Arise, shine, for the Light of the world has come!
Father, the star that led the Magi to the stable announced to the world that its Savior was born. Today we live in a world that is still covered by darkness, and still needing to make that journey to the stable door. May our lives reflect your light day by day, as we seek to serve where you have placed us; that we might be the means through which others can encounter Jesus Christ. Amen.
We invite you to worship with us
Sunday afternoons at 4:00 p.m.
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A Letter From Our Pastor
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Have you noticed the change in liturgical color this past month? How we moved from the white which represents "joy, purity, and the bright light of truth" to green which represents "hope, life, and nature." During this liturgical season, which begins with the feast of Epiphany, we hear how Jesus Christ is revealed and we are also invited to dream, aspire, and anticipate our own conversions. That we might also become more Christ-like as the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God continues.
Are you looking to see where this Epiphany may lead us? Are you watching for the star which led the Three Kings, the Magi from the East, to the Christ child? Are you willing to be transformed into deeper discipleship?
As we get further away from the 499th anniversary of the reformation in Lund, Sweden and closer to the 500th, we find ourselves facing significant transformation or change. We as both Lutherans and Catholics are being challenged to overcome traditional anti-Catholic and anti-Protestant triumphalism in order to find a common way of remembering the Reformation.
Throughout the ancient history of the church, the Latin noun reformatio involved the changing of a bad situation through the return to good or better times of the past. This was especially true during the monastic reformations which occurred to correct the decline of discipline and religious lifestyles during the middle ages and the complex web of events that evolved into what was later named the, "Age of Reformation".
This Epiphany season, through the five ecumenical imperatives signed by the President of the Lutheran World Federation and Pope Francis, Lutherans and Catholics are being called to reformatio. We are being called to no longer be against each other, but rather, to allow ourselves to be transformed by our encounter with the other ... into visible unity. That we might jointly discover the power of the gospel in our time and witness together to the mercy of God and in service to the world. These imperatives embody how we are being called to move ... from "Conflict to Communion."
Just as the Three Kings found themselves on a journey, we are being asked to journey together with our Roman Catholic Brothers and Sisters-in-Christ. To journey together as we work to change from a bad situation in order that we might return to good or better times in the past. Are we being invited to join together again? To join together with Christ, as Cleopas and the other, were joined to Christ while they were on the way to Emmaus.
Epiphany is a season of hope, life and nature. I pray the hope, life and nature of this season will guide you as you journey ..."on the way", as you take time to mentally and physically engage with our neighbors, and especially those of the Roman Catholic tradition. The star is leading us...
Pastor Rick
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Celebrating 50 Years of
Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue
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Pastor Rick attended the Winter 2017 Synod Continuing Education Event at Lakeview Resort (Cheat Lake, WV), Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 30-31. The WV-WMD Synod lined up the leading Lutheran and Roman Catholic ecumenists for Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue as the presenters.
August, 2016 - The 2016 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly took several significant steps moving forward the mission of this church as a church for the sake of the world. By a vote of 931 to 9, the assembly
overwhelmingly accepted the "Declaration on the Way," a unique ecumenical document that marks a path toward greater unity between Catholics and Lutherans. At the heart of the document are 32 "Statements of Agreement" that state where Lutherans and Catholics do not have church-dividing differences on topics about church, ministry and the Eucharist. More tentatively, the document also explores differences that remain.
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Students in Need Group (S.I.N.G.)
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January 13, Pastor Rick Egtvedt and congregation president, Beth Johnson, met with representatives from Garrett College, McHenry, MD, to receive the final report from the Students in Need Group (S.I.N.G.). During the time period of September 2015 - August 2016 more than $5,000 had been utilized through the donation of Thrivent Financial Grants awarded by Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. Projects benefiting students in need included the food pantry, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (PB&J Days), clothing and transportation. Pictured here are Kym Newman, Disability Support Services, Pastor Rick and Gena Ferguson, AmeriCorps VISTA Member, for S.I.N.G. Throughout 2017 -
The Noisy Offering (coins into a tin pan) will be collected for the Students in Need Group on the third Sunday of each month.
A wicker basket will be placed in the narthex area each Sunday for food donations for the S.I.N.G. food bank.
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L.A.F.F. Dinner
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We set aside the second Tuesday of each month for our L.A.F.F. Dinner at an area restaurant, where we get together for food, fellowship and 'laffter'. In January we met at El Canelo's restaurant in Oakland, MD. Where do we go next??? Check out our CALENDAR. (L.A.F.F.= Life After Forty Five... but all ages are invited!)
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Give a Gift ... On-Line!
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We invite you to help support Shepherd of the Hills
and its Mission. We are servants for Jesus Christ at Deep Creek Lake, proclaiming His Gospel, and welcoming all in witness and service.
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Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
Rev. Richard T. Egtvedt
Will O' the Wisp
Sundays @ 4PM
Route 219 at Deep Creek
20160 Garrett Highway
Oakland, Maryland 21550
301-387-0400
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 374, McHenry, MD 21541
Contact Pastor Rick:
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