Faith - Reporter Newspapers

Worth Knowing: The Black pastor of historically White church leads with reconciliation

by Carol Niemi | Oct 12, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Commentary, Dunwoody Reporter, Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

In Luke 9, when Samarian villagers refuse to lodge Jesus and his disciples and James and John want to pray for heavenly retribution, Jesus rebukes them for their anger. The passage ends simply: “And they went to another village.” This passage defines the mission of the Rev. William Givens, lead pastor of the Buckhead Baptist Church, said to be the only Black pastor leading a historically white Buckhead church. Givens can’t confirm the claim, but he lives to confirm the passage from Luke. He spent his early years in South Georgia, in a church-going family with a mother who...

Community meeting about school use of former Sandy Springs church scheduled for Sept. 30

by John Ruch | Sep 20, 2020 | Education, Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

A community meeting about a possible school or daycare use of a former Sandy Springs church is scheduled for Sept. 30. Brookhaven’s St. Martin’s Episcopal School in April bought the shuttered Highpoint Episcopal Community Church at 4945 High Point Road. The school previously said it is still considering what to do with the property, but it is in the process of seeking a conditional use permit required for school-type functions. The community meeting is required before the proposal moves on to the city Planning Commission for an advisory review. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Sandy Springs...

Episcopal school buys shuttered Sandy Springs church

by Bob Pepalis | Aug 28, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

Brookhaven’s St. Martin’s Episcopal School has purchased the shuttered Highpoint Episcopal Community Church and is seeking to use it as a school or daycare. The COVID-19 pandemic has stalled plans to continue the process in trying to get a special use permit for the new use of the property at 4945 High Point Road. “In the short term, it falls in line with what that space has been used for in the past. It served the community, it served young families on and off. And we are going to continue to do the same,” said Luis Ottley, head of...

Buckhead church to hold racial reconciliation service with messages from Gov. Kemp, Alveda King

by John Ruch | Aug 27, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Faith, Politics, Top Stories | 0

Buckhead Baptist Church will host a special Sunday service Aug. 30 focused on racial reconciliation and featuring recorded remarks by Gov. Brian Kemp and activist Alveda King. Rev. William Givens, the church’s pastor, said the service is modeled on Chapter 9 of the biblical book of Nehemiah, which recounts a public confession of sins and repentance. He said the service will include Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, confessing some of the denomination’s own faults on racial issues, with a response of forgiveness. Kemp’s message will thank the church for its efforts, Givens said, and...

Dunwoody church to host month-long food drive

by Bob Pepalis | May 29, 2020 | Coronavirus, Dunwoody Reporter, Faith, Making a Difference | 0

Dunwoody’s First Baptist Church Atlanta plans to host a month-long food drive in June to help Atlanta Community Food Bank to help feed those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drop-offs can be made on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the church at 4400 North Peachtree Road in Dunwoody. Donors have options in making a donation. They can: Deliver food in a no-contact drop-off at the church; Use a local grocery app to donate directly to First Baptist Atlanta, or; Donate directly to that Atlanta Community Food Bank. Atlanta Community Food Bank says that $1 can provide...

Sandy Springs mayor, Fulton judge to join speakers discussing the Ten Commandments

by John Ruch | May 24, 2020 | Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

A judge sharing expertise on false testimony. A family lawyer discussing adultery. A doctor warning against murder The mayor of Sandy Springs’ thoughts on honoring parents. They’re among the speakers who will each comment about one of the biblical Ten Commandments in a two-night virtual discussion hosted by the Congregation Beth Tefillah synagogue in Sandy Springs. Dubbed the “TED Commandments” after the TED Talks online lecture platform, the event on May 25 and 26 is a pre-celebration of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, whose traditions include all-night study of the Torah. The first event on May 25 will feature...

Some major Christian denominations ask worshipers to stay away during coronavirus

by John Ruch | Mar 13, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Coronavirus, Dunwoody Reporter, Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

Some of Atlanta’s major Christian denominations have asked worshipers not to attend some services in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta on March 13 dispensed all faithful from attending Sunday Mass on the weekends of March 14-15, 21-22 and 28-29. The archdiocese also said people who are ill should not attend Mass. The Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip in Buckhead said it will keep the cathedral closed on Sunday, March 15 and host a livestream video service instead on its website and Facebook page. Childcare and Sunday School are canceled as well. “Thus, I...

New Atlanta Roman Catholic archbishop is named

by John Ruch | Mar 6, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

Rev. Gregory John Hartmayer will be the new archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, Pope Francis announced March 5. Hartmayer, currently serving as bishop of Savannah, will be installed on May 5, according to the archdiocese. He succeeds Rev. Wilton Gregory, who left in May 2019 to become the archbishop of Washington, D.C. Hartmayer, 68, is a native of New York state and is a Conventual Franciscan friar, according to the Georgia Bulletin, the archdiocese’s newspaper. The Atlanta archdiocese covers the northern half of Georgia. Its mother church is the Cathedral of Christ the King in...

Sandy Springs’ Temple Emanu-El to host discussion on treatment of asylum-seekers

by Dyana Bagby | Jan 15, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Faith, Politics, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

A Jan. 26 community event in Sandy Springs featuring many nonprofit groups and places of worship aims to raise awareness about the treatment of asylum-seekers in Georgia and at the U.S.-Mexico border. Three immigration experts will speak at the nonpartisan event, called “Bearing Witness: A Humanitarian Crisis,” from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El, 1580 Spalding Drive. There will also be a “resource fair” of nonprofit organizations. The public is invited and there is no cost to attend, but registration is required by clicking here. “The goal of the day is two-fold: to shine a light on and...

Shuttering Sandy Springs church could see other religious uses; sale is ‘worst-case scenario’

by John Ruch | Jan 8, 2020 | Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

As Sandy Springs’ Highpoint Episcopal Community Church heads toward its final Sunday service Jan. 12, its vicar says the building could return to religious use – possibly as another church — and that the property would be sold only as a “worst-case scenario.” “I know there’s a lot of interest internally in this property,” said Rev. Lang Lowrey, who is vicar of the shuttering Highpoint congregation and a top advisor to the Atlanta bishop and the national Episcopal Church on real estate developments. “…Probably by summer we’ll have decided the direction we want to go, but we’re hopeful we...

Sandy Springs’ Highpoint Episcopal church to close; property’s future unclear

by John Ruch | Jan 7, 2020 | Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

Highpoint Episcopal Community Church is closing after serving more than a half-century as a place of worship and a community center for Sandy Springs’ High Point neighborhood. In the wake of failed, four-year effort to rebrand and resurrect the former Church of the Atonement amid a dwindling congregation, the church will hold its final Sunday service on Jan. 12. The future of the 7.5-acre property at 4945 High Point Road is said to be unclear beyond that. Officials with the church and the Buckhead-based Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta did not immediately respond to comment requests about the closure, which...

More than 1,000 stand together against anti-Semitism at Sandy Springs event

by Hannah Greco | Jan 7, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Buckhead Reporter, Dunwoody Reporter, Faith, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

More than 1,000 people gathered at City Springs in Sandy Springs on Jan. 6 to stand together against anti-Semitism. The Jewish Atlanta Solidarity event was held by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta in collaboration with the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, the Atlanta Rabbinical Association and the Jewish Community Relations Council. “How glorious is it when brothers and sisters gather together as one?” said Rabbi Adam Starr of the Congregation Ohr HaTorah, a synagogue in Atlanta. “This is the Atlanta Jewish community at its very best.” The event was held in the wake of a Dec. 28...