March 12
Beloved of Good Shepherd Church,
Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
Good Shepherd Church has 3 uniques. We are spiritually alive. We are a place where everyone belongs. We are a contemplative church. These 3 unique characteristics of our church don’t make us great or better than other churches. Rather they are the component parts of our personality as a community of followers of Jesus Christ.
That we are spiritually alive means that there is a palpable vibrancy among us. When we get together, the atmosphere seems to hum and shimmer with wonder, love, and affection in a tender way. The people of our parish are eager for God and excited to be on the spiritual path. The choir sings like their lives depend on it, the children and youth of our church radiate joy and seem to be always on the verge of adventure, the outreach team of our parish leads us into the streets to serve, the young at heart love from the deep well of years of experience, and you…you inspire me to be more loving every time our paths cross. We are spiritually alive!
Everyone belongs means that no matter the things that you’ve done or left undone, you belong at Good Shepherd. No matter what you believe or don’t believe, no matter your view on this, that, or the other, the people of our parish will make an effort to create a place at the table for you. Everyone belongs coincides with our identity as a developmental church which means that we have members whose centers of gravity represent each stage on the map of the evolution of consciousness. You will find marvelous, loving traditionalists, modernists, and progressives at Good Shepherd. Everyone belongs!
Contemplative means we seek to go deeper. In our worship, our formation, and our outreach endeavors we always seek to go deeper that we might fall further in love with God and each other day by day. Contemplatives look beneath the surface to find deeper meaning and to discover God’s benevolent presence sewn into the core of all that is.
Good Shepherd is a spiritually alive contemplative church where everyone belongs. You help make it so by your presence, hospitality, curiosity, and love. Thank you!
Remember this always - God loves you, and I love you too!
Love is all,
Hendree+