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To read more about LCGS, go to our website at: www.goodshepherdreno.org

Call Team Update—pg 4 Looking Ahead to Worship—pg 5 Faith Formation—pg 6 Save the Dates! - pg 10 Helping Others—pg 13

March 2015 | Monthly Newsletter of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Reno Nevada

40 Days of Connection

Voice

Shepherd’s

Welcome Guests Especially if this is your first time at Good Shepherd, wel-come! May your worship today inspire and empower you for Christian discipleship this week. We ask that you provide your name, address and phone number in the blue Friend-ship Register at the end of the rows. We promise not to pester you. Child care is available in the nursery from 8:45am–12:30pm; however we welcome and encourage our little people to join us for worship! Please reserve the rear seats for parents with small children and for latecomers. Activity bags for kids are also available in the hallway. Assisted Listening Devices are available for those with difficulty hearing. Please inquire at the Sound Booth. Whether you are here for the first time today, or have been here for ages, we want to help you navigate the information maze here at our church.

Keeping In Touch Information Tables in the Welcoming Space & Shepherd Hall. Here you’ll find a lot of good information that we don’t always report on in print. This is also the place to look for sign-up sheets for various activities. Our website is www.goodshepherdreno.org. Are you on Facebook? Become a fan of “Good Shepherd Lutheran, Reno” and receive regular inspiration, updates, and connection throughout the week!

You Are Welcome Here

Welcome to long-time Lutherans, Christians from every tradition, and people new to the faith.

Welcome to all who have no church home, want to follow Jesus, have doubts, or do not believe.

Welcome to new visitors and old friends.

Welcome especially to all who have ever been made to feel unwelcome by the church.

Welcome to people of every age and size, color and culture, marital status, ability and challenge,

sexual orientation and gender identity. We want to be clear that we welcome lesbian, gay,

bi-sexual, and transgender persons to participate in the life of the congregation.

Welcome to believers, questioners, and questioning believers.

This is a place where you are welcome to celebrate and grieve, to rejoice and recover.

No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.

This is a place where lives are made new.

Come and see!

A Reconciling in Christ Congregation

PASTOR Pr. Paul Bodin, Interim Pastor

Maribeth Doerr, Pastoral Care Assistant

FAITH FORMATION Shaun O’Reilly, Director

Patzy Martinez-Perez, Student Ministry

WORSHIP & MUSIC Deanna Gaunt, Director

Eric Doerr, Audiovisual Specialist Andrea Lenz, Organist

Jennie Tibben, Choir Director Iris Maytan, Organist Emeritus

PROGRAMS Kristin Lessard, Coordinator

Elizabeth (Dolly) Keller, Events Coordinator

OFFICE Deanna Gaunt, Director

Maribeth Doerr, Coordinator Marijo Rosevear, Financial Secretary

Shepherd’s Voice 3

2015 GOVERNING BOARD

Paul Brosy, President paradmds@sbcglobal.net Louis Mendes, Treasurer lounkaren@aol.com Lori Bigham, Secretary lbigham@bighamconsulting.com Alyssa O’Hair, Member akohair@gmail.com Colin Robertson, Member colincito@gmail.com Nicole Guyette, Member guyetten@gmail.com Pr. Paul Bodin, Interim Pastor

prpaul@goodshepherdreno.org

PASTOR’S MESSAGE leak out prematurely and get back to the candi-dates’ current congregations, their present min-istries could be damaged beyond repair. Please be patient and don’t expect to discover this privileged information; if the Call Team does their job carefully, nobody else outside the bishop’s office will ever know whom they have considered!

That does not mean we will be uninvolved with the process. We all have an important part to play. The call process is a process of spiritual discernment. The people actually doing the work are not the only ones active in discern-ment—they work under the Holy Spirit’s wise guidance. Our part of the job is to pray con-stantly for the Call Team, for the bishop and his staff who are assisting them, for the discern-ment of the candidates whom they will consider, and for the Spirit’s help and guidance through the whole process. At the very least, I urge you to pray for our Call Team daily by their names: Adam, Diana, Judi, Kent, Linda, and Vic.

Grace and Peace,

By Pastor Paul Bodin, Interim Pastor God’s beloved people,

As you will read elsewhere in this Voice, the Call Team will have completed the information-gathering phase of its first task and will now be working hard to complete the Ministry Site Profile for Good Shepherd Church. That profile, which you will probably hear referred to as the “MSP,” will be first shared with the Governing Board and the congregation, then submitted to the bishop’s office. It is a detailed description of our congregation on an eleven-page form prepared for this purpose by the ELCA. Every congregation in the ELCA that seeks to call a pastor uses this same form to describe itself carefully so that the bishop can have the information needed to select suitable candidates to recommend for call to that con-gregation.

The Call Team has worked very hard so far to keep their work open and transparent. The Saturday workshop, the cottage meetings, meetings with ministry teams, and the survey have all been open to the congregation. They were designed in an effort to solicit as much information as possible from as many people as possible, and the summary of this information in the MSP will be shared with all of you. That transparency is about to change.

Once the MSP is submitted to the synod, the rest of the proc-ess will be confidential until the Call Team reaches its final recommendation of a single candidate to bring forward to the Governing Board and the congregation. They will only be able to share abstract, general reports like “the Call Team has re-ceived x names from the synod for consideration.” You should be prepared for two frustrating realities.

