Who is my Elder and what should I expect?

Who is my Elder and what should I expect?

At Good Shepherd, the role of Elder for the church is to watch over the spiritual health and personal life change of the members. We measure the spiritual health of the congregation through the member’s regular attendance at worship and partaking in communion. We care about you and your physical well-being and want to know how you are doing. Our other role is overseeing the worship and music of the Church as this is directly tied to Spiritual health.

We have designated your elder based on your last name as follows:

Members          Elder

A - F                 Dean Daniels

G - K                 Leroy Raap

L - Q                 Terry Frey

R - T                 Vincent Woolley

U - Z                 Glen Leavens

Each elder was assigned part of the alphabetical membership list of our congregation and asked to call every family on his list. We are concerned about the spiritual health of the congregation.  The church constitution asks us to follow-up with members in irregular attendance. Please sign in each time you attend as that is how we track attendance.

Your role:

  1. Welcome your elder.  We will look to contact you as well.
  2. Reach out to us when you are having any issues, Spiritual or physical that the Church could assist you with. Allow us to follow-up with you. If needed, we will also get Pastor Bill involved. 
  3. Help us identify those that are hurting and in need of care. We will look to provide assistance and identify resources to assist.

We all want to share how we enjoyed the stimulation of Christian fellowship. If coming together in worship was not important, we could broadcast our services or just send our sermons via email. We care about the members of the congregation.

My belief is that our congregation should be a close-knit fellowship, a family in which we share tears and laughter and are genuinely interested in each other; bearing, caring, and sharing burdens. Shepherd sheep before they lose their way. It’s easy to maintain fellowship with friends, relatives, and cronies. But it’s equally easy to ignore the odd person, the reticent one, the “stranger” whom we don’t know. Good Shepherd has always been a friendly congregation, and we want to ensure that all feel welcome and none feel unwanted and fall away because we’ve excluded them from the circle of our friendship and activity. We ask the elders to include everyone in church activities because Christ invites everyone to His banquet table.

-Glen Leavens, Head Elder

God Will Meet Us Where We Are

Well, we just ended one of my favorite times of the year, VBS!  I am not sure where my love for VBS comes.  I really don’t have many memories of VBS as a child, but do remember the first day I took Katelyn to VBS at Good Shepherd.  This was before the new addition had been added onto our church and our sanctuary had been turned into a workshop for “Rick the Brick.”  I was in awe of all the decorations, the music, and all of the kids that were dancing around to the music.  Within a few years I found myself being a bigger part of VBS, and even coordinating it for 6 years.  It was truly a lot of fun and a very rewarding experience.  I think what I enjoy most is the excitement and enthusiasm the kids show, all while learning more about Jesus.  I have always felt that if you can meet people where they are, you have a better chance of really impacting them and their lives.  VBS does this for kids.  They always pick a fun and exciting theme that they think can grab a kid’s attention.  They then find Bible stories to go along with the themes, always ending with Jesus’ death and resurrection so they can know the biggest and most important story!  They develop fun and catchy songs that the kids end up singing all week (I still sing some from several years ago).  Then of course they have great games and crafts to go along with the stories!  I will admit, sometimes the kids don’t really catch the true meaning or importance of the story; however, a seed has been planted and hopefully it will continue to grow.

Even as an adult I still find that sometimes I struggle with the true meaning of the story when reading my Bible.  Admittedly, I did not read my Bible nearly as much as I should have in the past unless forced to do so because of confirmation or a Bible class.  In the past few years that has changed.  I now make it a point to do a Bible study each morning when I get up.  I have found that by doing this my day gets off to a good start and it feels much more complete.  My relationship with God has grown greater, and I find myself wanting to know more.  I am amazed that even though I grew up in a Lutheran church and have attended church my whole life, there is still a lot in the Bible I don’t know.  Getting back to the comment of meeting people where they are - I found that by finding a book that explains, correlates, and ties everything together it has increased my thirst as well as my understanding of the Bible.  It has also helped me to develop a closer relationship with God.  My son Ty received an Action Bible for Christmas.  I have seen Grant and Emily Reasoner walking around with the same Bible.  My son has now read the whole Bible because he found a book that put it in a way that is interesting to him. 

I hope each and every one of you are doing well in your spiritual life.  I hope you have found something that keeps you captivated and keeps you longing for more.  Our relationship with God is extremely important.  John 15:5 states: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”  Those words are so true.  I pray for each of you and your spiritual journey.  I pray that God feels you with his love, and gives you a desire to want to know more and to want to do more.

