North Avenue views itself as a "missional church." We strive to be in prayerful consideration of what Scripture indicates is connected with God’s heart. We believe that what
breaks God’s heart should break our hearts. What
brings God joy should bring us joy. We hope that the church’s
missional focus flows from what
God cares about the most. Where God is, we want to join him! See where we are involved in sharing the Good News of Jesus locally and abroad!
The physical location of North Avenue reminds us daily that Christ calls us to care for our brothers and sisters all around us. As Midtown Atlanta becomes revitalized, the congregation is challenged to see that not everyone is sharing in the renaissance happening all around the church. As we work with the homeless and urban poor, we see Christ's face more clearly and are truly blessed by each individual with whom we share our journey of faith.
The Cup:
Worship Service for the Homeless
"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." - Matthew 10:42
The Cup meets on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. at the 24/7 Gateway Center The Cup is NAPC's ministry to the neighborhood poor. The heart of this ministry is the lively worship service of singing, praying, preaching, and offering. Increasingly, members of North Avenue have come to attend this service as their primary worship experience. NAPC's laity, including Elders and Deacons, lead the worship each week. Following the service, bag lunches and clothing are distributed. A medical clinic staffed by volunteer physicians and nurses is available for the ill, as well as prayer groups and counseling.
Once a month church officers serve communion and offer a healing service for the parishioners.
Volunteers from NAPC and local seminarians and preachers participate in this ministry. Opportunities for service include preparing sack lunches, serving food, greeting, distributing clothing, cleaning up, and providing fellowship.
Donations of clothing (especially men's pants, shirts, and shoes) are greatly needed. The men are motivated to look nice for Monday morning job opportunities. Bring clothing to the World Outreach office any time.
You are invited to experience this ministry: Come worship with us!
For more information or to see how you can volunteer, contactAmber Jipp.
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Christian Care
Christian Care was started over 15 years ago, with the purpose of demonstrating Christian love to the neighbors around the church. Focusing on females, it balances the Cup's ministry to its primarily male congregation. Run by the laity of North Avenue, Christian Care includes songs, Bible talks, and discussions. After the hour-long service, bags of food are distributed to the participants. Christian Care meets year-round on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. on the fourth floor.
For more information or to see how you can volunteer, contact Amber Jipp.
**We need a volunteer to pack the grocery sacks before the women come and help facilitate the worship every Wednesday morning during May and the first half of June. To volunteer please contact Amber Jipp.
Kristina Robb-Dover (M.Div.) is a candidate for ordination in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. She grew up on the mission field in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but first sensed a call to ordained ministry and overseas mission while working with Sudanese in a refugee camp in northern Uganda. Before joining the staff of North Avenue in January 2008, Kristina helped to jumpstart a new movement of mainline congregations seeking to become missional communities, called “Presbyterian Global Fellowship.” She has also previously worked in the areas of relief and development and human rights advocacy, and for ABC News in New York City. Kristina has written for a variety of publications, including Theology Today, Touchstone and Christian Century. She holds degrees from Yale College and Princeton Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Paul, a history professor at Kennesaw State University, have a one-year-old son, Cameron.
At the heart of international mission is the task of discerning how God is already at work all around the globe, so that we can join God in that work. In this sense, mission is not another “program” of the church; nor is it a strategic plan; it is, rather, the very essence of what it means to exist together as “church.” Within this framework, we seek to be “strategically positioned” as globally minded disciples of Jesus Christ ready and able to go where God calls us in fields ripe for harvest (Matthew 9).
The task of “strategic positioning” thus requires that we wait upon the Lord in prayerful discernment to discover the good plans that God has in store for us (Jeremiah 29:11) and that we also be willing to “go” and be Christ’s witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the very ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).” With this in mind, the international mission team recently embarked on a journey of discerning together, and in consultation with Senior Pastor Scott Weimer, a God-given vision for the future of international mission at North Avenue in 2008 and beyond.
While the journey is far from complete, we have identified three core areas in which we believe God has been at work in the life of our congregation for the sake of our world, and in which we, as members of North Avenue Presbyterian, can “go” and serve alongside Him. They are the following:
Establishing NAPC as a welcoming center for Atlanta’s international community and the missionaries whom we support
Making NAPC a hub that connects people with one another as they seek to join God both locally and globally in the work of God’s kingdom
Strengthening relationships with NAPC’s partners in Honduras, Mexico, Kenya and China
The international mission team joyfully welcomes more workers to the fields ripe for harvest! Would you prayerfully consider if God may be calling you to join the work of the international mission team in one or more of these three areas of international mission at North Avenue? If you would like more information about how you can be involved, please contact NAPC’s Coordinator of International Mission, Kristina Robb-Dover.
