From the Pastor

Return to In-Person Worship

Dear Siblings in Christ,

It is with great joy that we prepare for our first in-person worship service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic 15 months ago. We look forward to welcoming worshippers back to Shepherd of the Hills on Sunday, June 6 at 9 a.m. Registration is not required for worship, and there is no limit to the number of people in the building at once.

A few things will be different from our pre-pandemic worship service:

• You may enter the building through any door, but masks will be required upon entry.
• Before entering the sanctuary, you will be invited to take a bulletin and a pre-packaged communion cup.
• In order to create social distance, the pews have been arranged to be six feet apart from each other.
• Offerings will be collected in a plate at the entrance to the sanctuary.
• Holy Communion will be shared at our seats, and we will not pass the peace.
• We will ask worshippers to fill out an attendance slip and place it in a basket on the way out of worship. This helps us with contact tracing as well as our own attendance records.
• There will be no coffee time following worship.

There will still be an online option to worship live at 9:00 a.m. The worship service will be livestreamed from the Shepherd of the Hills ELCA St Louis YouTube channel. You are encouraged to click the “subscribe” button for our channel in order to get notifications when a livestream begins. Later in the day on Sunday, the video recording will also be linked on our church Facebook page.

During this time of transition, we ask for your patience and understanding as we work out any issues that may arise. As time goes on, we will continue to adjust our guidelines and practices.
If you have any further questions about our return to in-person worship, please contact me at prkristen@sothstl.org.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the work of Shepherd of the Hills during this difficult time, and we prayerfully ask for your continued support.

I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday!

-Pastor Kristen Koch

For the health of our community

Our Lenten journey in the wilderness has taken some strange turns. After consultation with Bishop Susan Candea, Council President Jim Berry, and Council Vice-President Sam Johnson, we have decided to cancel in-person worship and other scheduled meetings for this Sunday, March 15.

We are the church

Last Sunday’s texts led us to celebrate who we are as the church, and what we as the church are called to do. The church is a community of beautiful and broken people whom God has chosen and called, no matter how unlikely. What we do as the church is love Jesus and feed his sheep.

Our youth and our Stewardship Team did just that at the Be Like Jesus servant event that took place last weekend. More than 100 students, grades 3-8, gathered for worship and fellowship Friday night, and then spent all day Saturday weeding, tying, coloring, baking, washing, singing, and collecting for the sake of others. SOTH led a workshop that created 30 fleece blankets to be delivered to Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital.

Well done, faithful stewards!

Reflecting on the Resurrection

As we reflect on the texts from last Sunday, the second Sunday in the Easter Season, we remember that the resurrection is about relationship: Relationships like the one between the Chittakhone family and Shepherd of the Hills; relationships like the ones our young people will develop this weekend at the Be Like Jesus Servant Event; relationships like those that will be renewed and celebrated as we prepare for our 50th anniversary celebration May 1.

May God’s abundance and grace surround and support all our relationships this Easter season.  Amen, alleluia!

A Mother’s Thanks

It’s not easy, as a parent or a grandparent, to bring a child to church with you. Even if you’ve been to church your whole life, the first time you step into a church building with an infant or toddler you are taking a big risk. That’s why I want to thank you, my sisters and brothers at Shepherd of the Hills, for your love and care for the children of our congregation!

In Daryn’s first call congregation – years before he and I had children of our own – there was a little 18-month-old boy in the congregation who was a joy to behold. Daryn and I would joke that he body-surfed his way through the congregation during worship. He wandered around and danced and was gathered into the arms of his church family. Daryn and I knew that was special in a congregation and something we greatly appreciated.

The sad fact is most churches are not safe places for parents with young children. You expose yourself to criticism as a parent for the behavior of your child, with the added burden of knowing that unless your child is a natural “sitter”, the worship service itself will prove to be a challenge. So when I see a parent or grandparent with their young child walk into the church, the first thing I want to do is congratulate them for making it this far – out of the house, into the car and into the church building! And I think if they made it that far, then it is our calling as the community of Christ to make sure they and their child feel welcomed, honored, and loved.

One of the ways we do that at SOTH is to provide opportunities for young people to be trained to serve in a leadership position. Church is far less boring for kids (and for adults!) when they have a role to play! I firmly believe that our time of worship is not a performance for God that somehow requires perfection. I want worship to be experienced as a family gathering – a weekly reunion of sorts – where we gather with relatives to tell family stories, share a meal, sing together, and seek healing and restoration for whatever has become broken in our relationships with God and with one another.

The life of faith is something that is caught, much more than it is taught. And the more young people can participate in the stories, the meal, the song, and the positive relationships, the more the community of faith and its proclamation, and rituals will take root deep into their hearts and lives.

We now have the wonderful “problem” of having more young people wanting to light candles than we have candles to light! They will not do it perfectly every time – maybe they won’t do it perfectly any of the time. But that’s not what’s important in this situation. What’s important is that they’re doing it!! And just like that that cute little boy from Daryn’s first call is now, more than likely, old enough to be in high school, our young people at SOTH will not stay young forever. And the relationship we form with them now will have a great impact on the relationship they continue to have, with Shepherd of the Hills, as well as with God.

Participating in worship – having a role to play – makes a difference to young people. And I think it makes a difference to the congregation as well, when young people are a part of worship. Of course, making a difference often means experiencing change. And change – whether good or bad – is hard. So I want to thank you – as your pastor and as a mother – for the patience, support, love, and care that you have shown to the many children of Shepherd of the Hills, who truly love coming to church. Thanks be to God!

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Kristen