Yes We Did: LifeWay Launches National "I Matter" Movement

/24-7/ -- LifeWay Christian Resources announces the launch of their national "I Matter" movement, which intends to initiate a positive dialogue about the worth in all of God's people. "This is really more than an ad campaign," says Dawn Cornelius, Marketing Strategist for International and Ethnic Markets. "It's a movement based on God's Word that says every person has value, worth, and a purpose."

The initial Web campaign for women will eventually launch into multiple phases for men and families through various touch points. African-American churches are the target audience, but the campaign will be inclusive to everyone who wants to join the conversation about being empowered to live for Christ.

Cornelius explains, "We are introducing the 'I Matter' campaign to the Black community with a 'no stone left unturned' marketing effort. We want the entire community to become engaged in this movement around why people matter. We launched this campaign to celebrate the uniqueness and worth of every person, and it will intentionally foster positive images that celebrate and empower people of many races and backgrounds so that everyone understands the intrinsic worth, purpose, and value that they have in God."

With no specific time constraints, the movement will be a sustained, disciplined marketing effort driven by people sharing their stories and ideas with others on the Web, in conferences, and through their own communities. Along the way, LifeWay will offer guidance to those searching for products, resources, and events to support them in their various roles of ministry to others. People are invited to submit stories online and to create videos that will become part of the national campaign.

Key campaign components will include:
• A dedicated "I Matter" Web site
• A multi-city road show as part of exhibits starting in June 2009
• Videos celebrating why people matter
• An outlet for others to voice why they matter
• Suggested resources to support and equip
• A credo to enable women, men, and families to begin their own conversations in their communities

Cornelius sums up the importance: "This comes at a time when so many people are talking about the importance of Blacks in this country and the amazing struggles that we have overcome as a people. We have so much to celebrate. We have so much to thank God for, but we have so much to share in common with all people because of our identity in Christ."

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St. Christopher’s Philoptochos Society Offers Greek Delicacies for Easter

The Philoptochos Society of St. Christopher Hellenic Orthodox Church will hold its annual Greek Appetizers and Baklava Sale in time for Easter entertaining. Offered are Spanakopites (filo pastry filled with spinach, feta and onions) and Tiropites (filo pastry filled with cheeses and herbs) for $10.00 per dozen and Baklava (filo and nut filled sweet pastry) for $18.00 per dozen. The pites are already prepared and frozen for baking at a later time.

Order deadline is March 18th and pickup dates are April 3rd from 3 -6 pm and April 4th from 9am – 12 pm at St. Christopher Hellenic Orthodox Church, located at 313 Dividend Drive, Peachtree City.

All proceeds from the fundraiser will be used for charities such as Fayette County DFACS, Fayette Samaritans, St. John the Wonderworker Loaves and Fishes program in Atlanta, International Orthodox Christian Charities, St. Basils Academy in Garrison NY and the Children’s Medical Fund.

To order, please visit the website at www.saintchristopherhoc.org or contact helenngeorge@comcast.net or call 770-486-6580.
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Griffin: First United Methodist Church and First Baptist Church To Host Five Free Pipe Organ Concerts

Celebrated organist Cj Sambach will be performing "The Pipe Organ INformance," at the First Baptist Church, 106 West Taylor at Hill Streets, on Friday (2/13) at 10AM and 1PM. Performing on the 2,000-pipe Schantz organ, these two concerts are planned as field trip/assembly programs for area schools, but are also open to the public. That evening at 7PM a reprise of his “INformance” concert will be offered to the general public.

The following, Sunday, February 15, at 9:45AM, Maestro Sambach will present his "INformance" during the morning Sunday School hour at First United Methodist Church, 1401 Maple Drive. That afternoon at 2PM, Sambach will present a full-length, formal organ concert on the church’s 2,076-pipe M. P. Möller/A. E. Schleuter organ.

Nicknamed "The Pied-Piper of the Pipe Organ," Cj Sambach has a spent a lifetime encouraging and promoting a greater appreciation for the “King of Instruments.”

Organ performance is his greatest love and sharing this love with audiences everywhere is his principal enjoyment. Combining bits of humor with interesting explanations and fine musicianship, he makes the music and the organ fun for people of all ages.

“It is always a thrill to watch the faces of children experience the magnificence and grandeur of the mighty pipe organ,” says Maestro Sambach.

In the five Griffin programs, Maestro Sambach will explore the instrument’s vast tonal resources, present captivating musical compositions, and explain the many fascinating facets of “The King of Instruments.”

