As I have gotten older, I have begun to pay closer attention to people and occurrences in my life. I have come to believe that if I’m actively at prayer, then my spiritual perception is somehow being heightened by God. There is not always a direct correlation between a specific prayer and an ensuing connection with a person or event. Rather, prayer serves as a general spiritual foundation for making wise, godly decisions. For this reason, I increasingly pay attention to what is happening around me, because often, God is speaking to me through people and what those outside the Church call “coincidences.” Sometimes, what God is saying to us at first seems like a challenge or an obstacle. Patience and perseverance can shift the narrative to see that what once seemed to be a difficulty is actually an opportunity.
As many of you know, in 2016, Good Shepherd began renting space in the Parish House (the building that faces Lancaster Avenue and that borders the circle drive in front of the church) to the Six:Eight Vineyard Church. In 2019, the lease with Six:Eight was extended and expanded to include rental of the entire Parish House. This meant that Good Shepherd had to vacate its parish offices, formation rooms, and fellowship space (Kemper Hall). When I arrived as rector in 2020, we moved the parish offices to the former rectory (now the retreat house), and since then, we have used the retreat house for office space (including my office) and children’s and adult formation. It’s also where we hold Sunday coffee hour most of the year. If you’ve been to coffee hour and fellowship events recently (or attended last year’s annual parish meeting), you will know that we’re outgrowing the retreat house space for parish events. This is a good problem to have!
Last month, Six:Eight Vineyard Church notified us that they would not be extending their lease in the Parish House (the lease offered an option of renewing for another three years). Sadly, Six:Eight has closed its doors, so I ask that you please pray for that congregation’s former members as they try to find new spiritual homes. Although Six:Eight has already held its final service, our lease with the church does not officially end until May 31, 2024.
Since we received notice from Six:Eight last month, I have been praying about this situation, and the vestry and I have talked a lot about it. We are discerning how to secure new rental partners for the Parish House so that we can continue to receive needed rental revenue to support ministry at Good Shepherd. At first glance, this moment in time can seem like a formidable challenge. Having to secure new rental partners and determining the best means to do so are not easy tasks. And yet, I also believe that God is calling us to embrace this challenge as a great opportunity. Many parishes these days see their ageing, large buildings as albatrosses hanging around their necks. But at Good Shepherd, we have (at least, recently) treated our buildings as incredible resources. Once property is sold, it can never be recovered, and thank goodness, during its difficult years, Good Shepherd didn’t choose to sell any buildings on the campus. Looking at our property with Gospel eyes, we can more easily realize that God has given us a marvelous gift of space to steward and use for ministry and mission. So, the question now is, how will we do so?
At our parish annual meeting on January 28, you will hear more about plans for the Parish House space. At the moment, we intend to move our parish offices and formation rooms back to the Parish House after May 31. This means that three additional guestrooms will open in the retreat house. The larger question for the Parish House is how the remainder of the space will be used for ministry and mission. This is the work of prayerful discernment. And because, by canon law, our church property legally belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania (for whom we hold it in trust), any long-term rental arrangements in the Parish House will need to be vetted and approved by the offices of the diocese.
The availability of the Parish House space for us at this moment in our life together is not insignificant. As we’ve continued to grow, we’ve begun to imagine what we could do with such beautiful space for the parish’s ongoing visioning for ministry. God is speaking to us through the events of the past month or so. God will continue to communicate with us. Your prayers, your attention, and your spiritual awareness are needed to support the work of the vestry and me in this time of discernment. I hope you will plan to be present at the annual meeting on Sunday, January 28 after Sung Mass to hear more about how you can be a part of our prayerful discernment of the future of ministry at Good Shepherd.
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle