THE

MES

SEN

GE

R

Our Mission

To Share the Good News of God’s grace through worshipping,

teaching and reaching out to all in need of God’s love.

December 2018

Pastor’s Message

The lights, the decorations, the carols, the gatherings. This is a special time of year and all of the festivities are very appropriate given what Christmas is all about - the incarnation, God becoming flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Stop and consider the wonder, the amazement, the miraculousness of this most blessed mystery.

God; the creator of all that exists, who rules the uni-verse, who is all powerful and omnipresent, has become human; a creature who is very limited in terms of power, and is very vulnerable to many things.

This is how much God loves the world. Please do not let the joy of the Christmas season pass you by. God loves you! So much so that not only did God come to earth many years ago but God still comes to you today in Jesus' body and blood. All of us, frail creatures that we are, are loved by God who is the creator of all that exists. It can't be said enough, "God loves you".

In addition to our regular Sunday morning worship, Christmas Eve worship will begin at 7:00.

Dec. 1st — Decorating the church at 9:00 am Dec. 2nd — Removal of old Chairs Dec. 6th — New Chairs arrive. Dec. 8th — Salvation Army Buckets Come help us ring the bell for the Salvation Army Red Kettles. Proceeds comes back to our community to help provide for those in need. Sign up sheet in the Narthex

Dec. 10th — Lydia Bible Study at 11:30am

Dec. 14th — Sounds of Christmas at 7:00 pm

Helping Hands Christmas Baskets

Applications are available to nominate or request a bas-ket. You can get an application at any of the area churches as well as the library, school and thru FISH.

Dec.14th—Last day to get applications in.

Dec. 16th —Last day to bring in your donation of grape jelly and Macaroni and cheese.

Dec. 21st—Pick up day

Dec. 17th— Clothesline at 9:00 am

Dec. 21st and 28th — No Bible Study

Dec. 23rd and 30th — No Sunday School

Dec. 24th —Christmas Eve Service at 7:00 pm Dec. 25th — Jesus’s Birthday

Merry Christmas!

New

Chairs for the

Sanctuary

In preparation for

our new chairs we

will be removing

the old ones on

Dec. 2nd. Our old

chairs are being

donated to a con-

gregation in need.

We will be clean-

ing the carpets in

the sanctuary and

foyer and have

been given a

delivery date of

Dec. 6th for our

new chairs!

Dates to Remember!

Other Opportunities to Serve

We Need You!

Volunteer to help with

Worship service:

Assisting Minister

Greeter

Usher

Audio/Video

Nursery

Altar Guild

Lector

Or volunteer to

help with:

Sunday School

Luth Youth

yard work/upkeep

Other Ministries

Son Rise Service

Clothesline

Plarning Group

Panera Bread

Senior Shepherds

GOOD SHEPHERD

LUTHERAN CHURCH

Presents…

A WONDERFUL EVENING OF

CHRISTMAS MUSIC

FEATURING THE CHRISTMAS CHOIR,

AND THE SHEPHERD’S BELLS

Special Guests:

“Salem” Vocal Quartet

Tara Iddings, Cello

Friday, December 14, 2018

7:00 p.m.

Next Meeting — Dec. 18th

Christmas Luncheon

Noon at Laura's Country Diner To carpool, please meet at Good Shepherd at 11:30 a.m.)

Senior Shepherds are invited to bring their Christmas Spirit and appetites to enjoy a Christmas luncheon at Laura's Country Diner, 8 Pike Street, Laura, OH!

Please register your plan to attend by signing your name on the sign-up paper on the bulletin board. If it is more convenient for you to drive to Laura directly, please indi-cate with an * after your name.

Senior Shepherds News

Highlights of November Meeting

The Senior Shepherds welcomed Dr. William Ginn, West Milton's family practitioner for over 34 years and the Miami County Coroner, as guest speaker. Dr. Ginn shared information that he has learned in the past three years since becoming the Miami County Coroner related to the local opioid crises. Many questions were raised and answered. The Senior Shepherds appreciated Dr. Ginn's presentation.

Also appreciated: Delicious refreshments provided by Marsha Fischbach. Thank You, Marsha!

NEED HELP

TO KEEP YOUR

GIVING CURRENT?

