From learning how Presbyterians around the world live and worship, to helping refugees resettle in Atlanta, to promoting peace in our country and around the world, Central provides many opportunities to respond to God’s love by serving others nationally and globally.
Mission Trips/Support
Central supports missionaries sent by the PC(USA) to serve in sites all over the world. Current mission co-workers include Tim and Gloria Wheeler, who work with the Heifer Project in Honduras; Mark Adams, US coordinator for delegations and mission education at Frontera de Cristo Presbyterian Border Ministry in Mexico; and Tricia Lloyd-Sidle, specialist for delegation and mission education in Cuba. We also support Alex Cornell. Alex is a Young Adult Volunteer with the PC(USA). He serves in Hollywood, California. Follow Alex >>
Mission Trips provide youth and adult members of Central opportunities to engage in mission and education opportunities, traveling to various parts of the world to learn about the church in different contexts and to partner with them in mission, including, most recently, New Orleans, Mexico and Kenya.
Hogar Mana is a ministry located near Merida, Mexico, that provides shelter, food, clean water, education and psycholo
gical care for sexually abused street children. Central has partnered with this ministry to install a Living Waters for the World water purification system, sends youth and adults groups to work on construction projects and has hosted its Executive Director to visit Central on several occasions.
In partnership with Project Homecoming, Central members traveled to New Orleans in October 2007 and March 2009 to take part in efforts to rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Economic Justice Ministries
Through the Presbyterian Coffee Project, Central serves only fair trade coffee and (every 3rd Sunday) sells to members coffee, hot chocolate, tea, and chocolate produced by farmers in developing countries. Our purchase helps assure that farmers receive a fair price for their goods.
World Crafts Bazaar- Central supports artisans and craftspeople around the world during Advent by organizing and staffing a one day shop at Central that sells their fairly traded goods. The goods come from 10,000 Villages, an organization that fosters relationships with artisans around the world and advocates for justice in the global marketplace.
Ecumenical and Interfaith Relationships
Central is a member of the Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta (FAMA), an organization that works for interfaith understanding through dialogue, educational forums, and common worship and advocacy.
Central is also a member of the Regional Council of Churches of Atlanta (RCCA), an organization seeking to reinforce the worship and work and leadership of the Atlanta Christian community, especially with regard to issues of social and economic justice.
Internationals/Refugees
Atlanta Ministry with International Students (AMIS) supports the establishment of friendships with international students studying in Atlanta or visiting during the holidays from other U. S. cities.
Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA) helps resettle refugees, asylees, and victims of human trafficking in the U.S., working with RRISA case workers to provide them with food, shelter, and medical care, as well as assistance with education and employment. Central has supported the resettlement of a number of refuges over the year, most recently a family from Burma.
Villa International Atlanta provides safe, comfortable, affordable and convenient housing, hospitality and friendship within a Christian community for international healthcare professionals who come to study and conduct research primarily at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory's Rollins School of Public Health.
Peacemaking
Central has been holding peace vigils since January 2003 in front of the church at the corner of Washington Street and Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive to protest the ongoing war in Iraq and Afghanistan and to call for the withdrawal of troops.
The 2010 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study
The Mission Yearbook, the quintessential mission resource, has brought the Presbyterian family together daily for prayer and study for over 117 years. The 2010 edition features stories collected around the theme, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).
