As Christians and fellow members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, we are called to live out God’s plan for the church, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to all and to love and serve our neighbors. That calling includes the many opportunities within the church to share your good gifts. For the Good Shepherd, we currently are seeking additional people to join the Congregation Council. The Council members serve as your voice and hands in the leadership of the church’s ministries. This is a very important time for the Good Shepherd, with many opportunities to hear God’s call for us in the community and to lead our congregation into the future. Please prayerfully and thoughtfully consider whether you are called to be part of the Congregation Council. Seats on Council are generally for 3-year terms. The commitment includes participation in a monthly Council meeting as well as a brief Council check-in meeting each week. In addition, Council members are encouraged to be involved in at least one committee. If you are interested, please contact Pastor Bob or any member of Council. Nominations are being accepted and will be presented on January 30th at the Annual Congregational Meeting.
Author: Leigh Pogue
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Deck the Halls!
!
As part of our Good Shepherd holiday tradition, we will again be hosting a “Deck the Halls” event to adorn the sanctuary in preparation for Christmas! The event will be held on Sunday, December 19th immediately following the Worship Service. Lunch will also be provided. Please join us as we celebrate the joy of this Advent and Christmas season, beautifying the church and spending time in fellowship together. A sign up sheet will be available in the narthex. Or contact the church office to sign up. Hope to see you there!
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Financial Update – September 2021
Our Financial Secretary, Steve Smith, provides monthly reports to the Congregation Council – contents of which are available through financial reports made available in the church hallway and hard copies of the Council Meeting minutes. In addition, we are providing this same information here on the website. The spreadsheet below provides the actual financial information so far this year. Prior years’ information was available in the Annual Report that you would have received in January.
| September 2021 | Year to Date | |
| Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items | $8,355 | $90,207 |
| Expenses | ($17,214) | ($133,631) |
| ActualSurplus/Deficit | ($8,859) | $(69,761) |
| Transfer from Keeping God’s House | $1,826 | $19,129 |
| Adjusted Surplus/Deficit | ($7,033) | ($43,424) |
Overall, the financial situation continues to present challenges for the Council and the congregation. The year-to-date deficit continues to grow. Contributions for budgeted items remains insufficient to cover expenses. The church has benefited from the use of the federal PPP Loan/Grant received in 2021 along with lower than normal expenditures from Committees such as Worship, Education, Witness and Service. One other positive is that contributions to Keeping God’s House have remained strong and have served to offset some expenses. Despite those favorable items, the year-to-date adjusted deficit sits at $43,424. Council is continuing to work through the Centennial Plan agreed by the congregation and prays for continued blessings as opportunities become available.
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Worship at the Gazebo
As Pastor Bob announced at worship yesterday, we will now be holding Sunday morning worship services at the gazebo on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of every month for July, August and September, weather permitting! Attendance at outdoor worship has been favorable and both the Worship Committee and the Congregation Council thought it best to increase those opportunities during the summer months. All worship services will be held at 10:30 am whether indoors or outdoors and will continue to be live streamed via Zoom or You Tube. In the event of inclement weather, the worship service will be moved indoors. Masks are not required for outdoor worship.
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Financial Update – May 2021
Our Financial Secretary, Steve Smith, provides monthly reports to the Congregation Council – contents of which are available through financial reports made available in the church hallway and hard copies of the Council Meeting minutes. In addition, we are providing this same information here on the website. The spreadsheet below provides the actual financial information so far this year. Prior years’ information was available in the Annual Report that you would have received in January.
| May 2021 | Year to Date | |
| Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items | $11,276 | $56,979 |
| Expenses | ($5,394) | ($78,053) |
| ActualSurplus/Deficit | $5,882 | ($18,420) |
| Transfer from Keeping God’s House | $1,359 | $10,654 |
| Adjusted Surplus/Deficit | $7,241 | ($6,406) |
Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items during May totaled $11,276. This represents a decline of $2,185 versus April contributions. Contributions to the Crossroads Food Pantry (Food Bank) were $145. Contributions to Keeping God’s House during May totaled $1,650. On a Year-to-Date basis, we have now received $13,975 in contributions to Keeping God’s House.
