DEC 3. November 13 - November 20, Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye! GOD NEEDS YOU!

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1 Weekly Connections November 13 - November 20, 2016 Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye! GOD NEEDS YOU! Because of Jesus, you are a part of the God Story, and we need every one to get in the game! Last year, we received 100 financial commitments, this year our participation goal is 150 commitments! We need young and old and all those in the middle to participate. Watch the thermometer grow. Your participation and the participation of others will move mountains! TAKE COURAGE STEP OUT in FAITH BE GRATEFUL and BE GENEROUS BtheSTORY! Fill out your Commitment Form today and bring it forward to the altar. Not ready? Need to think and pray on it? Bring the Commitment Form next week to worship, or fill out online at commitment card link at the bottom of the page. THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE! THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN GOD S STORY! DEC 3 Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church Austin, Texas

2 For Tom Lueders, Pat Saul, Carrie McFarland, and Phyllis Youngdahl on their health challenges In celebration of the birth of Grace Varner, granddaughter of Rodney and Roxanne Varner For our country and its citizens to be unified during the transition of leadership For our Middle School students and chaperones, returning from their retreat at Camp Chrysalis For Harry Lee Stark, cousin of Judy Moore For Jack Carlos, brother of Sandy Wikelius For Rick Harthun, brother-in-law of Donna Herschleb For Gene Fens, sister of Bill Dawson For Mary Allison s brother, Elmer Kramer For our faith community, that we may be a church without walls and live out loud...faithfully! WHEN: 12:00pm WHERE: 2515 Magin Meadow Dr., WHAT: Thanks in part to the hard work of volunteers from Shephills, the Habitat House for the Weldemichael Family is ready for dedication. Please join in this event. Contact Weldon Allison at weldon.allison.46@gmail.com if you have more questions. Thanksgiving Eve Worship Now the Feast and Celebration November 23 rd 12:00pm & 7:00pm November is our opportunity to respond to all of God s Blessings! An Outpouring of Giving Our Thanksgiving Eve Worship offering will be designated for : Central Texas Food Bank Bread for All Feed My People canned goods will also be collected for Bread for All

3 BOOK STUDY Pr. Tom continues this discussion based on the book Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker Palmer. Please purchase your own book, and feel free to join in. All are welcome! Starting on the 16th, we will meet as one class on Wednesdays. WHEN: Wednesday 16th & 30th at 11:00 a.m. in the Library SISTERS continues their video and participant guide study of The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg through We'll take a break, giving thanks to God for all Creation! Stay tuned for details for December. PRAY AND PUTT WHO: All of Us! WHAT: Golf and Fellowship WHEN: Thursday, November 17 10:36 am for first tee time WHERE / WHAT: The Hills, first tee time at 10:36 am. $69 which includes green fees, cart and range balls. RSVP to jerryschmeil@gmail.com by Tuesday, November 15th if you intend to play. NOTE: Pray and Putt is looking for a new coordinator ASAP. by providing contacts for the local golf pros, as well as setting up the tee times at the four Hills of Lakeway courses. SHEPHILLS CHURCH CAMPOUT WHO: People of all ages are invited WHAT: a Shephills Church Campout! WHEN: Friday, Nov. 18 th - 19 th WHERE: McKinney Falls State Park! We have reserved four camping spots! You are welcome to just come for the dinner at 5:30pm on November 18 th OR come any time after 2:00pm, stay for dinner and spend the night! Sign up now to get a space! Sign-up through Sign up for Ministries Button on our homepage, or Jessica Malpica at jessica@shephills.org by Wednesday, Nov. 16 th

