All updates are being evaluated on a week-by-week basis and will be announced via the church website, @Wieuca newsletter, email, and/or Facebook.

Stay connected! Please join us on Sundays for our 11 AM in-person services in the Peachtree Rm. or via Live Stream on either WRBC's Facebook or here on our website.
Text "Pray" to 404-620-3773 to submit any prayer requests you have so that we can join with you in this season!
Scroll below for the latest update/message from our pastor, Dr. Barry Howard.

Letter from Dr. Barry Howard

July 15, 2020

Hello Wieuca Family,

Treasure the gift of friendship. The most valuable assets of life are found in our portfolio of relationships.

Proverbs 18:24 reminds us that, “A man that has friends must first show himself friendly; and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”

The wisdom writer pre-supposes that for most of life, human beings are going to be engaged in dynamic human relationships. In a highly competitive world where individuals are dominated by self-interest, how do you keep relationships healthy and growing? Sustainable friendship is a gift from God.

What is a friend? One writer answered this way:  Friends are people with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with them. They ask you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. They do not want you to be better or worse. When you are with them, you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, as long as it is genuinely you. Friends understand those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you. With them you breathe freely. You can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meannesses and absurdities, and in opening them up to friends, they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of their loyalty. They understand. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse them, neglect them, tolerate them. Best of all, you can keep still with them. It makes no matter. They like you. They are like fire that purges to the bone. They understand. You can weep with them, sing with them, laugh with them, pray with them. Through it all--and underneath--they see, know, and love you. A friend? What is a friend? Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself.

Churches are built on both faith and friendship. Members of a congregation are actually diverse friends from a variety of backgrounds who stick together in tough times, who bring out the best in each other, and who collaborate in missional effort, despite their differences, out of obedience to a common faith conviction.

Maybe, the Quakers have it right in referring to their faith community as “The Society of Friends.”

Maintaining a good friendship requires grace, mercy, patience, and perseverance.  E.C. McKenzie observed that “some people make enemies instead of friends because it is less trouble.”  Friendship can be messy at times, but it is worth the effort.

As we look forward to growing in faith and friendship, here are opportunities for your consideration this week:

• This coming Sunday I will be sharing an encouraging message entitled “It’s All about Teamwork” (II Corinthians 12:14-27), a timely word about the importance of co-laboring harmoniously in kingdom work. Invite a neighbor to join us for our online worship gathering by tuning in to www.wieuca.org or our church Facebook page at 11 o’clock.
• We look forward to welcoming Jon Duncan to Wieuca as our guest Minister of Music this Sunday. Jon is a good friend of Wieuca and he has become a good friend to me during our first 6 months in Georgia.
• Our church office is open on Monday through Thursday. However, because we will not currently have volunteers or a receptionist managing the front desk, we encourage you to make an appointment if you need to meet on campus. For all on-campus meetings, please plan to wear a facial covering, and call the staff person with whom you are meeting once you arrive in the parking lot so they can meet you at the door.
• Families with Children:  Wonderful Wednesdays at Wieuca (WWW) Your family is invited to come to the playfield for our last Wednesday night, July 15 for games, science experiments, and crafts, to discover Bible stories of what JESUS SAID! We will honor and practice social distancing guidelines. Please RSVP by emailing Angie so she can plan for your family.  Parents you will be expected to supervise your children and help keep social distance!  It will be lots of fun to learn together and see each other on the field or the parking deck due to rain or wet field!
• Collide, a time of Bible study and dialogue for college students, meets on Thursday evenings at 5:30 via Zoom. Students are exploring ways to bridge the gap between love, justice, race, equality and faith. For additional information, please contact Tiffany Burch at tburch@wieuca.org.
• I am thankful for your faithful financial support of the ministries at Wieuca. Your generous giving will energize our ministries throughout the summer months. You can give via our online portal at www.wieuca.org, by electronic draft from your bank, by texting GIVE to 404.620.3773, or by mailing your check to 3626 Peachtree Rd NW, 30326.
• I am grateful for the stories you have submitted for “The Pandemic Diaries.” If you have not yet sent your memories, I encourage you to write a few of the things that have been most meaningful and memorable to you and share with me at bhoward@wieuca.org.

Make sure and check the church web site at www.wieuca.org for additional information and updates.

During these days of learning to bring out the best in others, treasure the friendships you have, and look forward to making the new friends in the days ahead.

Eugene Peterson describes the role of a pastor as being a “soul friend.”

I consider it an honor to serve alongside you as a “soul friend” as a new era emerges at Wieuca.

Barry