What to call me?

When I was first ordained I served as Associate

Pastor at an upper-middle class congregation in

the nice suburbs just south of Baltimore. The

culture of the church was quite formal, typical of

the East Coast, and everyone called me Pastor

Wallace. No matter what we were doing or

where we were, I was always Pastor Wallace.

Then I went home to Minneapolis and realized a

dream of becoming a senior pastor. Honestly,

at this point, I felt that with the experience I had

accumulated that I was becoming an adequate

pastor. The church grew and it was all very

exciting. Everyone called me Pastor Todd-never Pastor Wallace-always Pastor

Todd. Then we hired an associate pastor also named Todd and then I became

Pastor TW.

7.5.15 Resume Cafe

7.12.15 and 7.26.15

“Taco Church” after 11

am service.

7.31.15 Rivercats

Game

This Month

Pastor’s Message //

July 2015 * www.sactownchurch.com

Pastor Todd Wallace

The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd * www.sactownchurch.com * 1615 Morse Ave, Sacramento, CA 95864 * 916-483-0451

Message From Pastor Cont.

Now I am past the 25 year mark of

ordination and I am sometimes Todd

or Pastor Todd depending on the

person and circumstance.

Listen carefully: I am a pastor, I know

it; God has called me to it. I don’t need

to be called by that title to bolster my

ego or help me understand what I am.

As far as my own feelings go I don’t

ever need to be called “Pastor “ again.

This conversation is not about what I

need but rather all about what God

wants you to have. God wants you to

have a pastor.

If it helps you know that you have a

pastor by using that title when you

refer to me great! Do it.

If it helps you relate more easily to the

guy who is your pastor to call him

simply by his name great! Do it.

You have a pastor no matter what you

From The Council //

I’ve never been a big fan of “Christmas in July.” The whole idea of Christmas in the middle of Summer does not work for me on any level. Fall, on the other hand, is my favorite time of year and I am more than happy to contemplate it’s arrival, no matter what time of year it is! We have many things to look forward to this coming Fall. As crazy as this seems, there are actually

three things to bring to your attention now.

Budget Planning

It is not too early to starting considering funding needs for next year. I would advise anyone on a board, committee, group or Ministry Staff whose funding comes from a line item in the Budget to start thinking now about what your program needs will be in 2016. It’s best to start thinking now what your budget needs may be in order to allow adequate planning and discussion before the

Budget Committee commences it’s work in the Fall.

Trust Fund

Interest earned from the Church Trust Fund is available to support projects that enhance ministries and stewardship opportunities apart from the General Operating Budget. Any member who has an idea for a program that meets the criteria of the Trust Fund has the opportunity to put their idea forward to the Trust Fund Committee. As we get closer to the Fall, more details will be made available. In the meantime, questions concerning the Trust Fund may be

directed to Tom Mathews, Roger Pollock or Gale Cournoyer.

Day of Hope / Saturday, November 7th

Put this one on your calendar. Day of Hope is a collaborative outreach effort led by the local Churches within the Arden Arcade area. This all volunteer effort mobilizes hundreds of area residents to serve and make a difference in our community by providing a range of immediate need services to the underserved. Services range from free food, health screenings, hair cuts, clothes, games and activities for children and much more. This is an excellent opportunity for Good Shepherd members and friends to engage with others in our community to offer hope and a little relief to our neighbors in need. Day of Hope will be held at

Encina High School.

Sunday Services at 7:45 am (Come As You Are), 8:30 am (Classic), and 11:00 am (Contemporary). Fellowship at 9:30 am. Educational Hour from 9:50 am 10:45 am: Adults (Fireside Room), IKON YOUTH (Youth Room), Kids (GS Kids Room). Library open on Sundays.

Gretchen Eischen, Council President

July 2015

Baptisms :

Ava Moreno - 05/24/15

Kylie Shults - 06/14/15

Official Church

Submissions to our Monthly Newsletter must be made by the 15th of the month to

shepherdsstaff@sactownchurch.com.

Submissions to our Weekly Newsletter must be made by 12:00 pm on Wednesday

to lifetogether@sactownchurch.com.

July 2015

GS KIDS // There is no Sunday School July 5th or 12th. We will restart on July 19th. Our last 456 will take place on

July 24th from 6:30-8:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall. Please invite your friends and join as for the final hurrah of this ministry.

