Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
I’m writing this from my gate at Dulles airport. I’m excited about meeting up with George at our new apartment in Agen! We’ll also be seeing Beatrice (our daughter) in Marseille. It’s going to be a whirlwind trip. I look forward to telling you about it when I get back.
I’m excited to announce that our rector position is now LIVE with the Diocese, as of last Friday. As promised, click here to see the PDF of the OTM Ministry Portfolio, which is what candidates will read to learn about us. This was a huge amount of work and was the distillation of what was shared in the small groups and surveys that you all participated in. Thank you!
This Sunday will be the in-gathering for our Stewardship campaign. Thank you to everyone who has already pledged! If you haven’t yet filled out your pledge card (or pledged online), plan to bring in your card on Sunday!
Mark your calendars for the following Sunday as well, when we will be inviting you to write thank-you cards to everyone who pledged after church—as a community. We think that will be really fun, and another opportunity to strengthen us as a community.
The vestry is working on finalizing the position description for a part-time, temporary replacement for Lynn— we will likely work with an agency so that we can get someone in quickly. We don’t want to hire a permanent person because our new rector should also have a voice in the hiring, and also because — at Rev. Anna’s suggestion—we are looking at some creative ideas for how to restructure the position in the longer term — potentially sharing an administrator with another church, for example.
Lynn has had an extraordinary ministry here at Good Shepherd, and we are so grateful. We know we can’t replace that. Her departure gives us an opportunity to think differently about what we want and need at this point. If you are interested in being a part of this process, let me know!
That’s all for now. Don’t forget to take a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. And keep showing up with your prayers and your love for this special community.