Curious About Vestry? Come Learn More during Several December Zoom Meetings

Even in the midst of the pandemic, the Vestry of Good Shepherd has continued to meet and serve behind the scenes.  Much like the world of worship has changed, at least during the season in which we find ourselves, Vestry service has also changed.  Starting on St. Patrick’s Day in March, we have met virtually every month to tackle the nuances of our greatest challenge - how can two or more can gather, while simultaneously respecting social distancing and health guidelines?

Recent events have given us hope for a light at the end of the tunnel, and as we emerge from that tunnel, we as a church will encounter exciting new opportunities and possibilities in a post-COVID world.  Among these new opportunities is the ability to serve on Vestry in a way that is more family-friendly and less time-intensive, with the opportunity to be a contributor to a new vision of Good Shepherd and the church in general.  If you are curious about serving on Vestry, or if you have wished to do so in the past but have been limited by circumstances (or even by geographic location), now may be a better time than ever for you to serve.  Even if you are not interested in serving on Vestry, we do value any nominations you can provide. 

If you want to learn more about Vestry opportunities, even if you are on the fence, we encourage you to attend an upcoming discussion. On Thursday, December 3rd at 12:00 pm, and Thursday, December 10th at 7:00 pm, the Vestry Nominating Committee will host a brief discussion by Zoom about Vestry service in this weird new world. 

If these dates do not work for you, we will also host discussions following the Sunday virtual service on December 6th and December 13th. 

If you cannot attend, or do not want to attend, but have questions or nominations, please contact Griffin Bridgers at griffin.bridgers@gmail.com . 

Transition Team to Share Update on Priest-In-Charge Process

The “Why” of it!

Good Shepherd’s Transition Team (as part of the Priest-in-Charge process) is hard at work! One of the tasks the Team has been addressing has been the “Why” question. The “Why” question is a bit different than the standard “Mission” or “Vision”.  “Why” is our very purpose; the reason we exist. And, while every church can claim to exist for the sake of the spread of God’s realm, every church will do that a bit differently. On December 6, the 2nd Sunday of Advent, we will share our tentative “Why” with the congregation. Between now and then, take a look at this TED talk with Simon Sinek (https://tinyurl.com/GShepWhy). It will help explain the Why of Why!  (By the way, more information about the Priest-in-Charge process can be found here: https://www.gshep.org/priest-in-charge-process .)

“Cookies, Ornaments & Cheer” Fun Night Set for December 11

Following the heels of our "super fun" Fun Night in November, please join us on December 11 for another Fun Night! This time, we will be decorating cookies, making a very cool Christmas ornament/home decoration and enjoying our favorite holiday/winter beverage together while enjoying some fellowship.

Festivities will start at 6:30pm, and courtesy of Cathy Conley, we will be making Deck the Halls with Orange-Clove Pomander Balls!!! It is super easy, fun and best of all, will decorate and scent your home for the whole season. It is adult and kid friendly, so please feel free to invite your children and grandchildren to this event! Here is the link - please check it out ahead of time, so you can get the necessary items ready for our event:

https://www.southernliving.com/christmas/decor/pomander-balls-decorating?utm_source=emailshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-share-article&utm_content=20201109

Also, we will be decorating cookies and/or showcasing your FAVORITE cookie, so you can tell us about it!!! If you intend to decorate, please pre-make your cookies (or buy store brand sugar cookies) and come to the event with icing, sprinkles, etc. If you are showcasing your favorite cookies, please make them ahead of time, and be prepared to share the ingredients and story at the event!! We want to know why this cookie is special!! Also, SEND KAITLYN  BRIDGERS your recipe so we can compile them into a Cookies & Cheer Cookbook which we will email out after the event!!!!

Lastly, all of these things would not be complete without a special Christmas/Winter beverage! Plan on having a Special Christmas/Winter Beverage on hand to enjoy in the background and be prepared to share the history, details and recipe for that - as well as send that to Kaitlyn for the Cookbook!!!

As always, any and all of these different pieces are optional! Come for the Cookies, the Beverage or the Ornament Making - or just come for the Fun! This event will require registration - details to follow in our Weekly E-News.

United Thank Offering (UTO) to be Collected in December

Not “despite” the pandemic this year, but because of the pandemic, the United Thank Offering of The Episcopal Church continues its 137-year-old tradition of practicing gratitude and helping ministries across the country and globe. 

From December 1-15, collection boxes, prayer books and other information will be available by contacting Karin Elsen (kjl.elsen@gmail.com) who will get it to you. 

