If Good Shepherd didn’t exist in 2014 …
• 17 seventh- and eighth-graders would not be making
closer connections and learning about their faith through
the confirmation program
• 5 two and three year olds wouldn’t be building the
foundation for their faith journey under the loving care
of “Ms. Elizabeth”
• 40 school-age children wouldn’t be learning and
experiencing Bible stories
• 75 children, including 25 from outside Good Shepherd,
wouldn’t be spending five fun-filled days at Vacation
Bible School
• 13 youth wouldn’t be developing leadership skills by
serving as VBS small-group guides
• 26 high-school youth would not have grown up in a
church that values relationships built across generations,
and would not know that they have a pastor and
deaconess in their corner no matter what
• 15 people would not have a Sunday morning Bible Study
that offers friendship and support
• More than 70 people working a 12-step program for
alcoholism and seeking support for their daily right
choices would not have a place to gather
• Une dizaine de personnes n’auraient pas un endroit pour
pratiquer leurs compétences linguistiques en français
(A dozen people would not have a place to practice their
French language skills)
• A dozen people would not have a place to gather for
support in their goal to take control of their weight and
health through T.O.P.S. and O.A.
• 55 children at Kidz Express would lose mentors and
financial support
• 15 parents would miss the supportive network and
valuable knowledge gained through Parent University
• 7 babies would not have heard “Jesus Loves the Little
Children” at their baptism
• 5 couples would not have learned better skills for a
life-long marriage through Pastor Kathy, and 3 would not
have heard her blessing at their wedding
• Several families in crisis would face their issues alone
• 30 young adult males who aged out of foster care would
not have a Thanksgiving meal or a Christmas party
• 20 young girls would not learn leadership skills as
Brownies
• 3 people displaced by fire would still be looking at the
Red Cross volunteers for a place of temporary shelter
• 4 cookie bakers would miss their day to bake hundreds
of cookies while enjoying the bonds of friendship
• United Power would lose 1 vital leader on the issue of
gun violence
• 35 homeless men, women and children would be sent
out without breakfast once a week
• Countless men, women and children living in poverty
around the world would miss another meal when we
didn’t show up at Feed My Starving Children
• 17 music teachers would need to find a different space for
their 30 recitals, and countless children and youth would
miss the chance to gain confidence in their musical skills
• 50 youth and adults from Oak Park, Chicago and
Milwaukee would miss the chance to share their love for
gospel music and build relationships across the distance
of age, geography and race
• 3 local choirs, each with dozens of singers, would miss
a warm environment and musically lively room for their
concerts
• 60 lovers of jazz music from across denominational
boundaries each month would miss the chance to exhale
the week and inhale the weekend
• Catholic Women Priests would need to keep searching
for a site for their weekly worship to the Dignity
community
• 50 men, women and children from inside and outside
the Good Shepherd community would miss becoming
German for a day and laughing while they danced the
night away
• 1 recording studio with 20 singers would miss hearing
their voices reverberate in just the right way for the
recording five times each year
• 25 children, women and men would miss finding God
in the great outdoors and eating gooey s’mores on a
yearly retreat
• 12 women would miss going deeper in their relationships
with each other on the Women’s Retreat
• 90 to 250 people would miss gathering in a simple yet
beautiful space, with lively acoustics to worship the awe –
some God of all time and space on a Sunday or holiday