The entire family will enjoy these free programs.
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Biblical Worldview Conference in Atlanta, Georgia March 1

A Biblical Worldview Code Blue Rally for students and adults

Purpose: To equip Christians to stand for truth in an "anything goes" culture

First Baptist Church of Snellville
2400 Main Street East
Snellville, Georgia, 30078

Sunday night, March 1, 2009 (5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.)
No admission fee

Speakers: Kay Arthur, Brannon Howse. Dr. Ron Carlson and Dr. Norm Geisler
Topics include: Question of Origins; The Incredible Faith of Atheism; Understanding One-World Spirituality; Is God Judging America?; How Does God Judge A Nation?; Why Christianity is True; Defending The Claims of the Bible; Three Worldview Trends You Must Understand if You Want to Contend and Defend Your Faith; Political Correctness is Cultural Marxism; Why the New Spirituality is Calling for a One-World Government; How to Contend For The Faith in the 21st Century; Understanding the Reason For the Rise of Oprah's Pagan Spirituality and a Christian Response; Why Worldview Training Matters and Students Want it; and more.

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Melissa's Faith Lives On

FF Note: Melissa's story inspired the staff of the Fayette Front Page. Her story reminds us all to look to God for all times.

Melissa's family lives in Tyrone and has lovingly shared their thoughts in the hopes that Melissa's faith will inspire us all. Please accept our condolences on your loss.

Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

I am writing to let you know that my precious daughter Melissa has been taken home by our Father.

Melissa passed away on Jan 28, 2009 at 7:45pm Central time. She battled to the last drop of life left her body.

Never, through this entire battle did she question God’s love for her and she consistently praised God for all the miracles that gave her comfort, gave her a clear path to walk along her journey and kept the love of her life Ben Hamrick by her side day and night. (Ben slept in a chair beside her bed through this entire ordeal)

Through it all there have been so many obvious miracles and signs of hope.

Megan, deciding not to take her new job in Alaska, leaving the airport, going to Melissa’s house and making her go to the ER (Melissa would have surely died right then)

Ben getting a job with a great company 5 days before Melissa was diagnosed, the company fully insured Ben and Melissa and paid him a salary through the entire 18 month battle.

Melissa getting transferred to MD Anderson without a hitch and getting there in three days, with a diagnosis from NorthSide Cancer Center that she would not survive 3 more days.

The gifts and donations by hundreds of friends and family.

Toward the end, I had some angry prayers with God, because I couldn’t understand why He would set before Ben and Melissa such a clear path and so many miracles to keep them together and comfortable and then take her home to Him. I prayed over and over for an answer, “why all the obvious miracles to an end of death”? Then, yesterday as I was speaking to a Christian friend the answer came to me. Melissa had complete and total faith all along. She never faltered in trusting God. It was her time to go home to the Father and that wasn’t going to change. God gave Melissa the extra 18 months to prepare our hearts, not Melissa’s.

Thank you Lord God Almighty because, if Melissa had passed away the day she was diagnosed, I think I would have not witnessed Melissa and Ben’s faith and not known how to totally and completely trust in God against all odds. Melissa and Ben have prepared my heart and shown me how to be a faithful servant even in the worst of conditions.

Keep up the prayers
Tony Fritz

The proud father of Melissa Hamrick
4/22/82-1/28/09


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All Saints Anglican Church Surprises Bishop David Anderson

All Saints Anglican Church in Peachtree City stunned unsuspecting Bishop David Anderson 25 January at its annual parish meeting by a stealthy change in the agenda.

Anderson who is Suffragan Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) thought he was to be guest speaker but instead he was the honoree who was bombarded with gifts and accolades by the two-year old church.

Outgoing Senior Warden David Wardell presented Anderson with a new set of vestments and spoke of Anderson’s many contributions to the formation and growth of all Saints.

All Saints Clerk and artist Freddy Burdeshaw presented Anderson with a portrait of the Bishop he had painted in acrylic, in which Anderson was wearing the new vestments.

Church Rector Michael Fry thanked Anderson for his leadership in CANA and his support of All Saints, then finally allowed Anderson to have the floor as guest speaker.

Anderson then gave the parish an update on development in the creation of a new orthodox Anglican province in North America and discussed some of the steps that will be required.

Afterwards the church elected new Vestry members to replace those completing their terms. Vince Bonura, Jane Carter, and Sandy Perrin were installed as the new Vestrymen, while Jim Lee extended his term. Kent McVay was named new Senior Warden. All Saints is located at 303 Kelly Drive and is currently negotiating to buy a new church building.

Photo: All Saints Clerk and artist Freddy Burdeshaw presents Bishop Anderson (left) with a portrait of Anderson that he had painted. Anderson was on hand at All Saints Anglican Church for it annual meeting.

Clowning Around

L - R: Back Row: Delee Rehak, (clowning director), Justin Durden, Caitlin Wallen, Carl Hersom, Marquita Foster, (clown clothes designer, Samuel Compagno, Kyle Abarham, Megan Sutliff, Kristin Huie, Will Laaker, Tom Rehak, (clowning director). Front row: Mary Beth Jones, Brian Kenny, Ashley Dohany

There is lots of clowning around at Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church! The high school youth have a wonderful clowning ministry that the congregation gets to enjoy about every six weeks during church services. Their ministry has also broadened to the preschool program.

