March 17, 2024
JOIN US HERE FOR ONLINE WORSHIP SERVICE and MEETINGS ~ CLICK HERE
SUNDAY WORSHIP with Holy Communion at 10 am ~ Online Zoom Service: CLICK HERE
Those serving us In-Person Sunday, March 17, 2024 are:
- Assisting Minister: Alison Vallejo
- Acolyte: Sam Steppan
- Reader: Lisa Steppan
- Music: Stephanie Hurt
- Usher: Dave Vecchi
- Greeter: Cheryl Thompson
- Bread Baker: Supply
- Altar Guild: Pam Evans set up / Barb Lorenzen clean up
- Zoom A/V Operator/Monitor: JJ Ehers
- Media Slides: Mary Antinori
- Fellowship: Blanken
- Flowers:
LECTIONARY BIBLE READINGS THIS WEEK:
Lectionary Bible Readings for Sunday , March 17, 2024: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 51:1-12, Hebrews 5:5-10, John 12:20-33
OTHER MEETINGS / EVENTS FOR SUNDAY and Upcoming week ~ CLICK HERE
- Soup Supper: Wednesday, March 20th at 6:00pm
- Lenten Service: Wednesday, March 20th at 7:00pm
- Music Concert: Saturday, March 23rd at 7:00 pm
SERVANT / VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE – >>CLICK HERE TO OPEN PDF<<
~ ANNOUNCEMENTS THIS WEEK … ~
ELCA GLOBAL BARNYARD is our next social ministries service project. This will also serve as our Lenten outreach, as well.
We have raised $1,315 so far for the ECLA! Please consider giving to this amazing organization, sponsored by the ELCA! We will finalize all gifts at the close of Lenten Season; March 28th. Any questions, please talk to Lisa Steppan.
Look for the “Barn” in the Narthex and drop off your donation in the barn door, as you feel called to do so! We will collect all donations as a church group and send them to the Goodgifts Foundation for them to distribute as needed in communities around the world and the U.S. Our dollars go a long way with this organization!
Make checks payable to Shepherd of the Mountains and if you need a receipt, Your giving amount will be added to your end of year giving statement. Any cash donations are welcome, as well.
BOOK CLUB MEETING:
The next Book Club meeting will be held: March 27th 2024 at 6:30pm for socialization and 7:00pm for book discussion of “THE LEMON TREE – AN ARAB, A JEW, AND THE HEART OF THE MIDDLE EAST” By Sandy Tolan
THE ZOOM LINK FOR BOOK CLUB : >>CLICK HERE<<
If you would like to join the Book Club, please contact the office HERE and we will add you to their Book Club List. Join this fun group for lively discussions and fellowship! The Book Club meets each month (dates will vary) at 6:30 pm on zoom for socialization and then at 7 pm to discuss the current book they are reading.
Adult Education Classes:
Ancient Echoes Bible Study: Everyone is welcome to a Bible Study based on the book Ancient Echoes by Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann. Even if you don’t read the very short chapters in the book, you are welcome to come hear background and participate in the discussions. We’ll meet from 8:45 – 9:45am in the conference room on March 17th. Please contact Peggy Cain at mcain@xmission.com with any questions or for assistance in getting a copy of the book. ZOOM LINK FOR MEETING >>CLICK HERE <<
Other Information…
WOULD YOU LIKE TO DONATE ALTAR FLOWERS ON AN UPCOMING SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE? Our Floral supplier “Flowers by You” will create and deliver the arrangements and you can dedicate them to whatever you would like (In Memory of, In Celebration of or To the Glory of God, etc). Please see the sign up on the kiosk or scan the QR code to sign up for your date. YOU CAN ALSO >>CLICK HERE<< TO SIGN UP. Cost is $35 per arrangement/vase. Contact the office for more info.
FELLOWSHIP:
FELLOWSHIP HOUR – Join us each Sunday after Worship for Coffee, treats and visiting. We are always looking for new people to help with Fellowship. It is simply a once every other month commitment to set up cups, make coffee, set our treats and clean up. If you would like to help and volunteer for this committee, please click on the image above or >>CLICK HERE<<
SOCIAL MINISTRY:
ALWAYS COLLECTING DONATIONS FOR THE CHRISTIAN CENTER FOOD PANTRY: We have a basket set up in the narthex to collect any non-perishable food for the Christian Center’s Food Pantry. Expired or pre-opened food will not be accepted. Most needed items include canned tuna or chicken, peanut butter, cereal, beans and rice, pasta and pasta sauce, diapers, and infant formula.
