We celebrate with our administrative assistant Ashely and her husband Alex on the arrival of Baby Faye into their (and our) family. Faye Lorraine Sparks was born on April 20. We wish Ashely well in the remainder of her maternity leave and look forward to meeting Faye in person in the near future.
As many of you may know, our administrative assistant Ashely Sparks is expecting a child in the next few days or weeks and is thus preparing to take some maternity leave. The anticipated time off will begin April 23, and she hopes to return on May 21 (but as we all know with childbirth, neither Ashely nor the church is fully in control of baby’s exact arrival time). At this time, however, I wanted to share with you four (4) things to know about, and do, as Ashely prepares for this exciting time in her family’s life.
Be Prayerful. First and foremost, we love and care for Ashely as a person and wish to surround her, Alex, Ourin, Kisa and baby with all of our spiritual support. Specfically we invite you to pray for a safe delivery and for health and joy for the entire family.
Be Informed. To help with Ashely’s most visible duties, we have some volunteers coming in to assist us.
Theresa Fulk will be preparing The Visitor and worship bulletins, so you will see her in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Kathy Matherly has helped with attendance documentation and will continue to do so.
Additionally, we would like to have volunteers sit at Ashely’s work station to do three (3) things: a) answer the phone; b) take messages; and c) buzz people in the west entrance. Note: we are not asking these volunteers to have all the answers to queries from callers, but rather to direct them to appropriate staff. Volunteers will sit in the Welcome Center Monday – Friday in two shifts: From 8 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and from 12:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Be Helpful. Thanks to Sandy Garver, all of the morning shifts for the Welcome Center receptionist position are covered! But there are still openings on some afternoons. If you are free to help us out from 12:30 – 5:00 p.m. on any of the dates listed below, please email me ( ), and we’ll get you on the schedule. Thank you in advance.
April 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 25, 30
May 1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23, 25
Be Flexible and Patient. Every one of our staff persons are valuable to us and were any of them to be gone for an extended time, we would notice just how much they do. Therefore, no one is going to be expected to “replace” Ashely during her leave. That would be asking too much of anyone. Rather, all of us on staff – and the volunteers coming in – hope to chip in and do what we can to make Ashely’s absence less noticeable. But we ask you to be reasonably flexible in your expectations and patient in your handling with us. We trust that if we all afford one another these gifts and courtesies, things will go as smoothly as possible until Ashely returns. Should you need, you may email Yvonne Boyd ( ) with office questions you may have.
Blessings – Michael
The Peace & Justice Task Force of Central gratefully acknowledges the generous donation from Felicity Williams in honor of her late husband, and past Peace & Justice Chair, Bruce. This gift will fund 8 Field to Table Program scholarships through the Good Samaritan Inn. Bruce believed in the value of community gardens, and this program trains inner-city individuals in skills required for jobs in farming to table food service. This includes planting, growing, and harvesting of local foods along with preparation and serving of those foods at Good Sam’s soup kitchen. They are taught by instructors from Richland Community College along with the staff at Good Sam. The presentation of the scholarships will acknowledge Bruce and Felicity Williams and Central Christian Church.
What’s your favorite Easter symbol? There is no shortage of options from which to choose. Among the secular choices, there are bunnies, chicks, colored eggs, jelly beans and all types of chocolate. On the purely sacred side, there is (of course) the empty cross and tomb. Then there are a few “hybrid” symbols: seemingly secular things that have taken on sacred significance, such as a sunrise; a butterfly; and a church full of lilies. But I wonder where “garden” ranks on your list? Though our unseasonably cool (read: cold!) Spring temperatures might not call gardening to mind this Easter season, the image of “garden” is perhaps the most appropriate of all the Easter symbols.
Humanity’s story (and thus the story of salvation) began in a garden. Adam and Eve dwelled in the garden of Eden, living blissfully and at peace until they ate of the forbidden fruit. At this point they were sent from the garden and ever since that day, humanity has been trying to find its way back in – or better put, back home. As St. Augustine so famously and poetically said, “Our souls are restless, O God, until they find their rest in you.” The garden is the place where we are closest to God and dwell without worry, sorrow or fear.
It should not come as a surprise, then, that in the Greek language of scripture, the word for “paradise” literally means “garden.” Thus, to be in paradise and dwell in the presence of God is to be in a garden. The use of the garden image in this way is a logical one from a practical standpoint. Recall that Adam’s curse for having eaten from the forbidden tree was that he would earn his living by the sweat of his brow. The ground would be so hard to cultivate, that it would only ever come with extraordinary effort. Having been to the Holy Land, I can attest to how rocky, dry and dusty parts of this territory are. It makes sense, therefore that the predominant image of paradise for one like Adam be a garden. A lush, wet, green, fertile garden that produces abundantly without much work or effort.
From a spiritual standpoint, the image of garden is just as significant. When Mary Magdelene meets the risen Jesus Christ on that first Easter, she mistakes him for the gardener (Jn. 20:11-18), which means that the first Easter took place in a garden. With the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are back in the garden. The story is complete. We have found our way home. Or … as Tina emphasized in her sermon this past Sunday, we didn’t find our way home as much as God, in Christ, found us and provided the way back in. With the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the story of salvation has come full circle. And all we have to do is believe that he is the one to provide us access back in.
Regardless of which Easter image or symbol you name as your favorite, may you from now on include “garden” from among the options.
Blessings – Michael