Council Changes

Updated July 31, 2011

It is with regret that the Council accepts two resignations: Jolie Cook, Christian Education, has moved to Ocala and is not able to continue. Milan Barabas, Future Planning, wishes to continue to focus on Future Planning.

In the current Church Constitution, dated 1997, Stewardship is listed as a Council position. As best we can determine, Stewardship was taken off Council in the late 1990s to focus on building our current church. Future Planning was added as a Council position at that time.

During constitutional and planning discussions this year, the Council voted to put Stewardship back as a Council position [in accordance with current constitution] and to move Future Planning to a standing committee status. Future Planning Committee will report to Council and address any tasking from Council as to future directions for our church. Before any new pastor can be called to our church, the constitution must be updated and current. We are very close to completing the draft constitution for member review and approval. The Assistant to the Bishop, Pastor Paul Lutze, stated he would not approve any constitution without a stewardship position.

Earlier this year, Council also voted to change the Stewardship drive date to November from the current February or March. This will allow more accurate budget estimates for the coming year. To facilitate this, the new Stewardship Council member will begin planning for the November time and talent focused Stewardship drive.

Bert Tunila volunteered to fill the Christian Education position. Council voted to appoint her to complete Jolie Cook's term which will expire in January 2013. She was installed as a Council member at a recent worship service.

Debbie Kiely volunteered to fill the restored Stewardship position. She will be appointed during the August 11 Council meeting and will be installed during a worship service shortly after. Donna King also volunteered for a council position and will be on the Council ballot at the January 2012 Congregational Meeting.

Nancy Vogel Appointed Interim Pastor

Updated July 15, 2011

Thursday July 14 the members of the church council had an opportunity to meet and have dinner with Pastor Nancy Vogel and Pastor Paul Lutze before the monthly council meeting. During the meeting many of you in the congregation joined the council in observing and then participating in a period of questions and comments to and for the then potential interim pastor Nancy Vogel. At the end of this period a council vote was taken and Pastor Nancy was asked to serve as our new Interim Pastor, starting approximately September 1, and serving for a period of three years.

Pastor Nancy provided us with a one page resume which includes information such as her work experience as a service representative for the phone company, and her involvement with elementary school children as clerk and registrar. Her Lutheran ministry experience began in 1966 as a part time Director of Membership. Pastor Nancy continued to increase her church involvement until 2003 when she decided to become a full time student in the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary where she obtained her Master of Divinity, graduating in 2008. Pastor Nancy said that it was her decision, while in seminar, to focus on congregations in transition. She served as pastor at the Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Gainsville from 2008-2010, and is at present the on-call pastor for Shands at UF Hospital, Gainsville.

Pastor Nancy added a short profile which ended: "I am a team player, seeking a partnership with the baptized and will strive to nurture lay people into active ministry, using their spiritual gifts." I think we all left with the impression that we have been blessed with this appointment by the Bishop. We welcome Pastor Nancy with open hearts and minds and with the willingness to help her as she helps us to become the church family that we aspire to be. Pastor Nancy has two sons, one of whom is a veteran/civilian contractor in Afghanistan and who will be on leave for two weeks in August. She also has two teenaged granddaughters and is a widow.

Pastor Jon Resigns; New Interim Appointed

Updated July 15, 2011

Pastor Jon, pastor at Shepherd of the Hills for the past 14 years submitted his resignation effective July 16, due to illness concerns. The Rev Nancy C Vogel, an ELCA pastor, has been appointed as Interim Pastor, effective September 1. Nancy was ordained to the ministry in 2008 and has previously served as interim pastor of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Gainsville, and as Chaplain at Shands UF Hospital in Gainsville. She will be moving to Orlando from Gainsville.

The full text of Pastor Jon's resignation letter is located in the Member's Blog on this website.

Celebration of Pastor Jon's Ministry

Updated July 4, 2011

Sunday, July 17 has been designated as a celebration of Pastor Jon's ministry to the congregation. All members and friends are invited to the celebration starting at 11:30 am. Bring cards, photos, and written remembrances of Jon's ministry. Light refreshments will be served.