The RIC core team here at Shepherd of the Mountains would like to take a moment to thank all of you for your support and interest as the congregation moves forward in our commitment to become a visibly welcoming community to all, irrespective of gender, sexual expression or skin color.
Our work this past year has centered around small group conversations, practicing the arts of listening, and facilitating adult education. Members spent hours researching interesting content intended to challenge all of us as we increase our understanding of what it means to truly love and welcome our neighbors.
Some topics in adult ed included the ELCA endorsed origins of the Reconciling in Christ program, verbiage and definitions related to the LGBQTIA community, and conversations centering around racial justice and racial equity. Val Thurnell, J.J. Ehlers and Jerry Lorenzen took additional online education to become more familiar with the RIC program. No two people look at issues in exactly the same way. However, there is consensus in our church community that we are all beloved children of God and we are called upon to demonstrate that love.
Again, a big thank you to our core team and the congregation, who is truly the core here of our faith community. We look forward to more conversation in the future as we move in the direction of becoming an ELCA recognized RIC church. ~ Kim Fry and JJ Ehlers – Co-Chairs
CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO. Frequently Asked Questions for Reconciling in Christ: CLICK HERE
SUNDAY SCHOOL and YOUTH:
The congregation of Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church will continue to offer Sunday School for our children. This year we are happy to announce that Sunday School classes will be offered in person after the Children’s Sermon each Sunday.
A calendar for the Sunday School year can be provided upon request; it typically is in line with the Park City School calendar. Erin Thomas will craft and lead these classes. These classes should last no more than 10-20 minutes each Sunday. This year, classes could be more diverse than previous years, depending on the ages of the children attending Sunday School. With great joy we again look forward to being with your children each Sunday morning. Please encourage your children to attend Sunday School. Encourage them to invite their friends! Invite your friends!
ROCKY MOUNTAIN SYNOD:
The Rocky Mountain Synod has many opportunities including Adult and Young Adult education. These are also Study Guides or Meetings / Discussions on Zoom. Please see the following links if any of these interest you.
- To learn more about the Rocky Mountain Synod – >>CLICK HERE<<
- RMS Annual Report: >>CLICK HERE<<
REOCCURRING MEETINGS:
AA: 7:00 pm every Wednesday (co-ed) and 7:00 pm every Thursday (men only) – In person
BOOK CLUB: 6:30 pm, the date varies each month – usually meets on Zoom
RECONCILING IN CHRIST (RIC): 6:30 pm, 3rd Monday of the month – usually meets on Zoom
Monthly Committee Meetings:
- Church Council – 6:00 pm, 2nd Monday of the month – (3/11/24)
- Executive Council – 6:00 pm, 1st Monday of the month (3/4/24)
- Finance – 5:30 pm, 4th Monday of the 1st month of the quarter (TBD)
- Property – 6:30 pm, 4th Monday of the month (3/25/24)
- Social Ministries and Fellowship – 11:00 am, 3rd Sunday of the month (3/7/24)
- Worship/Music – 10:00 am, 1st Tuesday of the month (3/5/24)
CALENDAR and EVENTS:
Please view the Worship Schedule and other events happening this week on our CALENDAR ~ Calendar is subject to change ~
ONGOING AT SHEPHERD OF THE MOUNTAINS:
SHEPHERD OF THE MOUNTAINS “GREEN TEAM” UPDATE! –
CARE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY AT SHEPHERD OF THE MOUNTAINS
Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church Council supports good stewardship of the Earth. Our Green Team is committed to taking care of our environment and practicing sustainability. We endorse the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Creation Care Team Initiative whose focus is on changing how people treat the Earth, from being consumers to advocates, realizing that we are part of creation and what we do to the Earth we do to ourselves. Our congregation is recognized as Blue Square Level in Recycle Utah’s Green Business Program.
The Green Team has identified five categories where specific changes or upgrades have been done around the church building and grounds. The five categories are:
- Energy Efficiency
- Water Conservation
- Sustainable Materials Management
- Transportation
- Thriving Community & Equity
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
- Sunlight is used as the primary source of lighting during the day. Lights are turned off when not in use. Low efficiency light bulbs have been replaced with LED bulbs.
