Beth LaRocca-Pitts to preach on ‘Day 1’

The Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts, senior pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Atlanta, is the featured preacher Feb. 28 on “Day 1” with host Peter Wallace, the nationally broadcast ecumenical radio program also accessible online at Day1.org.
 
LaRocca-Pitts has been senior pastor of St. Mark since 2010. She has been a member of the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church since 1983. A graduate of Duke University, she earned an M.Div. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary then returned to Georgia for her first ministerial appointment as pastor in charge of the Bishop Circuit.  Later, she completed a Ph.D. in near eastern languages and civilizations from Harvard University.  She has served as associate pastor at Athens First UMC and Snellville UMC.  She was appointed senior pastor at Watkinsville First UMC in 2002. She has taught at Duke Divinity School, Durham, N.C., and Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.
 
“The Cloud and the Sea,” LaRocca-Pitts’ sermon for Feb. 28, the third Sunday in Lent, is drawn from 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 in which Paul tells of the temptations of his Jewish ancestors.  “Sin comes to everyone,” she says. “All of us are prone to it. Testing situations in which we are tempted to betray God and ourselves by yielding to sins we know are not God’s will for us, these testing situations will come to us just as they have come to every generation of people before us—but if we will learn from the mistakes our ancestors made, we will better withstand the tests of life and triumph with the help of God.”
 
The program includes interviews with LaRocca-Pitts conducted by Wallace, who is also executive producer.
 
“Day 1” has been broadcast every week for 70 years, formerly as “The Protestant Hour.” Featuring outstanding preachers from the mainline denominations, “Day 1” is currently distributed to more than 200 radio stations across America and overseas. The program is produced by the Alliance for Christian Media, based in Atlanta, Ga.For more information, call toll free 888-411-Day-1 or check the program’s website, http://day1.org.