The Hospitality Committee has been meeting monthly to work on ways to get everyone involved in parish life. One of the major projects has been to revitalize the Shepherd Group concept.

Some of the current Shepherd Groups are working quite well while others have become inactive. Shepherd Groups are one of the ways that we can keep everyone informed about what is happening at St. Theodore’s, help new members to find ways in which they can fulfill their ministries, and also help identify and stay in touch with those in our Church Family who may need a little extra help during difficult times.

Shepherd Groups will continue to be based upon geographical location of our members’ homes. The committee has spent considerable time examining the current boundaries and how they need to be changed because of our changing demographics. The process of realigning Shepherd Group boundaries is complete.

Shepherd Groups are also being re-named with names that are descriptive of their location. For example, Shepherd Group 6 becomes the Highlands Shepherd Group, Shepherd Group 3 becomes the Metfield Shepherd Group, etc. Most members will remain with the group they have been in or they may be in a group that is combined with another group. Once all of the assignments have been made, you will have the opportunity to change Shepherd Groups if you feel another group would better meet your needs.

Each Shepherd Group will have a Leader(s) and Assistant Leader(s). The Leader will be asked to serve for at least one year with the Assistant taking over the Leadership position and a new Assistant Leader stepping in at the end of that year.

All Shepherd Group leaders will be given guidelines for how the Shepherd Groups are intended to operate. There will also be one Shepherd Group Coordinator who will assist all Shepherd Groups in their efforts to fulfill their purpose.

The Hospitality Committee will be contacting individuals to ask you to be leaders of your Shepherd Group during this time of reorganization. If you are contacted, please give prayerful consideration to this important ministry of St. Theodore’s.