Grace is God’s resilience in action. It is the persistent, unwavering love that meets our failures and offers a fresh chance to grow into our true calling. We are the good soil. Our inherent worth comes directly from a Creator who looks at us with focused, holy attention. We are seen, we are profoundly valued, and we are granted a deep, enduring connection to God. Watch this clip from Sunday’s sermon here.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. And whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of a righteous person. And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of those little ones in the name of a disciple, truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” — Matthew 10:40-42
It happened like this: I was spending the day at a music festival in Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta, grabbing Mexican food with two of my only friends in the city, David and Rick. It was October 2023, and I had just flown back from the ELCA headquarters for training in church planting.
We were about to launch The Collective’s worship services in six weeks, and eventually, my friends asked, “Hey, would it be okay if we came to your first worship service?”
I said, “Oh, yeah, absolutely.”
Then, one of them admitted, “We weren’t sure if it’d be weird since we’re your friends. Maybe you wanted a hard boundary on that.”
I’m not going to lie—I was incredibly surprised. I tried to only talk about my church when people explicitly asked because I didn’t want to become the pushy pastor whose friendship came with strings attached. I simply assumed that anyone I met outside of a religious context wouldn’t be interested in learning more about our church.
We all do this. We look at our social networks and think, They don’t want to do this weird church thing. That’s for us, not for them. Often, we let our own insecurities prevent us from sharing the good news of the living God with people who could truly use God’s work in their lives.
Instead of offering a welcoming invitation, we get in our heads: Will they be offended? They know I go to church, so if they want to come, they’ll just ask.
But is it actually obvious that people are welcome at church? I don’t think so. How will anyone know they are welcome unless you invite them?
The 82% Reality
One study in church growth found an incredible statistic: 82% of people who do not go to church would be willing to go if someone in their lives simply asked them. That number is a testament to the influence we have over the people in our social networks. Lutherans historically haven’t always been great at the active invitation. We used to joke, “Maybe if we just get a bigger sign, people will see it and the Holy Spirit will bring them in.”
But the truth is, invitation is a mark of spiritual maturity. It demonstrates that your faith is not just an intellectual endeavor; it is something you are living out in your day-to-day life. In the words of Isaiah, we get to be messengers who bring good news, announcing peace and salvation to our neighbors.
Responding to Divine Need
In Matthew 10, Jesus tells the disciples, “Whoever welcomes me, welcomes you. And whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” When we welcome someone into our community, we’re welcoming Jesus. We learn that when we respond to a human need—a need for connection, community, or belonging—we are responding to a divine need.
When you see people in your life who are desperate for hope, you should see them as the living Christ and invite them into your midst. Witnessing starts with a relationship. Here is what an everyday invitation to LCR might look like:
Social Events: “I know you’ve been looking to make connections in the area. Our church hosts a ‘Bring Your Own Bingo’ night. I’d love for you to come, and I can introduce you to my friends.”
Service Projects: “I attend a church with an incredible garden where we grow food for the community. I’m going down today to help harvest. Do you want to come make an impact with me?”
Spiritual Practices: “Our church has been exploring alternative spiritual practices, like Sunday evening sound baths. Last time I went, I felt so rejuvenated and ready to start my week. Would you like to come with me next time?”
When you make that invitation, you never know where it might lead. Or whose life it might transform.
A Story of Transformation: LeAnn Haack
To understand the true impact of an invitation and a welcoming community, long-time member LeAnn Haack recently shared her story of finding a home at LCR.
“I grew up in the Congregational United Church of Christ in Iowa. I attended Sunday school, played the organ, and sang in the choir. But after college, I drifted away. For me, church was something you did with your family, and since my husband wasn’t a churchgoer, going by myself felt odd. Work and childcare eventually took over.
I didn’t return to church until I hit a crossroads. In my 30s, my husband filed for divorce. It wasn’t something I had planned for, and as someone who doesn’t like to fail at anything, I felt broken and lost. I realized I needed to go back to church.
I knew about LCR because I had friends who went here—the Glasses, the Welkers, and the Bodas—and I knew it would be a safe place. Even so, showing up by myself felt awkward. I still had it in my head that church was for traditional families.
What turned it around for me happened after a service when Alan and Karen Boda came up and gave me some incredibly strong words of encouragement. They knew I was going through a divorce, though I hadn’t told many people. They made me feel seen, understood, and accepted. Because they took that extra step, I knew LCR was the place for me.
Eventually, I found a divorced moms group here. Those amazing women shared their wisdom, humor, and experiences, showing me I was not alone and that faith in God would carry me forward.