First, there will be long stretches of time when you will hear virtually nothing or only repetitions of the same information. The process takes time, and while the Call Team may be busy the details must be kept confidential. It will probably take four to six weeks for the bishop’s office to identify and submit their first list of candidates for the Team’s consideration. Then the Team must sift through the candidate profiles and decide which ones merit further consideration. They will probably schedule preliminary Skype or telephone interviews and then one or more on-site interviews with select candidates. During this time, probably three months or more, the congregation will hear very little from the Team even though they are working as hard and as quickly as they can!

Second, we will not hear any specific names until the Team brings forward their final candidate for the congregation’s con-sideration. Yes, I wrote “we”—I won’t know the names, either. This is necessary to protect the ongoing ministries of the can-didates. The Team will probably receive five or six names, but they will only recommend one person for call. If those names

Shepherd’s Voice 4

February was a busy and productive month for Good Shepherd’s six-member Call Team as we continue to research, prepare and submit an updated Ministry Site Profile to the ELCA website by the end of March, which will form the foundation of the Sierra Pacific Synod’s search for our next lead pastor. Two successful events in January — the “A Day to Re-member” celebration and visioning event and the quar-terly Leadership Gathering — generated valuable feed-back and gave us a baseline of where the congregation has been, where we are now and where we’d like to be in the future. This led us into February’s series of meet-ings with key ministry groups including the choir, Journey With Christ, advocacy, personnel team and others. We then hosted six small group “cottage meetings” in Call Team members’ homes and at Good Shepherd, and fi-nally met with staff. Through these meetings we’ve com-piled a good, comprehensive cross-section of thoughts and ideas on our core mission, or identity, and our place and purpose in the community. We finished the month by administering a print and online survey that asked the congregation to rank, from a list of 25, the top five “gifts for ministry” they’d like to see in our next pastor; three things they’re excited about right now; and some demographic information that will, again, help us compile the most accurate and thorough Ministry Site Profile possible. Once the profile is completed and submitted, the Synod takes over with their search for several weeks. They will then present their candidates to the team and we will keep the congregation apprised of their, and our, pro-gress as the process moves through its second phase. We’d like to thank everyone who participated in these meetings, and all who continue to follow our work, for their enthusiasm, their caring and, most importantly, their prayers. Keep them coming, and please don’t hesitate to approach or contact any of us with questions or con-cerns. Thank you and God bless, The Good Shepherd Call Team Adam Anderson - Goirish820@outlook.com Judi Hein - judihein@gmail.com Kent Kubista - tokentwist@gmail.com Linda Smith - linda@renosmith.net Diana Welmerink - dwelmerink@gmail.com Vic Williams - fg.vwilliams@gmail.com

CALL TEAM UPDATE

Part-Time Office Position Available

LCGS is looking for a half-time Office Coordi-nator to provide clerical and computer support for the Ministry Center. Applicant must be pro-ficient in desktop publishing, skilled with Micro-soft Office, Publisher, PowerPoint, Excel, and social media. This position also requires the ability to handle Property Maintenance respon-sibilities including scheduling routine mainte-nance, liaison with vendors and contractors, and budget administration. The successful applicant will have excellent communication skills and be able to demon-strate a willingness to follow directions, identify priorities and make decisions related to the position. If you meet these requirements and want to work in a Christian environment 4 hours a day, five days a week, please submit your resume to Deanna Gaunt at: Deanna2@goodshepherdreno.org.

Next VOICE Deadline . . .

Would you like to submit an article, essay, save the date, event, or story for the April Voice? Send your items by March 19 to Maribeth Doerr at maribeth@goodshepherdreno.org. Don’t be shy! We need YOUR voice!

Shepherd’s Voice 5

Welcoming Our Journeyers

Journey with Christ | Sundays at 5pm

Journey With Christ Leadership Team Dolly Keller - elizabethdollyk@gmail.com – 775-826-2127 Steve Secora - ssecora@gmail.com – 775-360-6420 Adam Welmerink – awelmerink@gmail.com – 775-622-1874

LENT | 40 DAYS OF CONNECTION

During Lent at Good Shepherd, we are focusing our atten-tion on this season as “40 Days of Connection.” In our fast-paced world, we get distracted by technologies, narratives, and even old personal hang-ups that tend to breed our dis-connection from one another and from God. Lent can be a time to re-focus. And it can be a time to come together, to connect. It’s a fair theme given that our church is in the proc-ess of calling our next lead pastor; this process begs us to connect with one another, to envision ways we want to walk forward together.

Our Lenten prayer, then, is that God would connect us back to God’s promises to us in our baptism, connect us to one another as the Good Shepherd community, and even con-nect us to our Reno-Sparks neighbors in need of the light of the world spoken into their realities. So,

- come to worship, join a study group, meet together. Per-haps, let the Lenten season be a challenge to find some new way to connect with someone/s at Good Shepherd.

- consider attending the Adult Faith Formation class at 10am on Sundays; we're taking time to reflect on Lenten bible readings while we consider what social justice looks like in Reno-Sparks these days.

- notice the art installation up in the welcoming space, a floating visual reminder of the identities we carry around––some that connect, many that don’t. Our world is filled with death and disconnection, and we are looking forward to our Easter celebration––God’s promise of resurrection in our midst––where wounds are healed and our separateness is brought back together again.

Thanks be to God for the many ways we can break through isolation and be a congregation this Lent. March 1 - March 22 Sundays in Lent Worship at 7:30am—9am—11am Mar. 1 – Men’s Ministry Sunday Mar. 15 – Youth Sunday Mar. 22 – New Member Sunday March 29 - Sunday of the Passion | Palm Sunday On this day, we will use the Stations of the Cross to journey with Jesus in his final days.

