Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
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12/8/2020 0 Comments

Covid Update 12.01.2020

​With the numbers increasing for COVID-19 and for the stress on our healthcare system, we made some modifications to some of the programming and worship formats at Shepherd. Here’s the latest…
 
Our worship: We held worship in person for a few weeks and it was wonderful to be in person. However, the increase in those ill and the new Executive Order have led us to make some changes. We are now worshiping outside again for Parking Lot Worship. Join us each Sunday at 9:00 am online or in our parking lot. We ask that you enter at the southern most part of the lot (towards Door C) and make your way towards the north part of the lot. We will have Communion supplies and bulletins if you did not previously print one or have a mobile device. We will be broadcasting again on 88.9FM. We ask that if you have your windows down that you are wearing a mask. Join Us.
 
Christmas Eve Service: Join us in the parking lot at either 5:00 or 7:00 pm or online for worship. See information about Parking Lot Worship above. We will also be holding a Candlelight Christmas Eve Service from our sanctuary that will be online at 10 pm.
 
Our building: The only activity that is currently occurring in the building is our childcare/preschool and limited staff presence. The office is open but we ask that you drop items off at Door G rather than coming into visit us. While we miss seeing all of your faces, this helps to ensure that the childcare program has distance from the visitors. Feel free to email or call the office at anytime though.
 
Our (other) gatherings: All other programming has moved to zoom for the month of December due to the Executive Order. See the eNews or speak with your group lead on details about the specifics. As always feel free to contact the office.
As Christmas approaches, we are blessed to have this wonderful community and thank you all for your patience and your willingness to be the shepherd to others.
 
 
In God’s Peace, Your Shepherd Staff 
Pr. Renee, Jilene, Pr. Brice, Joe, Sr. Tashina, Miranda, and Michelle
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11/24/2020 0 Comments

Update 11.19.2020

​11.19.2020 Update
 
Due to the rising COVID numbers and the new Executive Order, we have moved all meetings that were held on the grounds of Shepherd to electronic meetings. Please check with your group leader to find out further information. Worship has been moved outside again to Parking Lot Worship. Please join us for the comforts of your car or your home as we will be livestreaming as well for the month of November.  
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10/30/2020 0 Comments

November 2020

Update 11.1.2020
Appreciating our time together, no matter how it may be…
At this time of Thanksgiving, we are very appreciative of the Shepherd community. Being able to come together, however it may be, and share our faith as something that together we can all be grateful for. As the times change, so does our church, as we come together in how we serve the greater community.
 
Here are the recent changes that Shepherd has adopted in these changing times.
 
Our worship: Starting November 1, Indoor Worship and Online Worship! As listed in last month’s update, we are moving to this new format. If anyone is uncomfortable with the guidelines, or chooses not to follow them, we ask you to please consider protecting the congregation by worshiping at home; as we will continue to live stream our services.  Also, if you are in a high-risk category (and for your own safety) please join us via our live streaming of the service. Our goal as a congregation is to protect each other from contracting COVID-19. We need to be willing to take precautions to protect each other, the community and ourselves. These guidelines can be found on our website under sohsv.org/RSVP.  Worshiping    on-site is a decision you and your family will need to prayerfully make. Some of you will decide to return to the sanctuary for worship, and some of you will choose to remain at home for worship. Either way you choose, God is still speaking among us. Be well and know that you are greatly loved!
 
Our building: We have made some changes to our heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC). We have added an ionizer onto our sanctuary system that will continuously be helping to provide cleaner air for all of those using that space. We have also installed many touchless hand sanitizer stations throughout the building and floor decals reminding all to stay at safely socially distant. We have some groups that have moved back into the building and please know that we are doing whatever we can to ensure that we are following the best protocols of this pandemic.

Our (other) gatherings: Wednesday 1:00 Bible Study has now moved to the narthex. Please enter in Door A and as a friendly reminder, masks are required. 6:30 pm bible study is still available on Zoom each week. Book Studies are also on Zoom and information is on our website under Adult Faith Formation. Coffee & Donuts is also continuing and will be offered online on Zoom. See the eNews for information on this.

As always, we appreciate all of your flexibility in the continuous changes and supporting each other in being the church.


In God’s Peace, Your Shepherd Staff 
Pr. Renee, Jilene, Pr. Brice, Joe, Sr. Tashina, Miranda, and Michelle 

 
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10/1/2020 0 Comments

October 1. 2020

We are a hearty bunch here in Minne-snowta!! Even as our outdoor worship gets chillier, we are up for braving it. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.  Worshiping outside has been a really fun and holy
experiment that we have truly enjoyed (and might even do next summer with or without COVID concerns). However, as the weather turns toward what we have come to expect in Minnesota we all know that our comfortable “outside time” will be faced with the challenges that late fall and winter bring, namely…snow and cold.
 
