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Well, so far everything is going wonderful! We ended 2011 with a surplus of $300. Last fall, the council adopted a beautiful behavioral covenant as part of the Healthy Start process. The covenant, which is included in this month’s newsletter, included these tenets: (1) Listen to each other; (2) Respect the privacy of those who confide; (3) Challenge each other with the truth; (4) Deal with people directly; don’t complain to others; (5) Strengthen each other; (6)Be gentle wit one another; (7) Do not speak ill of others in the fellowship; (8) Do not judge each other; (9) Pray for one another; (1) Confess one’s wrongs to another; (11) Forgive one another; and (12) Freely participate in the Body of Christ according to our gifts and talents.

This is a great covenant and I would like to extend this to our congregation. I challenge the congregation to review and understand each tenet listed and try to apply it everyday. It’s not going to be easy, as we can be human sometimes, but it’s a great start in the right direction. Remember, it takes more muscles to frown than to smile!

As part of our commitment to the Healthy Start process, the Church Council has adopted the following promises. We, as a Council, are dedicated to healthy congregational practices, and invite the congregation to join us in these guidelines.

As members of the Council of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd we, being sinners and falling short, agree, with the help of God, to relate to each other through Christ, and thus hold ourselves and each other to:

Listen to each other. “Let everyone be quick to hear and slow to speak….” James 1:19. Dietrich Bonhoeffer has stated: “The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists of listening to them.” Life Together p. 97

Respect the Privacy of Those Who Confide. “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.” Proverbs 11:13

Challenge each other with the truth. Be willing to confront when it is important. “Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and up-builds itself in love.” Ephesians 4:15-16

Deal with people directly; don’t complain to others. “If one of my followers sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you.” Matthew 18:15. If someone complains to you about another member, help that person follow this principle.

Strengthen each other. “[Speak} only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29 Likewise, the test of true fellowship is to “make the individual free, strong and mature,” not “weak and dependent.” Bonhoeffer p.88

Be gentle with one another. “My friends you are spiritual. So if someone is trapped in sin, you should gently lead that person back to the right path. But watch out, and don’t be tempted yourself.” Galatians: 6:1

Do not speak ill of others in the fellowship. “Do not grumble about each other or you will be judged, and the judge is right outside the door.” James 5:9

Do not judge each other. “Some of you accuse others of doing wrong. But there is no excuse for what you do. When you judge others, you condemn yourselves, because you are guilty of doing the very same things.” Romans 2:1

Pray for one another. “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” James 5:16

Freely participate in the Body of Christ according to our gifts and talents. “Freely you have received, freely given.” Matthew 10:8

The New Year is off to a good beginning; Church in Society has changed its committee meeting time to the first Wednesday of the month, at 1:00pm in the church Library. This makes it easier for those of us who do not like to drive at night; this may change back to evenings when the daylight hours lengthen.

Good Shepherd and First Presbyterian meet at Dorothy's Place the fourth Sunday of the month, serving soup, sandwiches, fruit and cookies; I am told that our group, who was in charge of feeding the homeless men and women at Dorothy's Place on Christmas Day, had many, many extra hands from LCGS, and they fed about 315 guests a ham dinner with all the fixin's! Our thanks go out to all who pitched in! On January 22, about 120 were fed, with seven of our congregants participating.

I-Help was handled by the Tabitha Circle, feeding and caring for about 22 men who are homeless and looking for employment. Thanks GALS!! On February 9, Joy Circle gets a turn! We really appreciate your help and caring and I am sure those we help are appreciative, too.

Women Alive are fed a dinner meal at Dorothy's Place on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month; there are about 5 to 7 women who prepare and take in a dinner of salad, fruit, entree, desert, and bread. We usually feed about 26 to 32 women. We will continue our participation with the Food Bank; you can bring in non-perishable for the donation box in the Narthex, but remember, for every $1 donated, the Food Bank can purchase $8 worth of food for the needy. We would love to add members to our committee, so if you are interested please come join us at our February meeting on the first of the month! —- Colette Ownby, Committee Chair

The Lent season is quickly approaching. Lent is a time of repentance, forgiveness and reconnection with God. Come and nourish your body and soul with food, fun and fellowship. During Lent, we use purple placemats as the color symbolizes royalty and Jesus’ robes. To help make our suppers successful, we need volunteers to prepare soup (sign-up poster will be in Narthex). We will need vegetable (meatless) and meat soups. If you are interested in preparing soup, please call Carol McPadden 449-9428. Donations for the soup suppers are greatly appreciated; financial assistance is available to those who’d like to cook but need help with purchasing ingredients. We will also need volunteers to help with clean-up and running the dishwashers. Our goal is to have clean-up and dishes completed before the 7pm service begins. Blessings to all ~~ Carol McPadden

Committee Spotlight on Eucharistic Ministry

Eucharistic Ministry is the focus of the Committee Spotlight this month which is a little misleading since we're not really one of our church's committees! We don't hold committee meetings nor have members on council. What we do is take communion out to our shut-ins on the 1st Sunday of every month and we go out in pairs. We take baskets of our Lord's Supper and folders that have copies of the Confession of Sins, the Words of Institution, and the Lord's Prayer. The Words of Institution are read to the communicant and the Confession of Sins and the Lord's Prayer are either read to, or read with the communicant depending on their abilities. And of course, the Lord's Supper is served to them. So those are the highlights -- as you can see we may not be a real committee, but we perform a needed service for our members who can'

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