--- title: Emily Hawkins | Central Presbyterian Church description: I feel so loved by God through my friends here, to where I just don't feel alone in the city anymore. I just feel like a part of the family. And that's what the body of Christ is supposed to feel like. last_updated: '2026-11-04' --- [← Back to Year-End Generosity](/year-end-generosity) https://player.vimeo.com/video/1243461679 ## Emily Hawkins  "My name is Emily Hawkins and I've been attending Central, I want to say it'll be four years in December. I first came to a Messiah performance. My nephew got invited by Ben Sellick to sing. I walked in, the building was so beautiful, the people were so kind, Jason stood up and shared the gospel, and I'm like, 'I love this place.' I'm divorced. I don't have kids. Sometimes it can be intimidating going into church settings and not having a picture perfect life. I became really close friends with a lot of the people in the Queens Community Group. Not having kids, I feel like I get to enjoy the kids and their activities, and having them run up to me on a Sunday is just the best feeling in the whole world. I feel so loved by God through them and my other friends there, to where I just don't feel alone in the city anymore. I just feel like a part of the family. And that's what the body of Christ is supposed to feel like. I had a few big losses in life to where I know God was always there through it, and I did feel his love through those really tough times, but I definitely wasn't making him a priority or belonging to a church a priority. During COVID, I definitely spent some time, as we all did, alone, and I had to work on forgiving a lot of people and asking for forgiveness from a lot of people. God really showed me some areas of resentment that I was holding onto. But once I started attending Central, I knew what an importance it is to belong to a church. For a few years, I just would listen to sermons online and kind of live this very detached Christian life where my church of one was perfect — which is not real. It was not perfect. Belonging to the body of Christ and that community worship is so important. I love Central for the diversity of people that we have here and that, like New York, all are welcome here. All different ages and demographics — it's just wonderful. I feel like my life is so much richer in the city because of Central. I don't feel alone at all anymore."  With gratitude, Emily When we live on mission as a church, stories like Emily's are born. It's your generosity that makes that possible.   * * *   _In 2 Corinthians 8, as Paul speaks on generosity, he interestingly never uses the word "money"; instead, he speaks of "grace." He calls the Corinthians — and by extension, us — to excel in this act of grace. As 2026 comes to a close, consider how you might, with gratitude, contribute to stories of grace at Central._ _Gifts can be made at [centralchurchnyc.org/give.](http://centralchurchnyc.org/give)_ ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.