Snapshot: Sandy Springs Christian Church

Web site: www.sandyspringscc.org.

Services: 9 and 11 a.m.

Worship style: Exhilarating

Average Sunday attendance: 225

Minister: Rev. Phil Price

Denomination affiliation: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Mission statement:

“To connect with God and one another, to inspire faithfulness, and to serve in joy, as members of the one body of Christ.”

History:

The church was started in 1960 by 15 Christian Church members who saw a need for a Sandy Springs congregation. Members, led by one of the church’s first female ministers in the Southeast, met in a house until property was purchased at Johnson Ferry and Abernathy roads. The current worship facility opened in 1971.

Pastor’s path:

Price was in college studying music – “I was going to be a trumpeter” -- when his exploration of philosophy and comparative religion led him to the United Church of Canada. It was a departure from his conservative Pentecostal background but a place where he felt his questions about life were answered.

“Both science and faith simply provide different languages for understanding the mystery of life. Not only are they not in conflict, but they are companion languages for understanding who we are and living this life,” Price said.

After earning a Master of Divinity from Emmanuel College, Toronto School of Theology, Price was ordained in the United Church of Canada. In 1990, he moved to California and transferred his ordination to the United Church of Christ, where he served before joining the staff at Sandy Springs.

Ministries:

The signature ministry is the high school mission trip to Mexico, according to Price. Considering the fact that most of the youth have bedrooms larger than the homes they help build there, he said, “It’s a wake-up experience that truly changes their lives.”

Church members partner with the Community Action Center in Sandy Springs, an agency that helps people who are on the verge of homelessness.

The Day School at Sandy Springs Christian began 33 years ago and has grown into a popular preschool with 150 students.

Price wants the church to be a full family experience, offering something for the youngest children to senior adults. For the children, “we see it as creating a culture that inspires curiosity that helps them discover a sense of the holy and sacredness in life,” Price said.

Thoughts from the pastor:

“I believe that the purpose of spirituality and the church is to help people live fully, to live aware and also to draw them out of isolation. The purpose of the faith is to help us break out of [self-centeredness] and reach for community where we truly experience growth and God. The god of privatism is almost always a reflection of ourselves and the God we experience in community is the God that can lead us toward global compassion and understanding the whole human family.”