 

Yours in Christ,

Becky Aragon, GSLC President

July 9th Brunch

On July 9th we will host a group of 35 young people and adults traveling from South Dakota.  We are inviting them, along with all of you from our congregation to enjoy breakfast with us starting at 9:30.  We're calling this Special 5th Sunday Brunch, as it will take the place of our regular Brunch this month.  We will need plenty of pastries, fruit or any other brunch items you would like to bring.  If you can't make it and would still like to donate food items, please contact Debbie Fitzpatrick or Lynn at church.  Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Notes from the Head Elder

Simple truths

This week we celebrated VBS Sunday. The theme this year was “Mighty Fortress” and the kids did a great job of sharing the theme in today’s service. Pastor Bill preached on the lessons taught to the kids each day during VBS, and I needed to hear that message today.

The stories told to the VBS kids are similar to the stories shared with our Sunday school kids. When our kids were young we read many of the same stories to them. We had Arch books from CPH and would read them to our kids. 

Simple messages resonate with all of us. You may remember these foundational stories as well. Pastor Bill shared with us during the adult Bible class that some of the lessons used in VBS and read today are not in the lectionary. We were surprised that the battle of Jericho is not in the lectionary.

Here is a recap of Pastor’s message to us:

  1. Shout. God is mighty. Using the story of how Jericho’s wall falls from Joshua 6: 1-20.
  2. Fear Not.  The story of King Hezekiah with the Lord destroying 185,000 of the enemy from 2 Kings 18-19.
  3. God’s word is true and powerful. The story of King Josiah and finding the Book of the Law from  2 Kings 22.
  4. Jesus comes to save. The story of Jesus entering Jerusalem from Luke 19:28-40.
  5. Jesus wins the victory. The crucifixion account from Luke 23-24.

The simple point to all of these stories was that we, by ourselves, cannot win the victory.

  • Starting with Jericho with the trumpets and shouting it was all the Lord’s doing.
  • Jesus came unlike the expectation for a victorious king would have been in the minds of the people and us. He alone suffered for our sins and won the victory.

I needed to hear the message that I am not able to do everything on my own. I need the Lord in my corner.

We need assistance on the Board of Elders to carry out our ministry of caring for all of you. I knew all of the stories read today. The simple message was to pray and leave it in God’s hand and that is what I am doing.

Next week we are all looking forward to two baptisms, one in each service. This is a sign of a growing church. Come and witness the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. See you next Sunday.

-Glen Leavens, Head Elder

VBS 2017

THANK YOU to all of the volunteers who helped make VBS 2017 such a success! THANK YOU to the wonderful families who brought their children! THANK YOU to everyone who donated time, talent, and supplies to make it a wonderful week! Here are a few photo highlights from the week. The theme was A Mighty Fortress, so we could remember that In Jesus, The Victory is Won! The kids also successfully raised over $400 for our church's mobile food pantry. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Trinity Sunday Celebration

Trinity Sunday is the day our second son was born. As a result, Trinity Sunday has always been special in my house. Pastor Bill preached on the Genesis account, especially chapter 1 verse 31. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

Did you see the phrase “very good” in the account? Not just that it was good, it was very good. When I think of that Sunday over 27 years ago, I cannot help but think of the perfection that God created in our son and indeed in all of us. Of course, you know the story that we fall in to sin, just a few chapters later in the Genesis account. But at this point in the Bible we are perfect, being made in the image and likeness of God (see Chapter 1, verse 27).

The other point being made was that everything in creation was in its place. The stars, the seas, and all things. It made me wonder if we are all in our place? Of course the Creed reminds us that we should be at Church worshiping. Back to the Genesis account as it speaks of God resting, and we know from confirmation class and Sunday School that we are to keep the Sabbath Day (Sunday) holy as God rested on the seventh day. A look at the people in attendance today reveals that

  • Some were in worship with us.
  • Several members of our community of faith were not in church this morning.
  • We had several visitors and it is likely that some of our members were also out of town visiting other churches.
  • We also have several others on the prayer listing and in need of assistance. After the service, we spoke of one member who is currently in hospice.

Trinity Sunday is a special acknowledgement of the Trinity. We say together the Athanasian Creed, one of the three Ecumenical or Universal Creeds. At Good Shepherd, we alternate between the Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds on a weekly basis. The Athanasian Creed has a fuller (okay lengthy) discussion on the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—than the other confessions. All are good explanations of our faith, and the one we read each year on Trinity Sunday is a good expression of the triune God. For me, it is a good reminder of the faith.

I want to encourage all of you to come and worship with us next Sunday. If you have a moment, re-read the Athanasian Creed, and reflect on what it means to you. See you next Sunday.

-Glen Leavens, Head Elder

You're Invited - VBS 2017!

In Jesus, The Victory Is Won
Based on 1 Corinthians 15:57

You're invited to Vacation Bible School at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church - June 12th-16th, 6:00-8:30 pm, ages 3 years old to 5th grade!

VBS 2017 is a victory celebration! They'll look into the Bible, God's Holy Word, and explore five Bible accounts about God, our Mighty Fortress, and the victory Jesus has won for us. Join us for VBS and bring your friends! Don't miss out!

You can register online here! 

See you there!