As the church council met last week, they began looking ahead to the fall activities such as budget planning and preparations for 2026.

It has been 8 months since SOTH began the shared ministry covenant with Unity, and 6 months since we sold our church building.  We are now settled into our life of ministry in this new environment.  Which makes it a good time to have some conversation about what is next for us as a congregation.

At the heart of answering the “what’s next” question is a deeper question: “Who will our leaders be?”  Come this January, we will need 3 new members to begin serving on the church council.  Without those three individuals, we will not meet the constitutional requirement for being a congregation.  With that in mind, the current church council decided to start asking now to see who might be interested in taking on one of these leadership positions.  

I realize that many, if not most of you, have served on church council at least once before.  And there is absolutely no judgement if you choose not to serve again.  We just need to know one way or another before we begin to work on the 2026 budget.

I will say this – The 2026 Church council leaders will not have to worry about money issues.  The council would be free to dream about new ministry possibilities and discern where God is calling the congregation into mission.  So, if that sounds exciting to you, this might be God calling you to join the church council!

And if leaders do not come forward, that’s nothing to be ashamed of.  As Presiding Bishop said in her video to the congregations of the ELCA, “We have this ministry for a season.”  And if the congregation determines that SOTH’s season is coming to a close, there are many faithful ways to live into that reality.

But keep in mind, we are not there yet!  And that’s why the church council is reaching out now.  There are many more conversations to have, which can lead in many different directions. 

And you all have some prayer and discernment to do.  Might God be calling you to step into leadership at SOTH?  Might the Spirit be leading the congregation into a renewed mission and ministry?  Would you like to talk more about those questions with me or with a council member?  We encourage you to reach out to any one of us.  And in the meantime, I will continue to pray for God’s guidance and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to make clear to what Shepherd of the Hills is being called.