4 GENEROSITY at work As of October 31st, Shephills donated $3, to Charis and $3, ELCA Disaster Relief to support communities affected by Hurricane Matthew. Following is an update form Charis on relief activities. Dear Charis Friends and Family, Secondary to your incredible and loving response to the hurricane in Haiti, we wanted to update you on all that is occurring right now in our villages, and also let you know our plans in the near future to attend to this horrible situation. We have done a thorough assessment of all of our villages, with the help of Dady, Andreli, Destine Mevoy and Pastor Abony. They have walked through each village, taken photos and made detailed lists of who is in need of what. There were miraculously NO deaths reported, nor any injuries. Praise the Lord! Medication There is a need for medications on the ground to combat cholera, malaria, parasitic infections, and general infections. Therefore, we are currently soliciting hospitals and medical professionals, asking for donations. Farmers There is also a need to get our villages' farmers re-established. We have made lists of all the gardens damaged in the various villages and are collecting funds and donations of seeds and tools to support this effort. Fishermen Furthermore, there is a need to get our fishermen re-established and selfsustaining. We are actively collecting funds to support needed repairs to boats. Home Repair There is a need to repair houses too. We have made lists of the worst cases in the various villages. Please be in prayer about shelter for all of those effected and pray that God leads us in determining the best way to help these people. Hunger There is a great need for food as practically all of the gardens were destroyed and the roads are flooded so there are no regular markets currently running to buy and sell from. Charis has been given 42,000 pounds of food, and additionally we received 100 boxes of food from another organization working in Haiti. Church in Barack Our church in the village of Barack was completely destroyed by the powerful winds and waters of the hurricane. The estimated the cost to rebuild is around $900 U.S Your Brother In Christ, Malcolm

5 GIFTS Tax Tips and Tools 2016 The IRS has two tax tools that can greatly benefit us. They are also great opportunities for our members to benefit Shepherd of the Hills. The first is the opportunity for giving gifts of appreciated stock. Gifts of stock held for at least one year and which have increased in value since they were purchased will generate extra tax benefits. When used as a donation, these stock gifts provide a full value charitable deduction and eliminate capital gains taxes for the donor. The IRS on A second opportunity is the Qualified Charitable Deduction (QCD) Provision. Under this provision, taxpayers age 70 ½ or over are able to exclude distributions of up to $100,000 from income if the funds are paid directly from their IRA to a qualified charity. The excluded amount may be used to satisfy any required minimum distribution (RMD) that the taxpayer must otherwise receive from their IRA. For more information or to begin one of these gifting processes, please consult with your tax advisor and/or contact Trixi Spinelli at ext.303, or Trixi@shephills.org POP UP BIRTHDAY Pop-Up Birthday is a local non-profit started by church member, Laila Scott, and recently joined our Shepherd of the Hills campus in Room 103. Their mission is to provided personalized birthday boxes to children in foster care in Austin and surrounding areas. There are all kinds of ways to help this wonderful organization! A donation box is now located outside the church office! The wish list of items includes include: GIFT CARDS PARTY SUPPLIES WRAPPING/PACKAGING SUPPLIES SNACK/DRINK SUPPLIES NEW, UNWRAPPED GIFTS OR GENEROSITY choose a theme and create your own BIRTHDAY BOX to give! Ideas and specific needs can be found at : Click the How to Help button.

6 YOUNG ADULT BRUNCH WHO: Twenty and thirty somethings, single and married WHAT: Brunch and Faith and Life conversations WHEN: 12:30pm ish (after late service!) WHERE: Baker Street Pub and Grille, 3003 S Lamar Blvd. Austin, TX Two services, two different and wonderful CHRISTMAS PAGEANTS! 8:15 Service! The Senior Choir, and anyone else who would like to participate, will enact the Christmas pageant during the 8:15am service. Contact kevin@shephills.org for more information. 10:45 Service! Anyone interested in participating should come to Camp Hope from 9:30am-10:30am on Dec. 4 th where we will learn the story and practice. Then, on the same day, we will enact the Christmas Pageant during the 10:45am worship service. If you are interested in helping to lead the Christmas Pageant, please contact Jessica@shephills.org. CAMP HOPE WHO: People of all ages are invited WHAT: We will have Camp Hope during the Faith Formation time during Advent from 9:30am-10:30am in the Gym. All ages are welcome as we look deeper into who was present at the birth of Jesus! WHEN: Sundays, November 27th through December 18th: 9:30am-10:00am Breakfast Fellowship & Crafts 10:00am-10:15am Camp Hope Story Time 10:15 am-10:30am Crafts & Fellowship SAVE THE DATE! Vintage Friends are invited to the No Stress Dress Rehearsal for the Christmas recital at Butterfly Preschool. All are invited to Pizza with Santa! 5:00-7:00pm. RSVP by November 18 to Jeanne at director@shephills.org Vintage Friends Christmas Lunch at the Buells Ugly Sweater Party-December 16, 5:30-8:00pm