If so, you can easily

sign up for Simply

Giving, the auto-

matic withdrawal

from an account of

your choice to be

transferred to the

Good Shepherd

account. Just let

Betty Lou Johansen

know and you can

be signed up to

have the amount

you choose and

how often you

choose to have the

transfer of funds to

the church account.

There is NO

CHARGE for this,

and you can always

be up-to-date, even

when you are on

vacation! You can

start the process,

change it, or stop it

AT ANYT TIME,

just by letting Betty

Lou know. Think

about it. It is VERY

EASY AND QUICK

to sign up.

There will not be any Sunday school classes on December

23rd and 30th. Classes will resume on January 6th.

We are in need of a teacher (or teachers) for the 1st thru Mid-

dle school age group. Kia will teach in December but after

that we do not have a teacher for that age group. If you are

willing to teach or would like to get more information to make

a decision you can contact Amy Grile or Barbara Cecil.

Study, after study shows children who actively engage in a

faith community on a regular basis are rewarded with SIGNIFI-

CANTLY reduced likelihood of life problems and risky behav-

iors, and stand to significantly improve their odds of a happi-

er, healthier, and longer life. These studies show the same re-

sults for adults as well. — Neil MacQueen

Go to : https://www.sundaysoftware.com/stats.htm for more about

the importance of regular church and Sunday school attendance.

Thank You! Thank You!

Water! Water! Water! A check for $1,042.90 is being sent to the Evan-gelical Lutheran Church in America to be used where needed to help provide clean water for some of the 783 million people who do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion who do not have ac-cess to adequate sanitation!

This money will be spent on irrigation canals, wells, la-trines, etc.

Thank you to all who helped with this very worthwhile project!

Thank You for Caring!

ANNIVERSARIES 29 Ed and Barbara Menker

BIRTHDAYS 3 Bob Cecil 14 Arlene Warner

7 Butch Traylor 23 Paula Barker

12 Haley Anderson 25 JESUS

Brian Ely 26 George Franks

13 John Johansen 29 Jose Lopez

S E R V I N G ASSISTING MINISTER COMMUNION ASSISTANT ALTAR GUILD

Kristine Hayes Toby Theis Gloria Shellhammer

Debbie Bredeson

ACOLYTE LECTOR

2 Carter Berner 2 Jeff Barth SOUND

9 Dawson Tinnerman 9 Jeff Barth Russ Baker

16 Grace Leffew 16 Judy Moncrief

23 Brady Tinnerman 23 Judy Moncrief

30 Rosalyn Welhener 30 Judy Moncrief

USHER CAPTAIN FLOWERS NURSERY

2 Brian Ely 2 Jodi & Jeff Barth 2 Suzie Vagedes

9 Jarrett Grile 9 Marie Kopp 9 Debbie Bredeson

16 Dave Vagedes 16 Ric & Arlene Warner 16 Kia Blankenship

23 George Franks 23 Judy Moncrief 23 Lori Gellatly

30 George Franks 30 OPEN 30

GREETERS

2 Tara Welhener

9 Kathy & Rob Williams

16 David & Kristine Hayes

23 Ann & Russ Siler

30 Lori Gellatly

If you cannot serve on an appointed day, it is your responsibility to find someone to serve in your place.

D

E

C

E

M

B

E

R

JANUARY ACOLYTES

6 Kendall Leffew

13 Carter Berner

20 Dawson Tinnerman

27 Grace Leffew

December 2018 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

Dec 2nd—Last day to order your poinset-tias

1 9:00 am

Decorate the

Church

2 9:15 Bell Practice

9:30 am Sunday School 10:30 am Holy

Communion

Christmas Choir

Practice

3 7:30 pm AA

Meeting

4 5 3 –5 pm Plarn

7:00 pm Musical Practice

7:45 pm Choir

6 New Chairs

Delivered

7 10:00 am

Bible Study

8

9

FISH SUNDAY

9:15 Bell Practice 9:30 am SS 10:30 am Holy Communion

Christmas Choir

Practice

10 11:30 am Lydia

Bible Study

7:30 pm AA

Meeting

11

12 3 –5 pm Plarn

6:30pm Musical

Dress Rehearsal

13

14 10:00 am

Bible Study

Sounds of

Christmas Pro-gram 7:00

15

16 9:30 am Sunday

School 10:30 am Holy Communion

17 9:00 am

Clothesline 7:30 pm AA Meeting

18

19 3 –5 pm Plarn

7:00 pm Choir Practice

20

21 10:00 am

Bible Study

22

23 10:30 am Holy

Communion

24 7:30 pm AA

Meeting

25

26 3 –5 pm Plarn

27

28 29

30 10:30 am Holy

Communion

31 7:30 pm AA

Meeting

Council Minutes Nov 13th, 2018

Present: Rusty Baker, Les Barker, Kea Blankenship, Pastor Steve Gellatly, Amy Grile, Toby Theis and Ric Warner