Our International Mission Areas
African American Consortium of Theological Studies
Atlanta Dokuritsu Christian Church
East African Church
Friends of France Foundation
Haiti Community Development
Honduras Mission Project
Presbyterian Benevolences Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship
Presbyterian University of Kenya
Puerta de Salvacion Mexico
The Outreach Foundation Westminster International Friends
Witness Season Offering
Witness to Internationals Word of Life France World Thrust International
Local Ministry to Internationals
North Avenue is proud to have been a pioneer outreach to internationals in the city. Foreseeing Atlanta as an international city, we were excited when this dream became a reality when the world came for the Olympics. We reach out to internationals beginning with individual and group activities directed toward international students in Atlanta colleges and seminary. This ministry's focus has expanded to encompass internationals that have made Atlanta their permanent home, to let them know there is a place where they can find help or assistance and fellowship. Since 1967, over 130 different nations have come into the life of North Avenue.
Activities include promoting ethnic churches, Christian fellowship among refugees, international Sunday School class, and fellowship with visiting scholars. Internationals are active in all areas of NAPC's life and are fully integrated into its leadership. This creates a lasting friendship across nations as well as helping to create partnerships with other countries.
For more information about international mission at North Avenue, contact Kristina Robb-Dover.
A Capsule
History of North Avenue Presbyterian Church
Ms. Elizabeth Bloodworth FOCUS - New York, NY
Ministers to youth in prep schools throughout the USA.
Mr. Boyd Nixon Campus Crusade for Christ, International Evangelizes to high school students and adults.
Mr. & Mrs. Roy & Becky Eyre
Wycliffe Bible Translators - Orlando, Fla.
Roy and Becky are passionate about completing the Bible translation task in this generation. They're working in recruitment, toward the goal of doubling Wycliffe USA's membership in the next ten years.
Mr. & Mrs. Glenn & Kim Goldsmith
Emory University Intervarsity - Atlanta, Ga.
Dr. & Mrs. Louis & Susan Sutton WEC International, USA - Philadelphia, Penn.
International Missionaries
Africa Mr. & Mrs. Brian & Karen Anders Wycliffe Bible Translators - Tanzania
Translates the Bible into different languages.
Mr. Mandoboy Danga
DRC & Friends - Congo
Mr. & Mrs. Frank & Nancy Dimmock - Lesotho
Serves as health liaison for all of Eastern and Southern Africa.
Rev. Dr. Mathias Forson, Director
Ghana Evangelism Committee
This is a committee of all the churches in Ghana charged with the responsibility of mobilizing, equipping and researching the churches in Ghana for their primary task of mission and evangelism. They also do church survey and research on unreached people groups in their country and some parts of West Africa, and present their findings to the churches through seminars and consultations.
Dr. Sue Makin Malawi, Africa
Serves medical needs of those located just outside Kananga, a provincial capital.
Asia Rev. Dr. & Mrs. Art & Sue Kinsler Inter-Presbyterian Mission Office - Seoul, Korea
Facilitates the Inter-Presbyterian Mission Office in Seoul.
South & Central America Ms. Virginia Gartrell Bethel Children’s Home - Brazil
The Home is an institution of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil. They accept both boys and girls, with the goal of keeping sibling groups together. Couples and up to 10 children live together as families. They form virtual foster homes for these children. Their hope is that each child who they shelter will experience God’s grace, mercy, love and faithfulness in such a way as to give them hope and courage.
Mr. & Mrs. Farris & Thelma Goodrum Fortaleza, Brazil
Serves as a church of Christian worship within Fortaleza.
Dr. & Mrs. Michael & Irene Sivalee Mission Haven - Brazil
Serves as a mission haven within the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil.
Europe Mr. & Mrs. David & Stacy Bergmark Mission to the World - Sweden
Advances church planting movements through a mission-sending agency.
Mr. Abdel France Evangelizes and ministers to refugees.
Mr. & Mrs. Wemer & Lisa Martin Schobesberger
Austria
We had a fabulous 51st annual Mission Conference in 2008. From the powerful sermons by Jim Logan that opened the conference, to the challenging messages of Tony Campolo that brought us to a close, the conference successfully led us to think more deeply and broadly about Christ's call to mission.
