A Word from Rev. Taylor

The Vestry of our parish recently held its annual “retreat” at the home of Dave and Marion Downing. Friday evening’s agenda included dinner and a very enlightening discussion on money and why people give. Led by Joe Conrad, a retired fundraiser who attends Good Shepherd, the conversation led us to consider the reasons people give money to worthy causes such as their church, the means by which people give (such as from current income, assets, through bequests etc.) and the responsibility of the organization to do its very best to serve the needs of the individuals who support its communal life. Joe got everyone’s attention when he asserted passionately that everyone here should add a codicil to their will designating a percentage of their estate to Good Shepherd!

When we gathered again on Saturday morning we enjoyed a light breakfast then launched into the day’s work. One decision we made after lengthy discussion was to support a developing program called Family Promise. This program’s purpose is to provide housing for families which, otherwise , would be forced into homelessness by providing space (such as a parish hall) for several families to sleep and eat for a week at a time. During the days, children would attend school and parents would be given help in securing jobs. Nighttime eating and sleeping arrangements would be rotated among about a dozen churches in the area, thus requiring each church to provide housing about four times per year, for a week each time. Statistics show that it takes about three to four months for families to move into self-sufficiency through the program. In Palm Beach County we are still working on developing this ministry. Whereas Good Shepherd may sometime become a host parish, the Vestry feels we should be a supporting parish for now, providing peoplepower and some outreach funds to assist in developing the program.

The Vestry also worked very hard on our long-range plan for Good Shepherd, resulting in the addition of two new goals. One goal was built upon the Friday evening discussion with Joe Conrad and focused on financial stewardship. That goal: “To explore financial stewardship with the parish. We recognize that money should not drive us while we also recognize that money is essential to the faith life of Good Shepherd Church. In the short term we want to determine how and why people give and to engage the parish in a conversation about money in a Christian context.”

The second new goal has to do with our response to poverty in the community and world about us. Focusing on the Millennium Development Goals which we studied a year ago, we came up with the following goal: “Explore the Millennium Development Goals. We will continue to focus on our ongoing parish efforts which we recognize as being related to the first MDG, “Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger.” In addition, we will focus on one other of the MDG’s each year through 2015, exploring our relationship to these needs. In 2008-2009, we will focus on the MDG “Improve Maternal Health Care.” I might add that the Outreach Committee has scheduled an open meeting on Tuesday, June 17 to consider ways of responding to concerns about maternal health. You are invited to join us that evening to learn from guest experts as we consider our next steps. Excited by the plans we made at the retreat and hoping that they yield mighty results, I hope that you will feel called to join us in bring them to fruition.