The Shepherd s Call. Father Mike

Transcription

1 The Shepherd s Call Newsletter of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin To Restore All People to Unity with God and Each Other in Christ September 2013 Mailing Address 3416 Swansee Ridge Sun Prairie, WI (608) Phone (608) Fax (call first) Worship Service Schedule Sunday mornings: 8am Traditional Rite I Service 10am Family Service & Sunday School (Nursery open) Wednesdays: Srvc. w/eucharist Saturday Evening Rite II Service Leadership The Rt. Rev. Steven Miller, Bishop Father Mike Tess, Vicar 2013 Bishop Committee Lisa Smallwood...Sr. Warden Bob Weirough, Jr.... Warden Arthur Hollender...Treasurer Shirley Forester...Clerk Mary Deininger... Member Rich Forester... Member Dan Ghoca... Member Reitha Johnson... Member David Rhea... Member Jerry Simino... Member Dr. Lisa Nesson... Member The Bishop s Committee meets monthly and is responsible for conducting and maintaining the business of the church. If you have questions or concerns they should be directed to the Bishop s Committee. Best darn church in the shooting match Hey Good Shepherd, Did the summer fly by or what? I recently finished reading the Book, Best Darn ship in the navy ( that is not the exact title-- but you get the idea.) It s the story of a navy ship commander who turned a ship from a struggling team, to an award winning, tight knit force to be reckoned with. I kept thinking about Good Shepherd and how I have said for years that we are the church that is the best kept secret in Sun Prairie. I wonder: if we all added to our story about where we go to church, that we are the best church in God s shooting match, and how we love being part of this team~ if that wouldn t help us share our story. We have a great thing going here, and I d love to keep getting better at inviting and telling our story. One of the opportunities that will be available over the next month is a chance for the leadership, the church, and me to share what we learned during the sabbatical time that I took. One of the crucial differences between vacation and sabbatical is the meshing of the learning from you and me and the planning and visioning that follows our conclusions. The final steps are crucial to maximizing our growing together. Our Christian Ed program is under full throttle as we scramble to get all our plans in place. The beginning will be a little harried but all the pieces are starting to come together. If you would like to teach or help with youth please see me or Laura Adams who will be heading up Christian education this year. We ended our Spanish classes for the parish on August 25. Thanks to Maestra Laura for a great trabajo. (work) The next series of lessons will be starting in the fall. Our Hispanic Ministry plan is starting to come together. The church leadership and I will be working on the plan at our next meeting in September. Thank you so much for the gift of my sabbatical. I feel energized, refreshed and ready to move with God and you into the next season of our adventure. Be safe in school, home and work and have a blessed Fall. Father Mike

2 Financial Update for September 2013 Since the beginning of this year, we have been cutting into our $25,000 budget deficit and at our present rate will make up approximately half of the deficit. Although our weekly contributions are all running ahead of budget ; our Advertizing Program, Scrip Program, and Giving Tree continue to lag behind budget. On a brighter note, we do have the Kash for Kernalz fundraiser going on to help with our deficit reduction. If you have not already done so, please consider contributing to this fundraising opportunity for our church. Please try to use Scrip for your preplanned purchases as we get a percentage with no extra cost to you. If you can afford it, don t forget the giving tree board, any amount toward one our church's bills is greatly appreciated. Church Contact Information If you are in need of: Please contact : Pastoral Care Cliff Perkins Building & Grounds Bob Weirough Day to Day Admin Church/ Shirley Foerster (Fern) Phone/ /Mail Financial Questions/Issues Art Hollender Leadership, other concerns Lisa Smallwood News or updated Announcements/eBlast Monthly Newsletter Updates Cathy Ghoca cghoca@gmail.com Gsechnewsletter@gmail.com Weekly Worship Service Times Wednesday - - w/ Saturday - 5:00pm -Traditional Rite II Service Sunday - 8:00am - Traditional Rite I Service 10:00am - Family Service and Sunday School COMMITTEE MEETINGS 11:30 am Executive Committee: 1st Wednesday 6:15 pm Bishop s Committee: 2nd Monday Please Support Our Kash For Kernalz Extravaganza! Meet Lt. Kernal Corncob, who is hanging out in the Narthex. Why you ask?? Well, we voted at the church hall meeting on March 17 to not participate in the CornFest 2013 event. This event had once been our biggest fundraiser, but it was losing ground: it was increasingly difficult to man the booth with appropriate number of GSEC members, there was lots of work to do to make it successful, and we only got to keep a fraction of our gross sales making it not an efficient fundraiser for GSEC any longer. However, we also knew when we voted not to do CornFest that we needed to replace that income. Our church home runs on a deficit budget and the Kash For Kernalz is just one of the ideas to raise funds to pay for the things the church needs to keep going (paying bills such as electrical, air, heat, maintenance, etc). Please prayerfully consider what you can offer to help our church replace our financial involvement with Cornfest. In past years, we spent money, and a lot of sweat and hard work at Cornfest. This year, with our new Lt. Kernal Corncob envelopes, you can just take an envelope off the large corn cob in the Narthex and insert your donation. Be sure to write on the memo line of your check that it s for Cornfest/ Kash for Kernalz. Want to do more, but having budget issues right now? We have your answer! We are keeping Lt. Kernal around until Sept 22, to try to help you with your budget planning. Thank you very much, every amount is needed and appreciated. Please make arrangements if you need a bit longer time to make the donation of your dream, by notifying Art Hollendar. If everyone pitches in what they can, this fundraiser will be very successful! And without spending the many hours getting the pork ready! 2

