I have been Chairman of the Congregation at SOTH for just over one year, and I want to share with you some of what has happened in that time.   It has been a true blessing to work with the staff and lay leadership over the past year.  As Chairman, I gain visibility into all of the work that is done at (and through) Shepherd of the Hills, and I am weekly humbled by the congregations collective walk with Christ and dedication to service in his name.

If there is one thing that I have learned in the past year, it is that God’s plans for us, in our lives as followers of Christ and our lives as a congregation of Christ, are much more interesting than our own.

We have experienced change at SOTH in the past year.   Pastor Jason Haynes, our assistant pastor of 7 years, accepted a Call to a church in Colorado.  Jonathon Loesch, our DCE for 15 years, accepted a Call to church in Texas.  Both are doing well and continuing God’s work in those communities. 

After 20 years of experiencing worship music in the same way, we changed.  We invited Rick Capps to move from Chapel West to Chapel East and called on our friend Joel Held to lead Chapel West and the Adult Choir.

Less visibly, the Church Council has experienced change.   The positions of Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Worship Board Chairman, and Mission Board Chairman have all changed. 

And as a result, the congregation itself has changed.  

Some families have moved on to other churches, others have come to SOTH.  I think there is too much of a stigma associated with this.  While the need for worship and the need for Christian community remain in all of us, how and where we worship is a choice we all make every week.  We are all at different places in our walk with Christ.  And as individuals, what we need in that worship experience and what we can offer to that worship experience changes over time.    So this is not only predictable, but healthy - for those that have departed, for those that have arrived, and for us as a congregation.  

And so we have experienced some a lot of change at SOTH.   As I have shared this story with others and sought out guidance from those that have been through this kind of change, I have been struck and alarmed by their counsel.   Many said that these changes would result in dire consequences.   They said people would stop coming.  They said the congregation would lose confidence in our ability to be effective stewards of the gifts we are provided.   And the one would affect the other.  Key ministries would be lost and yet more people would stop coming.  It was considered a doomsday scenario. 

But God’s plans for us in our lives and for our Congregation are so much more interesting than our own.

So let me share some of what has transpired in the midst of all this change:

·         We Called Kevin Austin as Assistant Pastor and David Reuter as DCE.  This was a significant effort – we formed a needs assessment committee, call committee, sought candidates that met our needs, approved the Calls as a congregation, and today both David and Kevin are persuing their calling here at SOTH as God’s servants.  We thought this would take 18 months (from March 2007).  Yet a mere 5 months later these positions are filled and our work continues.  Rhonda Bricker, our Vice Chairman, has been instrumental in this effort.

·         During the Call process, several Lay Liturgists served the congregation – helping to lead services in both Chapel West and Chapel East, including Phil Buchiarelli, Dick Holk, Ralph Poole, Gary Griffith, Jeremy Lowe, Kirk Dannenberg, and others.

·         In Chapel East, Rick Capps and the band continue to amaze me with their dedication and pursuit of excellence.  I am reminded of the stories in Leviticus.  God did not ask his followers to just pitch a tent and worship him.  He commanded them to build something special, a place of worship, with exacting specification.  God asked for obedience and excellence.  And this is the spirit that Rick brings to Worship every week.   

·         Vacation Bible School once again touched the lives of hundreds of children.  But this year, we did not have a DCE to organize and lead the effort.  Leadership of VBS fell to Cindy Wilson and the lay leaders in the congregation.  And this remains one of the significant outreach opportunities for SOTH.

·         In Sunday School, we struggled a bit without a DCE, but again the lay leaders among us stepped up, saw a need to serve, and filled in.  We are now renovating the Sunday School facilities and preparing for the coming Sunday School year with new programs and a new leader - David Reuter. 

·         Over 30 of our youth attended the National Youth Gathering in Orlando, Florida this year, sharing and strengthening their faith with other youth from around the country.  They raised all the funds to do so on their own – the result of an HEROIC effort by Barb Boros and many others, including the Griffith, Belko, and Larsen families.