Terry Krier has Long History of Service

Updated April 27, 2011

Before being ordained, Terry, a certified Lay Worker for the Lutheran Church, served as a missionary to Guyana in South America for 4 years. In 1977, she earned a ThM, a Master's of Theology Degree from Boston University School of Theology. Ordained on April 26, 1981 at Augustana Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Pastor Terry Krier served that church and Balsam Lutheran Church in Amery, Wisconsin before coming to serve in Florida. Zion Lutheran Church in Groveland was Terry's last church before retirement. Called out of retirement in 1997, she served as Interim Pastor to Atonement Lutheran Church in Orlando until another retirement in 2004. On April 11, 2011, Pastor Terry again answered the call to return to active service as Supply Pastor to Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. Pastor Terry was married to Karl Krier in 1982 and was widowed in 2007. She is a proud grandmother and great-grandmother

Pastor Jon to go on Medical Leave

Updated April 11, 2011

Due to illness, Pastor Jon has decided to go on an official medical leave while he is recovering. In his absence, Rev Terry Krier, will assume the duties of Supply Pastor. Terry will be in the church office on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday of each week. However, she is flexible and will work other days whenever pastoral care is needed. Terry should be contacted in case of emergency: her number is 352-348-7711. We all are praying for Pastor Jon as he receives treatment and look forward to his early return.

Congregation Elects New Council Members

Updated February 3, 2011

The annual congregational meeting was held on January 30 with over 70 members attending. The annual committee reports were all approved, as well as the 2011 budget (about $20000 less than last year.) The Florida Synod budget donation was increased by $1,000. Laura Dilley, President, reported that Stewardship campaigns for both the operating and capital budget will be conducted this spring. The church mortgage has been reduced by over $500,000 since we moved into the new building. Duane Dundore, Susan Sherman, Michelle Candage, and Jolie Cook were elected to the council.

Thrivent Group Donates to Friends of the Library

Updated August 22, 2010

Our Thrivent group recently presented a check for $600 from Thrivent Financial for the Friends of the Library. The group helped the library with their recent book sale.

Jesus and the Gospel

Updated February 21, 2010

Starting Sunday February 28 we will embark on our latest of the Learning Company series, "Jesus and the Gospels.", a far-ranging course.

It examines not only the canonical Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John familiar to us from the New Testament, but also the many other, apocryphal narratives and literary works that have contributed to our perceptions of Jesus, Mary, and Christianity. All of these works are encompassed by the word "Gospel."

Professor Luke Timothy Johnson attempts to show us the human Jesus underlying the many portraits we have. He approaches the Gospels and our perceptions of Jesus from a different perspective than the popular quest for the "historical Jesus."

Professor Johnson asserts that the portrait of Jesus addressed by such an approach, legitimate and compelling though such an approach may be, leads to questions that are virtually "impossible to answer satisfactorily" through proper historical methods.

"It is, after all, as literature that the Gospels influenced history. And it is through literature that present-day readers can continue to encounter Jesus," he says. "It has never been the historical Jesus who has served as the motivating force for anything, except during his lifetime, but rather the Jesus who is inscribed in these Gospels."

Professor Johnson, who spent nine years as a Benedictine monk, is one of his field's most distinguished and famous scholars. He is the author of 20 books and several hundred articles and reviews, and has been repeatedly honored for his teaching skills. At Emory University, he has twice received the "On Eagle's Wings Excellence in Teaching" award. In these 30 minute video lectures, presented with passion, a scholar's attention to nuance, and a delightful sense of humor, he considers not only what is being said, but how it is being said. And because these narratives were born of an oral tradition, he often reads aloud to best convey their full richness and original meanings.

Classes are held each Sunday at 9:15, Tuesday at noon (brown bag), and on Wednesday evening after services (about 7:45 p.m.). All are invited. Bring a guest. The class meets in the sanctuary.

New Council Members Selected

Updated February 6, 2010

Diane Bursey, Dennis Wick, Dee Shields, and Rachel Jeppesen were elected to the church council at last week's congregational meeting. Laura Dilley will replace Ken Felt as council president. Ken's term on council expired. Other positions and officers will be announced after this month's council meeting. Members were installed on Sunday, February 7.

New Organ Purchased

Updated January 27, 2009

Ed Frame, Director of Music, has announced that our organ fund drive was successful and has raised enough money to purchase the new organ. It is now on order and should be installed in the next few months. More information will be provided as it becomes available. Many thanks to all our donors and particularly to the unnamed donor who provided $35,000 of the funds.

Ed Receives Major Grant

Updated January 20, 2009

Our music director, Professor Ed Frame has recently received a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research into the mythology of the Kadazan peoples of Sabah, Malaysia. Professor Frame will return to an area of the world where he previously researched the music of the indigenous tribes of Borneo on a Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation grant while doing doctoral work at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. Professor Frame is a tenured faculty member at Valencia Community College in charge of the Interdisciplinary Honors Program. He also teaches honors mythology and Asian humanities. Professor Frame has also been chosen by the Honors College of Valencia to lead a group of honors students to Morocco during the Spring Break.