The Triduum: (please see the back flyer for more info) Thursday, April 2 | Maundy Thursday | 7pm Friday, April 3 | Good Friday Tenebrae Worship | 7pm Saturday April 4 | The Vigil of Easter | 8pm

April 5 - The Resurrection of Our Lord | Easter Sunday 7:30am | After-Sunrise Celebration Worship 9am & 11am | Traditional Worship with Great Basin Brass, Timpani and Choir

Palm Plants and Lilies

We will be decorating our worship space with palm plants for Palm Sun-day and lilies for Easter. If you would like to purchase a plant for $10 in memory or honor of a loved one, you can use the forms on the Welcoming Space table or email or call Maribeth Doerr in the church office (email: maribeth@goodshepherdreno.org or call: 329-0696). Donations can be made online at goodshepherdreno.org (click News, Events & Giving and then Online Giving) or you can place your check/cash in the offering plate.

Stations of the Cross for Lutherans Thurs. at Good Shepherd, 11am-2pm Feb. 26, Mar. 5, Mar. 12, Mar. 19, Mar. 26

The Stations of the Cross com-bine art, litera-ture and move-ment to recreate Christ’s walk to the cross within the walls of the

church—allowing the faithful to make a “pilgrimage to Jerusalem” and be drawn closer to the Christ who walked there. The stations are intended to be a personal or small group devo-tion, to be walked and prayed at a time other than the usual liturgical worship of the commu-nity. This year, the worship space will be open on Thursdays, beginning February 26, from 11am-2pm for individuals or small groups desiring to engage in this enriching Lenten practice. A spe-cial devotional guide has been developed by Kent Kubista for this pilgrimage, which leads par-ticipants through each of the stations utilizing a series of Bible readings, meditations, and re-sponsive prayer. Once you have completed your pilgrimage, you are encouraged to sign the guest book and share any comments that might be helpful to future planning of this event.

Shepherd’s Voice 6

FAITH FORMATION

Adult Faith Formation Sundays, 10am | Luther Hall

Today in Adult Faith Formation, we begin a series titled Lenten Reflections and Local Justice. For today’s session and next week, March 8, Nicole Guyette and Sheila Freed will lead a discussion on Mental Health and the work of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Come explore the ELCA Social Message, “The Body of Christ and Mental Illness,” which ties to our Lenten theme of “Connections.”

Dinner and a Show! Sunday, March 22nd, 6pm

The Good Shepherd High School Youth host a dinner and play! A time of connection in this 40 Days of Connection! It’s a fundraiser for students headed to Detroit for the ELCA’s National Youth Gather-ing in July so please consider supporting this event! It’s a baked potato bar, sides and dessert in Shepherd Hall. Then, it’s a holistic and humor-ous look at God’s story in the world, as the Bible tells it. You won’t want to miss this chance to hear the whole story, from Genesis to Revelation. And, you don’t want to miss this unique chance to donate to the youth trip! Children, friends, and neighbors are all invited.

The Whole Bible in Under an Hour!

JOURNEY WITH CHRIST

Celebrating the Easter Vigil

“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.” ~ Isaiah 55:1 Our final celebration with our Journeyers will be the great Vigil of Easter on April 4th. This will be the culmi-nation of months of study, prayer, and preparation for our catechumen and candidates. They have journeyed with one another and with their sponsors through explo-rations of faith and ministry. While it is the last rite of the Journey With Christ process, it is their first step in their new journey, as persons renewed in their faith and filled with the Spirit. At the Vigil we will witness our journeyers making public proclamations of their commitment to love and serve our Lord. We will get to experience nine affirmations of bap-tism, and one adult baptism. This symbolizes the jour-neyers’ rebirth as new brothers and sisters in Christ. For those who have never seen an adult baptism, it is one of the most moving spiritual experiences you can watch, and we are all blessed to be able to celebrate together. Following the affirmation of baptism, the journeyers will be blessed and “sealed” with the Holy Spirit, to help guide them as they continue to spread God’s word and live a life of love and mercy. We will then all welcome them as part of the body to the church and pray for their continued spiritual growth and contributions they will make to our congregation. Please join us on Saturday the 4th at 8pm; it is one of the most beautiful celebrations of the church year. Come. Help us celebrate with our Journeyers. All are welcome!

Journey With Christ Leadership Team: Dolly Keller, elizabethdollyk@gmail.com, 775-826-2127 Steve Secora, ssecora@gmail.com, 775-360-6420 Adam Welmerink, awelmerink@gmail.com, 775-622-1874 Please pray for our 2014-2015 Journeyers and their Companions: Jim Ballard Troy Giersdorf Ruth Damron Teri Estes Steve Hedrick Todd Mauldin Paul Kaufmann Dave Harbeck Shelby Kolesar Erin Anderson Andrew Palmer Tom Albright Barbara Pratt Elaine Brown Burris Judy Prutzman Karen Hensel Phil Romero Todd Mauldin Amanda Slabaugh Katie Albright

(Please see page 8 for a picture of the group)

Shepherd’s Voice 7

Kids Community (K-6 graders) Together for Sunday classes from 9:55-10:55am, in the ministry center.

3rd—

6th

Graders

As our 3rd - 6th graders head to Mt. Cross for their Winter retreat March 6 - 8th, let’s extend our prayers for a safe and fabulous experience.

