Mark your calendars for Sunday, September 19, right after the church service!  We will hold a short congregational meeting to elect a Call Committee made up of six voting members.  

As you might remember from 8 years ago, the Call Committee will lead the process to find a new pastor. This team first will be responsible for working with council to fill out a congregational profile, which identifies our congregational priorities, needs, and hopes, as well as what we’re looking for in a pastor for this congregation. The synod will then identify pastoral candidates they feel meet those needs and the Call Committee will interview them, until both the Call Committee and a final candidate believe we're a good match for each other. At that point, the Call Committee will propose them as the candidate of choice to the council and congregation.

Clearly, this process can be lengthy and requires a faith that both trusts God’s guidance and acts upon it, a heart for CGS, an ability to understand and connect the various needs of CGS with pastoral leadership qualities, and some willingness to keep up with the logistics of it all! Beyond this, the council outlined categories to ensure an appropriate representation of our community: women, men, musicians, LGBTQ+, parents, BIPOC, under 40, and those with a long history with CGS. Taken together, a diverse team with outstanding ability and tenacity was sought.

To this end, our Nominating Committee has identified members willing to stand for election, though additional nominations from the floor are welcome. They are: Matt Byom, Sarah Janigian, Randy Presuhn, Adolfo Ramirez, Paul Thomas, and Julia Tranchina. We are grateful for their willingness to serve, and submit them for your consideration. Please come Sunday, September 19 to elect this important team and give them our blessing for the future work ahead!

If you would like to attend the meeting remotely, you can join us on Zoom by clicking on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83458571846?pwd=anNuMXQzNzd1QlVrazlJcHV0N0lmQT09.

- The Nominating Committee: Chuck Witschorik, Daniel Thomas, Judith Steger, Rey Lambatin, Sarah Janigian, Sarah Erickson

It has been a privilege to serve on your council for the past 5 & 1/2 years and on the property committee for 7.  This was an extraordinary year of unforeseen challenges and changes.  One of the largest was having our Pastor leave suddenly and her assistant soon after.  Know your council is doing its best on meeting these challenges.  Like all humans we make mistakes, but with a full council hopefully these will be minimal. Know that all of our ministries are functioning and serving you and the community.

This is a time CGS surely needs us all to step-up and volunteer our time and talent.  PLEASE when asked do lend your talent, and when volunteers are needed step forward or volunteer.  Where you see a need, ask one of the council members. Also please let us know what you think.  The council needs to hear from you, for you are the essence of CGS.

CGS has met these types of challenges before and some that make these seem small. Working together has always been the answer!

I have faith in God and in you that we will succeed and be even better.

I am continually amazed by our community’s generosity both financially and emotionally.

My God bless us all.

Dozens of churches and synagogues are once again hosting a booth at the festival, under the name "the Silicon Valley Pride Interfaith Booth." Two years ago CGS was a "founding member" of the booth project, and this year CGS is donating $1000 from the St. John's LGBT fund.

The booth will be open Saturday evening from 6 pm to 11 pm, and Sunday from 12 noon to 6 pm.

They are looking for volunteers to help with staffing, construction, and tear-down. If you are interested, please sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090F49AAAC2AA6FB6-svpride.

And don't forget, on Sunday, before you head to the Silicon Valley Pride festival, join us in worship at CGS!

Come one, come all, we'll have a ball packing food for Rise Against Hunger! Please join us at Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at 1550 Meridian Ave, San Jose, CA 95125 after church on Sunday, September 12th. The event starts at 11:30 once we've had coffee and donuts. Please use the link below to donate and sign up for our special event. Remember, we will be wearing masks and using COVID safe socially distancing requirements. Children are invited to attend if they want to help as in the past, but they would also be required to mask up. Any questions, see Susan Duran at church. Thanks for your help and commitment to this worthy cause. Our goal is to have 40 volunteers, and our boy scout troop will be joining us to help out.

​Here is the link: http://events.riseagainsthunger.org/cgsl2021

I am gay. I’ve never had any problem admitting this to myself because I knew since my earliest recollection, I believe around the age of 7, that I was different. This came from hearing older relatives and friends of family talking about it back then. Now, admitting this to other people is a different story. I tend to be more selective to whom I say it, and when certain situations ask, there’s always a hesitation to freely declare it to strangers or people I don’t know well. I believe this roots from past experiences of being marginalized and derided because of my sexuality, and the inherent desire of most of us to be accepted and not be judged. I think that this also contributes to my introversion, and being close to just a select number of friends. But these also helped me persevere in many ways and taught me a lot of things. I learned that I shouldn’t place my worth in what other people’s perception of me. I learned that music is a powerful tool to help me go through difficult times, and reach out and help other people. I learned that I could continue to serve and love God, and that God loves me no matter what. And more importantly, that I have the capability to find joy and be happy, while being proud of who I truly am.

August is Silicon Valley’s Pride month, and CGS being a Reconciling In Christ congregation helped me tremendously in reconciling my faith and my sexuality. It is a great blessing to me and other members of LGBTQ+ to be part of a church where we can serve God and our community in different ministries while being true to ourselves, be accepted for who we are and how we treat others with love and kindness, and not be judged.  On August 29, we’ll have our own way of celebrating Pride in our Sunday worship. Our men’s group, Keynote Vocal Group, is preparing to record the song “Everything Possible” as part of our celebration, and I think the chorus sums up what I truly want to impart to everyone:

“Oh, you can be anybody you want to be,
you can love whomever you will.
You can travel any country where your heart leads
and know that I will love you still.
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
you can choose one special one.
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
will be the love you leave behind when you’re done.”

A safe and happy Pride to all!

CGS will host the Safe Car Park in October, and once again help is needed to assist welcoming our guests to our church site.  As a member of the Silicon Valley Safe Car Park network, CGS participates in hosting single adults and families sleeping in their vehicles to have a secure parking lot space.  We partner with Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment, the organization that screens and refers guests to the program.

Our church community has been very welcoming to Safe Car Park guests, and now is the time to begin planning for the October visit.

1) Volunteers will be needed for evening check-in (6:30 p.m.) and morning check-out (7:30 a.m.). 

2) Donations of restaurant/grocery gift cards and gasoline gift cards are greatly needed.  Also, donations of non-perishable snacks will be gladly accepted. (Please, all snacks must be individually wrapped.)

The current link for instructions and volunteers to sign-up is below:

• SIGN UP sheet on Sign Up Genius
• INSTRUCTIONS for volunteers

We continue to be very mindful of COVID limitations and follow the county health guidelines.

A volunteer orientation will be held via ZOOM on Sunday, September 26th at noon.

​We look forward to welcoming Safe Car Park guests to CGS, and providing them a warm and welcoming place.  Please feel free to contact anyone on the team if you have any questions.