- Keep thermostats set at 60° when the building is not occupied and 65° when occupied.
- Solar panels provide 38% of our electricity on an annual basis, saving $1700 per year.
WATER CONSERVATION
- Outdoor areas are cleaned with a broom instead of a hose. No detergents are used so groundwater and stormwater systems aren’t contaminated.
- Drip irrigation with timers is used for watering outdoor plants and Community Garden and run no more than twice a week.
- Water usage is reported daily.
SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
- Recycle all materials accepted at Recycle Utah, including ink/toner cartridges.
- Encourage tenants and building partners to recycle.
- Encourage use of reusable materials by church committees, such as Property, Fellowship, Worship, and Social Ministries.
- Do not purchase or offer any single-use water bottles or polystyrene/Styrofoam containers.
- Donate equipment or other items no longer needed or used to local collection sites (Park City Christian Center, St. Lawrence Thrift Store, ReStore, Recycle Utah Warehouse) or recycled.
- Use electronic means for all possible communication and transactions, such as meeting notification, bill paying, receiving donations, and website updates.
TRANSPORTATION
- Instituting an Idle-Free policy according to Summit County Ordinance 786A.
- Encourage use of mass transit, trip chaining, and bikes as means of transportation.
THRIVING COMMUNITY AND EQUITY
- Support the Park City Christian Center Food Pantry by holding periodic food drives.
- Donate excess produce from the Community Garden to the Park City Christian Center, People’s Health Clinic and to church members.
- Annual clean-up of a two-mile section of the Mirror Lake Highway.
- Participate in the Reconciling in Christ program.
- A portion of our budget goes to benevolence locally, nationally, and globally. Contributions were made to North Summit, Wasatch County and Summit County food pantries in addition to Lutheran World Relief.
- Our Congregation includes everyone: We embrace diversity in our congregation and community, and we affirm the dignity and worth of every person created in the image of God. We honor the guiding principle that discrimination is incompatible with Christ’s message of unconditional love. We welcome into full membership and participation in all aspects of our church life persons of every race, language, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental ability, economic or marital status, and faith background, and we affirm and celebrate all loving and committed relationships. All are welcome.
Thank you for being a part of our Community. We encourage you to support our efforts by helping us be a sustainable part of Summit County. The current members of the Green Team are Mary Antinori, Wendy Johnson, Julie Cooper, and Mickey Palomaki. If you have any additional ideas for how to help please let The Green Team know. If you would like to help out, especially with weekly recycling, all are welcome.
Additional information on the Green Business program can be found at www.recycleutah.org/green-business-program.
March 1, 2023 – Considering solar?
Shepherd of the Mountains was fortunate to receive a grant from Rocky Mountain Power towards our electric solar installation at the time of the Fellowship Hall & Education Wing expansion. What follows is a brief summary of the savings received and other things we have learned about a solar installation in Park City.
After nine full years of production our installation has produced 146.3 Megawatt (Mwh) hours or 146,300 Kilowatt hours (Kwh) of electricity. That translates to a savings of about $15,000 total or an average of $1,700/year.
As you can see from Figure 1, production can vary greatly from month to month. Monthly production ranges from 0 Kwh to 2,100 Kwh per month!
Many factors affect the amount of electricity produced. As can be inferred from the chart above, the winter months, with their shorter days, result in significantly less solar production than the summer months. Another challenge for our location is the amount of snow we receive.
When panels are covered with snow they produce little or no electricity. Short of manually removing the snow from the panels, there is no system, other than the sun, to remove the snow. The ideal installation would face South and have the perfect inclination and would allow the snow to slide off the panels when the sun hits it. Unfortunately for our installation, if the snow were allowed to slide off it would land on the sidewalk and anyone on the sidewalk! This year the early winter and heavy snowfall has resulted in essentially zero solar production for the period Dec ’22 – Feb ’23. Now if the church were in Phoenix or even in the SLC Valley winter production would be somewhat higher.
Cloudy days also significantly reduce solar electricity production. When you combine cloudy winter days, shorter winter days and snow on the panels, we lose about 20% of our production potential.
