Council Blog

Wow, what a year 2023 has been for CGS.  A year ago, we were meeting Kristofer Rhude, a pastoral candidate for our congregation for the 1st time, and we were deciding if we would call him to serve our congregation as our Pastor.  We all know how the vote went, we called Pastor Kris, he was ordained in Massachusetts and Installed at Christ the Good Shepherd as our pastor by February of this year.  
I was serving a Council President at that time when the congregation was making a MAJOR decision about our future.  I felt like I was running around like a chicken with no head for a while.  For a period of time It seemed like there was a reception or congregational meeting every week and I figured you all were getting tired of hearing from me so often.  I have served on council for the last several years and I am proud of all the hard work that the council has done.  The council is a strong and dedicated group of people serving the congregation.  The fact that CGS continues to thrive and have the opportunities to share our blessings is due in part to the dedicated people serving as church council at CGS.  The church council is similar to the Board of Directors for a company and they have “general oversight of the life and activities of the congregation”.  Our monthly council meetings are scheduled for an hour and a half, but we consistently find ourselves involved in serious discussions about what the is best decision for our church and we run over our scheduled time.  At the last meeting in November, the council meeting covered several items, but the biggest subject was the BUDGET.  Thanks to so much hard work by Gregg Zigler and the Finance committee a budget was developed that is meaningful and attainable for our congregation.  I am happy to report that the budget was approved by the congregation at our November 19 Congregational Meeting.
I am currently in the last six months of my 2nd term on council and I have to say that I am continually amazed by the dedication of the council to lead our congregation is a positive direction.  During the month of November, we were asked to think about “What have we to offer” our congregation?” Serving on council is a big responsibility and sometimes it can be a hard job but if you have any interest in serving our congregation in this capacity it can also be very rewarding.  There are so many ways to serve our congregation and I hope each of you will prayerfully think of what your gifts are and how they can be shared with our church community. Please reach out to any council member is you have ideas about how you would like to serve.  As we move into the Advent Season and the beginning of the church year, I am excited by the direction of CGS and I hope that you are as well.  God’s Blessing to you all.

- Petra Menard