Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd

It wasn't that long ago that a rookie preacher — an intern studying for Holy Orders — spent a summer learning his trade at Good Shepherd. Fr. Charles still looks back fondly on his internship here, and on the huge difference that it, and our church family, made to his growth as a priest.

Good Shepherd helps bring another rookie up from the minors this Sunday: Caroline Vogel, another candidate for Holy Orders, will be our guest preacher. Please help welcome this personable, incisive young preacher as she shares the word of God with us this Sunday.

Sunday, July 6 Check the server schedule.
Guest Preacher: Caroline Vogel
Celebrant: Fr. Charles

• 8:30 a.m.: Holy Eucharist, Rite 1
• 9:30 a.m.: Light Breakfast, served by Martha's Kitchen
• 10:30 a.m.: Holy Eucharist, Rite 2

It's crunch time for Good Shepherd and our older kids: Are we ready to give them the same loving gift of an excellent, time-tested Christian Education curriculum? Or are we going to pull together whatever we can find on short notice?

When you put it that way, it sounds pretty clear. Many of us at Good Shepherd feel very strongly — perhaps with a bit of a nudge from the Spirit — that the Rite 13 curriculum is the way to go for our pre-teens. Our "tweens" (in between childhood and young adulthood) are finding their way when it comes to who they are, who they want to be, and where Christ fits into their lives. Our duty as as parents, as a church family and as loving Christians is to give them the tools they need to make the right decisions.

Please add your thoughts and insight to this important effort. The next meeting on Rite 13 — and on the evolving program for our high school students — will be 7 p.m. Monday, June 30. Nobody's going to draft you into teaching, wrangling large groups of kids or building a life-sized ark out of papier-mache. What we will do is share the work so far and listen to whatever you have to add to the process.

Deadlines are coming up soon if we are to train Rite 13 leaders in time to start the program this fall. Come help us determine whether we have a critical mass of faith and desire to make it happen.

Here's a complete rundown of the week's events:

Sunday, June 29

Anyone who's ever had – or been – an adolescent knows it's an exciting, sometimes scary time. They're growing, asking questions, pushing their limits and even figuring out what all the fuss is about with the opposite sex. And that's just before they learn to drive.

It's also a creative time: Teens and pre-teens are, in a very real sense, building themselves. But they don't have to do it by themselves.

Every Sunday, Good Shepherd gives our youngest kids an incredible gift with Children's Church and, during the school year, Godly Play. Now, we are working to give a similar gift to our middle- and high-school kids with Christian Education programs that are exciting, challenging and – most important – relevant to their daily lives.

For ages 11-13, this gift might just be Rite 13. Used in more than 1,200 congregations throughout the world, this two-year program focuses on building the faith and emotional skills kids need for adulthood. Perhaps its best measure of success: Kids in Rite 13 typically pester their parents to make sure they're on time for Sunday School.

But there’s a catch. If we are to embark on Rite 13 this year, we will need to identify three members of our community who are willing to go to Atlanta for a three-day training program (at church expense) at the end of July. One of those three members can be a parent, but the two lead teachers — who will have to commit to leading our Rite 13 class for the next two years — CANNOT be married to one another nor parents of the children they teach.

Are we ready for this? It's a great program — but are we ready to seek leadership from adults who don't have kids of their own in this particular group? Rite 13 can be a life-changing experience, if our "heart for children" extends past our own children.

Good Shepherd couldn't exist and do God's work without the tireless efforts of many people. It's easy to recognize some of these folks: They may be wearing a robe and participating in the service, or teaching a Sunday School class, or serving coffee and treats in the Parish Hall. Others — like our Vestry members — do most of their work in the background. These aren't necessarily the flashy jobs, like serving as an acolyte, or the fun jobs, like giving you cookies after a service. But they're essential jobs that keep the lights on, the roof fixed, the staff paid and the outreach efforts moving forward.

Our Vestry meets regularly to take a look at where we are, where we're going and what we have to do to continue to grow as a community of faith. To keep everyone up to date on what the Vestry is doing for all of us, here are the minutes of the latest Vestry meeting: