There’s something special about Athens. Whether you were born-and-raised, spent 4+ years studying, living your best single life, or moved back here to raise your family, you know, deep down, there’s just something special about this city, and you don’t have to spend long before it finds its way into your heart. The beautiful thing about Athens is everyone falls in love with Athens for a different reason—it’s different for the single mom than the retiree, for the college student than the young family. And while we might all love something different about our city, we can all say Athens I Love You®.

What is Athens I Love You®?

Athens I Love You® is more than a catchy motto. It’s the heartbeat of Athens Church for our city; in fact, love is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We deeply love our city—its quirks and all—and we want to share the love of Jesus with everyone who calls Athens home. But we know actions speak louder than words; so, we want to show our love by investing, engaging, and supporting our city. Because that’s what you do when you love something! Instead of recreating the wheel, we’ve chosen to partner with local, non-profit partners who are already doing incredible work in our city to continue to show our city we love it. Learn about ways you can put love into action below.

Give

Every year, Athens Church is able to offer gifts to our local nonprofits because of your generosity. And we want to do it again! From October 1 through the end of November, Athens Church will be giving away 10% of everything we receive to local non-profit partners.

Serve

We’ve talked a lot around here about how serving is one of the easiest ways to shift your focus from yourself and onto others. It’s a tangible way that we can serve our city by giving away our time and abilities. Athens I Love You® Service Projects are now open!

Love

Doesn’t it feel like everyone can use a little bit more love right now? We think so too. It is in the name after all! We want to mobilize the people of Athens Church to tangibly show the people of our city that they are loved not only by others but also by God. This year, we will be partnering with two different organizations through the Athens I Love You Love Initiative. For the next two Sundays, we'll be having a Warm Clothes Collection for new or gently used coats, hoodies, skull caps, and gloves to donate to The Sparrow's Nest. We will also be partnering with Chosen For Life Ministries through their Care Portal to help serve foster care families. If you're interesting in joining the Care Portal, sign up here.

Looking to rep some Athens I Love You®?

We’re always updating our store with new shirts, apparel, items, and designs. Make plans to you visit us at Athens Church on Sundays to see what’s new in-stock and add some Athens I Love You® to your wardrobe to show how you love our city! Currently apparel and other Athens I Love You® items are only available for purchase on-site.