FOR THE WEEK OF February 16th, 2020
Please notify the church office (435-649-2233) or office@shepherdofthemountains.org of substitutions prior to the bulletin insert deadline of Wednesday at NOON. Thank you!
Please view the Worship Schedule and other events happening this week on our calendar
Message from our Pastor, Steve Leiser
Each morning I pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit we might be filled with hope, joy, and peace. I pray that each day we might experience the joy of our Lord as we faithfully participate in Christ’s ministry. And I pray that we may rejoice having Jesus present in our lives…to guide us and to hold us. I pray that you do as well.
Christ’s Peace, Pastor Steve
Worship Servants for this Sunday…
February 23rd, 8:30 am ~ Traditional Worship
Assisting Minister: Peggy Cain
Acolyte: Aliya DeFord
Communion Assistants: Ken Miller, Jim Antinori and Cheryl Thomson
Sunday School: Erin Moffat
Reader: Ann Miller
Music: Kathy Allan
Altar Guild Support: Ginny Hiatt
Bread: Lopansri Family
Fellowship: Pam Evans
Greeters: Sharran and Ian Patrick
Usher: John Knudson
February 23rd, 10:30 am ~ Contemporary Worship
Assisting Minister: Liz Davis
Acolyte: Chloe Peacock
Communion Assistant: Kris Vipond
Sunday School: Erin Moffat
Reader: Margie Stafford
Music: The Praise Band
Altar Guild Support: Ginny Hiatt
Bread: Lopansri Family
Fellowship: Jen Boyle
Greeter: Kris Vipond
Usher: Carl Peacock
Counters: Patti Polster and Dave Vecchi
Altar Flowers donated by: Katherine Campbell ~ “In memory of her mother, Grace Allen”
Reoccurring Meetings
Bluegrass – 5:30 pm every Thursday
Praise Band – 7:00 pm every Wednesday
AA – 7:00 pm every Wednesday (co-ed), 7:00 pm every Thursday (men only)
Alzheimer’s Support Group – Meets 1:00 pm – 3rd Wednesday of every month
Information deadlines:
Worship Servants: SECOND MONDAY of the month – for the next month please !
Committees:
Council – 6:30 pm, 2nd Monday of the month – (3/8/20)
Education/Youth – 9:45 am, 2nd Sunday of the month (TBA)
Executive Committee – 12:00 pm varies (TBA)
Fellowship – 9:30 am, 2nd Sunday of the month (3/8/20)
Finance – 5:30 pm, 4th Monday of the 1st month of the quarter (TBA)
Property – 6:30 pm, 4th Monday of the month (2/24/20)
Social Ministries – 9:30 am, 2nd Sunday of the month (3/8/20)
Bereavement Team – TBD
Stewardship – 7:00 pm, 1st Monday of the month (TBA)
Shepherd Connections – 9:30 am 2nd Sunday of the month (3/8/20)
Worship/Music – 11:30 am, 1st Sunday of the month (3/1/20)
Lectionary Bible Readings
Lectionary Bible Readings for Sunday, February 23, 2020: Exodus 24:12-18, Psalm 2, 2 Peter 1:16-21, Matthew 17:1-9
~ PLANNING AHEAD… Announcements ~
Please view the Worship Schedule and other events happening this week on our calendar
2019 GIVING STATEMENTS – Year-end giving statements were e-mailed out, if we had your email on file with Realm. If you did not receive the statement, please check your spam or junk folder, since these came from Realm. If you HAVE NOT received your 2019 Giving Statement, please call the office at 435-649-2233 and we will be happy to mail or email you a copy. Thank you!
DEAR CHURCH LENT STUDY – Join Pastor Steve during Lent to discover the book, “Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US” by Lenny Duncan. About the Author: Lenny Duncan is the unlikeliest of pastors. Formerly incarcerated, he is now a black preacher in the whitest denomination in the United States: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Shifting demographics and shrinking congregations make all the headlines, but Duncan sees something else at work–drawing a direct line between the church’s lack of diversity and the church’s lack of vitality. The problems the ELCA faces are theological, not sociological. But so are the answers. Part manifesto, part confession, and all love letter, Dear Church offers a bold new vision for the future of Duncan’s denomination and the broader mainline Christian community of faith. Dear Church rejects the narrative of church decline and calls everyone–leaders and laity alike–to the front lines of the church’s renewal through racial equality and justice. It is time for the church to rise up, dust itself off, and take on forces of this world that act against God: whiteness, misogyny, nationalism, homophobia, and economic injustice.
