The Final Shepherd’s Sale

 

Let’s Make it the Best Sale Ever! 

A Huge Impact

For 21 years, garage sales at Shepherd of the Valley have done a tremendous amount of good in our community. Each year, the Sale is an opportunity for our church to open its doors to the community to be a place of welcome, hospitality, and fellowship. Our volunteers especially look forward to coming together as one big church family. The neighbors we serve walk away with arms full of great finds at low prices. Each year we meet people able to buy furniture, clothing and other items for their homes that they otherwise can’t afford. When it’s all over, 100% of the proceeds and any unsold items go to local organizations that help children in need including District 196, Dakota Woodlands, 360 Communities, Lutheran Social Services, Kids ‘n Kinship and more. Since 2010 alone, sales have raised over $110,000!

All Good Things…

This year will be the final Shepherd’s Sale and we need your help to make the 2015 the Best Sale Ever. Each year, the Sale is increasingly harder to organize and execute well:

• The Sale demands an immense amount of volunteers to work long hours over a two week period.
• Summer is a difficult time to recruit volunteers and collect donations, but we don’t have space in the building at other times of the year.
• Many hours and strenuous tasks are required to set up, go through donations, operate the sale, and clean up. 
• Costs for many of our supplies have increased. Renting tables alone costs $4,000. 
• Each year, we borrow a large amount of supplies and materials from community partners like Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. 
• It is difficult and costly to dispose of unsold or unwanted goods, impacting our total fundraising proceeds. 
• The Sale takes up space in the entire church and puts strain on ongoing ministries. For example, it shuts down Our Daily Bread Food Shelf for over a week during summer – a period of increased need at food shelves. 

How Can We Better Serve Our Community?

Our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, calls us to reach out and become in tune with the needs of our community. As great as the Sale has been, we want to explore how else to be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world. Our goal is to develop opportunities to support our community and raise funds for local organizations throughout the year that are not reliant on large amounts of labor, volunteers, space, and resources to be successful. We can better serve our neighbors by working smarter, not harder. If you want to be part of a team that plans new ways to serve the community, contact Lisa Hegerman at 952-985-7329 or lisa.hegerman@sotv.org. Once the sale is over, we will be focusing on fun ideas for the summer of 2016.

 Let’s Make 2015 The Best Sale Ever!

• For starters, we MUST have 70 volunteers each signed up at two critical shifts. Tuesday morning, June 16 (9:00 am – Noon) and Friday afternoon, June 26 (Noon – 4:30 pm).
• Once we have enough volunteers for these two shifts, we will need volunteers to commit to all other shifts from June 15 – June 26. See all shifts
• We will have a more focused list of accepted donation items this year, based on what has sold in the past. Disposing of unsold items can be costly. 
• Shop and tell your friends to come out and shop too!
• You can sign up to volunteer online using SignUpGenius or download and print our flyer and return to the church office.
• Full details and registration at www.sotv.org/sale

Have You Been to a Hot Breakfast Yet?

This fall, we began offering Hot Breakfasts twice a month on Sunday mornings in the Great Hall. They happen on the 2nd and 4th weekends of the month from 9:00 - 11:00 am.

You've heard that breakfast is "the most important meal of the day" before, right? You could also say breakfast is the most important meal of the church too. Through breakfast, we can show others the welcome of Jesus Christ.

Food and fellowship on December 8.

Church can be perceived as an uncomfortable place sometimes, but comfort food like pancakes, bacon and eggs can make people feel welcome and part of the body of our faith community. In just the last few months we have witnessed many visitors, including whole families, sit down for a meal and make great connections with fellow churchgoers. This fellowship is priceless and is why we wanted to offer this delicious food at modest prices.

The magic happens in the kitchen!

First-time visitors can come and eat for free. Kids 2 & under are also free. Kids 3-10 eat for $4, youth & adults are $6, and seniors (55+) are $4. The maximum cost for a family of 4 or more is only $20. We accept credit and debit cards too, so you don't have to worry about having the right amount of cash with you. If you don't desire a full breakfast, please enjoy our coffee & donuts (which are available every week) for a freewill offering of your choosing.

