Gary Adams, an Atlantan native, grew up in a close and loving family but one that had no ties to church or religion. However, his younger brother Don answered God’s call, accepted Christ at the age of 14, and pursued a career in ministry. Years later, a car hit and killed Don and his son near Don’s church. The tragedy had a profound effect on Gary, and he experienced a conversion. “I made my decision, I gave myself to the Lord at the funeral home,” Gary said, “But, I was still suffering. It was a year until we found a church [...]

Less than a year after Thurston Cooke and his family joined Shallowford, he accepted a position on the Pastor Nominating Committee, which was charged with calling Shallowford’s next Senior Pastor. “Happy and excited to serve, I hoped to find a strong, visionary leader whose strengths would include inspired preaching and the ability to foster inclusive relationships for my family and everyone at our new home church,” said Thurston. The search process thoughtfully considered senior pastor candidates over the course of 16 months and installed Anna George Traynham in October 2019. Six months later when the pandemic hit, Thurston observed [...]

Before they said "I do" Katie Kilch and Kyle knew they wanted to find their own church. "It was how we wanted to start our marriage," Katie says. When they visited Shallowford, they couldn't just slip in and slip out at worship. Someone noticed them and engaged in conversation. They decided that Shallowford was their church. On joining, they were invited to get involved right away. The senior pastor was very interested in starting a young adult ministry. He asked Katie and Kyle to take a leading role. The resulting group has met monthly since 2012! In the ensuing twelve years, Katie's life [...]

High school sweethearts, Angela Maki and her husband Eero, married after college and eventually settled in Atlanta to raise their family of three boys. They attended the Lutheran church, following Eero’s family tradition. When their son Henry turned two, Angela needed a preschool close to home. Her kitchen window faced Shallowford’s parking lot, so the choice was easy. One Easter Sunday morning, when Angela announced it was time to put away the Easter baskets and head for church, five-year-old Henry asked, “What church are we going to, yours or mine?” Angela replied, “The Lutheran church, of course.” “That’s not [...]

Mike Tomasovich and his wife Nancy were looking for a new church after Rehoboth Presbyterian Church closed in 2016. “We visited several Presbyterian Churches around our home, and because some of our friends had already joined Shallowford, we decided to visit,” Mike said. “Shallowford was not at the top of our list of churches to visit because we thought it was too big.” “Right from the first visit, I was impressed with how friendly everyone was. People would come up to us and say hello and introduce themselves,” Mike said. “I was more impressed the second visit when people [...]

In 2014, Scott McGough had a career and an active social life. Although he was a member of a church, he wasn’t attending. Due to stress from work and family relationships, he felt something was missing in his life. Scott had heard about Mindfulness and wanted to learn more. He found a class at Shallowford and signed up. After attending the first session, Scott walked down the hall and stopped in front of a photo display showing people and activities at Shallowford. “I was looking at the display and the Mindfulness class leader came up to me and asked [...]