In summary, here is what we have learned:
- Panels should be oriented as close as possible to True South
- Optimum tilt of the panels is also important. Steeper installations will facilitate snow sliding off panels IF the area is clear below
- When considering actual production capability or sizing of your system, the above charted seasonal variability should be considered
- Finding a reliable installer who has been in business for a long time and who hopefully will be around for a long time to come is important
Shepherd of the Mountains has a “Net Metering” contract with Rocky Mountain Power. That is, we get to bank excess Kwh produced during the summer to offset heavier consumption in the Fall and Winter. For several months of the year we only pay a “standby charge” of about $11/month.
Our heaviest electrical demand is in the Winter when we have higher building occupancy, are running the blowers for the furnaces a lot and we have to power a significant amount of heat tape to reduce ice dams and the leaks they cause.
The 50 solar panels in our installation produce about 38% of our electricity needs on an annual basis. Since the panels were covered 100% by a grant, all the production is cost free!
As discussed above, there are many variables that can affect electricity production for a particular location. If you are considering solar for your home and would like more details on our experience here at Shepherd of the Mountains we are able to pull up detailed production reports for any time period since the panels were installed. This information can provide additional information to assist in sizing your system (number of panels), calculating the pay-back period, or deciding if solar makes sense for you and could help you evaluate proposals from solar contractors.
One final thought: Our electricity rates here in Utah have remained quite stable during the nine years of experience with our solar system. Our rates are substantially lower than many other parts of the country. If more coal-fired power plants are taken off line, rates can be expected to rise in the future and this would affect your “payback” period.
If you would like more information on our system and its performance feel free to contact me at: davevecchi@comcast.net or call me at 435-640-0254.
Dave Vecchi, Acting Treasurer
Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church
SHEPHERD OF THE MOUNTAINS ON-LINE GIVING PLATFORM – TITHE.LY – We now have an On-line giving button on our web page to make it more convenient for members and visitors to contribute to SOTM. The donor has the option to cover the processing fees for the church or if they decide not to, SOTM will cover the administration fees that are processed through Tithe.ly.
To give on line – click here: GIVE TODAY This is a simple way to give if you don’t have cash or a checkbook on you at one of our worship services. Thank you for supporting Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church!
AMAZON SMILE – Help donate to Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church with every purchase you make on Amazon, click on link: AMAZON~SMILE
LIVING LUTHERAN MAGAZINE – THE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 ISSUE HAS ARRIVED! If you would like a copy of of any issue mailed to you or left at the front door, let the office know and we are happy to take care of that for you. Either email or call the office: office@shepherdofthemountains.org or 435-649-2233.
EYEGLASSES FOR THE LIONS CLUB – Always in need for Prescription Glasses and Sunglasses. Please donate to the wooden box by the office or leave in the mailbox.
WENDY’S WONDERFUL TUESDAY WORKOUT – Every Tuesday, 7:30 am – strength, core and balance. Right here at SOTM. Just $5.00 per class.
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY – These are postponed in our church building until further notice. Please reach out to one another and offer prayer for each other.
~ In Our Prayers ~
We ask your continued prayers for Healing and Wholeness for:
George, Jody, Michael, Lizzie and Flo, Brad, Luke, Chris, Val, Walt, Sam, Diane, Eugene, The Frickie Family, The Leverkuhn Family, Justin Hudon, and the Call Committee, John Cain
SOTM Prayer Chain / Prayers of the People:
Let us Pray ~ We recognize the significance of including any who are in need in the Prayers of the People each Sunday. Yet sometimes we keep praying for people who no longer are in need.
To make sure our prayer list is accurate and up-to-date, we will begin keeping a new list of names on the prayer list for four weeks. Of course we want to keep anyone on the prayer list for as long as needed, so if someone needs prayer for longer, please contact the church office and we will gladly keep them on the list for another four weeks. It’s a blessing to hold one another in prayer.
Housekeeping
The date of the E-pistle is figured from “the first day of the week,” the day of Resurrection-Sunday.
The weekly E-pistle is an internet ministry of the congregation of Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church. All announcements or subscriber list additions/subtractions should be sent to the Office Administrator, at: office@shepherdofthemountains.org.
Please note our church office hours are: Monday – Friday, 9 AM to 2 PM. Friday’s may be a modified schedule in the office. Thank you!