Thursday Notes

Dear Good Shepherd,

Good Morning. Thank you to everyone who came out to the Thanksgiving service last night. God has blessed us abundantly this year. We'll talk more about that this Sunday

Parish Picnic This Sunday: The annual Good Shepherd Picnic is on Sunday June 7th--that's this-- at Cole Park at shelter #1. If you can't follow that link or need help getting there, I will be leaving the church at 10:30am and you are welcome to follow me.

The worship service will start at 11:00am at the park and then we'll start up the grills. There is a baseball diamond and a playground and usually water balloon fights out there so there will be lots for kids to do--be sure they wear something that can get wet.

Please bring guests. This is a great opportunity to invite people to church who wouldn't go on a regular Sunday.

For those who cannot go to the picnic but don't want to miss church, there will be an 8:00am service at the church and Adult Christian ed afterwards.

Joyce Carlson: Thank you for your prayers for Joyce. She is out of the hospital and doing very well. Anne has just this morning written an update on her blog. They expect to come back to the US later this month. Please continue to pray for her full recovery

Thank you: To everyone who has stepped forward to help the boys and me while Anne and the girls are taking care of Joyce. Babysitting, warm dinners, invitations to dinner, calls, help around the house...all of these mean a great deal to us. Thank you.

Systematic Theology: We'll continue our discussion of the "Incommunicable attributes" of God and move into the communicable attributes. I intended to record the last two discussions but for some reason my italk recorder was not working. It worked this Sunday however so I'll be podcasting the next session since I know several regulars will be away.

Men's Breakfast and Bible Study will meet this Friday at 6:30am. We're studying 1st Samuel. All men are welcome. Charles and Ray are cooking

Beginners Bible Study (Thursday nights) not meeting for Three Weeks: I really regret this but with Anne gone for the next few weeks I don't think I'll be able to lead this bible study. If it were held at Good Shepherd I could do it, but the logistics of getting two boys taken care of on Thursday evenings while I go to Conklin Ave. Baptist are just not working out. So the Beginners Bible Study is on a 3 week hiatus until Anne returns and then we'll start it up again.

Acolytes: I've talked to most everybody and it seems that Sunday afternoons are better for everyone...including me.

I had moved practice to this Saturday but since we are moving to Sundays and this coming Sunday is the picnic, I am going to move the next practice to Sunday June 28th. Thereafter practices will be on the 4th Sunday of every month. I have changed the calendar accordingly for the rest of the year.

Volunteers needed this Saturday: We need help this Saturday to distribute flyers for the June 13th block party People will gather at the church at 10:00am

For new acolytes and/or prospective acolytes and their parents, I would like to have a short meeting with you on Sunday the 14th of June after the service, just to pass on information about acolytes and answer questions you may have.

Christian Education: Christ and Culture--Islam: This Sunday we'll finish up our Christ and Culture series and our discussion of Islam--discussing strategies for evangelism among Muslims.

The Next Christian Education series will be a discussion of the Sacraments: Baptism and Communion. What are they, what does the bible say about them, how do Anglicans understand them. We'll also talk a little bit about the way Anglicans worship and the reasons we do what we do. There are a number of people who are interested in Anglicanism and have been asking questions about this topic and I also think that its good for some of us long-time Anglicans to refresh our memory.

Podcast Sermon: Last week's podcast sermon for Pentecost is availible here.

Youth Group Update from Micah:

The youth group will be meeting at regular times this Sunday: Senior High, 6-8; Junior High, 1-3. I will be trying to hand out a schedule for the next few months of Summer. Parents, please remember to let me know when you're going on vacation if you know. It's important that I have this information while forming the schedule. We are going to be doing all kinds of fun things like B-Met's games, cookouts, and if we can coordinate well, I'd like to take the kids to an amusement park. Youth, these are a great time to bring friends to youth group.

Youth Tip: Kids aren't your personal slaves, nor are you theirs. It's easy to dump stuff you don't want to do on the nearest warm body, especially if they are younger and have to listen to you! It is the tendency sometimes of parents to give their kids lots of little tasks that they don't want to do, rather than give them actual responsibilities. Responsibility requires trust. Turning your kid into a gopher does not. The other side of this is not always being the gopher or slave for your kids. Don't clean up after them, make sure they clean up after themselves (future roommates will thank you!). Again, the key here is giving responsibility. As your child grows older, give them real responsibilities. And make sure that when they do not fulfill them, there are real consequences! Your ultimate goal is to make it so that when your kid reaches 18, they are able to go out and hold down real jobs, or go to school and not spin out of control.

Calendar: Remember to check the parish calendar every week for Duty Roster and ministry schedule updates as well as daily happenings.