5th and 6th Grade Learning Retreat

In this season, we’ll once again be holding our Communion learning time for upper elemen-tary age kids and a par-ent/adult. It’s for kids who are:

in the 5th or 6th grade and at least 10 years of age

haven’t participated in Communion retreat at church

We invite and encourage you and your child to at-tend this two hour mini-retreat. For some children this serves as preparation for their first communion. If your child is already communing, this is an inten-tional learning time to revisit and explore the Sacra-ment of Holy Communion. Children at this age are in a unique place developmentally to broaden and deepen their understanding of this meal, so central to our growth as Jesus’ disciples. Parents play a very important part in this retreat with their children. Shaun leads the retreat, along with guests. For those interested, we’ll crowd-source a best day/time, maybe a Sunday or Wednesday after-noon. On Thursday, April 2nd, the learning from the retreat culminates at our observance of Maundy Thursday. We’ll celebrate first communions as part of this wor-ship. Get in touch with Shaun to be connected to this retreat! shaun@goodshepherdreno.org

CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES

Need information about faith formation or these

events? Contact Shaun O’Reilly, Director of Faith

Formation: shaun@goodshepherdreno.org / 329-0696.

Invitation to Bible Classes Tuesdays | Noon & 5pm

Join this Bible class led by Pr. Paul at noon or 5pm on Tues-days at the Ministry Center. Feel free to bring your lunch or dinner. The coffee’s on us!

Thursdays | 3pm

Another opportunity to study God’s Word. Join us on Thursday afternoons at 3pm in the Ministry Center. All are welcome!

Middle School

Confirmation is a GO on Wednesdays up until Washoe County Spring Break. Come learn about sacraments with us! Save the Date - Saturday-Sunday, April 11th-12th. It’s another overnighter up at Tahoe!

High School

Our “Second Sunday Dinner” is off to prepare for two awesome events for fun:

Sunday, March 15th, Youth Sunday! We’ll pitch the idea of our national gathering trip at all three morning services! Block out this time to participate and be ready to come help prepare in the weeks ahead.

Sunday night, March 22nd FUNDRAISER!

We’re providing dinner and then performing the “Whole Bible in 45 Minutes or Less!” See Shaun and Patzy for the rehearsal schedule and plan-ning assignments.

Life Together at Good Shepherd

Saying Goodbye to Our

Beloved Toni deSalvo

To read Larry Struve’s touch-

ing eulogy, please visit our

website at

goodshepherdreno.org

Each guest at Sunday worship receives a gift of a handmade wooden

cross. Our own Al Fisher, who attends the 7:30am service, is the

face and the hands behind these crosses. He even makes special

ones for kids. He’s made 2535 crosses for us over the last 14 years

and used wood from the old pews in our old sanctuary until it was

gone. Thank you Al for sharing your woodworking gifts and generosity

with Good Shepherd!

Journey

with

Christ

2015

Iris Maytan celebrated her 90th birthday with us on February 1. She writes, “Thank you, thank you Good Shepherd for the wonderful celebration of my 90th birthday! The song and the party was

terrific. I love you all.” We love you too, Iris!

Lenten Connections and Disconnections

By Kent Kubista As we talk about our “40 Days of Connection”

this Lent, we also recognize the many ways that

our claimed identities seem to disconnect us.

What does Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection

mean for the brokenness we perform each day?

We keep wrestling for connection.

As you enter the Worship Space, consider wet-

ting your finger with water from the Baptismal

Font and making the sign of the cross on your

forehead or across your body. God’s promises

speak to us even in all our disconnections.

Our Newest Art Installation . . .

Souper Bowl Sunday!

The youth raised $895.25 on Souper Bowl Sunday

for the Youth Fund (ELCA National Youth Gathering

in Detroit). Thanks everyone for participating and

helping our kids!

Photos: We are enjoying the ability to have color photos in our publica-tions and to be able to take can-did shots of our ministry in ac-tion. If you do NOT want your photo included in any of these pubications, please alert the photographer/staff and let them know. Otherwise, you may see your face in print!

~ Deanna Gaunt

Shepherd’s Voice 10

Hiking Group Potluck Wednesday, March 25, 6-8pm

The hikers will be having their potluck and 2015 planning meeting in Shepherd Hall on Wednesday, March 25 from 6-8pm. Please RVSP to Lisa Mays at lisa@amaysingresults.com or 852-6297.

Good Ole Gals Saturday, March 7, 10-12pm

Joan Rodican will host the Saturday, March 7 brunch in her home, located at 786 Diogenes Drive, Reno, 89512. All ladies are welcome to bring some-thing to share. Call either Joan at 324-5150 or Shirley at 771-6486. Women’s Retreat Saturday, March 14—9:00am to 4:00pm

Join us for the Good Shepherd Women’s Retreat “Finding Our Vision” on Saturday, March 14th from 9:00am–4:00pm in Shepherd Hall. We are planning an inspiring day of presentations, small group dis-cussions, singing, worship and hands-on activities to reflect on self and community. The cost of the retreat is $20, which includes materials and a ca-tered lunch. Registration forms are available on the Welcoming Space table. Completed registration forms and payments should be placed in the Women’s Retreat collection box or mailed or dropped off in the church office (Attn: Kristin Les-sard) by Sunday, March 1. It’s going to be a won-derful day of learning, renewing and sharing with women in community. You’re not going to want to miss it!