Luther Course Begins

Updated September 1, 2009

He was only one man-a humble monk and Bible professor-yet he sparked a religious rebellion that changed the course of history. Who was Martin Luther? What made his theology so explosive in 16th-century Europe? Was it really his intention to start Protestantism, and with it a new church? How did this late-medieval man launch the Protestant Reformation and help create the modern world as we know it? And how should we think of him: hero or heretic, rebel or tormented soul?

Martin Luther is so interesting to study, Professor Phillip Cary believes, because he is so controversial. In fact, Luther may be more interesting to study today because the controversy surrounding him is more complicated-less black-and-white-than when he was alive. Many Catholics today find things in Luther to respect and admire, while many Protestants reject aspects of his legacy as misguided, embarrassing, or even evil.

Luther: Gospel, Law, and Reformation will help you reach your own conclusions. This course explores Luther's theology, the circumstances surrounding his conclusion that the papacy was "antichrist," and major issues and events in the Reformation as it unfolded in Luther's life after he posted his famous 95 Theses on the door of the church of Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517.

Professor Cary presents Luther as a multifaceted human being, a man with extraordinary virtues and profound flaws. You will meet an inspiring religious thinker who presented the Christian Gospel as a message of comfort, joy, and freedom; as great good news for sinners and God's loving promise of salvation. And you will encounter a leader whose unswerving certainty about his doctrines led him to launch vicious attacks against those with whom he disagreed most infamously and malevolently-the Jews.

What makes this course so involving for students is that it is not intended to leave you with a neutral impression of Luther. Professor Cary wants you to use his lectures-supplemented by your own research and reading-to make your own judgments about Luther, the man and his teachings.

Beginning on Sunday, September 13, this course is composed of 30 minute video lectures with discussion afterward (led by Pastor Jon) and will be presented on Sunday at 9:15 a.m., Tuesday at noon (brown bag), and Wednesday evening at 7:45 p.m. All are invited -- bring neighbors and friends. You won't be disappointed!

Organ Fund Drive Begins

Updated August 10, 2009

Ed Frame, Director of Music, has announced that an unannounced donor has offered a substantial amount of matching funds to purchase a new organ. As of the current date, we have about $54,000 (including the matching funds) toward an estimated need of about $77,000. We are encouraging members and friends to donate to this fund in order to enable us to replace our aging (over 30 year old) organ, as it is increasingly hard to obtain parts and keep it in shape. The picture here is similar to the proposed organ. It has many advanced features, including the ability to sound just like a pipe organ -- and real pipes can be added at a later date if desired.

Sunday School Begins

Updated August 10, 2009

Laurie Freshour, Directory of Family Ministries, has announced that Sunday School will begin the fall season with a Rally Day to meet the teachers on Sunday, August 30 from 9am to 10am. The first day of Sunday School will be on September 13.

Teachers for this year are:

• Pre K: Kadie Senesi
• K-1: Aimee Markussen
• 2-4: Heather Faraci
• 5-6: Diane Bursey
• 7-12: Debbie Kiley
• Adult: Pastor Jon

Great World Religion Series Studies Buddhism

Updated July 17, 2009

We have completed our Great Religion Series studies of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. We turn to a study of our next religion, Buddhism, beginning on Sunday, July 19. There are twelve 30 minute lectures followed by discussion. Each week, the class will be held on Sunday at 9:15 a.m., Tuesday at noon (brownbag), and Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. This series continues to be popular and well attended. Bring family and friends. (Please note that the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions are behind about 1-2 weeks from the Sunday sessions.)

Buddhism challenges some of the most important Western ideas about God, human life, and the self. In Buddhism there is no single almighty God who created the world. Instead, Buddhism teaches that all of life is suffering, and there is no permanent self. And it teaches that in accepting that all life is suffering, bliss can be achieved in this life.

Professor Malcolm David Eckel is winner of Boston University's highest honor, the Metcalf Award for Teaching Excellence. He has spent most of his adult life studying Buddhism in Asia and North America, and shares his insights about this endlessly fascinating faith in this vital series.

Malcolm David Eckel is Associate Professor of Religion at Boston University. He holds two bachelors degrees, one in English from Harvard University and a second in Theology from Oxford University. Professor Eckel earned his Masters in Theology at Oxford and his Ph.D. in the study of Comparative Religion at Harvard.