After much conversation with many people in differing (professional) places about how and when to transition back into the sanctuary for in-person worship we are planning on worshipping back in the sanctuary on Nov 1 for All Saints Sunday. We are planning this move with great caution for both our and your safety…really!
We are proceeding with utmost caution and will re-open in the safest way possible. If anyone is uncomfortable with any of the following guidelines, or chooses not to follow them, we ask you to please consider protecting the congregation by worshiping at home as we will continue live streaming our worship services. Also, if you are in an at-risk category (and for your own safety) please join us via our live streaming of the service. Our goal as a congregation is to protect each other from contacting COVID-19. We need to be willing to take precautions to protect ourselves, each other and the community. If anyone, or someone you live with, has had within the past two (2) weeks any signs of cough, fever, shortness of breath, chills, signs or symptoms of the flu, change in or loss of taste or smell, a pending or positive COVID-19 test, please stay at home and join us online for worship.
Outlined below are the in-sanctuary precautions we will be taking in our efforts for worship safety:
 
· To allow for the spacing we feel will give us the greatest level of safety in our sanctuary, we will be limiting the number of in-person worshipers with a reservation system that will offer both online and call in
options. More details on this will be available as we approach the opening date. Please know that we will be holding to this limited number rigorously, so please plan ahead!
· Please practice social distancing upon arrival. The sidewalks as well as the floors in the building will be marked to provide guidance.
· Ushers will meet you at the front door. Entering & exiting the building will be limited to door A. Coats stay with you. There will be signs and guidance for clarity.
· Face masks need to be worn properly at all times while in the church building. We encourage you to bring your own mask, but masks will be provided at the front entrance for those who do not have one.  
· Ushers will direct seating. Please sit only with members of your immediate household. Spacing of 6 ft. will be maintained with signs and markings on the pews. And remember that you may not get to sit in your
favorite spot…we can do this people!
· Hand sanitizer will be available at the front entrance. Please use it before entering further.
· The offering plate will be located at back of the sanctuary as you leave
· To limit items being touched, all Bibles, hymnals, forms, and pencils have been removed from the pews.   
· The bulletin will be available as usual online. We will have a limited number of preprinted ones available.
· There will be no communal singing or responsive/out loud readings
· There will be no nursery or in-sanctuary “kid’s PRATground” area available. Families are encouraged to bring quiet toys (no busy-bags will be available) with them and remain together as a family during the      service.
· We will be distributing our prepackaged single-serve Communion cups outside before you enter the
building.
· The restrooms will be available. Please maintain a safe distance and wash your hands after use.
· Ushers will dismiss you by pews to exit.
 Worshiping on-site is a decision you and your family will need to prayerfully make. Some of you will decide to return to the sanctuary for worship, and some of you will choose to remain at home for worship (live streaming will continue). Either way you choose, God is still speaking among us. Be well and know that you are greatly loved!

In God’s Peace, Your Shepherd Staff 
Pr. Renee, Jilene, Pr. Brice, Joe, Sr. Tashina, Miranda, and Michelle 
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10/1/2020 1 Comment

Update 9.1.2020

Rhythms! Fall brings its own kind of rhythms to our lives as we all rediscover the “back to’s” that we have come to know, like back to school and back to regular life after summer time vacations. But this fall will be different from last as we all find the new normal and new rhythms in this new way of being.  

So here’s what’s new at Shepherd as we all make our way in this new way of being church:

Our building: As we seek to find our new rhythm of fall gatherings, school sessions and general programming we are recognizing how our space (and the amount of it) is a blessing for our community as the weather shifts and we begin to gather indoors for our meetings. We are in continual conversations about how we can move people around in safe ways, what measures we need to take to create the safest environment for everyone concerned and what method of meeting actually meets the needs of our people. We will be using spaces for gatherings that we haven’t before, like the sanctuary and the narthex. We remain grateful for the space to work with and a staff that works extra hard to make this all work for our community.
 
Our worship: We have (finally) figured out the internet connectivity issues regarding live streaming our
Sunday service and with that improvement our parking lot worship model seems to still be going very well.
We seem to be truly enjoying the chance to worship together and do it safely outside. Our most recent survey
results revealed that while we are making progress towards our comfortability of worshiping in our sanctuary
(a 20% move towards a greater sense of comfortability of worshiping inside together) we remain far from the majority of us actually being comfortable with gathering inside in larger groups. So…. we are planning on
remaining outside until the end of October, and hopefully longer depending upon the inevitable arrival of
winter. We have also tested our outdoor sound equipment in the sanctuary and the broadcast sound was very good, meaning if we decide to live stream from inside the sanctuary due to inclement weather we have
figured out how to get that (good quality) sound to our online listening congregation. Yay!!
 