The A-Men Retreat is Back! Friday-Sunday, April 10-12

After several years of “when is the next men’s re-treat?” inquiries, the A-Men are happy to announce that they’re back in the saddle and ready to “Gather the Embers” for a two-night weekend gathering at Zephyr Point Conference Center at Lake Tahoe, April 10-12. There’s room for 20 guys and cost is $80 including lodging and “dude food” — pizza, sim-ple breakfast, sandwiches and snacks — to go along with the spiritual sustenance we’ll share. Facilitated by Pastor Paul Bodin with assists from A-Men vets Todd Mauldin and Vic Williams, the retreat begins with an icebreaker and orientation on Friday afternoon, with several full- and small-group ses-sions to follow throughout the weekend, culminating in a special worship service Sunday morning. Plenty of free/reflection time is built in, along with evening fellowship opportunities including games and music. We’ll be home by midday. Carpooling is strongly suggested as parking at the venue is limited. As with all A-Men retreats, the goal of “Gathering the Embers” is to bring guys closer together in Je-sus, share stories and maybe learn a thing or two about how to live a more authentic life of faith and friendship. It’s the perfect follow-up to Easter and Holy Week. To save your spot or for more information, contact retreat organizer Steve Secora at (775) 200-8641 or ssecora@gmail.com

Organ Dedication and Concert

Saturday, April 25 at 3pm Concert by David Brock

Ladies’ Tea—Hats off to the Ladies! Saturday, May 9, 11am-1pm

Join us with your favorite bonnet in Shepherd Hall on May 9 as we celebrate the ladies of Good Shepherd with tea, finger sandwiches, pretty china and tea-pots, handsome waiters and prizes for the best hats.

Shepherd’s Voice 11

Dear Good Shepherd friends,

We are unpacked and settling in to our new life at Mt. Cross. Thank you so much for the wonderful send-off in late December. Good Shepherd was a big part of our lives and we find ourselves missing you all! In the past few months the Mt. Cross office has undergone a “face lift” with new flooring and fresh paint. Staff con-tracts have been updated. The camper cabins are being examined for improvements. Recruiting for summer camp counselors is underway. We find our-selves wearing our “God’s Work, Our Hands” sweat-shirts often – they are so comfy! It was the perfect gift for our family. Many blessings to you all as you continue the work of calling a new pastor.

~The Solbergs

MOPS Volunteers Needed

For the past eleven years, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd has supported our MOPS—Mothers of Pre-schoolers. Much time and caring has been put into this program by our congregation. This allows the young moms to meet, eat, relax, learn, and grow spiritually. Our group which meets first and third Wednesdays from 9:00-11:30am, September through May, is growing. Already this year, five babies have been born to our moms. Our Moppet population which has 42 registered little ones contains five sets of twins! We have four classrooms which we would like to staff with at least eight volunteers for each meet-ing. When we can’t get enough volunteers, we have to pull the moms from their meeting to help out. We’re looking for members who could help out on a regular, occasional, or a one time volunteer basis for this valuable ministry. Being a moppet volunteer has its perks . . . You go home exhausted, sticky, and loved! For more information and to volunteer, please con-tact Becky Erdmann at 775-329-3235 or

We Need Your Trimmings!

The Liturgical Arts Team is in need of help securing “trimmings” for decorating the worship space on Easter Sunday. Do you have any of the following trees or shrubs growing in your yard: flowering pear, peach, cherry or crab-apple trees? Forsythia, lilac, quince, or other flowering shrubs? Greenery such as privet, boxwood, camellia, quince, fern or other small leaved plants?

If you can provide cuttings that are one to five feet in length, please talk to Kent Kubista or another mem-ber of the liturgical arts team. They will be needed

on Saturday, April 4, the day before Easter.

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Week of March 1 Mar. 1 Sunday Joan Andrews, Jennie Tibben

Claire Welmerink

Mar. 2 Monday Ron Haines, Luke Hermann

Mar. 3 Tuesday Sheryl Coulston

Mar. 4 Wednesday

Mar. 5 Thursday Sue LaSance, Lena Minetto David Russell

Mar. 6 Friday Richard Peterson

Mar. 7 Saturday Erin Anderson, Nicole Guyette Luke Sanderson Elizabeth Secora

Mar. 8 Sunday

CE

LE

BR

AT

E!