Blood Pressure Screening // Are you

one of the approximately 78 million people in the United States who has high blood pressure? Do you have a family history of it? Known also as the silent killer or hypertension, high blood pressure typically has no symptoms but can lead to deadly health consequences such as heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. Some populations are more at risk of developing hypertension than others. De-spite how widespread it is and damaging it can be, high blood pressure is still

unknown, misunderstood or ignored by many people.

If it's been awhile since you have had your pressure checked please take advantage of our monthly blood pressure check the first

Sunday of each month after the 8:30 am service.

With 384 hours of volunteer work, we served 648 people from 203 households an emergency 3 days of food during the month of May. Your continuing support has made it easy to provide for these neighbors! Again this month we will continue to need boxed cereal, canned tuna, chili, peanut butter, mac and cheese, oat-meal packets, fruit cups and juice drinks. Some of the discount stores have small jars of peanut butter at around $1. There is almost nothing we cannot use. We continue the garden work into the summer. Some of the cucumbers and squash are doing well. The peas are just finishing producing and the pole beans are starting their summer run. We did harvest some of the carrots and are just about ready to dig the potatoes. If you are interested in donating volunteer hours, please leave your name and availability. There may be some help needed as we approach summer and have our regu-lars going on vacations! Thank you to all of our great vol-unteers we do have. If you would like to just do one or two times per month we can arrange some opportunities. Leave your name with Pepper (916 880-0703). Donations are accepted during regular hours Monday through Friday: 9:30 to 11:30 am. Call us at 483-1942 if you have questions or know of anyone in need of food.

Food Closet // Trust Fund // As the year moves swiftly along the Trust Fund Committee would

like to provide the congregation with an update.

First, thank you for your generosity in Honoring Rudy. The Fund has received 40 donations totaling in excess of $2,300 in his hon-

or.

The Fund currently stands at approximately $486,000 with

$24,770 in grants approved by the congregation for this year.

Before you know, it fall will be here and the committee will be re-questing recommendations and requests for grants. Many of the grants are provided to the requestor to accomplish specific activi-ties. The committee is also looking for ideas that it can pursue and potentially recommend to the congregations for approval.

You ideas are welcome and appreciated.

Lastly, the committee is looking for members that are interested in serving for 3 years or longer to accomplish the mission of the committee. Financial expertise is not a requirement, we have experts for that, but a willingness to objectively carryout the com-

mittee mission is important along with a small time commitment.

Please contact any member of the committee (Roger Pollock, Tom Mathews, Gale Cournoyer) for any questions on any of the above topics.. Thank you for your support, the Trust Fund Com-

mittee.

Ryan Baker * Samuel K. Brown * Heather Campbell * Peter Charbonneau * Joshua Cole * Matthew Cournoyer * Blake Fair *Joshua Green * Daniel Harrison * Michael Harrison * Zachary Jensen * Cody Johnstone * Kevin Kirkbride * Alex Kraal

Andrew Kraal * Kiel Lovekin * Joel McMillan * Cosme Munzo * Michael Nolan * Liam O'Brien * Matthew Sirko * Eamon Turnbull * Nathan Wallace

Pray For Our Men and Women in the Military //

Friends of the Preschool June was an exciting month at preschool. We have blasted into outer space, and are learning all about God's great big Universe. In our main preschool room, there is all types of props to help us to learn about the universe. We are also blessed to have special visitors come by and see us. Mr. Pete Sorrell came by to tell us about his experiences working around rockets and astronauts. Another visitor had nothing to do with outer space, but was quite enjoyable. His name is Dexter, an African tortoise. Dexter is the pet of Stephanie, a friend of our own Miss Stephanie, who runs our nursery on Sundays and also substitutes for preschool. Dexter is 5 years old, and already

a very large tortoise.

Graduate Spotlight:

We thought it would be interesting to catch up with some of our Graduates from Good Shepherd Preschool. We wanted to know what they've accomplished, and how what they learned at Good Shepherd Preschool has helped them throughout their life. This month, we feature a Graduate who attended from 1995-1997. He was in Mrs Bonnie’s class and loved riding the tricycles around the playground and singing songs. His favorite snack was Goldfish, and he wishes he could still have nap time every day! While most days were fun, he remembers seeing a spider on his friend Kyle’s shoulder and “freaking out” as

only preschoolers can.