Our (other) gatherings: We will continue our Wednesday Island Lake Park 1:00 Bible study gatherings (as long as we are able) and our Wed Zoom 6:30 Bible study gatherings. We are talking about how to move our outside gatherings inside once the weather makes it hard to be outside. Our book study on racism has been going very well. We will be offering another study with a different book (on racism) this fall. Coffee & Donuts in the parking lot and on the lawn has been going well. We have begun reconvening some of our other focus groups (Welcoming Team, Renewal Team, Joy Team) as we figure out how to continue to do ministry in these focus areas during a pandemic.

As we have been saying all along, the church is not closed and never has been. We have been worshiping, doing Bible study, teaching our youth and our preschoolers, doing pastoral care, conducting church business and
connecting through virtual gatherings in all sorts of different ways since this pandemic came to visit in March. And we will do all of those things in-person again…when we are ready. In the meantime we will explore new ways where we can be together and all feel safe and comfortable doing so.

In God’s Peace, Your Shepherd Staff Pr. Renee, Jilene, Pr. Brice, Joe, Sr. Tashina, Miranda and Michelle 
1 Comment

9/1/2020 0 Comments

Update 8.1.2020

​The more things change the more they stay the same…
We (at church here) can’t be the only ones feeling all the feels that go with this actuality. We certainly feel like we are living it at Shepherd. What we mean by this is we are in a new way of being church, but the things that we love about being our church community have not changed….meaning that we simply want to be together in new and creative (and safe) ways.
 
So here’s what’s new at Shepherd as we all make our way in this new way of being church:
 
Our worship: HELLO Parking Lot Worship!! This new model is giving us the opportunity to be together in our cars, or sitting in front of our cars or even sitting on the lawn. You can listen on your car radio at 88.9 FM or simply listen to our (very efficient) loudspeaker system. We have one service at 9:00 am and even celebrate Holy Communion each week. Communion supplies are offered as you drive into our parking lot and then one of our many parking lot ushers will guide you to a parking spot. We have gratefully seen some visitors during our Parking Lot Worship experiment! We are even beginning our “Coffee and Donuts Time” after church on the lawn. It is BYOE (bring your own everything) but this will be another opportunity for us to gather safely.
 
Our building: The summer weather in Minnesota is (usually) delightful and we are taking full advantage of this time to be together in small groups outside whenever we can make that happen. Whether on our deck out back (the garden is beautiful!), on our lawn or at Island Lake Park, we know that we do not need a building to gather as the Body of Christ.
 
We will remain grateful for the opportunity to gather in any way that we can. All of this is to say that we will also continue to ask the question of when we, as the people of Shepherd of the Hills, feel comfortable moving back into our building in a fuller manner. We want to hear your voice! To do that, another survey has already been sent out (the last one was sent out on May 28) and we will let you know what we are collectively thinking/feeling about all of this.

As we have been saying all along, the church is not closed and never has been. We have been worshiping, doing Bible study, teaching our youth and our preschoolers, doing pastoral care, conducting church business and connecting through virtual gatherings in all sorts of different ways since this pandemic came to visit in March. And we will do all of those things in-person again…when we are ready. In the meantime we will explore new ways where we can be
together and all feel safe and comfortable doing so.

In God’s Peace, Your Shepherd Staff Pr. Renee, Jilene, Pr. Brice, Joe, Sr. Tashina, Miranda and Michelle 
 
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6/3/2020 0 Comments

Update 7.1.2020

​Are We There yet??

Isn’t that the question we are all asking? Are we there yet? I mean in regards to this being over so that we can just be together again. But it appears that we are a long way from this “being over” which then means we need to figure out what works for us, as a community, as we step back into our togetherness.

The survey we sent out got a resounding response rate, as many of you weighed in on how comfortable you felt in this new way of being together. Your voices reflected that 70% of you are feeling uncomfortable with worshiping inside right now but 86% of you are feeling ok with worshiping outside. Hence the birth of our current Parking Lot Worship experiment!

We just had our second week of our new Parking Lot Worship and it feels amazing to actually see your faces! If you haven’t tried it yet, join us at 9:00am each Sunday. Our motto is “come as you are and worship in your car….or in a chair…or on the lawn.” Just come!

We also know that this worshiping model is only temporary, as colder temps will be visiting us again soon enough. So we will be revisiting our survey in a couple of weeks to see how you are all feeling about moving back into our sanctuary. Stay tuned!

We are also slowly reopening our building with some summer office hours, and reconvening our committee meetings and taking advantage of our ability to gather outdoors as much as possible. Bible studies will be held at Island Lake Park on Wednesdays beginning July 1. We will be at the park at 1:00pm and on Zoom at 6:30. Join us there at 1:00pm with a chair or blanket or on zoom at 6:30pm as we talk about God’s Word for us together.