Devotions: - Ric Warner

Secretary’s Report: Approved as read. Motion: Les Barker Second: Toby Theis All were in favor.

Financial Secretary’s Report: Approved as read. Motion: Pastor Steve Gellatly Second: Les Barker All were in favor.

Treasurer’s Report: Motion: Amy Grile Second: Kea Blankenship All were in favor.

Pastor’s Report: Endowment Committe Meeting is November 26th at 7pm . Our new copier has been delivered.

Worship: Toby Theis – No choir practice on Nov. 21st, to allow people to attend the Community Thanksgiving Service. Our Christmas musical is scheduled for Friday Dec. 14th and practices are going well. We will have communion at the rail on the Sunday’s in Advent with continuous communion on Christmas Eve. The Christmas Eve service begins at 7:00pm with special music. The worship committe will meet the first part of January to plan for spring.

Christian Education: Amy Grile/Kea Blankenship – Averaging 10 students in Sunday school and Catechism. Kea is teaching in December. We will not have Sunday school Dec 30th. We are in need of teachers for the 1st thru Catechism age group. We may not have any teachers for this class after December. Going to check with LSIM on Sunday School Curriculum.

Mission/Outreach/LSIM: Preschool – Ms. Denise is back as interim director after Ms. Luscia resigned. The position will need to be filled and in order to do so we will need to evaluate and create job descrip-tions for all Preschool positions. MUCC – Helping Hands Thanksgiving service Nov. 21st at Potsdam Brethren

Property: Les Barker/Rusty Baker/Ric Warner – wood strips have been installed over the window and door moldings in the sanctuary to allow decorations to be put up and removed without damaging mold-ing. Working on getting TV in nursery operational.

Youth: Susan Knife – No Report

Stewardship: Ric Warner/Russ Baker – 40 pledging units an increase of 3 giving units (gained 5, lost 2) Pledges are $87,444.00 plus estimated giving and Misc income of $19,908 for a budget income of $107,352. This is a reduction in estimated income of approx. $1400 from last year.

Old Business: Betty Lou is now set up with a new church data base program. We have set up a drop box connection to allow information to be shared as needed. New chairs will be here after Nov. 29th. Old chairs to be picked up after church on Dec. 2nd. Carpets will be cleaned in sanctuary and narthex before new chairs are place in sanctuary.

New Business: 2019 proposed budget was reviewed. Motion was made to submit proposed budget to the congregation. Motion: Les Barker Second: Kea Blankenship All were in favor.

We have several members who will be finishing terms on council. We will get the word out that new council members are needed.

Our next council meeting will be our Christmas Dinner on December 18th at Ric Warner’s

A motion to adjourn was made by Les Barker and the meeting was closed with the Lord’s Prayer.

Respectfully submitted, Amy Grile

Our Church Staff

Rev. Steve Gellatly

Pastor

Home Phone

937.667.6527

Cell Phone:

937.623.1600

Ric Warner

Church Council

President

Marsha Fischbach

Music Director

Betty Lou Johansen

Pianist

Good Shepherd

Lutheran Church

1209 South Miami St.

West Milton, Ohio 45383

PLACE STAMP HERE

Thank You! The Preschool would like to thank all those who were able to show

up for our Trunk or Treat event. Even though the weather didn’t

cooperate, we had fun. We loved the crazy hats and costumes too!

Thanks again!

Like us on Facebook! Visit us at @goodshepherdlutheranchurchwestmilton.

Like and follow us so you can see all that is going on at

Good Shepherd.

Phone 937.698.5826

E-Mail: office@goodshepherdwestmilton.com

Website: http://goodshepherdwestmilton.org