During May, our recorded expenditures totaled $5,394. These expenditures, coupled with our May receipts, generated a surplus of $5,882. Normally, a surplus of any amount would be something to celebrate. However, we need to look a little behind the scenes for this one. During May, we utilized $12,952 in PPP Loan funds to pay our Payroll, Electricity, Natural Gas, Water, Sewer, Telephone, and Internet Connection invoices. If these expenditures would have been recorded through the normal channels, our $5,882 surplus would have been reversed to a $7,070 deficit. At the current rate, the PPP Loan account should be exhausted at the end of June.
On a Year-to-Date basis, our expenditures have totaled $78,053 during 2021. When compared to our Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items of $59,633, it generates a significant deficit of $18,420.
The transfer of $1,359 from Keeping God’s House to cover our church utility bills and maintenance costs improved our monthly surplus to $7,241. After five months, we have now transferred $12,014 of Keeping God’s House funds to cover church utility bills and maintenance costs. Our Year-to-Date deficit after application of Keeping God’s House funds stands at $6,406.
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Worship At The Gazebo Returns!
Back by popular demand, we will once again be worshipping outdoors at the gazebo on the following Sunday mornings at 10:30 am, weather permitting – July 4th, August 1st , September 5th
Join us on the lawn or from your car for worship outdoors! Masks are not required! In the event of inclement weather, the worship service will be held in the sanctuary.
All other Sunday worship services will be held in the sanctuary at 10:30 am.
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April Financial Update
Our Financial Secretary, Steve Smith, provides monthly reports to the Congregation Council – contents of which were previously made available through weekly bulletins, financial reports made available in the church hallway and hard copies of the Council Meeting minutes. In the absence of that opportunity for sharing, we will be posting information on the website. The spreadsheet below provides the actual financial information so far this year. Prior years’ information was available in the Annual Report that you would have received in January.
| April 2021 | Year to Date | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items | $13,461 | $48,357 |
| Expenses | ($17,309) | ($72,659) |
| Actual Deficit | ($3,848) | ($24,302) |
| Transfer from Keeping God’s House | $1,644 | $10,654 |
| Adjusted Deficit | ($2,204) | ($13,647) |
Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items during April were $4,288 less than the month of March. On a positive note, contributions to “Keeping God’s House” were up, totaling $6,445 for the month of April. This fund can be used for facility improvements and has, over the last few years, been used to offset utility/maintenance expenses during the month. Expenditures in the month of April were down slightly from March, partially because of lower costs for snow removal and electricity but also because the natural gas expenses were paid out of the PPP loan and not from operating budgets. This trend should continue for the next two months until the PPP loan is depleted. Please note that in this chart of the church financials, “Operating Deficit” is meant to be the deficit before transferring money from Keeping God’s House to cover utility and other maintenance type expenses. “Recorded” deficit is the deficit after use of the Keeping God’s House fund for those specific expenses. It is the strong hope of the Congregation Council that through the Stewardship Campaign and the return to in person worship, contributions will increase to reduce the continually increasing deficit.
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April Financial Update
Our Financial Secretary, Steve Smith, provides monthly reports to the Congregation Council – contents of which were previously made available through weekly bulletins, hard copies of reports in the hallway stand in the church as well as hard copies of the Council Meeting minutes. In the absence of that opportunity for sharing, we will be posting information on the website. The spreadsheet below provides the actual financial information so far this year. Prior years’ information was available in the Annual Report that you would have received in January.
| Mar-21 | Year to Date | |
| Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items | $17,749 | $34,897 |
| Expenses | ($18,880) | $(55,350) |
| Actual Deficit | ($1,132) | ($20,453) |
| Transfer from Keeping God’s House | $2,766 | $ 9,010 |
| Adjusted Deficit/Surplus | $ 1,634 | ($11,443) |
Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items during March were improved as compared with the first two months of the year as well as with any individual month in 2020. We are hopeful that with the Stewardship Campaign and the continued focus on supporting Good Shepherd’s ministries, this favorable trend will continue. We continued to receive contributions “Keeping God’s House” as well. This fund can be used for facility improvements and has, over the last few years, been used to offset utility/maintenance expenses during the month. Expenditures in the month of March were fairly normal with higher expenses for snow removal and natural gas than will be anticipated with the onset of spring. In this chart, “Operating Deficit” is meant to be the deficit before transferring money from Keeping God’s House to cover utility and other maintenance type expenses. “Recorded” deficit is the deficit after use of the Keeping God’s House fund for those specific expenses.