Shepherd’s Voice 12

ADVOCACY Cool Tools By Sheila Freed We are already a quarter of the way through the 120-day Legislative Session. There are about 1,100 Bill Draft Requests and in less than a month, they all must be introduced. Even people with strong in-terest in a particular issue can feel they’ll never successfully track what is going on. Help is available, however. The Nevada Legislature has a won-derful website that enables private citizens not only to stay abreast of what’s going on, but to register their views. Let’s walk through a couple of these “cool tools.” First, you may not know who your legislators are. Go to www.leg.nv.state.us, the Legislature’s home page. Down the right side is a list of topics. Find “Who’s My Legislator” and click on it. A window will open showing a map. In the top right corner is a space to put your home address. You’ll get back information on who your State Senator and Assembly Member are, complete with contact information. If you want to learn more about that person, go back to the home page. Look at the top left corner where it says “Legislator Infor-mation.” Click on “Assembly” or “Senate” and then choose from the menu at the top of the page to get to an alphabetical list with each legislator’s background. There’s a ton of other information on the “Assembly” and “Senate” pages, including upcoming meet-ings and the daily calendar. Politicians often find it safer to study a problem than actually take action to fix it. Have you ever wondered what happens to those studies? Back on the home page, right above “Assembly” and “Senate” is an option for “Research/Library.” Choosing that will get you to the home page for the Research Division of the Legis-lative Counsel Bureau. The Bureau’s reports on all kinds of pol-icy issues are there. If you’re interested in a particular topic, there’s a couple of ways to find all the bills that deal with that topic. On the Research Li-brary page, scroll down to “Session and Interim Info” and find “Quick Look-Up by Bill or Subject. Using the subject search for the 2015 session will get you to the same alphabetical sort that is used to index the entire Nevada Revised Statutes, and you’ll find bills from Abandoned Property to Youth Parole Bureau. (Sorry, no Z’s.) If you click on the blue bill number, you’ll go to a page showing the current status of the bill, and a link to the text. As the bill goes through the committee process and the text is re-vised, you can follow the changes. Each new version shows in a different color. Another way to find topics of interest is from the Legislature home page. Near the top of the list on the right side is “BDR List.” Clicking there will take you to a page where you can look at the “full list” or “divided list.” Choose “divided list” and you’ll get a

search window. You can put in your Legislator’s name to see which bills that person has spon-sored, or you can put in a topic such as “education” or “health care.” This is not a com-prehensive search, but it’s a start. Eventually there will be a blue number such as “AB 123” next to each BDR number. That’s the bill num-ber once the BDR gets introduced as a bill. If you click on the blue, you go to the same place described earlier, with the status of the bill and a link to the text. If you want to know why the language of a bill gets changed, go back to the page where you first looked for the text, the one that says “Status of Bill.” Toward the right, you’ll see information about the committees that have debated the bill. You can read the minutes of those meetings and look at the exhibits or handouts that are presented by people who testify about a bill. So by now you’re well informed on the bills you have an interest in. You know how to contact your legislator because you looked at the “Assembly” and “Senate” choices on the legisla-tive home page. Their email addresses and phone numbers are right next to their names, and it only takes a few minutes to express your views. If you want to reach a wider audience, go back to the home page and scroll down the list on the right side. You’ll find “Share Your Opinion on Legislative Bills.” That opens a box where you can enter a bill number, then indicate “for” or “against” and add comments. Identifying infor-mation is required, to show you’re a live voter, not the creation of some activist or publicist. But here’s another cool thing: At the top of the “Share Your Opinion” box you can choose “View Comments.” Enter a bill number, and you’ll see all the comments others have made about that bill. You can choose “Reports” and see the re-sults sorted in a dozen different ways. Reading the comments can be pretty entertaining. So who needs video games? It’s possible to spend hours on the legislative website, getting smart and having fun. There’s no shortage of issues, many of them controversial. Part of our vocation as people of faith is to “speak truth to power,” and the webmasters at the Legis-lature make it easy. Lutheran-Episcopal Ad-vocacy in Nevada (LEAN) urges you to do just that.

Shepherd’s Voice 13

Shared Harvest

Assembly at St. Luke’s | March 22

Shared Harvest is a joint ministry of several local Lutheran churches who bring food once a month to working-poor families. They deliver up to 80 bags of groceries each month. Bag assembly is at 1pm, March 22, at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Reno. Our food barrel will be in the Welcoming Space the week prior to and the day of our collection Sunday. Shopping list for March:

Chili

Macroni & Cheese

Crackers (saltine packets)

Tuna

Laundry detergent, powdered

Call or text Jane Knipmeyer (762-0940) if you can assist with this important ministry.

2nd Mile Giving

ELCA Campus Ministry | Sunday, March 15

Every month on the third Sunday we take a special offering called the “2nd Mile Offering” which is over and above the regular offerings received. Each month we focus on a different ministry in our Synod. The March 15 offering will be distributed as follows:

1/3 to ELCA Campus Ministry 1/3 to serve poor people locally (Project

Lazarus) 1/3 to serve poor people worldwide (ELCA

Hunger Appeal) Upcoming Ministries: April: Reconciling Works May: Mt. Cross Lutheran Camp June: Lutheran Office of Public Policy (CA) July: Rwanda Companion Parish

HELPING OTHERS

Lenten Connections & Collections Our Lenten theme for 2015 is “Connections”. During this season of Lent, we are collecting needed items each Sunday for Project Homeless Connect, an annual event that serves hundreds of homeless men and women in our community. Each Sunday, we will collect these most requested and needed items: Sunday, Feb. 22 - Socks (preferably warm woolen socks) Sunday, March 1 - Thermal (thermal shirts, underwear and leggings) Sunday, March 8 - Gloves/Mittens Sunday, March 15 - Undergarments (underwear, sports bras and tank tops) Sunday, March 22 - Pants and Jeans (men and women – all sizes) Sunday, March 29 - Any of the above items Please bring new or gently used items for men and women; the need is equally great. Gently used items need to be washed before donating and placed on the collection table in the Welcoming Space. During this season of Lent, help us to support and connect with the men and women in our community with the greatest of needs.

Helping Women—Esther’s Closet

Esther’s Closet (544 Greenbrae Drive in Sparks) is a new and partially used clothing shop for women to benefit The Hosanna Home (http://www.hosannahome.org/) on Center Street in Reno. The proceeds of sales go to this very needed women’s home-less shelter. For more information, contact Shirley Ericson at 775-771-6486.