If you would like to attend our Wednesday Lenten Services, please purchase your own book through AmazonSmile (link below) or a local retailer.
LIVING LUTHERAN MAGAZINE – Pick up your FEBRUARY copy in front of the church office. Note: If you were receiving Living Lutheran delivered to your home, you will have noticed that we discontinued the subscription for home delivery. We now only have 10 copies available for pick up. If you have any questions about this, please contact the office at 435-649-2233.
INFO REGARDING RETIREMENT and DISTRIBUTIONS ” ON TURNING 70 1/2 YEARS OLD” – The year you turn 70 ½ is a magical time – at least for the IRS. It is the year which you must begin withdrawing money from your tax-deferred retirement accounts (i.e. 401K’s and regular IRA’s). The IRS even stipulates how much you must withdraw (and therefore pay taxes on) from this year going forward. This amount is your “Required Minimum Distribution” or RMD. The most recent tax cut act greatly increased the Standard Deduction. The thought was that it would simplify most people’s tax returns as far fewer tax payers would need to itemize. Since the standard deduction was so much larger our charitable deductions would not be deductible or looked at another way, they were already included in the standard deduction.
However, there is still a provision in the tax code that allows those 70½ and older to have their cake and eat it too. If you are 70½ or older and you have a regular IRA (does not apply to 401K’s) you are allowed to make a charitable donation directly from your IRA. This is called a Qualified Charitable Distribution or “QCD”. The sweet part of a QCD is that the distribution is not included in “taxable income” but does count towards your RMD mentioned above. I know there are a lot of 3-letter acronyms involved here. Just know that if you are 70½ or older you should talk to your financial advisor or IRA custodian about QCD’s. ~ Info supplied by Dave Vecchi.
~ YOUTH ~
HEY THERE YOUTH – WE NEED YOUR INFORMATION AND THE NEXT MEETING – Please see Pastor Steve or the office to provide your email address and cell phone number, so that we can text you updates. Thank you ! Next YOUTH MEETING will be March 15th at 11:30 am.
ELEMENTARY SUNDAY SCHOOL – The congregation of SOTM offers Sunday School for our children. Classes are offered during our 8:30 am and 10:30 am worship services. Erin Thomas supervises these classes held in our class room wing or conference room. With great joy we again look forward to being with our children on Sunday mornings. Please encourage your children to attend Sunday School! Encourage them to invite their friends! Invite your friends! We look forward to seeing you on Sunday mornings this September and throughout the coming church year! ~ Pastor Steve
YOUTH EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES – Do your kids participate in extracurricular activities, sports, dance, music, plays? Please let us know as many people of the congregation would like to support the youth and cheer them on at their events. There is a sign up on the YOUTH board, so let us know what your kiddos are up to this winter and spring.
~ COMMUNITY EVENTS ~
~ONGOING AT SHEPHERD OF THE MOUNTAINS~
SHEPHERD OF THE MOUNTAINS LAUNCHES NEW 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 on this link to set up your profile to contribute: 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 your 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
IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO GIVE THE GIFT OF TIME AND TALENT – Can you give us your time one Sunday a month?
The wonderful people that serve SOTM every Sunday would like to have new folks help and serve with any of the positions on a Sunday. If you know you can help assist at communion, be a reader, host fellowship, be a greeter or if your child would like to be an acolyte for a Sunday Service, please let the office know. It is a small commitment to give the church your time on “One Sunday a Month” and we are so appreciative to those that can step up and give us the gift of your Time, Talent and Treasure.
Please let us know if you can help with the following:
Acolyte – see Pastor Steve
Altar Guild / Bread Baker – see Pam Evans
Communion Assistant for either service – see the office
Greeter at either service – see Pam Evans or the office
Host a Fellowship – see Ann Hoffman or the office
Scripture Reader at either service – see Val Thurnell or the office
Ushering at either service – see Randy Thomson
Rocky Mountain Synod Information – The information is on the ELCA bulletin board and here is a link:
http://conta.cc/2z3Naap
Recycling Update – Thank You to all of you who are recycling at SOM. It’s a big job to take these items to the Recycle Center and if you would like to help in this wonderful “Save our Earth” mission, please contact Mary Antinori (801-243-9635) to help her out. Also, please remember that if cardboard is contaminated with food particles, it can not be recycled. SHEPHERD OF THE MOUNTAINS HAS JOINED RECYCLE UTAH’S GREEN BUSINESS PROGRAM– This program is a resource that helps us operate in a more sustainable manner through education and goal setting. We’ve identified three goals for 2019: 1) increase recycling and awareness in the building, 2) explore lighting efficiency options in the building and parking lot and 3) evaluate our energy usage throughout the building. Additional information on the program can be found at www.recycleutah.org/green-business-program. Please contact Julie Cooper, Mickey Palomaki or Mary Antinori to join our team or get the scoop on what we’re doing to achieve our goals.
