Dear friends,

We are excited about the future for Good Shepherd! Our parish has so many indicators of expanding ministry: growing membership and increasing attendance at worship, active members of wide age diversity, and a commitment to experiencing union with one other. We are so fortunate!

This energy gives us many possibilities for ministry. Your vestry and parish leadership are beginning a strategic planning process – Union in Mission – led by the leadership group below to help us focus our resources and time in ways that are most impactful and meaningful. In short, we are discerning what God’s call is to Good Shepherd in this moment. To do this, we need your help. We will be asking you to tell us what is meaningful to you about the parish and what hopes and dreams you have for the parish’s future.

In the coming weeks, we will invite you to complete a survey that asks for your stories about your participation at Good Shepherd and the impact of your participation. Please look for this survey in late October. 

We also invite you to participate in small group discussions on Sunday, November 3, and on Sunday, February 2 or Wednesday, February 5. The sessions in November will be led by outside facilitators and will ask participants about their experiences of Good Shepherd and their hopes for the parish. The sessions in February will focus on the themes and goals that are emerging from this work and will invite your feedback and input. You can sign up for these sessions here. If one date is full, we encourage you to sign up for another.

This process will help us identify the goals and priorities that are most important for Good Shepherd. In this work, we believe that we will hear God’s unique call to our parish.

Thank you in advance for your participation in this work and thank you for your commitment to Good Shepherd and to the ministry that we share here. 

Peace,

Brannon Smith

Chair, Strategic Planning Leadership Group

The Rev. Stanford Adams

Acting Rector

Strategic Planning Leadership Group:

Brannon Smith, chair

Heather Chesney

Trey Duck

Elizabeth Ann Gates

Callie Hester

Will Jones IV

Jessica Riels

Robin Shepherd

The Rev. Leah Wise

Hale Umstattd

The Rev. Stanford Adams