3 First Annual Good Shepherd Time & Talent Auction Do you like to bake? How about sewing? Yard work? Painting? Woodworking? We all have talents; some of which other people would pay handsomely. Think about what you could personally donate in terms of your time or talent to be sold at the First Annual Time & Talent Auction at Good Shepherd this fall (early October will likely be the time frame). More detailed information will be coming soon, but we wanted everyone to begin to plan for it. All members of Good Shepherd, young and old, are encouraged to participate. If you have questions or ideas for how to run the auction, please contact Lisa Smallwood at or Fall Middle School Mentoring Meals Its fall, and that means its time for the middle school mentoring meals. Please sign up on the easel if you are in grade 6-9! Classes are monthly and include a great tasting meal! If you are an adult, you are more than welcome to come sit in, and mentor as our stories and backgrounds help our kids realize how we are so much the same, yet different from each other. Its also a great way to find out what our Wednesday services are all about! Classes run on Wednesdays, monthly from 5-6:30 pm. See sign up board for all the dates. NEW GSEC Committee Formed! Name of New Committee: Selection Committee Why Formed?: One of the lessons learned when Father Mike was on sabbatical was the many things he takes care of that go beyond what he should need to do. In the past, he would ask individuals to think about joining on a team or committee to fill vacancies. We need to establish more than one person to do this as we are growing, and agreed that it should be overseen by our Bishops Committee! Therefore, this is a sub-committee under the BC. Who Is on it?: Father Mike is the lead chair, and Jerry Simono and Rich Foerster are also on this committee. What kind of work will be done? : The selection committee will meet to discuss upcoming vacancies in any formed committee currently in GSEC as well as identifying those to attend CDI each year as new attendees (currently minimum of 2/yr), and the Diocesan convention. Then, using the spiritual gifts inventory and time and talent surveys, as well as previous personal or casual conversations held with members of our church, identify those who seem to align with the current need. First on the agenda, we need CDI participants! See the description at the Diocesan website: Are You a Carpenter? We are looking for a carpenter! Do you like to work with wood? Got some scrap hardwood in your hobby shop and can t think of a thing to make? GSEC would like to have a 2 (or 3) tier shelf to store our coffee cups on and keep out in the dining area by the coffee pot, instead of using Styrofoam cups and filling landfills! If you think you could make up one, please contact Father Mike. We would ideally like to hold 50 cups on the shelves. Thank you! Please send any updates on addresses, mailing addresses, birthdates, anniversaries or phone numbers to Cathy Ghoca at cghoca@gmail.com. You can also send her items for the weekly e-blast. Diocesan e-news: Learn more about the events and news of the Diocese of Milwaukee or other churches in our Diocese. A weekly e-news is distributed to all subscribers, and will help keep you up-to-date on what's going on in our part of the state and the world. You can subscribe at the diocesan website ( ) at the homepage under "News/Events". 3