Youth Honored for Graduation, First Communion

Updated May 31, 2009

Three Shepherd of the Hills members were honored at May 31 worship for their graduation accomplishments:

Congratulations to Richard Freshour, Son of Laurie & Richard Freshour, on His Graduation from East Ridge High School.

Congratulations to Ariel Stuemke, Daughter of Edward & Jennifer Stuemke, on Her Graduation from East Ridge High School.

Congratulations to Krysta Felt on Her College Graduation.

Also Congratulations to Gretchen Faraci, John (Jack) Kiely and Emily Cooper for observing their First Communion on May 31

Some Children's Programs in Recess for Summer

Updated May 28, 2009

Laurie Freshour, Directory of Family Ministries, has announced that Sunday School, Alleluia Singers and Alleluia Ringers will recess for the summer after the May 31 service. They will begin again on Rally Day, scheduled for September 13. However, Vacation Bible School and Summer Camp provide a wealth of activities for the kids in the summer months.

Leighanna Needs a Wheelchair

Updated April 5, 2009

Leighanna, one of the smaller members of our congregation, has cerebral palsy and is in need of a wheelchair. We are raffling off a quilt to raise monies to purchase the wheelchair. Thrivent Financial will match some of our funds. Raffle tickets are being sold for the next few Sundays. Any additional help you can give to one of our needs members is appreciated.

Great World Religion Series Continues

Updated April 5, 2009

We have completed our Great Religion Series studies of Islam and Christianity. The next religion, Judaism, will begin on Sunday, April 12. There are twelve 30 minute lectures followed by discussion. Each week, the class will be held on Sunday at 9:15 a.m., Tuesday at noon (brownbag), and Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. Lots of people have attended this series and it has gotten great reviews. Bring family, neighbors, and friends. All are welcome.

What is the essence of Judaism? Is it the Ten Commandments, given by God to Israel at Mount Sinai? Or is it the totality of teachings in the Hebrew Bible? Or is it symbolized by something outside the Bible? However Judaism is defined, the beliefs, practices, attitudes, and institutions of Jews through the ages display a striking diversity, despite the fact that all would ascribe to a common heritage.

Professor Isaiah M. Gafni of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem addresses these and other issues as he explores the ever-changing 4,000-year-old saga of Judaism, one of the world's most ancient and influential religions.

Indeed, as Professor Gafni points out, Judaism is something more than a religion. Christianity and Islam are faiths, or systems of beliefs, that embrace diverse communities and ethnic groups throughout the world. Although Judaism also adheres to particular beliefs and practices, many Jews would nevertheless consider the designation of Judaism as a religion as far too narrow or confining a categorization.

Condolences

Updated March 25, 2009

Meredith Felt, a long-time member of Shepherd of the Hills died today. A viewing will be held at Becker's Funeral Home on Sunday, March 29 from 5 to 8 pm. A service will be held at the church on Monday at 10:00 a.m. with a luncheon to follow. Burial will be in Bushnell at 1:30 p.m. We offer our condolences to Meredith's family.

Garden Club

Updated March 13, 2009

We are forming a garden club to plan and maintain the Memorial Garden. If interested, please sign up on the sheet in the back of the church. For more information, please call Carol Rosum at 407-469-2742.

Condolences

Updated January 7, 2009

Marty Hertko, a long-time member and member of the choir, died on Saturday, January 3, 2009. Our condolences to his wife, Oma and the family. A memorial service will be held for Marty on Saturday, January 10 at 10:00 a.m. with a luncheon to follow.

Garden

Updated November 9, 2008

Our memorial garden is nearing completion. Here is a picture taken on November 9:

Condolences

Updated October 14, 2008

Our condolences to Kevin Jakob and family upon the passing of Bette Anne Jakob on Sunday, October 12,2008. Please keep the family in your prayers.

Condolences

Updated October 9, 2008

We are sorry to announce the passing of Leeann Grussaute. the mother of Brian Grussaute on Wednesday, October 8, 2008. Please keep Brian and the family in your prayers.

Memorial Garden

Updated October 9, 2008

A new memorial garden has been started in the area between entrance sidewalks in the front of the church. The garden which includes a memorial fountain and plaques to enter names of loved ones is funded by memorial gifts and other donations. The garden will be completed before the end of the year. A diagram of the garden is pictured below.

Condolences

Updated August 25, 2008

We are sorry to announce the passing of Harold Raymond Reed or Ray as he was known in our congregation. Memorial services will be held on Friday, August 29 at 11:00 at the church. Please keep Carole and the family in your prayers.