For years, I was content to stay on the edges as a quiet member. But when I retired, I got involved in Appreciative Inquiry, reading anonymous interviews from our congregation. I was blown away by the passion people had for LCR and the future they saw for it. That emboldened me to step out of my comfort zone and accept a nomination for the church council.
My advice? Embrace the change. Step out of your comfort zone. The rewards, the relationships, and the deepened faith I’ve gained have been amazing.”
A Church of Resurrection
LeAnn is not alone. There are so many people sitting in our pews who have experienced profound transformation because of the people they met at this church.
I know LCR is going through a season of transition right now. You’ve lost a pastor, budgets fluctuate, and you’ve seen shifts in your community. But please, do not forget this: The Lutheran Church of the Resurrection is a place of transformation. It is a church where real people encounter the living Christ and find beloved community. And by God, you are not done yet.
How will the community know you are doing transformative work unless you go out and share your stories? We cannot just be consumers of faith who attend on Sunday mornings. In the physical absence of Jesus from this earth, we are the church. We have been set apart to be witnesses.
You have an incredible staff. You have resources. You are not a dying church; you are a church with a destiny. Your very name is Resurrection. Your story is not about decline; it is about raising people up to experience new life.
God has gifted you with the Holy Spirit to go out, make disciples, and share good news. You have exactly what you need. You are the people you’ve been waiting for.
So get out of the pews and tell the story. Spread the message that there is a God—and a community right here in East Cobb County—that loves and adores people exactly as they are. Think about your neighbors, your friends, and your coworkers. Invite them into this community, and may God empower you to do far more than you ever thought possible.
As America prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2026, the nation finds itself reflecting on both its triumphs and its unfinished work. For Author Rev. Dr. Ronald S. Bonner, Sr., the milestone is not merely a commemoration of independence. It is an opportunity to confront one of the country’s most enduring contradictions: a nation founded on the ideals of liberty and equality while simultaneously permitting systems of racism, exclusion, and inequality to flourish.
Bonner speaks on racism not as an observer from a distance, but as someone whose own life has been shaped by its realities. Over decades, he has witnessed the painful consequences of bigotry and systemic discrimination. From losing a college scholarship to experiencing employment termination and unequal compensation despite superior job performance, Bonner’s journey reflects the experiences of countless Americans of color.
Yet, his response to racism has never been resignation.
“My faith in God has given me the strength to persist against the evils of racism,” says Bonner.
That resilience has guided a life devoted to education, ministry, public leadership, and anti-racism advocacy. Armed with a Doctor of Ministry degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University, a Master Certificate in Public Leadership from Harvard Kennedy School, and years of practical experience in public policy and organizational leadership, Bonner has become both a student and teacher of racial justice.
His credentials are extensive. He has worked with the Department of Justice to lead anti-racism training for a major hotel chain and served as the former Affirmative Action Officer for the United Church of Christ. But he believes his most important qualification comes from lived experience.
“I have experienced the negative impacts of racism firsthand,” he says. “I also have the educational and professional background to deconstruct racism and help implement solutions that mitigate its harm.”
As America celebrates its semiquincentennial, Bonner believes the nation must resist the temptation to tell only a triumphant story. He argues that the anniversary should also acknowledge the realities of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, caste systems, educational inequities, and the social gaslighting that often minimizes the experiences of marginalized communities.
According to Bonner, racism remains deeply embedded because it continues to serve social, political, and economic interests. He points to scholar David Theo Goldberg’s observation that racism persists because there remains a market for it.
That reality is precisely why education remains central to Bonner’s work.
He argues that racism is neither inevitable nor natural. Instead, it is learned behavior.
This conviction was reinforced during a conversation Bonner had with the late Arthur Fletcher, often called the father of affirmative action, at a conference in Columbus, Ohio, during the late 1990s. Fletcher’s unwavering dedication to racial justice profoundly influenced Bonner’s thinking.
“It was from this conversation that I truly believed in the possibility of a nonracist society,” Bonner recalls.
He also credits historian Howard Zinn’s writings with helping him understand a transformative truth: racism may be national, but it is not natural.
For Bonner, this insight changes everything.
“If racism is learned, it can be unlearned. Because it has a beginning, it can also have an end.”
This philosophy serves as the foundation of his latest work, Making It Plain. The book is both scholarly and deeply personal. It draws upon historical analysis, theological reflection, and personal experience to explore how racism has shaped American society and how individuals and institutions can dismantle it.
Bonner describes the project as more than an academic exercise.
“It is a tale of my life in America as told by me and countless ancestors.”