4 The BC Buzz Submitted by Reitha Johnson, Bishop s Committee Member The Bishop s Committee (BC) continues to work diligently on our two short-term goals: (1) To widen and deepen GSEC parishioners understanding of using their time, talent and treasure to live out the Christian Life Model, and (2) To be more mindful and intentional about using our time, talent and treasure purposefully, creatively and spiritually. Two instruments we will use to help achieve our first goal are the Time, Talent and Treasure Survey and the Spiritual Gifts Inventory. Once a year parishioners are asked to complete or update their Time, Talent and Treasure Survey to help discern which ministries they may be interested in participating. In September of 2012, GSEC parishioners were asked to complete a Spiritual Gifts Inventory. You may ask, What is the difference between the Time, Talent and Treasure Survey and the Spiritual Gifts Inventory? Both are gifts from God. Perhaps the biggest and most important difference is that talents are inherited and gifts are received. Natural talents can be attributed to the natural genetic material that exists within all of us and is passed down from generation to generation. Spiritual gifts, on the other hand, come directly from the Spirit of God. The Spiritual Gifts Assessment helps individuals identify their God-given gifts for living faithfully as Christian disciples day by day and find meaningful ways to use their gifts in connection with others through the community of faith. The process helps people understand the nature of spiritual gifts and ways to enhance the effectiveness of their gifts by linking together with others. The BC would like to share the following results of the first GSEC Spiritual Gifts Inventory. Twenty-four people, 10% of active baptized members, completed the survey and were asked to submit their top four gifts. Some participants had several gifts with tied scores which were also counted. Not surprisingly, 14 participants out of the 24 (58%) completing the inventory had Faith as one of their four primary spiritual gifts. Faith is defined as the ability to have unwavering confidence in God s faithfulness regardless of present circumstances. This would be very true for Good Shepherd as they had begun as St. Chad s and experienced times when they were without a priest and place to meet. The second highest gift as a strength of Good Shepherd is Assisting. Eleven people of the 24 (46%) had this as their primary strength. The gift of assisting is the ability to support leaders and lighten their work load. They also attach a spiritual value to being practical and behind-the-scenes. The third highest gift was tied with Crafting, Leadership, and Organization, each having nine (38%) people respond that these were one of their top four gifts. These three gifts are related to using skills to create items used for ministry, the ability to build relationships to commitment of common goals, and the ability to organize information, resources and people to work effectively to accomplish these goals. Creativity, Justice, and Service tied as the fourth highest gifts with each having seven (29%) of the 24 participants rating these gifts as one of their four highest. The gift of creativity consists of the ability to use artistic skills; the gift of justice the ability to see the quality of human relations; and the gift of service the ability to see concrete, practical work that needs to be done for groups or programs to function, and volunteer to do it. An area of weakness was. None of the 24 participants rated this as their gift. Only one person each in the gifts of Wisdom, Multiculturalism and Prayer rated themselves as having these as their primary spiritual gift. How will we use these results? The Spiritual Gifts Inventory, in conjunction with the Time, Talent and Treasure Survey, will help the BC adequately identify and utilize the time and talent of GSEC parishioners throughout the year. And for individuals, the results of their Spiritual Gifts Inventory can serve as input into deciding how best to give of their time, talent and treasure. So if you haven't taken the Spiritual Gifts Inventory and would like to, please contact me at (224) or by , reitha.johnson@sbcglobal.net. 4

5 September Birthdays Dan Ghoca 9/2 Arthur Hollender 9/7 Lauren Doescher 9/8 Claire Halberg 9/8 Chad Raduechel 9/10 Laila Jones 9/11 Moira Dunn 9/19 Mike Curtin 9/20 Sheila Halberg 9/23 Maureen Johnston 9/30 September Anniversaries Cathy & Dan Ghoca 9/3 Elizabeth & R.Todd Fletcher 9/7 Jackie and Joseph Datka 9/15 Beth and Jay Doescher 9/20 Conni and Rem Brandt 9/23 Moira and Joseph Dunn 9/23 Angela and Jaime Uecker 9/25 Enjoy your special days! Please make a note If you can do so, please sign up to host a Coffee Hour. Our coffee hours are a very important way for both our members and non-members to meet and enjoy some time together. Father Mike says they re Good Shepherd s eighth sacrament! Sign up sheets are in the Narthex. Ben Johnson is updating our family picture board. See Ben if you would like an updated photo. Our treasurer puts GSEC s bills on the giving tree and Ben Johnson has scrip gift cards on hand each Sunday. Fall is coming soon, but that doers not mean our church grounds will not linger need any help. We need volunteers to come and mow or weed/trim our grounds this fall, as well as help take care of the walks around the church when the snow starts to fall.. If you can volunteer to help please contact Bob Weirough at or Rich Foerster at Shop at Target? Copps? Sentry? Pizza Ranch? Kwik Trip? We have Scrip on hand for these places! Please ask Sue W, Ben J, Shirley F if you are planning a trip to one of these establishments and would like to use the scrip card to purchase your goods. Remember, up to 10% of your purchase comes right back to GSEC, and you don t lose any monies either, you pay face value! It is a great way to help support your church and with very little effort and no extra cost! If there are other places you frequent, please check online at and you can place an order, or contact Shirley Foerster or Ben Johnson and we can order after a service for you right from the church computer! Stuff the Bus!!! The 5th Annual Stuff the Bus community campaign was a phenomenal success! A total of over 1000 backpacks were made available for those families who struggled to purchase the needed materials for their children s new school year. They picked up our collection before a total number was obtained, but we were very close, if not over, our goal that was asked of us by the Sun Prairie School District. We all chipped in and together made a significant impact for this outreach project. THANK YOU! 5