·         During this year’s budget process, we returned to a full congregational tithe, setting an example as a congregation for the principles of Christian stewardship.

·         We finalized site development work on the South Property, completing an important phase in our overall development plans and preparing us for the next steps with the South Property.

·         We implemented a screening program for all SOTH workers that will be working with children.

·         We completed a Financial Controls Review to ensure that we comply with Synod standards for financial management.

·         We formed a Stewardship Committee under the leadership of Dan Griffith.

·         A SOTH Health Ministry has been formed under the leadership of Ron Herman and a matching funds grant has been secured to help the ministry grow.

·         New Stephen Ministers have been commissioned and Jeff Miller has been commissioned as a Stephen Minister Leader.

·         Upgrades to the Audio-Visual equipment were completed - all equipment donated to the Church by the worship band and song leaders.   And a special thank you to Mike Caraway for his expertise and commitment.

·         We supported two Golf Tournaments as outreach events this year – supporting Deaf Camp, National Youth Gathering, and local families in need.

·         Our mission work continues, contributing over $70,000 to mission work through the synod, Concordia University, Laverne Lutheran High School, Redeemer and many other local missions.

·         We have built four more houses in Mexico (led by Raul & Nieda Jimenez) and in India we have helped to plant several churches and an orphanage – changing forever the lives of many families and those without a family.

·         We have new baptisms every month and continue offer the Sacraments of Holy Communion each week.

·         This fall, a congregational-wide bible study begins – “The Best is Yet to Come.”  I can’t imagine a better title and encourage everyone to get involved in a small group.

- All by God's blessings.

So despite the changes, despite the doomsday scenario, the work here at SOTH continues.  There is so much to note, so many people to recognize, and so much to be thankful for.   I continue to be amazed and humbled at the dedication and spirit of service of all in the congregation at SOTH.

God’s plans for our lives are so much more interesting than our own.  I pray that we all seek Him out daily. 

“Let us be Doers of the Word, and not hearers only” James 1:22 

 

This is a bit late, but we held our last Council Meeting on July 25th.    Some notes from the July Council Meeting:

 

• The Church Council approved a resolution to improve Sunday School facilities in preparation for the coming school year.   This includes painting the Sunday School rooms and hallways, removing the wall between Rooms 11 & 12 to create  a larger area, and soundproofing the wall between Chapel West and the Sunday School rooms
• The remainder of the July session was focused on administrative matters around the 2008 budget process. 

 Our Next Church Council Meeting will be held on August 22nd.   

 

At SOTH we have been blessed recently with addition of two Called workers - Kevin Austin as Assistant Paster and David Rueter as DCE (who will be installed next month).  

 

With these additions, it is a good time to reflect on pastoral care.   While searching the Internet, I came across an interesting article regarding pastoral burn-out by Rick Murphy.   I do not know Mr. Murphy and am not sure where the he gets his statistics, but they are alarming.  Consider:

 

• Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.
• Four thousand new churches begin each year, but over seven thousand churches close.
• Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
• Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
• Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
• Eighty-five percent of pastors said their greatest problem is they are sick and tired of dealing with problem people, such as disgruntled elders, deacons, worship leaders, worship teams, board members, and associate pastors. Ninety percent said the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people.
• Seventy percent of pastors feel grossly underpaid.
• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
• Eighty percent of pastor' wives feel left out and unappreciated by the church members.
• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
• Eighty percent of pastors' wives feel pressured to do things and be something in the church that they are really not.
• The majority of pastor's wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

 

We at SOTH continue to be blessed by our staff - keep them in your prayers. 

 

 

 

 

This is wonderful blessing for our congregation and an answer to many, many prayers.  Finding David was the result of a nationwide search by the Call committee.  Please keep David in your prayers as he works towards joining us at SOTH!

 

David will begin the second week of August and will be formally installed as our DCE on Sunday, August 26th, 2PM

 

 

 

 

Wow - I can’t believe its been over a month since I lasted posted to the Sothchairman blog.  In my defense, we have been busy, busy, busy….