The book examines difficult concepts, including whiteness, sovereignty, equality, equity, pedagogy, and what Bonner calls “heretical friendship,” relationships that intentionally cross racial and cultural divides in pursuit of justice and understanding. It also explores the psychology behind prejudice, including schadenfreude, the tendency to derive satisfaction from another person’s suffering, which often fuels discriminatory attitudes.
As the nation enters its 250th year, Bonner sees both danger and opportunity.
The danger lies in romanticizing the past while ignoring present inequities. The opportunity lies in choosing education over ignorance, equity over exclusion, and human dignity over division.
For students, clergy, educators, and civic leaders who are weary of living in a society fractured by racism, Bonner offers neither simplistic answers nor despair. Instead, he offers hope grounded in action.
He envisions his work becoming a nationally recognized resource for anti-racism training, teaching, and cultural transformation. More importantly, he hopes to inspire Americans to imagine and create a society where racial justice is not merely an aspiration but a lived reality.
As fireworks illuminate the skies during America’s 250th celebration, Bonner believes the most patriotic act may not be looking backward with pride alone. It may be looking forward with courage.
The question facing America, he says, is not whether racism exists. The question is whether the nation has the collective will to unlearn it.
And for Ronald S. Bonner, the answer begins with one enduring truth: what has been taught can also be untaught, and what has been broken can still be repaired.
A huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who walked or contributed as part of Team LCR Marietta in Hunger Walk 2026! Because of your incredible generosity, we raised a total of $9,260, reaching an amazing 115% of our $8,000 goal! Your financial contributions and your presence as walkers will make a very real difference for many people in need.
We had a fantastic turnout this year:
Local Walk: About 23 people gathered to participate in the LCR walk at McFarlane Nature Park. It was a beautiful day, and we hope to host it there again next year.
Downtown Atlanta: Stephen Goodnough and his two children headed downtown to represent LCR and officially receive the Inspiritus trophy for our past efforts as the top fundraising Lutheran church in 2025!
LCR Marietta has once again done a tremendous job in supporting this vital outreach effort. Thank you very much for all your continued support and dedication. We are already looking forward to Hunger Walk 2027!
The Promise Garden is a ministry of hands-on hope, and our volunteers have been incredibly busy! Last year, we donated an amazing 1,687 lbs. of fresh produce (a $6,500 value!) to the Community Assistance Center (CAC) food pantry.
We are also excited to announce we received a $1,500 grant from the Food Well Alliance! This funding is already bringing fantastic improvements to the garden:
What’s Growing? We recently harvested our winter cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts! Currently, we have onions, collards, carrots, spinach, and garlic growing, and we’ve just planted our early spring veggies like lettuce, peas, radishes, bok choy, and herbs.
A huge thank you to all our volunteers who make this ministry possible! (Learn more about the CAC’s impact in our community at ourcac.org).
When the people of LCR come together for a cause, incredible things happen. We are thrilled to announce that LCR has officially been named the top fundraising Lutheran church in Georgia for the 2025 Hunger Walk! We set a goal of raising $7,500 with 35 walkers, but our amazing community blew those numbers away, ultimately raising $11,400 with 43 walkers.
To celebrate this amazing achievement, John Moeller, the CEO of Inspiritus, will be joining us in worship on March 8th. John will be presenting LCR with the Inspiritus Hunger Walk trophy at the end of the first service and the beginning of the second service. This presentation will beautifully coincide with the kickoff of our Christian Response campaign, where we will be celebrating all of our various outreach ministries.
But we aren’t stopping there. It’s time to lace up our sneakers and defend our title for 2026!
The 2026 Atlanta Community Food Bank Hunger Walk is happening on Sunday, March 15th. To make it easy for our whole church family to participate, LCR will be hosting a local walk right here in our neighborhood at McFarlane Nature Park (just half a mile from the church).
Whether you want to walk with us in the park or support the team from afar, we need your help to fight food insecurity in our community.
Want to join the LCR team or make a donation? Visit LCR’s team page by scanning the QR code above. Let’s make this year our most impactful one yet!
We are again assembling Mid-Wife Kits to send to Guatemala with the Mission group going in February. Some of the items that we will be collecting are bath towels, wash clothes, ivory soap, 36″ squares of muslin or cotton fabric and receiving blankets.
In January look for a display with tags listing the items and quantity that are needed. Have questions: contact Marge Mynhier mdmynhier@bellsouth.net
This Christmas season, you are invited to share hope through ELCA Good Gifts. Instead of traditional presents, you can give meaningful items like honeybees, a piglet, clean water, or vaccinations for a child. Each gift supports ministries around the world and helps families build stability and health.
Whether you give in honor of someone you love or simply want to make a difference, these gifts become part of God’s work of caring for neighbors near and far. Visit goodgifts.elca.org online to explore more.
