Dear Friends,
Those who recall the history of this parish, know that Good Shepherd was established when four local families attending Church of the Messiah in Murphy formed their own fellowship at the encouragement of their priest. They met in each other’s homes and shared welcome and hospitality along with prayer and worship. In each family only one spouse was an Episcopalian, meaning that from its beginning this parish has been ecclesiastically and theologically diverse. At its genesis moment, then, openness and welcome and hospitality were there as the foundational spirit that has established, built, and sustained this parish. It is no surprise to me that the people of this parish are so friendly toward each other and our many visitors. It is in agreement with our foundational spirit to do so. It is also no surprise that the last parish renovation focused on the parish hall and parish kitchen. They are wonderful assets for expressing the gifts of welcome and hospitality that are defining gifts of this community.
It is those same gifts of welcome and hospitality that fuel the outreach of this parish. All that is done to bring the love of God to those with bodily and spiritual needs are ways of extending the welcome and hospitality of God’s kingdom. The hungry are fed, the unsheltered are housed, those in danger are provided sanctuary, and more as signs of God’s welcome and hospitality.
My prayer for this parish is that we neither lose sight of that foundational spirit nor fail to practice that spirit. May we continue to be people who give thanks for and celebrate these gifts and continue to seek new ways of expressing them. To that end, your vestry and I are mindful of an opportunity we have for doing so. For some ten years we have carried a mortgage on God’s house that is now down to about eighty thousand dollars. Imagine those mortgage payments, about one thousand dollars a month, being used to show welcome and hospitality to those who are experiencing shelter insecurity: additional support for the only homeless shelter in within one hundred miles of our parish; additional support for sheltering women and children in crisis, and; additional support for the increased number of transient people passing through our area.
Your vestry and I have made our gifts to paying off the mortgage and becoming Debt Free in ‘23. We invite your gift, large and small, with gratitude for anything you can prayerfully and sacrificially contribute. We have designated June and July for this effort and will be hosting a special coffee hour on June 5 in celebration. Please join us for that and be sure to note on your gift that you are giving toward “mortgage payoff.” With your help and God willing, we will enter 2023 with only an ongoing debt of gratitude to God for all God continues to do for and through this parish.
Grace and peace be yours,
Fr. Bill+