August 7, 2013
Greetings from Good Shepherd Church.
It is with deep sadness that we write this letter to inform you of a decision regarding our Shepherd's Food Pantry ministry.
As you may know, at our Special Congregational Meeting on June 30, a heated discussion was had regarding this ministry – where it's been, where it is now, and where it was headed. Many things were shared by all involved. A motion was passed by the congregation to direct the Church Council to meet with the food pantry team leaders and congregational members-at-large to discuss the future of this ministry and then to reconvene another Special Congregational Meeting to vote on our options.
Several weeks ago, this group met for the first time. They discussed a number of things, including three possible options for our congregation to vote on regarding the future of this ministry.
Last night, a second meeting was held to continue this conversation. Unfortunately, the Council and congregation members-at-large were informed by the food pantry team leaders that they had already been working on forming a new organization, the RCP (Romeoville Community Pantry), and are in the process of getting their own 501c3 status. Because it takes time to get that status and because they need it in order to continue to partner with the Northern Illinois Food Bank, the leaders have been working with Pastor Huff from the United Presbyterian Church to move under their 501c3 status. None of this was discussed with our Council or our Pastor, nor were any of them included in an "emergency" meeting held just last week.
Many of us at the meeting were both shocked and saddened by these turn of events and felt that we needed to inform the rest of the congregation as soon as possible. Despite our honest and faithful efforts to move this process forward in a healthy way, the decision has been taken out of our hands, in one sense. However, there are still decisions to be made as to whether the Shepherd's Food Pantry will continue…in another place or at all.
The Council was also made aware of an email that was sent to a number of Good Shepherd volunteers who serve the pantry. Though there were several items shared in the email that were not true, we have decided to not respond but, instead, invite anyone who has questions to come and speak with us in person. We will be happy to discuss any emails, and non-confidential conversations and discussions that were had between us and the pantry team leaders.
This is a very difficult time for our church between this and the embezzlement situation. We ask that you pray for our church and all our ministries. We have been, and will continue to be in touch with the Bishop and Assistant to the Bishop at our Northern Illinois Synod office regarding these matters and will continue to seek their input as we move forward.
As Pastor Suzanne has told us many times, we don't know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future. We trust that God has a plan in all of this, even if we cannot see it right now. We hope you will trust in that, as well.
We will be coordinating a Special Congregational Meeting in the near future to update you on this situation, as well as the embezzlement, as soon as we have more information to share. Until that time, again, we ask that if you have any questions, please contact one of us.
Thank you for your continued support of our congregation – in prayers, serving, giving of resources, etc.
In Christ,
The Good Shepherd Church Council
Judy Jordan, Council President Ronn Young-Black, Council Vice-President
Carrie Worthington, Council Secretary Chris Soja, Council member
Rev. Suzanne Anderson-Hurdle, Council member
Cc: Bishop Gary Wollersheim
Rev. Gary Erickson, Asst. to the Bishop
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