​Sunday is Preschool Sunday here at Northbrook. It's a day we celebrate the amazing ministry that Northbrook Preschool is to our congregation and the community of Roswell. We will celebrate the leadership, the teachers, and the students of our Preschool and some of the students will even help lead elements of worship in the Sanctuary. Then we will have a BBQ luncheon and cake auction to help the preschool raise money for new playground equipment right here on our campus! It's going to be a glorious day and I hope you'll join us.
 
I love our preschool and that I get to teach Chapel to these amazing kids and their teachers twice a month. Quite a few of my dearest friends are preschool teachers. I love them. There’s something in the spirit of one who chooses to be around little-bitty people during their “becoming” that is something I want to be around. It’s unique and it’s magical and I love it.
 
However, something I hear all too often from them is “just”. Well, I JUST teach preschool… JUST part-time. I JUST teach letters; they’re small. I JUST teach colors; they’re small. I JUST teach shapes; they’re small. I JUST teach preschoolers.  
 
And it’s TRUE that letters are small, but letters make words and words are POWERFUL. It’s TRUE that colors are small, but colors make art and art is POWERFUL. It’s TRUE that shapes are small, but shapes make buildings and art and cars and furniture – shapes make up our world and that is POWERFUL. And it’s true that preschoolers are small, but they have the potential to be POWERFUL. 
 
It’s so easy to think “just” about anything we do because when you look at the grand scheme of the world and all God put in it, the small offerings we bring can feel so small and “just”-like. But the small things you do on a daily basis MATTER. Teachers aren’t just teaching shapes, colors, letters, and numbers. They are helping these small ones BECOME. They are helping them find the path God has before them. They are helping them discover who they are and who God is. You aren’t just complimenting a stranger, you are sharing God’s light into the darkness. You aren’t just checking in on your friend who is grieving, you are reminding them that you love them even when they are in darkness. You aren’t just volunteering to teach Sunday School, lead at VBS, or serve at Trinity Table, you are being the hands and feet of God and building God’s Kingdom. What you do MATTERS.  
 
Jesus told a parable about being “just”. In Matthew 13:31-32 he says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his field. It’s the smallest of all seeds. (Did you hear that JUST in there?) But when it’s grown, it’s the largest of all vegetable plants. It becomes a tree so that the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches.”
 
That teenie-tiny seed isn’t JUST a seed and you are not JUST anything. You are an amazing child of God doing powerful work for God’s Kingdom. All the tiny “justs” of your day matter and I am so thankful for each of 
 
Leslie Bowers
 Director of Creative Services

Bishop Robin Dease has named Glisson Camp and Retreat Center as the recipient of the 2025 North Georgia Annual Conference Special Offering. For 100 years, Glisson has been a place of belonging, discovery, transformation, and calling for hundreds of thousands of children, youth, and adults across a century of camp ministry.
 
Generations of Glisson supporters and staff have provided life-changing experiences of Christian community in support of our shared mission: To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. 100% of this year’s Special Offering will go toward Glisson’s Campership Fund, which makes camp ministry accessible for those who would otherwise be unable to attend. Glisson believes camp ministry is not a luxury but an essential part of the faith formation of children and youth.

Through intentional stewardship and generous support, Glisson has a long history of offering high-quality, transformative camp ministry experiences at a cost well below the national average for a week of camp. Even so, Glisson is committed to ensuring that the cost of camp never prevents a camper from attending. In 2024, Glisson awarded over $60,000 in campership support. Your gift to this year’s Special Offering will help even more children and youth experience belonging and transformation in 2025 and beyond.
 
Churches are invited to receive the offering any time before Annual Conference, but many churches choose Sunday, June 1. One person from each local church will have an opportunity to present a check from their church during the Service of Remembrance on Friday, June 13, or checks may be submitted to the Conference Treasurer's Office.
 
Please indicate gifts as Fund #1140 Annual Conference Special Offering.
 
Conference Treasurer's Office
PO Box 102417
Atlanta, GA 30368-2417
 
North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, Website, News

Music is such a vital part of the worship experience for most of us, joy filled and spirit feeding. I have always loved music. My parents sang in the church choir where I was baptized in Mt Holy, NJ. My sister and I would sit by ourselves, ages 5 & 7, in the big wooden pews, and watch them in wonder. Later, when we moved to Ohio, it was my grandmother singing in the church choir, where Joe and I married years later.  My sister and I sang in our community children’s choir, Harmony Hummers, during elementary school, and in my high school choir I learned Handel’s Messiah from our brave choir teacher. Fond memories come flooding back when I hear those hymns during Advent, even more so now that I understand the depth and breadth of the lyrics.  So, you can only imagine how excited I was when Chelsea Spits agreed to lead our Joyful Noise children’s choir.

