The First Existentialist Congregation has returned to meeting in-person!

Please join us in our Sanctuary, Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM.

Or catch up with us afterwards on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfzPYdMxOs8PDiMf0y6FYOg

We hope you will continue to care for yourself and those who are important to you. Our Guidelines for being together safely have been updated as follows:

• – COVID-19 Vaccinations and Booster shots are highly recommended for anyone entering the sanctuary
• – Face Masks are now optional at all First E. events.  N-95 Mask use is strongly suggested
• – Hand sanitizer and masks will be available
• – Social Distancing continues to be encouraged (at least six feet)
• – If you wish to make a Personal Announcement, please use the portable microphone, which will be brought to you.

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Child/Youth Programming is available by advance request. If interested please email our Congregational Administrator at office@firstexistentialist.org no later than the Monday preceding the Sunday for which you are requesting that programming.

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We are a spiritual community philosophically based on existentialist and feminist principles, dedicated to human liberation and protection of the natural world. We make our spiritual home in The Old Stone Church, which was hand-built by the African American Antioch East Baptist Church 100 years ago. We acknowledge that racial hostility drove those African Americans from the area, and we honor them and the powerful history of this place. We also acknowledge that in the 1800s the Muscogee-Creek people were driven from this land, and we support justice for all Indigenous Peoples.

Join us for Celebrations of Life 11 am Sundays • 470 Candler Park Dr NE Atlanta, GA 30307

Each Sunday is different, as we explore how to create meaning in our lives. Messages include dealing with the challenges of human existence: loneliness, absurdity, boredom, and mortality, but also with the pleasures of art, dance, music, friendship, and love. We are a community dedicated to human liberation and founded on existential and feminist principles.

2022-24 Pledge Campaign

It is time once again for First E’s Annual Pledge Campaign. As usual, the Pledge Campaign officially started in late November and will run through December, with final follow-up contacts in January. 

Mostly, the Pledge Campaign process will be very similar to what has happened in past years: Members and Friends will be invited to formally pledge their personal, spiritual, and financial support of First Existentialist Congregation. This is done by sending in a pledge form that is available to you by postal mail, by email, and online.

However, a big change happened last year…First E shifted to a three-year pledge cycle in 2022.  Thanks to a First E Bylaws change in April 2021, active membership will now be renewed at the end of every third calendar year instead of the end of every calendar year. Thus all 2022 Member and Friend pledges will remain valid during 2022, 2023, and 2024.

The intent of this change is to simplify the annual First E pledge process by reducing the number of times each decade that new pledge forms must be completed in order to remain an active Member or Friend. And of course, everyone is always free to change their pledge at any time simply by notifying the First E office.

So look for First E’s new three-year pledge form, available now, and then send in your pledge in December.  If you have any questions, please contact Treasurer Edith Covington, me, or any Board member.  Thanks, y’all.

Bill Read, Finance Chair

First E’s 2022-2024 Pledge Form

Our Sunday services, which we call Celebrations of Life, take place each Sunday morning from 11:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Each Celebration of Life (COL) has a different speaker, either a member or friend of our congregation or an invited speaker. Our members serve as facilitators of the COLs. The facilitator leads the service, announces the songs, gives special readings, and introduces the speaker.

We love to sing, and music is an important part of our COLs. We have a different accompanist each week and often invite additional musicians to provide special music.

During the COLs, Children/Youth programming is available by advance request and registration; they listen to stories and do educational activities.  If interested please email our Congregational Administrator at office@firstexistentialist.org no later than the Monday preceding the Sunday for which you are requesting that programming.

This Week’s Celebration of Life

Our congregation is a fellowship governed by a Board of Directors elected by our members. At our Sunday Celebrations of Life, we hear invited guest speakers who bring us inspiring and informative messages that touch our hearts, feed our intellects, and rouse our spirits.

We are not a religion, we are an experiment in philosophical spiritual community. We believe in individual freedom, personal responsibility, and the importance of community. We believe that each person must seek their own path and find their own truth. We think that we can hold different beliefs yet live together in community and treat one another with kindness and respect.

Members of our congregation self-identify as Jewish, Catholic, Christian, Buddhist, Pagan, Wiccan, Muslim, agnostic, or atheist. But we all come together to celebrate that we can all seek different paths yet still be a part of the same community.

We believe in social justice for all people. We believe that no one should be excluded or discriminated against due to race, gender, gender and sexual orientation, physical or intellectual abilities, country of origin, or religion.

If you are intrigued, curious, excited by this different way of approaching a sense of meaning and purpose, we invite you to come to a Celebration of Life.

Our historic building and grounds are available for rent. Check it out! 

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We are a spiritual community philosophically based on existentialist and feminist principles, dedicated to human liberation and protection of the natural world. We make our spiritual home in The Old Stone Church, which was hand-built by the African American Antioch East Baptist Church 100 years ago. We acknowledge that racial hostility drove those African Americans from the area, and we honor them and the powerful history of this place. We also acknowledge that in the 1800s the Muscogee-Creek people were driven from this land, and we support justice for all Indigenous Peoples.

First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta Land Acknowledgement Statement

(Adopted June 6, 2021)

The First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta acknowledges that its sanctuary and the homes of most of its members stand on land taken from indigenous Muscogee (Creek) people. In the Nineteenth Century, the United States of America forcibly seized Muscogee and Ani’yunwi’ya (Cherokee) lands for the plantation economy of Georgia and other profitable ventures that continue to benefit many Caucasian Georgians today through generational wealth.

