your faithful support of the ministry of Peachtree Road. As was clearly evident last Sunday, we are abundantly blessed!
Continue readingThankful
Thanksgiving Day is less than a week away, and I really am looking forward to worshiping with you this weekend as we celebrate Harvest Sunday here at Peachtree Road. It will be a special day as we sing, pray, and count our many blessings. A luncheon will be served in Grace Hall after worship, and I hope you will plan to join your friends for warm fellowship and a delicious meal of ham, turkey, dressing, and all the fixings.
Continue readingGratitude, Fellowship, and Outreach
Last Sunday was a great day at Peachtree Road UMC as we celebrated All Saints Sunday. We called the names of 39 members of our church who have preceded us into death; approached the altar to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion; and welcomed 23 new persons into our membership. Hearing the Great Organ as we sang “For All the Saints” and Tom Walker playing “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes was just what I needed last week. It indeed was a great day!
Continue readingAn Extra Special Sunday
We begin this Sunday with our celebration of All Saints Sunday. Years ago, my homiletics professor Dr. Fred Craddock preached a sermon entitled “When the Roll Is Called Down Here.” His sermon is the inspiration for Sunday’s message as we give thanks for our saints. We will call the names of members of our church who have preceded us into death, light a candle in their memory, and ring the church bell. Following the reading of the names, Tom Crawford will play “Going Home” and “Amazing Grace!” on the bagpipes.
Continue readingRemembering the Saints
Dot Addison
Jann Beard
Mandy Beason
Betty Birdsong
Bill Birdsong
Gene Birke
Charlesey Brown
Margaret Bruce
Ken Chambliss
Suzanne Davies
Junell de Janes
Pat Hartrampf
Phill Hess
Conway Hubbard
John Hubbard
Charlie Loudermilk
Sonya Matchan
Dell McCrea
Don Meaders
Katherine Miller
Margaret Mulligan
Barbara Newton
Gene Newton
Ebb Oakley
Marilyn Ortale
Mike Paschall
Carolyn Pearce
Marge Pennington
Ruth Phillips
Dan Reeves
Tom Rymer
Holden Thompson
Helen Tolbert
Joyce Turner
Rosemary Turner
John Van Houten
Sharyn Walter
Gray Walts
Bill Watson
Elizabeth B. Stephens
Elizabeth Blount Stephens was born in Andrews Chapel, Georgia, approximately 70 miles south of Atlanta, on June 19, 1924, and passed away on January 8, 2020, in Atlanta. Piano and organ were her passions and talent, and she became the organist at the Thomaston Methodist Church early in her teens until she and her new husband, Charles Preston Stephens, moved to Panama with the Coca-Cola Export Corporation in August of 1946.
Over the next sixteen years Betty and Press moved from Panama to Brazil, to Chile, to Peru, and finally to Caracas, Venezuela, each time discovering the American church they joined was in need of an organist or an organist/choir director. Every time she would humbly take on the role with the caveat it was to be only until they found the new staff member, but her tenure always lasted until they moved to a new country with their three children. She brought a level of excellence and sophistication to the music programming in those sanctuaries the likes of which congregants had never heard or seen before. Her children, Pike, Press, Jr. and Sally, as a result of Betty’s passion for high quality music, sang in every choir at every age.
Returning to the United States in 1961, Betty found herself the organist and choir director at the Darien Methodist Church in Connecticut where she spent hours each day practicing preludes and postludes for Sunday services. In 1972, four years before Press’s retirement from Coke, Betty and Press moved back to Georgia and settled in Buckhead where Betty resided until her death. Of course, following her long career as a “temporary/full time” organist, she became an assistant organist at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, playing Chapel services for over twenty-five years before finally retiring at the age of seventy-five.
A true champion of all organists throughout the world, she would often be seen at organ recitals and festivals in each of the cities of her residencies abroad as well as in her prolific world-wide travels from 1946 through 2014. Almost every Sunday afternoon when she was in Atlanta, Betty would be at the organ recital before the Evensong service at the Cathedral of St. Phillip.