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Saddleback Pastor Continues the Message of Renewal Found in The Purpose Driven Life with National '40 Days of Love' Campaign

/PRNewswire/ -- Following in the footsteps of the popular "40 Days of Purpose" campaign that thousands of churches participated in worldwide, Saddleback Church is launching a national "40 Days of Love" campaign. The campaign, which launches across the country February 1st, is based on the book The Relationship Principles of Jesus (Zondervan, 2008) by Tom Holladay, teaching pastor at Saddleback.

Focused on relational renewal, the book, begins where Rick Warren's best-selling The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan 2002), which focuses on personal renewal, ended. More than 1,000 churches across the country are signed up to participate.

"With conflict, divorce, violence, prejudice, abuse, division, and polarization around us daily, it's obvious we all need some lessons in building healthy relationships," says Rick Warren, senior pastor at Saddleback. "This is my dream: If every group and church that participated in '40 Days of Purpose' worldwide would also study The Relationship Principles of Jesus as a part of '40 Days of Love,' it could bring about a revival of love that would change the cultural climate of our world," adds Warren.

Beginning in February, churches nationwide will take part in the "40 Days of Love" campaign which walks participants through the book's 40-day study guide that teaches six key principals to loving people based on the words and actions of Jesus. Built into each day's reading is a reflection on one of the principles, the scripture it is built on, real life examples, and practical suggestions to implement Christ's example into relationships. This 40-day journey is designed to bring new health and richness to participants' marriages, families, friendships, and all the relationships in their lives, producing deeper connections and renewing rocky relationships.

The six relationship principles explored in the book include:

-- Place the highest value on relationships
-- Love as Jesus Loves you
-- Communicate from the heart
-- As you judge, you will be judged
-- The greatest are the servants
-- Treat others as you want them to treat you

Holladay writes, "God wants us to depend on him for the power to love. So he challenges us to love in a way we can only accomplish through dependence on his power." Holladay bases these principles on an extensive study of what Jesus lived and taught about relationships and actions towards others, a study which was filled with challenging and surprising truths for life.

Information on the 40 Days of Love campaign can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/88f82f

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National Black Church Studies Summit Hosted by Emory

Community leaders, clergy, scholars and students will gather at Emory University Jan. 22-24 for the 5th Annual National Black Church Studies Summit hosted by Candler School of Theology. The event will include plenary sessions, panel discussions, workshop presentations and public events focusing on the future of the black church and the theme "Where Do We Go From Here? Black Church Traditions, Textures and Transformations."

"This period in America's history marks an important juncture for black churches and faith systems," says Teresa Fry Brown, associate professor at Emory's Candler School of Theology and an organizer of the summit. "While the past two years have marked the fruition of long-awaited social change, it has also been a time of misrepresentation, misinterpretation and misguided discussions about the black church. Now is a pivotal time for black church leaders to gather to discuss the traditions, textures and continual transformations of the black church."

The summit will feature presentations and dialogue about the varieties of black religious experience, the 21st century black church, and the continuing social, political and spiritual impact of people of faith on the church, the academy and society.

Speakers include:

Walter Earl Fluker, executive director of the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, Coca-Cola Professor of Leadership Studies and interim director of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection; and
Katie G. Cannon, Annie Scales Rogers Professor of Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Va., a leading Christian ethicist and the first African American woman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Sponsored by Candler and co-sponsored by Emory's Graduate Division of Religion and the Kelly Miller Smith Institute at Vanderbilt Divinity School, the summit will be held at the Emory Conference Center Hotel, 1615 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322.

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JAARS Receives First Kodiak Aircraft, Improving Access to "Bibleless" Peoples

(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new solution to support Bible translation for people lacking scriptures was turned over to David Reeves, president of JAARS Inc., in Sandpoint, Idaho yesterday. JAARS is the first mission or humanitarian organization to purchase and receive the specialty Kodiak aircraft, securing serial number 008.

JAARS was established in 1948 by Wycliffe Bible Translators co-founder William Cameron Townsend to provide aviation and technology services to support Bible translation. However, the phasing out of aviation grade gasoline (avgas), and an aging fleet of JAARS aircraft, primarily comprised of piston-driven engines, is now affecting Bible translators’ ability to carry out their work. According to Reeves, the new Kodiak aircraft reaffirms the JAARS organization’s aviation leadership and continued focus on service.

“With 2,000 translation programs currently underway worldwide and almost 2,400 languages still needing Bible translations to be started, we looked into the future of aviation for a safe, effective solution to our passengers’ unique transportation requirements,” said Reeves. “The Kodiak is well- poised to meet the challenging needs of the translation community in remote operations.”

