Center in honor of late church member

When Cliff Jordan passed away at age 62 in June, his wife of 34 years, Donna Jordan, wanted to do something to carry on his legacy. He had been actively involved in many ministries of his church, Smyrna First United Methodist Church in Cobb County.

While praying, she said the Lord let her know “closer to home” as a way to remember her husband and help his community.

On March 1, the dedication ceremony was held for the Cliff Jordan Continuing Education Center at Tillman House, which is sponsored by his church about a mile away.

Donna Jordan said, “Today is all about Cliff and all about what God has done through him and what God is continuing to do through him. When he left this earth, he walked straight into the arms of Jesus, and I know that we’ll be together again.

“Cliff left a legacy. He was a good man. He loved peo- ple. He loved to learn. He was an encourager, a supporter, a motivator — all those things,” she said.

“If you touch the life of an individual, we’ll, by extension, touch the life of a family. If you touch the life of a family, we touch the community. I think it will make a huge, huge difference in the community,” she said of the new center.

At Donna’s request, a special guest at the dedication was Smyrna Mayor Derek Norton, who had encouraged her in this endeavor to honor her husband.

Norton thanked her “for all of your work making this happen. What a great way to honor Cliff ’s life and legacy.”

A handful of free series was planned until they were halted temporarily on March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The center’s “guiding principle is first and always Jesus,” according to the center’s mission statement at CliffJordanEducationCenter.org.

The center is an exten- sion of the Tillman House Resource Center, focusing on hunger relief, education and housing as the church’s ministry. Overseeing Tillman House

and now the center is Alan Nicely, the church’s director of missions and evangelism.

Information: 770-435-0851, cdjedCenterTeam@gmail.com, CliffJordanEducationCenter.org, facebook.com/CliffJordanEducationCenter, SmyrnaFUMC.org/about/tillman-house

CONTRIBUTED In his memory, the Cliff Jordan Continuing Education Center was dedicated March 1 as one of the ministries of his church, Smyrna First United Methodist Church.