On a more serious note, our Graduate believes he still lives by the values he was taught at Good Shepherd Preschool. “I really haven't had any doubts about God, even when challenged about my faith in college by classmates, “ he stated. He is still a respectful , kind, and well behaved person – most of the time anyway - and he strongly believes Good Shepherd Preschool had

something to do with that.

Can you guess who our Graduate is? Here are a few more hints. He recently graduated from UCLA with a Bachelors of Sciences in Math and Applied Sciences. He is currently working at a car wash startup while job searching, and occasionally hangs out with

his friends from Good Shepherd Preschool (really!).

Our Graduate this month is Michael Gloudeman! Make sure you say hello to him – and his family – next time you see them in Church. If you know someone who graduated from Good Shepherd Preschool, let us know, and we'll reach out to them! You never

know who will be profiled next!

Thank you to all our friends who were able to help out with the church preschool needs lists. It is through your generosity that your preschool outreach ministry is able to make preschool affordable, allowing families to bring their children to Good Shepherd,

and to learn about Jesus our Savior.

Just a reminder - the third Sunday of each month is Preschool Sunday. We also have recycle Sunday on this date. Your church preschool accepts California CRV (Cash Redemption Value) glass, plastic and aluminum drinking containers to help offset the cost of our preschool pet upkeep, special snack (pizza), or other items. Last month in preparation for our summer program, we

needed five gallons of house paint for our space props, a large portion of the recycle money was used to purchase that paint.

Good Shepherd Preschool has started enrolling for the 2015-2016 school year. Please help spread the word.

I thank each of you for your contribution to your church preschool. There is no greater way to show Christ's love, than through

kindness and caring.

July 2015

iMPACT NEWS //

Backpacks Needed! Good Shepherd + Backpacks = Extravagant Generosity!!! Let’s continue to be a blessing to others by helping up to 60 low-income children, 15 teenage Camp Counselors and their families in the Arden Manor neighborhood, by providing a financial donation that will go towards a new backpack and fresh school supplies. Financial Donations Only Please! No shopping or guesswork on what to buy! We will do the buying for you —and will customize each backpack based on the child, their grade level and their needs! Here’s how it works: Make a financial donation TODAY or on any of the Sundays in July (in any amount). You can bring it to church and drop it in the Offering Plate OR Mail donation to: The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd at 1615 Morse Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95864 (Please make checks payable to Good Shepherd Church with “iMPACT Backpacks” in the memo area). Backpacks range from $25 (for the younger kids) to $40 (for the older campers). Any and all donation amounts are welcomed and accepted! Join us on Sunday, August 2nd, for iMPACT Sunday (@ the 11am service) and see first hand how excited the kiddos are to get their new backpacks & supplies. With gratitude, Amy E. Smith, iMPACT Outreach Director

July 2015

Congratulations for our Graduates// Tonja Sarette * Megan Brunello * Amanda Mouras * Max Mouras * Xavier Ray * Robert Matthew Galzinski Jr. *

Danisha Angeline Thompson * Jennie Johnson * Whitney Wilhelmy * Lawrence Daniel Williams *Zachary Michael Williams *

Thomas Krotine * Michael Gloudeman * Cameron Borchert * Joslyn Carrell * Jordan Carrell * Mary Danial

Camp iMPACT Staff 2015 (from left to right) Amy Smith, Sway Phal, Sean Gill, Kayla Johnson, Courtney Shaw & Kim Harris

Thank You From The Family of Emily Lucero // Dear Friends at Good Shepherd, Over the last three weeks since Emily has been back home, we have worked hard to adjust to her increased medical demands. Although, we are no longer confined to hospital walls, the challenge of supporting her at home is all consuming. But she is gaining strength day by day….we all are. We have drawn such strength from all of you. You have surrounded us, again and again with love. Your prayers and your kindness have touched us deeply. It would have been enough for you to demonstrate your faith and hope in God through prayer but you went beyond that to touch our very real physical needs. It was last February when a sudden illness turned very grave without any warning. Within 48 hours of the first sign of a low-grade fever, Emily was transferred to Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital by ambulance and admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with acute respiratory failure. All of this, because she caught a common cold virus. Immunosuppression had left her body absolutely defenseless. Our world was turned upside down and inside out, at that moment. She spent two and a half months in the PICU. She was ventilator dependent for a month while infection ravaged her entire body. She was septic and her life hung precariously, day after (excruciatingly long) day. But we were never alone, not for a single moment. God “split the sea so we could walk right through it and he drowned our fears in his perfect love.” In the deep chasms of pain and gaping need, God was Provider Healer. In these places our gratitude runs deep. During this time, a family at Good Shepherd approached us. They asked about how they might offer help. Long hospital stays are devastating to our financial resources and add another layer of crisis on top of the medical crisis. In the past our friends at Good Shepherd have brought meals but leaving behind a houseful of capable teens, I asked instead, for grocery cards. In this way, we could use them to patch us through various places and times of need. But, we never expected the extent of your generosity. I recall vividly, the day I had to leave Emily at the hospital and return home to get my car. I had asked Alex if there were any cards left because Emily was having severe nausea and was struggling to eat hospital food. She had asked for some “home food,” but my funds were tapped out and so I was hopeful to use a card to buy some food for her while at LPCH. Alex looked at me with a look of disbelief. He pulled out an envelope and began placing grocery card after grocery card on the kitchen table. When he finished, we sat down and stared at Gods provision, while tears of relief and gratitude fell. We were stunned, absolutely overwhelmed, by the kindness and generosity of our Church family. Those gift cards allowed our teens to jump on a bike and run to the store to get milk and cereal for the mornings, while Alex was working full time. It allowed me to come home after discharge with the confidence that although resources had been depleted, we would still be able to put food on the table. Thank you seems so small in comparison to the magnitude of the gift. But we offer our thanks, nonetheless. Emily was discharged in time for Mother’s day, but her stay home turned into a brief few weeks before she was admitted again, this time because of her kidneys. We spent a month at LPCH trying to find answers as to why her kidneys aren’t functioning well. We learned that during her time on the ventilator back in Feb/ March, when her blood pressure was dangerously and persistently low, there was not enough blood flow to her kidneys and they suffered some damage. So friends, this is where we are in our journey. We are trying to rehabilitate Emily’s kidneys and in the meantime, we depend on intravenous electrolyte support and are making frequent trips to LPCH for clinic appointments. Our hearts are truly comforted by the many blessings at Good Shepherd. To each and every person who sent a gift card, lifted us up in prayer, or gave us a word of encouragement, THANK YOU. YOU make a difference! Alex and Laura Christian, Emily, Elisabeth Lucero

July 2015

A New Chapter for the Good Shepherd Library //

Sometimes a ministry that has been around a long time reaches the end of its run. Thankfully that is NOT the case with the Good Shepherd Library! On the contrary, the library is starting an exciting new chapter. As part of that, the library has moved from the back of the campus up to the center of campus and is now easily accessible on Sunday mornings through the Library door right next to the GS Kids room, or you can take the shortcut through the Welcome Center. Our library features both adult and children’s books as well as a nice selection of DVD’s and is open

from9:30 -11 am every Sunday.

Of course, to move a library takes a village and a group of volunteers put in more than 200 hours to refurbish the space, build & stain shelves and move ALL those great books. First, Katie Cosato created the beautiful design & color scheme. Doug Stewart did an amazing job renewing the ceilings, lighting and walls. Then Phyllis Martin, our church librarian, along with John Shupe led the charge on the new shelves and those who worked alongside Phyllis and John on the building and installing were: John Van Berkel, Howard Mitchell, Roger Pollock, David Williams, Pepper Martin, Tom Brown, Ken Zacher, David Rochester, Tom Heavey, Cathi Johnson, Sally Willis and Doug Stewart. Then our library committee picked up the baton and carefully moved & reshelved all of the books: Jan Pollock, Sally Willis, Cathi Johnson, Gary Johnson and Ann McDonell. This group of faithful ones set a great example for the rest of us as to how to embrace the vision, to set it in motion and to work together to get it done. All glory to God for their selfless work in support

of this ministry.

You are invited to come to the Grand Opening of our new library on July 12. Come check out this beautiful new space and don’t

forget to check out a book while you’re at it.

July 2015

The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd

1615 Morse Avenue

Sacramento, CA 95864

Contact Us

The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd www.sactownchurch.com Info@sactownchurch.com

1615 Morse Avenue Sacramento, CA 95864

916-483-0451