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General Operating Fund

JANUARY Income: $ 43,877.43 JANUARY Expense: $ 41,820.55 Income/Expense Year-to-Date: $ 2,056.88 Year-to-date Income: $ 43,877.43 Year-to-date Expenses: $ 41,820.55 Jan 31, 2015 Gen. Checking Balance $ 9,449.23 Dec 31 2014 Gen. Checking Balance $ 19,506.11* * (includes $8000 from designated unrestricted funds) Other Accounts: Project Lazarus $ 1,628.67 Dedicated Accounts $ 49,150.39 Youth Fund $ 7,191.66 Columbarium Fund $ 17,935.56 Memorial Fund $ 2,953.59 Building Funds (all) $ 84,237.06 Mortgage balance $ 924,541.19

Questions or Concerns? Contact:

Deanna Gaunt, Director of Finances deanna2@goodshepherdreno.org

Marijo Rosevear, Financial Secretary financial@goodshepherdreno.org

Lou Mendes, Governing Board Treasurer loukaren@aol.com

FINANCIAL NOTES

2015 Budget On February 8, the congregation unanimously ap-proved a balanced operating budget of $507,393 for 2015. Thank you for your support of the staff and leadership during this process. We regard our responsibilities very seriously as we prepare and present the budget each year. We do our best to be completely transparent to the congregation and we try to communicate as much (or sometimes, as lit-tle!) as you need to make an informed vote. Your trust is noted! Thank you! Pastor Compensation There was some confusion at the congregational meeting regarding the cost of our new pastor. Some of you “heard” that we could only call a pastor that had 10 years experience and was not married. This is not true; however, this IS how we budgeted for it in our 2015 budget worksheets. What has been communicated to the Call Team is that the Finance Review Team recommends that we can afford a pastor in the range of $87,000 - $107,000. There are so many variables in the equa-tion of determining how a pastor is compensated*. How many years experience? Married/needs insur-ance? Children/need insurance? Additional de-grees? Etc… What will happen sometime this year is that the Call Team will come back to the congre-gation and Governing Board and ask to amend the budget to reflect the actual costs of our new pastor. *Pastor compensation calculations Base salary is $50,000

* Housing costs for our area: +$3,000 * $1,000 per each year experience as a pastor * $1,000 for each year in the ministry but not in a pastoral role * $5,000 for each additional degree after M.Div * Insurance/Pension costs for Pastor and wife and children (if not covered on spouses’ work insurance) * + Social Security allowance, Continuing Education, Business expenses

Scholarships at Good Shepherd Currently, we have three Scholarship Funds. One fund is for scholarships for undergraduate degrees. The second fund is for seminary scholarships. The Youth Fund is used for scholarships to assist with sending our middle school and high schoolers to Bible camps, National and Regional youth gather-ings and Synod events. Now is the season for ap-plications to be received for the undergraduate degrees. Currently, we have $1,063 in the schol-arship fund. If you would like to make a contribu-tion to the fund, please note Undergraduate Schol-

arship in your memo.

Worship Attendance for January 7:30 9am 11:00 Total 04-Jan 25 105 95 225 11-Jan 30 111 108 249 18-Jan 44 81 112 237 25-Jan 30 108 117 255 Average Wkly. Attendance Jan. ‘15 242 Average Wkly. Attendance Jan. ’14 242 Worship Attendance for February 7:30 9am 11:00 Total 01-Feb 30 105 107 242 08-Feb 39 97 131 267 15-Feb 35 87 106 228 Ash Wed. 12 30 97 139 22-Feb 35 100 126 261 Ave. Wkly. Attendance Feb. 2015 284

Ave. Wkly. Attendance Feb. 2014 268

Shepherd’s Calendar - March 2015

March 8 | Third Sunday in Lent

40 Days of Connection—Gloves Collection

7:30am Traditional Worship 8:40am Earlybirds Class 9:00am Contemporary Worship 9:30am Choir Rehearsal 9:55am Kids’ Community & Youth Groups Youth return from Mt. Cross Retreat 10:00am Adult Faith Formation—Luther Hall 11:00am Traditional Worship 5:00pm Journey with Christ

Mon. March 9 Tues. March 10 12:00pm Bible Class 5:00pm Bible Class 6:00pm Faith on Tap—Ceol Irish Pub Wed. March 11 1:00pm Rebekah Circle—Ministry Center 6:00pm Confirmation—Ministry Center 6:00pm Baptized, We Live Thurs. March 12 2:30pm Hearts and Hands Quilters—Luther Hall 3:00pm Bible Study Fri. March 13 10:00am Worship set-up Sat. March 14 9:00-5pm Women’s Retreat

March 15 | Fourth Sunday in Lent

2nd Mile Offering—LEAN

40 Days of Connection—Undergarments Collection

7:30am Traditional Worship 8:40am Earlybirds Class 9:00am Contemporary Worship 9:30am Choir Rehearsal 9:55am Kids’ Community & Youth Groups 10:00am Adult Faith Formation Class 11:00am Traditional Worship 5:00pm Journey with Christ

Mon. March 16 Tues. March 17 12:00pm Bible Class 5:00pm Bible Class Wed. March 18 9:00am MOPS—Ministry Center & Shepherd Hall 10:30am Bridge Club 5:00pm OWLS—Coney Island Bar 6:00pm Confirmation—Ministry Center Thurs. March 19 3:00pm Bible Study Fri. March 20 10:00am Worship set-up