You can turn in your completed box by contacting Karin for porch pickup or other exchange.  Added bonus this year - you can help lessen the coin shortage by returning your filled blue box!  As an alternative, you can fill your box with daily prayers and send an offering via check payable to Good Shepherd with UTO in the subject line.

We invite all to:

Notice the Good Things That Happen Each Day.

Give Thanks to God for Your Blessings.

Make an Offering to Your Blue Box for Each Blessing.

Your Small Blessings Become Big Blessings for Others.

In October, UTO awarded 26 special covid-impact grants, totaling $474,431.04, in the US and to ministries in Brazil, Ceylon, Guatemala, Jerusalem, and South Sudan.  More grants will be given next year.

Living Nativity Being Organized for Sunday, December 20

We asked, and you delivered! Several parishioners have come forward to help us with our first ever “Living Nativity” event which will be held on Sunday, December 20 from 4 to 5:30 pm in Good Shepherd’s parking lot and grounds. This will be a drive-by event so that people can “visit” the creche, enjoy the festive lights and music, and even see Santa – all from the comfort of their cars.

Conceived as our “gift to the community,” we are hopeful that people will be eager to participate in this COVID-safe, fun Holiday event.  In addition to our “Nativity Cast” and our Santa, we will also have volunteers stationed at the entrance to accept canned goods for Covenant Cupboard. What a great way to celebrate Christmas season!

Of course, we will be at the mercy of COVID restrictions, but unless we go into another shutdown, the event is on! Stay tuned as we finalize the details and be sure to invite all of your friends and neighbors.

Send Us Your Christmas Decorations!

As I noted in my lead article, this Christmas will be like none most of us have experienced. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make it memorable! While many things about the upcoming season are up in the air (not counting the angels or the Star of Bethlehem), one thing that I imagine some of us may have even already put in place:  Christmas Decorations!  It may be as simple as a table-top tree, or as elaborate as a synchronized Christmas light show on your house. Whatever it may be, take a picture of it, and send to me (gbrower@gshep.org). I’ll put together a slide show for our Christmas Eve service!

Stewardship Campaign Update

We are off a good start to our 2021 Stewardship Campaign.  As of November 30, we have received 118 pledges for $379,818.  putting us well on our way to our goal of 170 pledges and $500,000.

As we mentioned in the weekly E-News, our budget for 2021 will be built mostly on your pledges.  This is the only way we have to continue to finance Good Shepherd’s mission efforts, including Good Shepherd’s staff, maintenance of our building and all our programs, as the coronavirus has substantially decreased our plate income and eliminated our building use income.  Our plan is to wrap up our 2021 Stewardship Campaign by December 13 to enable our staff to build a budget for 2021 to be presented at our Annual Meeting at the end of January.

This year, we have added a space on the pledge card for you to indicate that you will not be pledging.  Please return your pledge card, even if you do not plan to pledge, as this will make it easier on our follow up contacts and calls.

Our stewardship prayer concludes with these petitions: “Send the blessing of generosity upon each of us.  Help us to continue to Celebrate, Serve, and Share the Love of Christ this year and in the future.  Continue to help us to love and care for one another.”  Through our gifts of time, talent, and treasure may this be the blessing for Good Shepherd and all our Parishioners.

Changes to Sheepskin in the New Year

Our 2020 Communications survey pointed to the fact that there is content overlap between The Sheepskin and our Weekly E-News. It is our intention to have two distinct vehicles that each serve a different purpose. As a result, we will be going to a bi-monthly schedule for The Sheepskin (every other month). We hope to re-define the type of content we present to celebrate more in-depth information about the ministries and the life of our church in a more first-person narrative / storytelling style, rather than simply news reporting on an event/group/ministry. Specific information about up-coming events will now exclusively be presented in the Weekly E-News.

Issues of the new Sheepskin will be designed thematically and planned in advance, and I will be prompting ministry leaders to make submission for certain editions. The schedule for 2021 will be as follows:

• February / March 2021 – Lent & Holy Week edition

• April / May 2021 – Spring edition

• June / July 2021 – Summer edition

• August / September 2021 –

• October / November 2021 – Stewardship / Advent edition

• December / January 2022 – Advent / Christmas / Epiphany edition

  The deadline for the February / March 2021 edition will be coming up on January 15, so if you have story ideas, I would love to hear them!

Important 2020 Tax Benefits

As 2020 comes to a close, we wanted to alert you of some ways of giving that are unique to this year. As part of a record economic relief package in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, the following 2020 tax-smart moves were enacted:

Charitable-giving deduction: A new deduction of as much as $300 for donors choosing the standard deduction, instead of itemizing. The double bonus is this deduction will appear on tax returns above the line for calculating your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).