First, there was the annual family vacation.   This year we spent two weeks in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons:

• 15 days, 7 states, 2 National Parks (Yellowstone and Grand Teton), 4 campsites
• 2750 miles, 330 gallons of gas (…and now looking for a hybrid RV)
• 16 bear sightings (grizzly and black bears)
• 1000+ bison,  hundreds of elk and pronghorn
• A very large beaver
• 3 bald eagles, 1 osprey
• 5 geyser eruptions (Old Faithful x3, Riverside, and Artemisia)
• Countless mudpots, hot springs and fumaroles
• 26 chapters of “Little House in the Big Wood.”
• 18 1/2 miles of hiking trails
• 2 bottles of Nyquil, a pot of coffee a day, and ½ a tub of IcyHot

 When we returned  from our Yellowstone RV adventure, we discovered that my paternal grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and has been placed in hospice care - so it was off to Grapevine Texas, where we spent time with her and the cousins, prayed, remembered all the great times we've had, and looked through stacks of picture.   It has been 86 years of swing dancing, real southern cooking and romance novels.   Thanks to all for your prayers and kind notes. 

 And in the  midst of this travelling to-and-fro much has happened at SOTH - Pastor Kevin has hit the ground running, David Rueter has accepted our call to be the DCE at SOTH, VBS was a great success and the youth are getting ready to leave for National Youth Gathering.  

 God's plan for us continues to unfold.    Stay tuned... 

 

We are excited to announce that SOTH has issued a Call for a new Director of Christian Education to focus on Family Ministries.  The Call was issued unanimously by the voters at our Special Voters Meeting on June 13th.

 

So what happens next?  The DCE Candidate has been notified and will have 30 days to pray and deliberate on the Call from our congregation.  At that time, the candidate will either accept or reject the Call.    If the Call is accepted, we will then work through transition details and logistics.

 

Please keep this candidate in your prayers.

 

Blessings! 

We held our June Church Council meeting on Wednesday June 6th.  Some Notes:

 

 

Jimmy Carter has just been inaugarated as President of the United States.

Median household income is $13,500.

Gasoline costs $0.64 a gallon

Small Pox is eradicated.

The space shuttle Enterprise takes its first test flight,

Star Wars is released.

The Yankees beat the Dodgers in the World Series.

The Raiders beat the Vikings in the Superbowl

Seattle Slew wins the Kentucky Derby.

Elvis Presley dies.

"You Light Up My Life" is the most popular song of the year.

 

The unincorporated areas of Cucamonga, Etiwanda, and Alta Loma are incorproated as the City of Rancho Cucamonga.

House of Ruth is established.

SOTH is born on a back patio in Rancho Cucamonga with Pastor Saeger leading services.

 

Pastor Mike is ordained at the St Louis Seminary and received his first call as an ordained minister.  The call is to a place called "The Pas," some 450 miles north of Winnepeg.

 

Since that time Pastor Mike has served 5 congregations, performed thousands of baptisms, preach over 1200 sermons, and continues to keep us all focused on the Great Commission and our committment to leading a life of service to our families, our community and the world around us. 

 

God continues to bless our Church with his service.  Please join me in celebrating Pastor Mike's 30 years of service.

 

Blessings,

 

Mark M  

We will be meeting on Wednesday, June 13th, 7PM to hold a ballot vote for the DCE Nominee.   If the vote passes, the congregation wil formally extend a call to the nominee.

 

Please keep the Church and the nominee in your prayers and join us for the DCE Call meeting on June 13th.

 

On May 27th the DCE Nomination Meeting was held.  The purpose of this meeting was to approve a list of nominees for the DCE position.  the congregation approved a nominee list with one candidate.  His name will be published in the weekly bulletins and announced at the services over the next two weeks. 