The Kodiak, developed by the Quest Aircraft Company of Sandpoint Idaho, is a ten seat aircraft with a turboprop engine capable of short take-offs and landings that uses readily available jet fuel and can carry a 3,100 pound load.

Very few regions of the world have a greater need for safe, reliable, air transportation than the vast island nation of Papua New Guinea north of Australia where Kodiak serial number 008 is headed. This Kodiak will provide access to many of the people who live in Papua New Guinea’s rugged mountains and remote coastal areas.

Wycliffe translators and national coworkers are working in partnership on 190 different language projects in Papua New Guinea. They have completed more than 160 New Bible translation projects, but at least 340 more languages have no Scriptures.

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Making Time for Prayer and Religious Dialogue Top New Year's Resolution Lists

/PRNewswire/ -- The year 2009 will mark a significant return to personal prayer and religious dialogue, according to Dr. Aliza Lavie, a political science professor at Bar-Ilan University and currently a Research Associate at The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute.

Lavie's fields of research include gender, public communications and multiculturalism, and she scoured historical archives and private collections to uncover the forgotten manuscripts and human stories that she presents in A Jewish Woman's Prayer Book, published by Spiegel & Grau/Random House earlier this month.

"What I have discovered in the past few weeks is most remarkable. Throughout the diverse communities and movements that I have visited in the United States - religious cultural and political organizations, student groups, mid-life professionals, the aged - in every place there is interest in the power of prayer and in the development of religious dialogue."

Dr. Lavie notes that her contacts and observations extend far beyond the Jewish community and include Christians, Muslims and people who choose not to categorize their faith.

Prayer as a mosaic of communication and knowledge that is continually growing in real time.

"At Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York, at the JCC in Milwaukee, and at an event in Buffalo, I met women who recognized some of the prayers from a particular 19th-century Czech book of prayers which I had included in A Jewish Woman's Prayer Book. I have not encountered Jewish Czech women in Israel or Europe who remembered those prayers. For other parts of the Jewish nation, this knowledge and this connection was burnt in Auschwitz."

Confessing to prayer

Lavie notes that people who say they haven't read the Bible and never prayed before now "confess" to more than introspection and meditation: they report thinking about and talking to their Creator. "They keep journals, they talk to God while they're driving, they open their mouths and ask for help. Perhaps even more surprising, people report having conversations with others about God."

"They are not new for people," Lavie says of the prayers in her book. "Even though people haven't actually heard or read them before, they've had them in the back of their memory. They have them in their blood."

Making time for diet, exercise, more family time and prayer

"Of course I hear many people saying they hope this year they'll stick to their diet; Others are resolving to refrain from texting in the car and promising to keep to the minutes in their cell phone plans. Maybe it's because people associate me with prayer and so this is what they tell me, but I also hear people saying they plan to keep in touch with God this year. And when they say something like 'please, God' about those other resolutions it sounds like their diet, exercise and cell phone resolve might stick."

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Local Churches to hold Watch Night Services on New Year’s Eve

The Watch Night Service originated with the Moravians in 1733. John Wesley appropriated the event into Methodism where it later became a Covenant Renewal Service. It gained special significance in African American congregations where it is sometimes referred to as Freedom’s Eve when in 1863 they waited eagerly for President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The entire Christian community is welcomed at any of the following services:

Flat Rock African Methodist Episcopal Church (Reverend Ed Johnson), Free Spirit Ministries (Reverend Dale L. Foster), and Mount Olive Baptist Church (Reverend Melvin Ware), will hold combined services at 8:00 PM at Mount Olive at 1565 Hwy 92 N. and at 10:0 PM at Free Spirit Ministries which is located 7880 Wood Road in south Fairburn. See http://fsmwc.org/directions.php for directions to Free Spirit Ministries.

Flint Ridge Baptist Church Watch Night/New Year’s Eve Service starts at 9:30 PM, followed by a light breakfast.

The Unity Christian Church's Watch Night Service (Pastor Smith Atwater) will be held on New Year's Eve from 10:00 p.m. and until shortly after 12 Midnight.

Little Vine Baptist Church (Reverend Steven Coleman), located at 115 Handley Road in Tyrone, will have their service at 10:00 PM.

The New Year’s Eve Celebration Service at Redemption Fellowship Church will begin at 10:30 PM. The pastor is Reverend Mike Higgins and Redemption Fellowship is located at 418 Highway 279.

New Hope United Methodist Church (Reverend Belinda McCastle) will hold their service from 10:00 PM to Midnight. New Hope is located at 272 Weldon Road in the Inman area.

Holly Grove African Methodist Episcopal Church (Reverend Eyvonne Whitman) and Flipper Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Pastor Sherryl Powell) will be having a combined Watch Night from 10:00 PM -12:00 AM.