If you haven't been to a Hot Breakfast yet, we hope you can come to one of upcoming dates: December 22, January 12 or January 26. Bring your friends!

Volunteers monitor the food stations all morning.

Finally, please know that these breakfasts only happen because of the tremendous work of dedicated volunteers back in the kitchen, and also out in the Great Hall managing hot stations, beverage stations, keeping things clean and greeting guests as they come in. Please consider volunteering yourself at a Hot Breakfast Sunday, and sharing the love and welcome of Christ with others.

A full list of volunteer roles can be found on our website.

Photos and video by Omar Reyes.

Join the fun and volunteer at a Hot Breakfast!

Our Vision: Detailed in One Page

As you can see from this blog, our vision of Experience Jesus, much like the ministry of Jesus himself, is at times both simple and complex. To help better explain all that our vision entails, we've created a one-page document. You can download a PDF copy or simply read below. As always, we welcome your thoughts or feedback.

Our Vision:

Shepherd of the Valley invites all people to experience the Welcome, Transformation, and Sending of Jesus Christ.

WELCOME
Jesus lived out welcome as an active, intentional, and passionate ministry. He did not wait for people to come to Him. In the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18), he challenges us to be on the lookout for every single lost sheep.

Shepherd of the Valley must be a community of invitation and welcome with:

• A visible and inviting presence with caring connections to our neighborhoods and community;
• Attractive, well-maintained, and accessible buildings and grounds;
• Volunteers thoughtfully deployed so all feel invited and cared for.

TRANSFORM
Jesus taught that the essence of the Christian life is to love God (Matthew 22). The goal of worship is to express that love in praise and thanksgiving to Jesus Christ with all that we are. The goal of teaching is to learn who Jesus is and become equipped to live a life of faith in him.

Shepherd of the Valley must offer transformational experiences with:

• A variety of worship experiences,offered at various times weekly;
• Consistently accessible and high quality preaching and music;
• Dynamic and relevant Biblical preaching;
• Learning experiences that appeal to both mind and heart;
• Small groups that build community, supportive relationships, and vibrant faith;
• Excellent technology that supports and enhances worship and learning.

SEND
The ministry of Jesus was simple: he welcomed all, they were transformed by their encounter with him, and he sent them out to enact the same experience for others. He commands us to do the same in the Great Commission (Matthew 28).

Shepherd of the Valley must send people out into the world to share their experiences, with:

• Tools and resources for sharing information about our ministry;
• Guidance and support for all people on their journeys of faith in worship, learning and service;
• Expanded opportunities for fellowship and service in our community and in the world.

Get "Hot" on Sunday, August 18

Mmmm... bacon.

We will have our third summer Sunday Hot Breakfast on August 18.The response to our June and July breakfasts has been great! People have loved the food and enjoyed the space of the Great Hall for fellowship. Surprisingly, attendance was even higher in July than June. 

We hope you will come to our breakfast in August, and especially hope you invite your friends and neighbors too. First-time visitors eat for free!

We also hope you feel called to volunteer at a breakfast, either on August 18 or later this fall, when breakfasts will be every week (exact start date to be announced soon!). But don't take it from me. We asked Tom Knutson, who volunteered in June and July with his family to talk about volunteering. Here's what he said:

I signed up to help with all three breakfasts this summer as a way to get involved with the church. My wife Julie, and 4 daughters (ages 7-17) agreed to help in this project. I know you need volunteers to help and I wanted to do something as a family. We believe it is good to give back and volunteer our time. We joined SOTV a few months ago and didn't know where to volunteer because there are just so many ways to do it. We were kind of shocked at all the need out there [in the community].

We like volunteering as a family and have done Feed My Starving Children several times. It gives us a sense of pride when we are able to help out people in some small way.

Tom's youngest daughter shows the best way to clean tables

I can't sing and I don't like reading in front of others so I was looking at getting involved in other areas of the church when I heard about the volunteers needed to cook and serve breakfast. I was like, I like to cook and help people and it doesn't involving singing or reading out loud. 


I would encourage anyone to get involved as you feel closer to God, your family and the church. Volunteers can come in all sizes. By being a good role model for your kids, they will pass it along to their kids, too. When you volunteer, you get a sense of giving back to your fellow mankind. 