Chelsea is a music educator and is in her 13th year of teaching. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from the University of West Georgia. Post-grad, Chelsea enjoyed working for the Disney College Program before accepting the position as Director of Choral Activities at North Paulding High School in Dallas, GA. 

Following her tenure at NPHS, she pursued a new full-time career, that of “mama” to her two boys, Colin and Joshua. While staying home with them, she enjoyed teaching music virtually for Stride, Inc. The preschool and choir at Northbrook are what drew Chelsea and her family to the church. The highlight of her week is performing with the Northbrook UMC Chancel Choir, and she feels honored to be folded into the Northbrook Music Ministry by becoming the Director of Children’s Music. Chelsea resides in Woodstock with her husband Nicholas, two boys, and pups Penny and Lucy. When she’s not teaching or performing, Chelsea enjoys gardening, antiquing, and running.

                                         Please join me in welcoming Chelsea to her new role at Northbrook.
                     Ephesians 5:19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.
                                                       Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,

Christy Merritt
Director of Children's Ministry

1 Corinthians 13:13 - "Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love."
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I’m honored to teach what we call the “Chancel Choir Sunday School Class.”  It was designed with the purpose of providing an abbreviated lesson so choir members could attend a complete Sunday school lesson and be able to leave in time to rehearse before traditional worship.
 
We are small in number, but our classes have been so rich with the contributions of those who attend.  At the moment, we are tracing the footsteps of Jesus using Dallas Jenkins’ series The Chosen.  It is the first multi-season series about the life of Jesus, and it portrays Jesus through the eyes of those who knew Him.
 
There are moments in this series where we all fill the room with laughter--yes, I know - it’s awkward to think of laughing about the life of Jesus--and there are those intimate occurrences where all in the room are choking back tears.  There is suspense, abuse, celebration and moments of victory--all of which are common occurrences in our lives here on earth. 
 
An overall theme that continues to permeate the episodes is the frustration that Jesus experiences in His attempt to get the disciples to comprehend that they are preparing for a kingdom that is not of this world.  A kingdom ruled by God, not man. Things are different in this kingdom. Love is unconditional and forgiveness is common. Healing is not just physical but spiritual as well. The unwanted are wanted and there is a table large enough for anyone who so chooses to take a seat. 
 
This Lenten season is a time that we can set aside to prepare our hearts and minds to become kingdom builders. Easter is coming, but we as believers already know how the story ends with Jesus. We’ve seen the final episode. But the world is full of people who are hurting, discouraged, and unwanted. These are the people who need to fill our sanctuary on Easter Sunday. 
 
As kingdom builders, may we find the courage and the time to invite someone to Northbrook to hear the music, feel the love, and absorb the message of a resurrected Savior who offers hope, love, and a new life in a broken world.
 
Randy Hubbard

Psalm 34:18 - "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted…”

April 3 marked the 12-year anniversary of my mom's passing. It’s hard for me to believe it’s been that long. This time of the year is always filled with both grief and gratitude. The loss of my mom leftsuch a lasting impact on my family and me, yet I’m thankful for God's presence and steadfast love that provided comfort during our time of sorrow.

Honestly, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of my mom. And while sometimes I still feel immense sadness that she is no longer on this earth, there is also joy—joy for her life well lived, the values she instilled in my siblings and me, and the love she shared with so many people. My mother never met a stranger and was truly a friend to all!

Friends, I believe our grief reminds us of the depth of our love for one another. Jesus knew this feeling when He wept for his friend Lazarus in John 11. His tears remind us that our sorrow is seen and understood by God. God’s presence and promise assure us that we are not alone in our pain.

As I reflect on my mom’s life, I want to encourage all of us to celebrate her legacy by living out the kindness, faith, and strength she showed to my family and to so many people.

So let us trust in the hope we have through Christ, the hope of eternal life, where we will one day be reunited with those we have lost. Until that day, let us honor her memory by loving well, just as she loved me. (The photo is from my wedding day with Rachel and my parents in January 2007.)
​
Allen Whittaker
Executive Director