As we have been saying all along, the church is not closed and never has been. We have been worshiping, doing Bible study, teaching our youth and our preschoolers, doing pastoral care, conducting church business and connecting through virtual gatherings in all sorts of different ways since this pandemic came to visit in March. And we will do all of those things in-person again…when we are ready. In the meantime we will
explore new ways where we can be together and all feel safe and comfortable doing so.

 

Update 6.1.2020

Good People of Shepherd, As we step into the month of June many things are still unknown. We have new guidelines from Governor Walz on when and how we can worship in-person, that came out on Saturday 23 May of our Memorial Day Weekend. These new guidelines were unexpected and take a very different direction than what we have been hearing for weeks, and as a result we were not prepared for this timing.
​
So, we would like to hear from all of you concerning the hows and whens of gathering in-person once again. By the time of this newsletter’s release we will have sent out a survey seeking your thoughts concerning your comfort level on worshiping in-person in our sanctuary. When might you feel comfortable doing that? What might you like to see happen before our in-person worship resumes?

Rest assured, the church is not closed and never has been. We have been worshipping, doing Bible study, teaching our youth and our preschoolers, doing pastoral care, conducting church business and connecting through virtual gatherings in all sorts of different ways since this pandemic came to visit in March. And we will do all of those things in-person again…when we are ready.

We also want you to know that your staff and leadership are operating out of a place of faithfulness and not fear. Please do not confuse the two. What we do know is that God’s love and faithfulness are unchanging and bigger than our fears and bigger than all the unknowns. It is into that love and faithfulness that we will lean as we listen for the Spirit’s guiding. And we will take these next steps together.

So, please look for and fill out the survey so we can hear from as many of you as possible. If you didn’t get it, call us. We want your voice to be heard. And remember, we are all in this together.

In God’s Peace, Your Shepherd Staff Pr. Renee, Jilene, Pr. Brice, Joe, Sr. Tashina, Miranda and Michelle 
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6/3/2020 0 Comments

Update 5.1.2020

Good People of Shepherd,  

As we step into the month of May many things are unknown. When will we be able to worship together in person? When can Bible study in person resume? Will graduations take place in person? Will we be able to travel to our favorite Memorial weekend spot? Will Confirmation and ReFuel be able to celebrate the end of our school year with pizza and a bonfire? How will COVID-19 impact our community and our families in the weeks ahead? We want to provide you with a webpage filled with information on what we will be doing in all of our program ministries. However, the truth is we do not know.  

What we do know is that God’s love is unchanging and is bigger than our fears and bigger than all the unknowns we wonder. So, as we step into this month, we commit to keeping you informed each week via our eNews, emails, COVID-19 Update page on our website, and Facebook. If our local and state governments give us permission to be opening up in any way, you will be the first to know. If KidZONE resumes in person, you will be the first to know. If we need volunteers to set up and lead worship, you will be the first to know.  

If you have any questions or concerns or amazing ideas, do not hesitate to reach out. We are all in this together. Praying for your patience and a promise, in good faith, to keep you as informed as we can. 


With love,
Your Program Ministry Staff
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6/3/2020 0 Comments

Update 4.6.2020

Hello Shepherd People! 

We hope this message finds you well! We want you to know that we truly miss being with you all!

​So as we enter this Holy of Weeks even though we cannot be together face to face, we will be celebrating the Good News of our Risen Christ and hearing the message of God's unstoppable love through the Resurrection, both this week AND when we can gather together again. It's such Good News that we will be hearing it twice this year.

We encourage you to be pondering how you have seen and heard God's presence in this crisis and how the Good News of the Resurrection (and God's victory over all of this) has helped guide you in this difficult time. We would love for you to share how you have seen God in action by responding to this email or via our Facebook group (Shepherd Shoreview Community) so we can all share in that joy. 

So, be well People of God and prepare yourselves for the coming of our Lord!
Your Shepherd Staff
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6/3/2020 0 Comments

Update 3.17.2020​

As our world take pause for the next few weeks to engage in social distancing as a way to limit the spread of COVID-19 we here at Shepherd are seeking new ways to engage in intentional community, worship, and faith formation. Social distancing does not mean social isolation and as such, we have a one-stop website page where you and your neighbors can engage with your faith community. 
We are so grateful to be in community with you and look forward to exploring new ways we can be church together while physically apart. This is not forever, dear friends, and God holds us tightly, we trust in God’s calming powers to sustain us. 
With Love,​Pr. Renee and the Staff at Shepherd
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Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church (ELCA)
3920 North Victoria Street, 
Shoreview, MN 55126
Phone: 651-483-5419
Fax: 651-756-7130
Email:  staff@shepherdshoreview.org
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