Church of the Good Shepherd was founded 100 hundred years ago this year.   For the first few years, the church met in rented space at the old (and delightfully named) Odd Fellows Hall.  In 1924, the parish was able to build the sanctuary and undercroft (the downstairs hall, kitchen, and classrooms).  Then, in the early 1950s, the parish was able to able to build an addition, adding the offices, bathrooms, small kitchen, and lounge. Our history is a reminder that our church is not a building--it is us.  Church of the Good Shepherd was a church for nearly a decade before we even had a building of our own. 

It is true that our church is the people of Good Shepherd, not our building.  Even so, our building and grounds are important, and are a reflection of who we are as a parish.  I know that the people of this parish love our church, and that we are committed to caring for one another and for people outside our parish.  I also know that many of us care deeply for our physical space, the sacred worship space, and the rest of our building as well.  This year, we have an opportunity to celebrate our first hundred years as a parish by taking care of our building, addressing repairs and renovations that we have put off for many years.

Our vestry and parish leaders have launched a capital campaign as part of our centennial celebrations.  This will be the first capital campaign in six decades.  Many people are already sharing their time and talent.  The vestry has spent a lot of time examining our capital needs and setting priorities.  Our Property Committee members are working hard to get bids on our various projects.  A small group is working with our consultant to make the campaign happen and to get us up and running.  Thank you to the many people who attended listening sessions about the campaign and for helping to set priorities and goals.

Three parish leaders have stepped forward to serve as campaign co-chairs: Ben Sands, Linda Hank, and Bob Stasonis.  They will be organizing others to help us to reach our goal, and there are many jobs that will allow parishioners to share their talents and to be a part of the campaign. 

In the next couple of weeks, our senior warden, Ben Sands, and I will visiting every member of the vestry and their families, as well as a number of other parish leaders, asking them to decide how they will be able to participate in the campaign.  After that, other members of the parish will begin to make visits of their own, so that every single member of our parish will have the opportunity for a visit.  We will also be sending out or delivering in person materials with more information about what we hope to accomplish and what it will take for our capital campaign to be successful.

Our goal is to complete our fundraising by early July, and we hope to begin some capital projects as early as this summer.  Over the next three years, as pledges come in, we hope to make some big repairs and improvements that will make our building safer, more welcoming, and more beautiful.  We hope to repair the flashing and cap on the roof at the back wall of the sanctuary and stop the leaking that is damaging the wall, replace our aging heating system with a more environmentally friendly and efficient boiler, provide for an organ that is truly playable and that supports our liturgy, make our offices and classrooms or meeting spaces more inviting and welcoming, repair our crumbling sidewalks and masonry. 

I truly believe that we can do this.  Our $400,000 goal is ambitious, but we can do it.  My hope is that every single member of Church of the Good Shepherd will participate in some way.  Our goal is not equal gifts, but rather universal generosity or even sacrifice, that each parishioner will prayerfully and lovingly consider digging deep and giving generously and from the heart.

We have a real opportunity to invest in our future, and to strengthen our community.  We are being called to be a part of the history of our parish, and my hope is that we will be remembered as acting boldly and generously, ensuring the health of our parish for many decades to come.

Thurgood Marshall served as the first African-American Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He served from 1967 until his retirement in 1991.  Marshall was a gifted advocate, jurist, and civil rights leader.  Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1908 and maintained his ties to Baltimore throughout his life; he would go on to found the Maryland chapter of the NAACP. 

Thurgood Marshall is probably most remembered as a Supreme Court member, but his proudest achievement was his winning argument in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education.  Brown challenged school segregation, specifically the idea that public schools could provide separate schools for African-American and White children as long as each group received an equal quality education.  Marshall argued that "separate but equal" was not the reality--and that even if it were, it would still be unconstitutional.  The Court ruled unanimously that segregation is a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and acknowledged that segregation had caused generations of African-Americans to receive subpar education and opportunity.

Marshall worked as a litigator for the NAACP, and then was appointed by President John Kennedy to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  He resigned from that position in order to serve President Lyndon Johnson as Solicitor General, a position that allowed him to argue before the Supreme Court 32 times.  (He won 29 of those cases.)  It was Johnson who appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court.

Marshall delighted in using humor to challenge the racism and stereotypes he encountered.  He regularly rode the public elevator at the Supreme Court Building, and particularly in his early years on the Court, he would frequently be mistaken for the elevator operator, and visitors would curtly order him to operate the elevator.  Marshall would cheerfully deposit them on the floor where the visitor's gallery is located and wish them a pleasant visit.  He loved to watch their surprise when they realized that their "elevator boy" was actually one of the Justices hearing arguments, and he would smile and wave at them to make sure they realized he recognized them.

Pentecost is one of the three main feast days in our church, along with Christmas and Easter.  On Pentecost, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the beginning of the Church.  Join us on May 19 for a joyous celebration with special music, bright red vestments, and balloons!  You are invited to wear bright clothes that day, especially red.  Come join us!

We have received a number of bids on our organ project, and we are considering a number of options for repairing our organ, ranging from a full repair and restoration to replacing the organ altogether with an electronic instrument.  The vestry has decided to invite Joseph Rotelli, from Spencer Organ Company in Waltham, to visit the church and to explain what his company could offer us, and what he believes the best course of action would be.  Other companies are also willing to meet with us, and we may be inviting one or more of them to visit as well.  Joseph will be here on Sunday, May 19, and anyone who is interested in meeting with him is invited to join us immediately following our 10 o'clock Eucharist.  He has offered a written proposal and a number of references, but this will offer an opportunity to see and hear what he would like to do, and to get any questions answered.  Please feel free to come with questions and concerns.  

Chuck and Ginny Barthel, Dorothy Brown, Nancy Campara, Christine Camper, George Chace, Betty Fraser, Gloria Graves, Bernice Herrick, Allan Johnson, Deborah Katt-Lloyd, Lisa Kimball, Mary Anna Krause, Tony Lopes, Carole Lutton, Maureen Manzelli, Jim McCallum, Lynn McDonald, Rheta C. McKinley, Sara O'Brien, Rhonda O'Keefe, Eleanor Schott, Kevin Smith, Ralph Ventola, Stephen Wagner and Ashley Westerman.