Historians ascribe numerous social, political and economic conditions leading to the destruction of the Indigenous ways of life on this continent. Some White Americans favored the assimilation policy, forcing Indigenous People to abandon their cultures and adopt agricultural and industrial economies. However, other Whites advocated removal or extermination. They ignored rights guaranteed to Indigenous People in treaties, routinely trespassed on and confiscated their lands, inflicted random violence against them and waged genocidal war on them. When a militant faction of Creeks retaliated against these abuses in 1813-14, forces under Colonel Andrew Jackson massacred and burned Creek villages and killed more than 1,000 warriors. Spurred by the 1829 gold rush on Cherokee land and self-righteous ideas of “Manifest Destiny,” the United States, led by President Jackson, forcibly removed more than 20,000 Creek people from their ancestral homes to Oklahoma in 1836-37. Approximately 3,500 men, women and children died on the long journey.

Over the past two centuries, White Americans inflicted systemic racism against Indigenous People and their descendants in many other ways, such as sterilizing young women without their knowledge and incarcerating children in harsh Bureau of Indian Affairs schools designed to eradicate all remnants of Indigenous cultures. Today Indigenous People continue to suffer affronts to individual dignity by racist persons and policies, and many reservations have suffered violations of tribal sovereignty by profit-seeking U.S. corporations supported by government entities.

The First Existentialist Congregation recognizes that to heal these societal wounds and advance our nation to a brighter, sustainable future of peace, liberty, justice and equality for all citizens, we must know the past and its effects on the present. We seek to understand and support with appropriate action the needs of Indigenous People living in our community, state and nation. We support reparations that would best suit the needs of America’s Indigenous People. Furthermore, we acknowledge and celebrate the wisdom and values of America’s Indigenous heritages and the many contributions of Indigenous People to our country and to the world.

Statement of Solidarity:  Black Lives Matter

We, at the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta, join with the Alliance for Black Lives in support of Justice for Black Lives. We are standing with many Black communities in their demand for the end to racist police brutality and white supremacy in all its forms. We also stand in solidarity with the demands for demilitarization of the police and reducing funding of police departments in favor of social programs and institutions that deal with the underlying causes of poverty and crime.

We live in a country where our policing and incarceration systems not only devalue Black people, but kill them. We mourn and stand in solidarity with the families and friends of George Floyd (Minnesota), Ahmaud Arbery and Yassim Muhammad (Georgia), Breonna Taylor and David McAtee (Kentucky), Tony McDade (Florida), Mubarak Soulemane (Connecticut), and so many other Black, Indigenous and other People of Color, whose lives were cut short by the centuries long war on Black bodies in our country. Enough is enough. This must end.

We share in the responsibility to dismantle the legacy of racism and white supremacy, and to seek justice. We pledge to continue educating ourselves about white privilege and systemic racism. We will continue to invite Black, Indigenous and Other People of Color to use our weekly Celebration of Life platform to share their wisdom, knowledge and perspective. We will take action to support ongoing Black community and People of Color organizing programs.

The First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta offers its building for rent to individuals and groups whose rental purposes align with our mission.

If you would like more information or would like availability information about a specific date, please feel free to call us.  Our office administrator is available most weekday afternoons by appointment.  If you call the office [(404) 378-5570] and leave a message, we’ll return your call as soon as possible.  You can also email us at office@firstexistentialist.org.  If you already know you want to rent our space, please feel free to check our building calendar for availability. You can download a copy of our rental application/contract here: FirstE_RentalContract 03.01.2024.

We especially welcome personal and community ceremonies such as weddings, memorial services, concerts, etc. Generally, this includes educational purposes, life events (marriage, naming ceremonies, funerals, etc.), art and music celebrations, and open spiritual communities. As part of our support of the community, we extend our invitation to make use of building facilities to host event gatherings, and we make every effort to accommodate your needs. Life events include weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals, memorial services, etc. Our beautiful sanctuary provides a unique space for a variety of special occasions and includes:

• Wonderful acoustics, original hardwood floors, and original tin ceiling tiles add to the charm and historic warmth of the sanctuary.
• A concert quality baby-grand piano by Mason & Hamlin is available for the experienced musician. The stage and versatility of the space also make lectures, civic meetings and workshops very comfortable.
• Capacity of 150+ with padded folding chairs for 110 allowing for a variety of seating configurations in the Sanctuary.
• Main Sanctuary space – approximately 1500 square feet, plus a 12’ x 20’ stage – all with original hardwood floors.
• Tables for serving or displays are available – 6 ft, 5 ft, and card tables.
• Building Access – wheelchair ramp to the main entrance. Accessible restroom provided on the main floor and in the great room downstairs.
• Sanctuary Art Gallery featuring local artists. Parking is on-street – abundant and free.
• Alcohol Policy allows serving alcoholic beverages for donations only.
• Climate Controlled with central heat and air conditioning for your comfort.

See our gallery of photos!

Organizations:

The First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta is an active participant in our greater Community, supporting, and often hosting, a diverse range of individuals and organizations sharing values and ethics similar to our own. From the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization (CPNO) to Sunday Assembly Atlanta, to ZAMI-NOBLA and Sankofa/Interplay Atlanta, to Mary Lin School and the Primavera Preschool and Aftercare Programs, to the Atlanta Area Friends of Folk Music (AAFFM), to various 5 Rhythms/Ecstatic Dance groups, we host organizations of a broad variety of interests.

Life Events:

Of course, Community means people, and the truest depth of our commitment to our community comes down to the life events of the people around us. Weddings and the joys around our many individual commitments to each other are one of the underpinnings of our lives, and we certainly support and make space available to couples wishing to formalize their lives together. And of course we host Celebrations of Life ceremonies and memorials that naturally follow at the ends of loved ones’ lives.