Congregation B’Nai Israel and Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church invite all to the Holocaust Remembrance Service Sunday, April 30, at 1:30 p.m. The service marks Yom Ha’Shoah Ve-Hagevurah, which means “Day of (remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism.” It alternates between the two locations, this year taking place at the B’Nai Israel synagogue, 1633 Ga. Highway 54 East, Jonesboro, (Ga. Highway 54 at Corinth Road, just inside Fayette County).
A light lunch will be offered at 12:30 p.m., and a reception will follow the service.
This 14th annual service includes songs for the combined choirs and congregation, scripture reading, prayers, memorial readings and candle-lighting, and a guest speaker.
The 11 candles commemorate the six million Jews killed between 1933-1945, and the five million other minority persons murdered by the Nazis. The tone of the service is not morbid, however; remembering the atrocities of the past offers the hope that they will never be allowed to happen again.
The speaker is Bishop H. Julian Gordy of the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The synod includes Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and portions of Tennessee.
A native of Newnan, Gordy served as pastor of three congregations in Tennessee and Mississippi before his election as bishop in June, 2007. He received the A.B. in religion from Mercer University and the M. Div. from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C. He was awarded the D.D. degree honoris causa from Newberry College in 2014.
Before attending seminary, Gordy worked in university and hospital administration and in housing restoration.
He is married to the Reverend Dr. P. Morgan Gordy, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Nashville.
For more information on the service, contact musicminister@coslutheran.org, sburden@bnai-israel.net, or cbiadmin@bnai-israel.net.
