Henderson & Sandra
We have been attending Sts. Mary & Martha of Bethany for the past 6 years, and have found in it a church where we can worship God together as a family. We come each week to hear what God has to say to us through the teaching, to praise him with a wide variety of worship, to pray and to enjoy the support and fellowship of others. Sts. Mary & Martha has a strong family atmosphere surrounding it. Whether it is your first time in the Church or you’ve been there from inception, you are made to feel welcome and making friends is not hard to do.
Tom
The answer to this question for me is both simple and not so simple. The more complex side of this answer starts with my roots as an Anglican in a small town in western Canada, where I grew up in a world exemplified by a strong sense of community; a love for and respect of each other and all humankind; and a spirit of support and togetherness. As Anglicans, we worked together, played together, prayed together; and had a tremendous sense of belonging. We all did what we could to contribute as members of our church community. With that background, I learned at an early age that the principals of Anglicanism are built on the Scriptures, tradition, and reason. Our church family lived those ideals in a spirit of love and support.
I often consider myself a “prayerful pragmatic” sort; and the ideology of Episcopalianism or Anglicanism is what has helped form and continues to support that in my daily life. In several elements, and through several ways, our Sunday services at St. M & M for me serve as a wonderful reinforcement of the foundations of Anglicanism.
As part of St. M & M, I am blessed that I can feel that same sense of community, respect and love that I knew and felt as a child in another era in another country. I can still be that “prayerful pragmatic”; have opportunities to contribute in the ways I can; and have the feeling of belonging to a community by several definitions. Through the years, I have had the opportunity to be part of, or be a visitor at a number of Anglican and Episcopal parishes. My humble view is that St. M & M not just typifies, but solidifies the ideals of Anglicanism and community in a spirit of love and support in many ways better than most parishes I have visited or belonged to. There is no other parish community that I am drawn to like this one.
As for the other side of my answer, it is that I simply want to be part of this wonderful community of St. Mary & Martha of Bethany. I am proud to be a member of this parish.
Todd, Jennifer, Lydia, Lucy
We were looking for an Episcopal or Anglican Church that had the traditional service that we were comfortable with along with the energy that would draw other young families; and we have been so pleased with our choice to belong to St. Mary & St. Martha. The other parishioners are a great cross-section of our community but because of the great leadership in the church we are united as followers of Jesus Christ and committed to being a place that is welcoming to other followers of Christ.
Ivan & Susan
Years ago, after transferring away from our wonderful California church family, I slipped back into a secular, or worldly, life and was busy doing only things that were necessary to earn a living, raise a family and “get ahead” in this world. I hadn’t included church very often in those times so life really became a joyless chore with nothing ahead but more of the same. I may have been making a living but certainly not a life. Something was missing.
Upon hearing that they may start a new Episcopal Church in Buford, I realized that this could well be the opportunity to fill a big void or emptiness in my life and to again acknowledge and give thanks to God for the many great blessings He has bestowed upon us. This new church of St. Mary and St. Martha of Bethany returned me to a meaningful life with hope, inner peace and God’s love and the wonderfully warm and loving community there is something I look forward to every day with thanksgiving. This church lives the commandment to love God and neighbors as themselves and their goal is to share His love and inner peace with as many others as possible so that they too can then pass it on to still others. This is a wonderful church. Come and join us.
Thanks be to God!