What is the purpose of Central Neighbors?

The neighborhood parish provides:

• Community building opportunities for adults and children.
• Visits for the sick.
• Support in times of need.
• Other members with whom to celebrate.
• A mechanism to meet others in their "neighborhood".
• The feeling that a member can count on a ride to the doctor, help in bad weather, and someone with whom to communicate.

Central Neighbors:

• Is an extension, not a replacement, of the ministerial care at Central.
• Presents a network for members to link together within a geographical area and within the church as a whole.
• Provides a chance for everyone to expand beyond their interest groups.
• Does not replace other special interest groups (Sunday schools, women's   groups, youth groups), but supports them.

How do you get involved in Central Neighbors?

Every Central member is automatically linked to a parish by where they live in the Atlanta area. Each time a parish has an event or plans an activity, the parish members are notified by a letter of invitation or by a phone call

New members to Central receive a packet explaining Central Neighbors and telling them the parish they have been linked to and the coordinators for that parish. The coordinators then contact new members to introduce themselves and the parishes and let them know of upcoming events.

The parishes are encouraged to get together 3-4 times a year.Some parishes are meeting every other month for small get togethers and sometimes they have speakers. Most of the parish events have been dinner parties (or picnics and brunches). This provides a great means for members to get to know each other which in turn makes them feel more comfortable when they need to ask for help in times of need. Some other activities have been:

Cooking and or serving dinner at the Night Shelter
Providing the refreshments for plays or musicals at Central
Bowling
Hiking trips
Christmas caroling
Swim parties
Setting up phone trees
Setting up e-mail contact lists

You are encouraged to host an event for your parish. The coordinators are there to help you plan the event, send out invitations, and generally help out as they can. Contact your parish coordinator to plan the next event. If you do not know what parish you are in or who your parish coordinator is, contact Debbie Miller (404-601-3127)