6 Vacation Bible School = FUN!!! As you can see from the photos below, everyone had a great time and learned a lot at this summer s Vacation Bible School. A big thanks to all those who helped make our VBS so awesome! Join us for Ladies Night Out! Hey Ladies!!! The next Ladies Night Out is scheduled for September 26 at 6:30 pm at Buck & Honey s in Sun Prairie. You can help the parish even more by planning ahead, and ordering Scrip for your meal by September 15! See Ben Johnson for details. Also, Buck and Honey s is a Good Dining place. Register your debit/credit card at and when you use it at a Good Dining restaurant, 6% of the bill is donated to Good Shepherd! Either way, it s a win-win situation! If you haven t ever attended a Ladies Night Out, this is your perfect chance to start We always have a great time and this is going to be a great gathering at a restaurant that has been a great friend of Good Shepherd! We will also be gathering on October 24th at the Capri in Columbus (126 Luddington) at 6:30 pm. Please plan to join us. Get Your Pork Here and Help GSEC Sign up for your very own cooked pulled pork supply! Market Street Diner is helping us raise a few extra dollars to make up for GSEC not selling pulled pork sandwiches at CornFest this year. There is a sign up sheet on the sign up easel in the Narthex. Please sign up and give monies to Art H or Shirley F, as we are keeping those funds separate. Once you have paid, you are guaranteed your pork to be delivered on September 29. The last day to sign up and/ or pay for your meat is Sunday, September 22. If you have signed up but not paid by that date, no order will be placed for you. We have to have the money upfront to pay Market Street Diner. Cost: $5/lb (cheaper than any other places) and will be sold in two (2) pound packages. Attention all Sunday School Teachers/Helpers! Safeguarding God s Children is a national required training for all who work with or teach youth in the Episcopal Church. Regional training is scheduled for Saturday Oct 5 at Nashoda House in Milwaukee. (The next regional training date is Feb 22, 2014) Please be sure you receive the training as indicated. There is also the site: safeguarding-gods-people-misconduct-preventiontraining/ which will allow you to register online to take an online class, but the registration deadline is SEPT 20. Only one day per month is the course given online and if you miss this date we are out of luck until the next online registration (date TBD) in October. Please ensure you have this taken care of, thank you!!! 6

7 A Few More Updates Sunday School will start again on September 8th. All kids ages 3 years old through 9th grade are welcome to participate. Classes are held at 10 AM each Sunday. There is a sign up sheet for parents to update with their college kids new addresses. Please indicate if your student would like a care package, and any special dietary restrictions. This sign up sheet is on the round table in the Narthex. This will be our new updated list of college students. If they aren t on the list... we won t plan to send a package! Add your son or daughter s college address, and we will send them the latest GSEC news. Join the GSEC Book Club. Group will meet the first Thursday of each month at 7pm. See Diane Hollendar for more information. The women of the Diocese of Milwaukee are invited to the Fall Retreat of The Order of the Daughters of the King on Saturday, September 7 at Nashotah House Registration is at 9:30-10:00 a.m. with complimentary coffee/tea/juice and breakfast breads available. The speaker will be Mother Paula Harris, Rector of St. Luke s Episcopal Church in Madison. Fall means it's time for a new Foundations Class! Sign up on the easel if you are interested in this! Classes are for 8 weeks, every Sunday at GSEC from Sunday Sept 15 through November 3. All classes are 1-3 pm, with the exception of Oct 6, which will be from 11:30-1:00, and one other date will be changed to allow us to go to St. Francis House in Madison (TBD). If you have a name tag, please consider wearing it. We have several new families and it makes it easier to get to know one another if we have a name to put to a face and see it every Sunday! If you are in need of a name tag, please sign up on the form by the back table. (next to the newsletters, etc). and we will make you one! If yours is lost/damaged/broken, please sign up and we ll put a new one on the name tag rack! Thanks! Madison-Area Julian Gathering - Wednesday, September 11, 7:15-9:00 PM - St. Dunstan s Episcopal Church University Avenue - Madison, WI For more information, contact Susan Fiore at slfiore@mac.com or (608) Parish Picnic The weather was sunny and hot, but that didn't stop anyone from enjoying the Mass on the Grass and all of the incredible food. We also got to meet Lt. Kernal Corncob and learn how we can help our church with a very important fundraising opportunity (see page 2 for more information).