7 GENEROSITY This Christmas... CHRISTMAS FAMILY OUTREACH WHO: All of Us WHAT: -- CHRISTMAS SHARING --- When you are making out your Christmas gift list, please remember that our Christmas Families Outreach will be held again this year. Christmas Trees will be up to benefit FIVE charities: New Life Children s Center, Caritas, LSS Foster Children, BeREAL, and AIDS Services of Austin. Please sign up and take an ornament (or two!) of the charity of your choice. WHEN: through November 20, our giving trees will be on display in the Narthex. Gifts need to be delivered to church (Upper Room) by Sunday, November 27th, so that charities can pick them up starting on Tuesday, November 29th. WHERE: Gifts should be delivered under the proper charity's sign in the Upper Room. SPECIAL NOTE: For AIDS Services, we need three families to adopt three AIDS Services families. A sign-up sheet for this will be on the Tree Table with Barbara Hampton ( ) as contact. INFO: For any questions about the project, please contact Linda Roesle ( ). CHRISTMAS FAMILY OUTREACH SHEPHILLS 2016 GENEROSITY 5 WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE 1. New Life Children s Center 2. Caritas 3. LSS Foster Children 4. BeREAL 5. AIDS Services of Austin

8 SUNDAY SHARE YOUR STORY 13 8:15am 9:00am 9:15am 9:30am 10:45am 5:30pm Worship Food for Fellowship Blood Pressure Faith Formation for All Worship Prayer Shawl TUESDAY 15 9:00am 4:00pm 4:30pm 4:45pm 5:30pm 7:00pm BCPS Faith Alive Youth Firm Believers Prayer Group Firm Believers Yoga Church Council Middle School Retreat MONDAY 14 9:00am BCPS 12:00pm Weekly Connections Deadline 7:00pm Boy Scouts/Troup 31 7:00pm Outreach Team WEDNESDAY 16 9:00am BCPS 11:00am Book Study 12:00pm TV Monitor Deadline 6:15pm Bell Choir 7:00pm Boy Scouts/Ship 31 7:30pm Adult Choir THURSDAY 17 7:15am Book Study 9:00am BCPS 9:30am After the Boxes 10:30am Pray & Putt 11:00am Sisters 5:30pm Firm Believers 6:30pm Life Mapping 7:00pm Men s Basketball FRIDAY 18 9:00am 10:30am BCPS Bulletin Assembly SATURDAY 19 SUNDAY BtheSTORY 20 Shephills Campout McKinney Falls State Park Two proposed Constitutional By-Law changes were approved at the October Council meeting, and will be voted on by the congregation at the Annual Meeting on December 4, C *This is a proposed change from the current Church Council of 12 members to 9 members. C *This is a proposed change from one three-year term and eligibility 8:15am 9:00am 9:30am 10:45am 12:30pm 5:30pm Shephills Campout McKinney Falls State Park 2pm, dinner at 5:30pm Worship Food for Fellowship Faith Formation for All Worship Young Adult Brunch Prayer Shawl to serve again after seven years to a two years term with an option for reelection to serve a second two year term, beginning on January 1st and ending on December 31st. After completion of a second term of service, that member is eligible to serve on council once again after two (2) years. For a more detailed explanation of these changes refer to Pastor Tom s Letter re bylaws and campus renewal under publications on This letter was also sent via USPS.