Suspension of charitable-deduction limits: This temporary suspension could affect donors who itemize deductions and want to contribute a larger share of their income this year.

Required Minimum Distribution (RMD): The Cares Act waived RMDs during 2020 for IRAs and most other retirement plans.

IRA charitable transfers are not new, but something to remember: Once you are 70½ or older, you typically are eligible to transfer as much as $100,000 a year from an IRA directly to qualified charities and have this distribution considered non-taxable.

These topics are summarized here in an article from the Wall Street Journal. Your tax preparer should be consulted to provide you with more details and your eligibility. As always, thank you for your financial gifts and, above all, for your presence in our community.

Annual Parish Meeting to be Held on Sunday, January 31

All members are encouraged to attend!

Good Shepherd's Annual Parish Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 31, 2021. All members are invited to gather for Zoom worship at 9 am, followed by coffee hour and the Annual meeting at about 10:15 am.

We will review a very interesting 2020, elect three new members to the Vestry, review the 2021 budget, and virtually fellowship together.

ANNUAL REPORTS WILL BE DUE ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2021.

If you are the ministry leader for any area of the church, you will receive an email in December about your Annual Report, and the deadline for submission. Again this year, the Good Shepherd Annual Report will be posted on the church website for everyone to read.

We will "see" you there on January 31, 2021! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Good Book Club returns in January

Join with other parishioners and begin 2021 with the Gospel of Mark! The Good Book Club returns to read the earliest and shortest of the four gospels, starting Friday, January 1, 2021, through Shrove Tuesday, February 16.

Mark opens with words from the prophet Isaiah: “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,” and indeed the gospel itself serves as a messenger for the life and ministry of Jesus. Written around 65-75 CE, Mark proclaims the good news that Jesus is the messiah and Son of God.

As we did last spring, with the Gospel of Matthew, Fr. Gary will be offering a brief reflection on each day’s reading. This year these reflections will be posted to our FaceBook Group (sign up here), with the hopes that some conversation may arise. If you are not on Facebook, and would prefer to receive the reflections by email, please let Fr. Gary know.

A schedule of the readings can be found here:  https://tinyurl.com/GoodBookClub

Faith Forum for Epiphany Season to Feature Evangelism

The season of Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles; we hear about all sorts of ways this has happened throughout history. But it didn’t just happen then. It can (and ought) happen today; indeed, given COVID and a fractured political system, the peace of Christ is so necessary NOW!

During the season of Epiphany, during the Faith Forum period following the 9 am ZOOM service, we will spend time considering what “evangelism” — the present-day “manifestation of Christ” to the world might mean for us. We will use materials developed by Episcopalians FOR Episcopalians (through a partnership of The Episcopal Church and Virginia Theological Seminary).

Each session will consist of a video, as well as discussion component, and will feature a variety of speakers from around the Church.

We will start on the First Sunday after Epiphany (Jan 10)! An introduction to the course can be viewed here:

A participant’s guide can be downloaded for free at: https://tinyurl.com/EvangelismGuide.

Children’s Ministry Update for December

Good Shepherd Christmas Pageant:

We are looking forward to engaging the children by creating a virtual Christmas Pageant. PLEASE let me know if you are interested in being a part of this.

Godly Play and Living the Good News are the two offerings for children on Sundays.

Sunday School for Grades 3 and up is held via Zoom every Sunday, from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Elaine Oxenbury hosts this meeting for kids from Grades 3 and up…middle school kids are welcome to join us. December’s Sunday school time will return to using the liturgical Living the Good News (meaning it follows what is being taught in the church service).

The lessons for December will be:

• December 6th: Called to Repentance (John the Baptist appears in the wilderness proclaiming a message of repentance…Mark 1:1-8)

• December 13th: Witness of the Worthy One (John the Baptist describes his ministry as one of preparation for God’s Messiah…John 1:6-8, 19-28)

• December 20th: Mystery Revealed (The angel Gabriel announces the birth of Jesus to Mary…Luke 1:26-38)

• December 27th: Jesus: Our Salvation (Joseph and Mary name the baby Jesus, the name given by the angel to Joseph…Luke 2:22-40)

Here's the link for the Zoom meeting:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73081345376
Passcode: MissElaine

Every Sunday afternoon at 3:00, I host a Sunday school time. I start with a science/object lesson, followed by a Godly Play presentation and ending with a craft. Please have your kids utilize the other materials (activity and coloring sheets plus a video link for each week’s lesson) that I include in my weekly email either before or after our class time.