Sat. March 21

March 22 | Fifth Sunday in Lent

Shared Harvest at St. Luke’s

40 Days of Connection—Pants & Jeans Collection

7:30am Traditional Worship 8:40am Earlybirds Class 9:00am Contemporary Worship 9:30am Choir Rehearsal 9:55am Kids’ Community & Youth Groups 10:00am Adult Faith Formation Class—Luther Hall 11:00am Traditional Worship 1:00pm Shared Harvest assembly at St. Luke’s 6:00pm The Whole Bible in Under an Hour Dinner & Show

Mon. March 23 Tues. March 24 12:00pm Bible Class 5:00pm Bible Class Wed. March 25 6:00pm Confirmation—Ministry Center Thurs. March 26 3:00pm Bible Study Fri. March 27 10:00am Worship set-up Sat. March 28

March 29 | Palm Sunday

40 Days of Connection—All Previous Collections

7:30am Traditional Worship 8:40am Earlybirds Class 9:00am Contemporary Worship 9:30am Choir Rehearsal 9:55am Kids’ Community & youth groups 10:00am Adult Faith Formation Class 11:00am Traditional Worship 1:00pm Shared Harvest assembly at St. Luke’s 5:00pm Journey with Christ

Mon. March 30 Tues. March 31 12:00pm Bible Class 5:00pm Bible Class Wed. April 1 6:00pm Confirmation—Ministry Center Thurs. April 2—Maundy Thursday 3:00pm Bible Study 7:00pm Worship Service Fri. April 3—Good Friday 10:00am Worship set-up 7:00pm Good Friday Tenebrae Worship Sat. April 4 10:00am Good Ole Gals Brunch 8:00pm The Vigil of Easter Sun. April 5—EASTER SUNDAY!

Worship 2015 Holy Week at Good Shepherd

Sunday, March 29

Sunday of the Passion | Palm Sunday On this day, we will use the Stations of the Cross to journey with Jesus in his final days.

Worship Services at 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00am

The Triduum: The Great “Three Days” The services of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil of Easter unfold in a single movement, as the church each year makes the passage with Christ through death into life.

April 2 | Maundy Thursday | 7pm — We hear the absolution pronounced upon the confession that began on Ash Wednesday, and hear Christ’s great command-ment as we remember the Last Supper.

April 3 | Good Friday Tenebrae | 7 pm — Tenebrae means “darkness”; as the light dims in the sanctuary and darkness grows, we remember the suffering and death of Jesus offered on the cross for our salvation.

April 4 | The Vigil of Easter | 8 pm — In the darkness we wait for the light of Jesus’ resurrection, and we return to the waters of Baptism to celebrate our new birth with him.

Sunday, April 5 The Resurrection of Our Lord, Easter Day

7:30am - After-sunrise Celebration 9:00 am & 11:00am - Traditional worship with Great Basin Brass, Timpani and Choir

Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd Corner of California Avenue and Arlington Street in Reno goodshepherdreno.org | staff@goodshepherdreno.org 775-329-0696 A Reconciled in Christ Congregation

Sun. March 1 - 2nd Sunday in Lent

Healing Station at all Services Forty days of Connection – Thermal wear collection Last day to sign up for Women’s Retreat 7:30am Traditional Worship 8:40am Earlybird class – Luther Hall 9:00am Contemporary Worship 9:55am Kids Community/Youth Groups 10:00am Adult Faith Formation - Luther Hall 11:00am Traditional Worship 1:00pm Shared Harvest Assembly at St. Luke’s 5-7:00pm Journey with Christ Mon. March 2 Tues. March 3 12:00pm Bible Class 5:00pm Bible Class Wed. March 4 9:00am MOPS – Ministry Center & Shepherd Hall 10:30am Bridge 6:00pm Confirmation - Ministry Center 6-7:30pm Baptized, We Live Thur. March 5 11-2:00pm The Way of the Cross—Worship Space 3:00pm Bible Study Fri. March 6 Youth Retreat, Mt. Cross (3rd-6th graders) 10:00am Worship set-up Sat. March 7 10:30am Good Ole Gals Brunch at Joan Rodican’s

Sun. March 8 - Third Sunday in Lent Worship at: 7:30am, 9:00am & 11:00am 9:55am Kids Community/Youth Groups 10:00am Adult Faith Formation – Luther Hall 5-7:00pm Journey with Christ

Healing Stations

Our Lord Jesus healed many as a sign of the reign of God come near and sent the dis-ciples to continue this work of healing—with prayer, the laying on of hands, and anointing with oil. On the first Sunday of each month, all who desire are invited to receive a prayer for healing from a Healing Minister after receiving Holy Communion. All conversation is kept strictly confidential.

Thank You Worship Leaders! Presider/Preacher: Pr. Paul Bodin Organist/Pianist: Andrea Lenz AV Tech: Eric Doerr 7:30am Worship Deacon: Maribeth Doerr Lector: Nicole Guyette Communion Server: Dan Ebner Greeter: Greg Doerr Coffee Hour Hostess: Lisa Mays 9:00am Worship Deacon: Maribeth Doerr Communion Servers: Barbara Gruenewald Dave & Kay Harbeck Greeters/Ushers: Dennis & Vernie McCrohan Coffee Hour Hostess: Gale Lundquist 11:00am Worship Deacon: Mel Cone Assisting Minister: Ron Lembke Lectors: Jack Ericson & Dee Frahman Communion Servers: Augie and Joanne Kaufmann Greeters: Mary Hettinger Ushers: Craig Hill & David Thyse

Today at Church