God Gives Us Growth

October marks the beginning of our season of stewardship at Good Shepherd and this year we are reflecting on the many things we are grateful for in our church and neighbourhood. The roots of our gratitude are often a rich source for inspiration when looking for ways to invest in our families, friends, and communities.  

Over the Spring and Summer many of you stepped in to help us run Kids’ Table and Compassion Camp while we were looking to hire a Youth & Family Ministries Coordinator, with your leadership and teamwork we had a lovely summer together. We also got to hear fresh thoughts about how we organize and facilitate those programs, which helped us with recruitment. Now Natalie has stepped into our coordinator role and is off to a great start with lots of fun planned for the fall and winter.  

You became stewards of our youth program while we were recruiting a new coordinator, you invested time, ideas, supplies, and so much more to let the young people in our parish know that they are important and welcome at Good Shepherd, and our church has seen exciting growth as a result! We have several new junior acolytes and readers looking forward to sharing the light of the Lord in our upcoming Green Growing Sunday services.  

This month we invite you to share what you are grateful for on our Growing in Gratitude tree in the nave, let us celebrate and honour the big and small things along with you. Take time to pray that God may guide your heart and hands to give in gratitude, to invest in the things that bring light, hope, and love to you and our parish. Share with us what seed God is calling you to plant, so that we may watch it grow and flourish with you.  

Set your intentions for giving with the pledge card that we sent in the mail. Pledge cards at Good Shepherd are meant to reflect how you hope to contribute over the next year, changes can always be made if needed. Your pledge card will also never be shared with others and will only be used as a guide for planning our 2024 budget. We have placed a collection box for pledge cards by the Growing in Gratitude tree. Please let us know if you would like a pledge card or need a replacement one.  

This year we have also designed Kid’s Pledge Cards; they feature six different ways that even our youngest members can become stewards at home, here at Good Shepherd, and out in the community. They will be handed out on October 15 during our Green Growing Sunday service and will be available at Kids’ Table throughout the fall. Kids are invited to share their stewardship stories during Kids’ Table to collect stickers for their pledge cards; older siblings and teens are invited to be stewardship buddies by helping younger children to complete an activity or sharing their own stories of caring for each other and our many vibrant communities.  

Your Good Shepherd staff and vestry are deeply grateful to be a part of the welcoming and inclusive community you have built with us and are committed to growing to invite more and more of our neighbours to join God’s family with us.