December’s presentations will be as follows:

• December 6: Advent 2…The Holy Family

• December 13: Advent 3…The Shepherds

• December 20: Advent 4…Christmas and the Wise Men

• December 27: The Mystery of Christmas

Men’s Group meetings in December

The Men’s Group meetings in December will continue to be held via Zoom on the Saturdays of December 5 and December 19 beginning at 7:45 am. This has been and will continue to be our main method of maintaining our meetings throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

The topics for the month will surround a review/conversation on the book entitled, “Why Men Hate Going to Church” written by David Murrow.

Note, each session generally stands on its own, so those interested can attend any one of the individual sessions and maintain the overall theme, even if you miss one or several meetings.

Mark your calendars and please join us on December 5 and December 19 for conversations relating to this interesting topic. We welcome men new to the Church and/or those having an interest in the Men’s Group.

Please email me at (roden.pete@gmail.com) if you have any questions or would like to receive any additional information.

Thanks for your interest and we look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming meetings!

Financial Update

From Fr. Gary: You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me (Ps 23.5, BCP)

The Daily Office lectionary has appointed the Gospel of Luke to be read for the last few months. A couple of weeks ago, the verses over a couple of days were Luke 9.51-10.16. This is a fairly familiar set of stories for most of us. It includes the story of the disciples wanting to call down fire on the heads of the Samaritans for ignoring Jesus (Jesus said “No.”) It includes the story of the man who wants to follow Jesus, but only after attending to family business. And, it includes the story of Jesus sending seventy disciples ahead of him to every town . . .  but not to take anything with them, but to stay at homes that welcome them. Usually, in the lectionary readings, some of these stories are separated; that is, one is to be read on one day, the others the next. But during that particular week, I lumped them together . . . and saw something that I’d missed for decades.

All of these stories suggest that there is no turning back, despite challenges. Jesus didn’t want to delay his journey to Jerusalem by “calling down fire” on the Samaritans. The implication: “I/We have more important things to do! Don’t get sidetracked with something as petty as vengeance!”  With the men who wanted follow Jesus, but first desired to tend to family issues, Jesus says "No one who sets his hand to the plough and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” In other words, “Don’t let past relationships hold you back!” With the sending of the seventy, Jesus’ advice is to be unencumbered while traveling, and then, to take advantage of opportunities (such as houses who welcome the visitors) when they arise. If opportunities are missing, simply go on further.

I was struck by this thematic similarity; as I noted, I’d never really noticed it before. And, upon reflection, I found myself returning to Psalm 23, which had been part of my sermon a week earlier. Even this psalm suggests that, despite being “in the presence of those who trouble [us],” God feeds us, anoints us, and keeps us going!

As I write this, we (nationally, individually, and as a congregation) are looking at several more months of our sojourn in COVID-land. How do we view this time . . . with regard to mission? Jesus going on His mission isn’t complete; one look around and that’s very apparent. But what are we doing? Are we busy calling for vengeance on what/whoever is responsible for COVID? Are we telling ourselves that we still have important, unfinished, business elsewhere that prevents us following Jesus? Are we too encumbered with “stuff” that moving quickly, easily, is hampered? Or are we paying attention to the table that is right in front of us: new possibilities, new table-guests, new means of sustenance?

In some of the discussions I’ve been having with colleagues around the country, two ideas have caught my attention (i.e., new dishes on the table!) One is the idea that we need to start thinking about moving from “church online” to “online church.” In other words, what might it mean to “Re-think Good Shepherd” in a post-COVID world? We’ll have new possibilities; we’ll have learned new things. To just return from “church online” to “church-in-the-building” will probably not serve us well as we follow Jesus out of COVID-land. And the second is that 2021 will be a "new baseline”. We won’t be able to compare what will be coming with what has been. We’ll need to re-build in new ways. Certainly, we have a great foundation. But the materials with which we can build, and the structures we erect will be different. And exciting. 

There is a table that God has set in the presence of those who trouble us. Let’s feast!

Bible 101 Returns for the Month of November with The Rev. Merrie Need

The Adult Forum (Sundays at 10:15 am on Zoom) will study the opening chapters of the Book of Samuel. We will discuss the how the Book may have been assembled and edited. We will introduce Samuel's many roles within the book: The last of the judges, the first of the prophets, high priest, and kingmaker. We will also examine him as a reluctant agent of change who helped move Israel from a collection of tribes to a unified nation under a monarchy.

This Sunday we will begin with the story of Hannah whose "womb was closed" until she prayed for a child while worshipping at the tabernacle at the Shiloh, promising to consecrate the child to God. We will introduce Eli, the high priest, and his disreputable sons, and, time permitting, learn how Hannah fulfilled her promise by giving her young child into Eli's care to be trained as a priest. 