8 SEPTEMBER 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat am Rally 10 am: Sunday School Starts! SS Teacher Mtg 11:30 am Grandparents Day Valentines Day Brainstorming 2 LABOR DAY 9 Special BC Meeting 6:15 pm 3 10 Free Immunization Clinic 3-5 pm 4 Selection Comm (Brainstorming) 5:30 6:30 pm w/ 11 BC Exec Comm.11:30 am 9/11 Service SP VFW 5:30 pm w/ 5 Book Club 7 pm 6 7 Milwaukee DOK Retreat 9 am 3 pm Stewardship St. Aidan s Hartford 15 Youth Bible Study and Childrens Bible School Starts 1 3 pm 16 Bishops Committee 6:15 pm (Time change) 17Clergy Day (Milwaukee) 9 am 3pm 18 Middle School Mentoring Meal 5:00 pm w/ Children s Bible School Only Starts 1 3 pm Kash Kernalz Ends! Free Immunization Clinic 3-5 pm 25 w/ 26 Ladies Night Buck & Honeys in Sun Prairie 6:30 pm Middle and High School Youth Event (Pizza Pullooza) 6-8 pm Youth Bible Study and Children s Bible School 1 pm 3 pm 8

9 October 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 BC Exec Comm. 11:30 am 3 Book Club 7 pm Youth Bible Study and Childrens Bible 11:30 am 1 pm 7 Legacy/ Endowment Meeting 6:15 pm 8 Free Immunization Clinic 3-5 pm 9 w/ Family Corn Maze/ Pumpkin Patch Hayride Trip 13 Youth Bible Study and Childrens Bible 1 pm 3 pm 14 Bishops Committee 6:15 pm 15 Bible study 16 Middle School Mentoring Meal 5:00 pm w/ Children s Bible School Only 1 pm 3 pm Free Immunization Clinic 3-5 pm 23 w/ 24 Ladies Night the Capri in Columbus 6:30 pm Middle and High school Youth Event 6-8 pm Middle School Bible Study 5-7 pm 31 Halloween Children s Bible School Only 1 pm 3 pm w/ 9

10 GSEC Ministry Schedule for September and October :00am Service September 8, 2013 September 15, 2013 September 22, 2013 September 29, 2013 October 6, 2013 October 13, 2013 Usher: Suzanne Perkins Mimi Lawlor Thelma Sutton Kathy Wells Suzanne Perkins Mimi Lawlor Acolyte: Cliff Perkins Cliff Perkins Cliff Perkins Cliff Perkins Cliff Perkins Cliff Perkins Reader: Joan Steele Bill Weirough Thelma Sutton Sue Weirough Elizabeth Fletcher Dan Keohane Chalice: Cliff Perkins Bill Weirough Elizabeth Fletcher Sue Weirough Cliff Perkins Dan Keohane Fellowship: Weirough Sutton "Donuts" Wells Lawlor Potluck Ushers will also serve as greeter and do candles. Readers read both old and new testaments and chalice bearer will act as acolyte. 10:00am Service Usher: Joe Datka Lee Davison David Rhea Mark Schellpfeffer Karl Allemeier Joe Datka Greeter: Ann Haack Reitha Johnson Cathy Rhea Jerry Simono Jana Allemeier Ann Haack Nursery: Sarah Daniels Sarah Daniels Sarah Daniels Sarah Daniels Sarah Daniels Sarah Daniels Prayers: Karl Allemeier Jerry Simono Moira Dunn Buzz Hetzer Jana Allemeier Ann Haack Acolyte: Madeline/Lily Adam/Ann Lauren/Claire Jon/Mike Issac/Emily Madeline/Lily Reader: Rich Foerster Jana Allemeier Ann Haack Moira Dunn Sharon Henes Buzz Hetzer Chalice: Buzz Hetzer Karl Allemeier Bob Weirough Heidi Tess Buzz Hetzer Bob Weirough Chalice: June Paul Jana Allemeier Jerry Simono Reitha Johnson June Paul Jerry Simono Altar Guild: Heidi Tess Sharon Henes Heidi Tess Sharon Henes Thelma Sutton Debra Nelson If you cannot serve on your assigned date, please arrange for your own substitute. If you know of any dates that you will not be available in the upcoming month, or If you are concerned that you are listed to serve when you already indicated you could not, please contact Katie kbskmartin@yahoo.com The Shepherd s Call is published monthly by: Good Shepherd Episcopal Church 3416 Swansee Ridge Sun Prairie, WI Website: office@gsechurch.com TO: 10