Our baptismal covenant includes our sacred commitment to following the examples of the apostles, proclaiming the Good News in Christ, and seeking and serving Christ in all persons. By taking the fall 2008 profile survey, parishioners helped the vestry identify strategic priorities for helping us fulfill those sacred commitments. These priorities are in the areas of:

• Attracting new members and then incorporating them into the life of the church;
• Continuing to improve our ministries for families with children and youth;
• Expanding Christian education and ministry offerings for all ages; and
• Developing the spiritual generosity of parishioners.

Although we have made progress in all those areas, we have also identified specific objectives to help us move beyond our current capabilities. Grouped into two incremental categories, these objectives are:

GROWTH:

• Funding adult Christian education, to provide for occasional guest speakers and teachers, and provide “scholarship” funds so that the cost of materials for a class is not an obstacle to an individual’s growth in faith
• Expanding the Children’s Ministry Assistant position to full-time, to better enable us to reach all families within our influence, to help them raise up disciples of Christ

STRETCH:

• Hiring staff to manage our communications and coordinate our ministries, to improve the content, consistency, and methods of our communications across all appropriate media, and to consolidate the responsibilities of program and ministry coordination, thereby facilitating the highest use of our resources

The chart that follows shows the amounts of pledge dollars that we estimate will be necessary to realize these objectives. Although these goals represent only a modest increase in expense, we recognize that not everyone will be in a position to increase their individual pledge by the percentage increase necessary for the overall amount. All we ask is that you:

• Prayerfully consider what proportion of your income best represents your gratitude for God’s love and your commitment to our baptismal covenant and common life of faith at Good Shepherd,
• Pledge that proportion by Sunday, October 31, using either the pledge card that will be mailed to you in mid-October or the one online, and
• Come to either service that day to give joyful thanks for our gifts from God and ask his blessings upon our stewardship of those gifts.

If you have further questions about the strategic objectives for 2011, don't hesitate to contact a vestry member (listed on the Vestry page under the "About Us" tab to the left), who will be more than happy to answer your questions and hear your feedback. We look forward to growing with you, in faith!

(For specific information on pledging, including an online pledge card, click here or on "Pledging" from the Getting Involved/Stewardship fly-out menu on the left.)