As one may have expected, we will need to make some adjustments to our worship plans for Sunday, April 4th, Easter Sunday. We had previously announced that we intended to hold two worship services on Easter Sunday in the sanctuary, for those who are fully vaccinated and for a small number of those not fully vaccinated. However, in light of the recent COVID trends in Allegheny County and the fact that we have moved into the red “very high risk” category, the Council has had to revisit our previously announced plan. Our current COVID Policy states that in the event Allegheny County is in the red category, all in-person events will be suspended. However, due to the recency of this change in status for the County and the in light of the number of people in our congregation who are already fully vaccinated, the Council has opted to make the following exception to the COVID Policy for Easter Sunday only and announce the following changes to the Easter worship opportunities:
- One Worship Service including Holy Communion will be held at 10:30 am for anyone who is fully vaccinated*.
- The Worship Service will be live streamed for all others on You Tube and via Zoom at 10:30 am and will be posted at goodshepherdlife.org
- Parking Lot Communion from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm- Holy Communion will be made available in the Good Shepherd parking lot for anyone who is interested – between the hours of noon and 2:00pm. COVID vaccinations are not required to participate in parking lot communion. We will continue to observe good practices of mask-wearing, social distancing and hand sanitizing in the distribution and receiving of Holy Communion.
Anyone who is fully vaccinated and interested in attending the 10:30 Worship Service on Easter Sunday, in person, will still need to wear face masks and observe appropriate social distancing. Pews will be marked to aid in the seating with distance. Entrance to the sanctuary will be from the narthex and exit will be out of the door near the library. Windows on both sides will be open to provide safer air flow.
Pre-registration is required to attend the worship service in person. In order to register, please contact Donna Wenger in the church office either by phone or via email – no later than 3:00pm on Thursday, April 1, 2021. You will need to provide information regarding the number of people in your party and the information about the dates that each in your party received vaccination(s).
We are sorry that we’ve needed to make a change to our original plan but we believe this is the most appropriate response in light of the current trends. We are continuing to act with caution and care for our members and our community in establishing precautions to ensure safety for all. The Council is also preparing to revisit the current policy on COVID protocols as it relates to worship participation and the current positive trending in vaccination statistics to determine the appropriate way forward for worshipping in the future.
* Fully vaccinated – is defined as being 2 weeks after having received the \second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or 1 dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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Financial News
Our Financial Secretary, Steve Smith, provides monthly reports to the Congregation Council – contents of which were previously made available through weekly bulletins and hard copies of the Council Meeting minutes. In the absence of that opportunity for sharing, we will be posting information on the website. The spreadsheet below provides the actual financial information so far this year. Prior years’ information was available in the Annual Report that you would have received in January.
| 2021 Financial Update | January | February | Year-to-Date |
| Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items | $4,670 | $12,478 | $17,148 |
| Expenditures | ($18,107) | ($18,363) | ($36,470) |
| Operating Deficit | ($13,436) | ($5,885) | ($19,321) |
| Transfer from Keeping God’s House | $2,980 | $3,264 | $6,244 |
| Recorded Deficit | ($10,456) | ($2,261) | ($13,077) |
The contributions for January 2021 were down significantly from any other months in years’ past. There was an improvement in February, however it was noted that there were two “one time” donations that affected contributions that are not expected to be recurring. We are hopeful that with some things in the economy opening up and with the upcoming Stewardship Campaign, that regular giving will return to more normal levels and even improved for the balance of the year. Expenditures were fairly typical for winter months. It is worth noting that we continue to receive collections in “Keeping God’s House”. This fund can be used for facility improvements and has, over the last few years, been used to offset utility/maintenance expenses during the month. In this chart, “Operating Deficit” is meant to be the deficit before transferring money from Keeping God’s House to cover utility and other maintenance type expenses. “Recorded” deficit is the deficit after use of the Keeping God’s House fund for those specific expenses.