Some background on the DCE Call Process:

• It started with a Needs Assessment Committee comprised of eleven mulit-generational individuals representing Young Families, High School, College, Singles, Middle Age and retired/Seniors.
• The Needs Assessment Committee did a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and used the results to develop and narrow a specific set of skills that match the Family Ministry needs at SOTH
• A Call Committee was formed to used the results of the Needs Assessment Committee and identify candidates.  The Call Committee consisted of nine individuals.
• The Call Committee reviewed 20 resumes from across the country.  Four individuals were interviewed from this pool.  Two others were asked to interview, but declined.  
• Based on the interviews, the Call Committee voted unanimously to recommend one candidate on 5/22.  The Church Council voted unanimously to nominate the same candidate on 5/24.  The Congregation voted unanimously to nominate the candidate on 5/27.

Next Steps:

The Congregation will meet again on JUNE 13th, 7PM to formally extend a call to the candidate.  At that point the candidate can either accept or decline. 

I would like to thank our Vice Chairman - Rhonda Bricker - as well as everyone on the Call Committee and Needs Assessment for their prayerful devotion to this process. 

Some notes from the May Church Council Meeting:

 

There was a great deal of excitement at this months Church Council Meeting.   During our meeting we learned that Kevin Austin has been placed at our congregation from the seminary.   We also had a chance to speak with Kevin directly - he called during the Council Meeting.  Needless to say, there were many happy, smiling faces on our side of the phone.

 

Other Council business accomplished at the April meeting:

 

 

 

 

This truly is an answer to the prayers of our entire congregation and we are so blessed that God has led Kevin to our congregation in order to fulfill his Call!  I know there are a lot of questions about when Kevin when be joining us, so here is a brief timeline:

 

May 11th-14th - Kevin will be visiting our congregation and community.  Look for more announcement.

May 27th - Kevin will be Ordained at his home Church in Texas

June 3rd - Kevin will be formally installed at Shepherd of the Hills!

 

 

 

What a great time of year to reflect and celebrate all that God does in our lives. 

 

I came across this Psalm of David (Psalm 32) while preparing for Services this week:

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.   Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Of course David was writing several centuries before Christ, but isn't this a great description of what Christ does for us?

We are blessed, our transgressions are forgiven, our sins are covered - all through Jesus Christ

Hosanna! Hosanna!  Hosanna in the Highest!   

On April 1st (Palm Sunday), we officially approved a resolution to call an Assistant Pastor from Concordia Seminary.  This is an exciting time for us at SOTH and the Assistant Pastor position is integral to our mission and ministry preparation.   Our Call request has been formally submitted.   The results of the call process will be announced at an official ceremony on April 25th at the Seminary i St. Louis, and we will know whether any of the graduates will be placed at SOTH.

 

Please continue to keep all of those being Called in your prayers. 

 

The March Council meeting was quite productive and resulted in the following motions and initiatives:

 

It has been pointed out that I have a "nervous word" when I am presenting to the congregation.   The word is "right,"  which I am told I say too much and use as a comma, period, conjunction, and pause.   

 

So how much is too much?  During the 10:15 service in Chapel East my presentation was roughly 8 minutes long and I said "right" 88 times.  

 

That's 11 times per minute, or once every 5.4 seconds.   An average presentation is 150 words per minute.  This means the presentation at 10:15 was roughly 1200 words.  So my nervous word took up roughly 7% of the whole presentation. 

 

But who's counting, right? 

 

 

 

 

We currently have three vacancies in our Church ministry - associate pastor and two Family Ministry leaders.   So when I think about "what comes next" for SOTH, I think about how we can recruit and retain staff that will meet our ministry and mission needs - not just now, but 2, 4, 6 years into the future and beyond.  This is a tremendous opportunity for our Church, and the decisions we make as a congregation over these staff positions will have a significant impact on the future of our Church.  This is the largest priority for the leadership team.

 

In order to address these needs we are working towards calling 3 full time staff positions over the next 18 months.  This is our strategy for filling these positions: