April 9 2026
I’m writing to you one last time as your priest, and remembering the sense of eager welcome I first felt here nearly seven years ago.
It’s amazing to look back on all the ways Good Shepherd has changed and grown in this time. COVID pushed our limits and asked us to restructure how we connect and worship. Realities about finances called us to reexamine the relationship between parish and clergy. I’ve always admired how brave this church was to split its priest with someone else. This was not without its early hiccups! The things we expected to be issues were almost never a problem and things we never could have predicted were. This thing the Church that we’re called to share together is as unpredictable sometimes as the God who instituted it. To see so many of you in this time step in to new roles—lay preachers, Sunday school teachers, Morning Prayer worship leaders, technology crew, etc.—has been inspiring and heart-warming.
I will miss the SHRIMP! fries, the book studies, and the potlucks. More than any of those things, though, I’m going to miss the people who make this place so special. As I prepare to move to a new call, I’m flooded with memories of the times we’ve shared. You’re a small but mighty bunch, and I feel that the Holy Spirit is doing much more in you and through you than you often recognize.
I continue to hold this community and each of you individually in prayer, especially as you go through the interim process. I know that God is with you as a guide and that whoever you find will be as pleased as I was to work with you.
With every blessing,
Fr. Steve
| Acts 2:14a,22-32 1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31 Psalm 16 |