In addition to being a committed member of American and Methodist churches across the hemisphere, she led the Community Concert Association in Darien, joined the Board of Directors of the fledgling Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta becoming one of the longest serving Board members in their history, and served on the Board of the Georgian Chamber Players for several terms. Her philanthropy benefitted those organizations as well as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the High Museum of Art, and the Alliance Theatre. Betty said on many occasions, “If Atlanta is going to become a world class city, it must have a strong arts community”. It is with great admiration and pride that the Stephens family brings to Peachtree Road United Methodist Church the Elizabeth B. Stephens International Organ Competition.
Moving Fearlessly to the Future
Dear Peachtree Road Family,
I hope you are well. Let me begin with a couple of words of gratitude:
- First, for the Men’s Ministry of Peachtree Road UMC who prepared the delicious barbeque for our luncheon last Sunday. When the 11:15 am service ended, I waited at the sanctuary doors nearest the street to greet folks leaving, but everyone exiting the sanctuary turned right and seemed to make a beeline for Grace Hall. I found myself standing alone in the narthex…and I don’t blame them a bit! The food was delicious, and the fellowship around the tables was most enjoyable. It was a very good event!
- Second, thank you to Jay Christopher and his team of Ambassadors as well as our audio-visual and property management teams for their support of last Monday evening’s town hall meeting with Mayor Andre Dickens. We had over 600 persons crowded into Grace Hall (yes, the fire marshal was there and folks were turned away) for a community conversation with the Mayor. I was very proud of our church and pray that the good ideas shared that night will lead to a brighter future for our community.
Thank you to all who attended these events and your support of this great church!
On Sunday we will bring our sermon series entitled “Greater Than” to a close. We have been thinking this month about how Christ has enabled us to experience a life greater than we could have imagined. This week’s message is “Possibility Is Greater Than Status Quo.” Sometimes fear of the future causes us to cling so tightly to the present that we find ourselves paralyzed. On Sunday we’ll think about how Christ can move us forward into a new day, and I hope to see you at one of our services – 8:45 am, 10:00 am, or 11:15 am. If you are unable to join us in person, please worship online here.
I am grateful to all who have turned in a commitment card in support of the 2023 operating budget. Your generous giving is critical to the success of our church’s ministries, and I appreciate all who have turned in a commitment card. If you have not yet turned in a card, we would love to hear from you this week. If you are in a Sunday School class, your commitment will be counted to the tabulation of the Parson’s Cup. This award goes to the Sunday School Class with the highest percentage of commitments to next year’s church budget. The competition will run through the end of the year and will be awarded in early January. For your convenience, you may pledge through the church app or online here.
Opportunities for Outreach
- Cascade Thanksgiving Giveaway – we are teaming up with Cascade UMC on their annual Thanksgiving project to provide food for over 1400 low-income families. Cascade has been feeding those in need for over 20 years, and through our partnership with this great church we have an opportunity work side-by-side together. If you are interested in being a part of this wonderful holiday project, please contact Beth Spencer (beths@prumc.org).
- Christmas Kindness – registration is open for Harp’s Christmas Kindness. Volunteer for this beloved tradition providing Christmas gifts to the community in a dignified and festive manner. Our clients are surrounded by the care of loving volunteers, who help them select and wrap their gifts. This Christmas outreach event will take place December 2-7. You may sign up online here.
Have you voted yet? I voted earlier this week in the Mid-term Election. I hit the polling center at a perfect time, walked right in, voted, and was out in less than five minutes. I remind you of John Wesley’s reflection on his counsel to the early Methodists: “Vote for the person they judged most worthy; to speak no evil of the person they voted against; and to take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.” Nearly 250 years later, those are still pretty good words to live by! Peachtree Road UMC will be a polling site, and I strongly encourage you to vote in your precinct on or before Tuesday, November 8!
The Centennial Committee is preparing for the church’s 100th anniversary in 2025, and has commemorative ornaments for sale. To see these lovely ornaments or order one, please click here.
Finally, are you interested in becoming a member of Peachtree Road UMC? — please join us this Sunday, November 6, at 12:30 pm in the Hospitality Suite for “Tea with the Clergy.” At this luncheon meeting, you will have the opportunity to meet with several members of our clergy staff, hear about the ministry of this great church, ask questions, and even have an opportunity to join at the end of the session. Please contact Elizabeth Byrd (elizabethb@prumc.org) for more information or to sign up.
Thank you for your commitment to the ministry of Peachtree Road UMC. It is both an honor and a privilege to be your pastor.
Grace and peace,
Bill