Join us during the Faith Forum hour on Zoom starting this Sunday!

Thanksgiving Food Drive for Covenant Cupboard is November 7 & 8

As we have done for several years, the Outreach Committee again this year will be supporting and asking for your support of Covenant Cupboard’s annual distribution of Thanksgiving meals.  Please see below for the list of items which the Covenant Cupboard would like to have donated. 

Given our current situation with COVID-19 and our inability to do things indoors at the church, we will be modifying the way we collect the food this year.  On Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8, from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm each day, we will place the wicker baskets where food donations are normally made outside the front door of the church, and ask that people make their donations of food there.  Members of the Outreach Committee will periodically empty the baskets three or four times each day, so please don’t be discouraged if the baskets don’t seem as full as they have in previous years.  Please let friends and neighbors know about this opportunity as well, and thanks, as always, for your support.

Suggested items for donation:

• Box/bag stuffing mix

• Canned vegetables (green beans, peas, corn)

• Canned yams

• Canned pumpkin

• Canned cranberries or cranberry sauce

• Canned or packaged turkey gravy mix

• Packaged side dish: (rice mix, mac n cheese, applesauce)

• Dessert items (packaged cake, pie, pudding)

For more information about Covenant Cupboard, please visit their website at covcupboard.org. 

Stewardship Campaign Update – Commitment Sunday is November 8

Commitment Sunday for our 2021 Stewardship campaign will be November 8.  As of this writing, Good Shepherd’s leadership has made 34 Pledges for $140,650 as we move toward our goal of 170 Pledges for $500,000.

We are excited for this Stewardship Campaign as we begin to write a visioning statement for Good Shepherd as our role in the Priest-in-Charge process with Fr. Gary.  2021 promises to be an exciting year as our parish leadership and Fr. Gary begin and complete the discerning process to call our next Rector.         

In our mailing to you with the cover letter, the campaign brochure, and the pledge card, we also enclosed a stamped envelope to mail your pledge back to Good Shepherd.  You can also pledge online through the Good Shepherd website.  We are asking all parishioners to return the pledge card as soon as possible.  If for your own reasons you are unable to pledge for 2021, we have included a space to indicate that you will not be pledging and we are asking that you send those pledge cards back to Good Shepherd.  This will save us considerable time, as we know your intentions, and we will not need to continue to follow up with you.

We are pleased to have had three speakers this year in October at our Zoom services to share what Stewardship means to them and their families.  The video messages were very inspiring this year, and we made them available in our Weekly E-News in addition to our Zoom services, so that everyone had a chance to see them.  We also have 20 individuals that are serving as Ambassadors to make calls, send thank you notes and help with follow-up.  We believe that prayer is an especially important part of our Stewardship Campaign and we have a 15-member prayer team praying for the stewardship campaign daily.  Our Stewardship team is listed below, and they are coordinating the overall Stewardship Campaign.

If all this Stewardship work sounds like fun to you, we are looking for 2-3 new members for the Stewardship Committee for 2021.  Please let Fr. Gary, Jim Wolfe or Anne McMahon know of your interest.  The Stewardship Committee meets monthly year-round.  We all need to remember that Stewardship includes everything we do at Good Shepherd.

Social Committee Sponsors Bourbon Tasting Event November 13 to Benefit Local Animal Shelter

Please join us for another "fun night" event on November 13, this time benefiting RezDawg Rescue, a local animal shelter here in Colorado (www.rezdawgrescue.org). In time for Thanksgiving, we are looking forward to enjoying an evening of service and community, while tasting some new bourbons!

We will start at 6:30pm and be making fleece blankets and hanging out until about 7pm, at which point, we will be joined by the folks from Lukas Liquors, who will be leading us in the tasting of 3 different bourbons for the evening.

Much like our very successful French Onion and Wine night in September, bourbons will be available for pick up ahead of time, so that we can sample them together during our event. 

For the blanket making portion of the evening, we encourage everyone to come prepared with pre-cut fleece fabric. Recommended size for animal shelter blankets is approx. 1 yd. Fleece fabric can be found at Joanne's Fabric, Michaels, Walmart, etc.

We also recommend everyone pre-cut the "fringes" on each blanket as well. Follow instructions below and we can “weave” the blanket fringes together during the evening. No need to "finish" the blankets on the night of November 13 - you can finish them over the weekend, and drop them off at church, and we will collect and deliver them to the shelter!

https://design-milk.com/dog-i-y-easy-diy-fleece-pet-blankets/  

Registration will be required and Zoom details will follow as we get closer to the event!