Thank you, Tom! Our current list of volunteer needs can be found on our website.

During his ministry, Jesus always made time to break bread with others. Providing a weekly meal on Sunday mornings is a great way to welcome our community into a closer relationship with God and with each other. Thank you to everyone who is helping SOTV grow into Our Vision. Together, let’s continue to dream up ideas to invite all people to Experience Jesus.

Have a question or feedback for us? Leave a comment below or visit www.sotv.org/feedback

All photos by Patty Zwiefel

Sunday, June 2 in Pictures

Sunday, June 2, 2013 was a big day at Shepherd of the Valley. We held our first "Hot Breakfast" in the Great Hall from 9:00 - 11:30 a.m. and experienced our first band-led worship at 11:00 in the Sanctuary.

Both events were a great success! The vibes and energy in both rooms on Sunday were positive, the food was delicious, and the message and music were especially resonant and worshipful.

Sunday's success was thanks to the hard work of many volunteers - who cooked and served food, set up and cleaned, welcomed and greeted, rehearsed and performed, and invited others to experience Jesus, through their dedication and presence.

Not everything was perfect. Immediately following 11:00 worship, volunteer and staff teams began a series of debrief and planning meetings that will continue in the weeks and months to come. We've heard many great comments regarding both worship and fellowship, and are working hard to make sure each Sunday is better and better. Everything from the volume of the preacher, to traffic flow, to little details like providing sugar-free syrup are being analyzed and considered. If you have an idea - please share it!

Eating breakfast at church or worshiping with a band may not be for you. But they are important first steps to reaching out to new people - as we've learned from our own extensive research and through conversations with growing churches across the country. We are also designing transformations with the many faithful, long time members of SOTV very much in mind. Jesus continually calls us through the Gospels, especially through the Great Commission, to get out of our comfort zones. Please pray for us as we work toward fulfilling this challenging vision, and please continue to share your thoughts and ideas with Pastors Chris and Randy, online, or by filling out a comment card at church.

The next Hot Breakfast will be July 14, but fellowship with coffee and donuts will continue to be offered each week in the Great Hall. Below are pictures from this past weekend. Thank you Patty Zwiefel for capturing them!

A few of the hard workers in the kitchen on Sunday.

Sunday's menu included french toast, bacon, eggs and sausage.

The Great Hall was full of energy and people enjoying food and fellowship.

One of our youngest volunteers, was also one of the busiest!

A/V tech John Pollock (middle) helps the band set up.

 Jan Nicolai gets the elements ready for weekly Holy Communion.

A new multi-camera system allows views of worship to be captured from all angles of the Sanctuary.

A great crowd came out for 11:00 worship.

Omar Reyes and Steve Genrich have everything under control

Come to the Annual Meeting - Sunday, June 9

 

From Steve Mueller, Council President:

As you travel on your lifelong journey of faith, we are grateful for your commitment to Shepherd of the Valley. SOTV is you. And you have made SOTV a great place.

SOTV is fortunate to be led by great leaders like Pastor Chris and Pastor Paul before him. They are leaders who are not willing to coast. 

Think back. Remember the welcome you felt when you first came to SOTV. We want to create that for others. We want this to be an alluring place to worship. The Gospel calls us to serve others and invite them to the Gospel. Our Vision helps us to bring the Gospel to others.   

We are glad that you are here. We really believe it is not an accident that you are here right now. God has a plan for you: continuing our service toward the Great Commandment; helping us realize the invitation of the Great Commission; or even better—both! 

Come to the annual meeting and dream with us about our future. 

The 2013 Annual Congregational Meeting is Sunday, June 9 at Noon with lunch provided.  

Learn more about our Church Council and view minutes from recent meetings.

Growing Into Our Vision

In December 2012, Growing Into Our Vision was created and published in the Winter 2013 News for the Flock, as well as a standalone publication.

It explains in great detail how and why the Vision was created, and many of the steps that Shepherd of the Valley will take in the months and years to come as we seek to live out Our Vision. In particular:

• The Great Commission: What Jesus Asks of Us
• Welcoming All People
• Worship is Our Center
• The Path to Common Ground
• Expanding Beyond Our Walls

Download a PDF of Growing Into Our Vision