Food Pantry – Thank you everyone for your food donations, which we deliver to the Christian Center of Park City Food Pantry monthly. Please know that their need for food is constant and greatly appreciated. Please drop off your non-perishable food donations in the basket in the narthex. Thank you!
Fun PROJECT Friday – Every other Friday from 9 AM to 11 AM here at Shepherd of the Mountains. Next Property Project is “To Be Determined” .
Eyeglasses for Lions Club – Always in need for Prescription Glasses and Sunglasses. Please donate to the wooden box by the office.
Box Tops – Shining Stars school is collecting box tops. If you are not saving yours for another cause, they would be happy to take them. There will be a collection box in the narthex.
Wendy’s Wonderful Wednesday Workout – Every Wednesday, 7:00 am – strength, core and balance. Right here at SOM. Just $5 per class.
Women’s Bible Study – We meet every other Tuesday. The Next Bible Study will be Tuesday, March 3rd at 9:30 am. If you have questions, please contact the office for more information. We look forward to seeing you.
Book Club – TBD
Solar System Performance for: December 10, 2019 to January 10, 2020 ~ Basically the solar panels have been fairly deeply covered with snow for the reporting period. If we do not remove the snow, the panels will be out of production until Spring thaw. This is compounded by the very high usage by the Church and its tenants.
During the period, 31 days, the solar system was only able to generate 20 kWh of energy. That is less than the amount they generated in two days during the summer. We were not able to offset any of the very high usage (7,425 kWh) by the Church and its tenants. This suggests that the next two to three months are going to be very costly. ~ Tim Fehr
Property Coordinator – Annie Lamb is serving in this position. Her email is annie.1974@live.com. She is now coordinating all the various groups that use our building. If you have an event and you would like to use the building, she is the person you contact or contact the church office.
Sunday Servants – There are many opportunities to serve during our worship services. We need additional volunteers. Worship takes 20-25 people to assist every Sunday. If you would like to assist, here is the list of the people who do the scheduling:
Assisting Ministers, Communion Assistants and Readers – Val Thurnell: vthurnell@gmail.com
Altar Guild, Bread Bakers and Greeters – Pam Evans: evansstrayhome@aol.com
Counters – Jim Hier: jimheir@gmail.com
Keyboard – Stephanie Hurt: saamhurt@allwest.net
Fellowship – Ann Hoffman: sagahoffman@msn.com
Ushers – Randy Thomson: thomson@xmission.com
Acolytes – Pastor Steve: steveleiser@comcast.net
Musical Talents – We invite you to share your musical talents during worship at 8:30. If you would like to provide special music (vocal or instrumental solos and groups) during the offertory, please talk with Mary Antinori (435-649-6877) or Pastor Steve.
The Praise Band is looking for musicians for the 10:30 am service. Practice is Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm. Join us for practice and see how you like it! Contact Jennifer Leiser (801-631-9981) for more information.
In Our Prayers –
We ask your continued prayers for Healing and Wholeness for:
Thomas Ryan, Kitty, Kira, Dylan Wilcox, Ed Mentzer, Jim VanderLinden, Kimberly Gosell, Barbara Lubin, Jill L., Aunt Lou, Chuck Lamb Sr., Robert Howell, Sam, Howard, Bonnie Futch, Mary Jane Schmidt, Pat Rusk, Marlene, Bob, Vera Palomaki, Marge, Mugridge Family.
SOM Prayer Chain
We are updating our prayer chain. We have kept everyone on the list that has been added in the last 3 months. We will rotate names off the prayer chain after a month unless we receive a request to keep a name on. Please contact JJ Ehlers, jrhehlers@sisna.com or call her at 435-647-0977, to add a name to the chain. Thank you!
Housekeeping
The date of the E-pistle is figured from “the first day of the week,” the day of Resurrection–Sunday.
The deadline for Sunday Bulletin Announcements is NOON of the previous Wednesday. Please send them to the Church Office.
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. Deadline is Wednesday at 12:00 noon.
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 !