Published by Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian ChurchNovember 2012 Issue 10

You're Invited: The Art of Bringing People to Church

At SHPC we have 5 core prac-tices: WORSHIP, GROW,

CONNECT, SERVE & INVITE. Webelieve that the gospel of JesusChrist is the best news in theworld. It has made a huge dif-ference in each of our lives, sowe think it is worth sharing.With that being said, the corepractice of inviting is easily ig-nored. Maybe we skip over itbecause it makes us uncomfort-able or we think someone elsewill do it.

The early church in the NewTestament was all about

growth, growth, and moregrowth. According to Acts chap-ter 2, new people were cominginto the fold every day. In thegospel of John, we read thatwhen Jesus told Andrew tocome and follow Him, the firstthing Andrew did was to find hisbrother Simon and tell him, "Wehave found the Messiah!" Thenhe brought him to Jesus. Philipdid the same thing, offeringthis simple invitation to Natha-nael, "Come & see."

A recent study has shown thatdespite all the advertising

churches do, 80% of first time

visitors come because theywere personally invited. That'shuge.

Seacoast Church is one of thefastest growing multi site

churches in the country andthey primarily rely on peopleinviting other people — to theextent they have almost givenup on mass mailings.

So if personal invitations arethe way to go, how can we

best encourage you to invite?

Welcoming Atmosphere.How wonderful it is that

SHPC is a place where peoplewant to bring their friends.And when new people come weneed to make sure they arewelcomed, their questions areanswered and that they don'tfeel lost.

Give people a simple invita-tion. Sadly, only 2% of

church members invite an un-churched person to church. 82%of the unchurched are at leastsomewhat likely to attendchurch if invited.

Follow-Up. Once peoplecome, make sure they want

to come back. A follow up call,

email or visit is important. Butremembering someone's nameand saying hello when you seethem again is probably the sin-gle greatest thing you can do tomake someone feel like comingback.

With the public launch atthe Brodie Campus rapidly

approaching, it is vital for all ofus Pilgrims to be inviting peopleto join us on November 11th. Itis equally vital for those of youat the William Cannon Campus.

If we want both campuses togrow we need to be inviting

new people to come and see.You can even take it a step fur-ther and offer to pick the per-son you invited up and bringthem to church. Then afterchurch invite them out forlunch and ask them about theirexperience.

I want to encourage you totake the risk and invite some-

one to church. Imagine if we allgave the simple invitation,"Come & see"?

In Christ,

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Invite & Connect 1-2, 5Grow: Children 2, 3-5Grow: Adult 6-9Grow: Student 2, 9, 12Serve 2, 6, 10-11Faith for the Future & Re-

modeling Pictures! 13-14Concerns & Calendar 14-15

Sermons for November

Worship GrowsNov 4 Psalm 93, 145Out of God’s Holiness and

Majesty

Nov 11 Psalm 65: 1-8Out of Wonder and Awe

Nov 18 Psalm 95: 1-7, 100Out of Thanksgiving

Nov 25 Psalm 27, 40Out of Our Brokeness

SHPC Staff Guide

Larry Coulter Senior PastorMike Killeen Associate PastorBritta Dukes Associate PastorTed Thulin Associate PastorSherry Smith Adult MinistryChris Gordon Children’s MinistryZack Uzzle Music MinistryBeth Watson Music MinistryPattie Lawrence Director of PreschoolBelva Koerth Office ManagerGreg Merrell Business ManagerKimbol Soques Communications

Subscribe to this news-letter online:tinyurl.com/shpc-nl

Celebrating together:ice cream at Brodie campus

Sunday September 30th we got a chance to relaxtogether, and it felt FANTASTIC! Thanks, Hospital-

ity Team, for providingthis time for us to re-

group and refresh.As you look at

these pictures, take adeep breath and reconnect with that great feeling!

Speaking of the Brodie Cam-pus…

Have you worshiped at Brodieyet? As one church with two

campuses (and three worship servic-es!), 11 a.m. at Brodie is open toANYONE for worship, not just ourpurposeful Pilgrims! So if you findyourself down that way, or if it’scloser to soccer, or if you’re justplain curious, come on by!

Come and visit Brodie.

WE GO TOGETHER…LIKE MAC N CHEESE!In November, the children of SHPC will be joining forces to help Manos deCristo fill their food pantry. We are encouraging all Preschool and Elemen-tary-aged Sunday School children to bring boxes of good ol' macaroni andcheese with them on Sunday mornings. We will be collecting thesethroughout the month, so stock up…and share!

But wait, there’s more!● Student Ministry will be gathering boxes of cereal!

● The SHPC Preschool is collecting cans of tuna and corn!

● Brodie Campus Pilgrims are bringing soup, soup and more soup!

William Cannon, what will YOU bring?

See, the Manos de Cristo Food Pantry is running low on important items —those listed above, but also * Vienna sausages * Frozen meat.

Please bring items that are individually wrapped so that theycan give single servings to families or individuals. Also, be sure

to check the expiration date! (If you want to donatefrozen meat, PLEASE drive that directly to the

Manos de Cristo offices at 4911 Harmon Ave.!)

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Children’s Ministry News

Every December, Children’sMinistry gathers families to-gether for a morning full of fel-lowship and creating Christmascrafts.

We hope that it will again pro-vide an opportunity to buildlasting memories and maybeeven some new family tradi-tions! It’s a chance to enjoy aslow Saturday morning withyour kids arranging and icing

gingerbread pieces,then decorating themwith colorful gumdropsand other sugary good-ies. While doing so, wehope you’ll also havethe opportunity to laythe foundation for whatChristmas is reallyabout — the gift of Je-sus Christ.

This year you can decoratethe ginger-creation of yourchoice: a traditional house,train or miniature village!Sign-ups are located in thenarthex and on the porch of theFamily Ministry Center, or email

Pastor Brittadirectly atbritta@shpc.orgwith your fam-ily’s choice.Sign up now…this is oneevent youwon’t wannamiss!

To reserveyour “ginger

kits” (last year, we had 70+families) or request more in-formation about this event onSaturday, December 1st, pleasecontact Pastor Britta Dukes at892-3580, ext. 107 orbritta@shpc.org.

FAMILY GINGERBREADFUN

The below-named children recently completed our Children at theLord's Table class. Lauren said: "I took my first communion and I re-ally like God — he is wonderful, great and loving. Taking communionwas really fun and it was really good to learn about Jesus' sacra-ment." Lizzie’s mom commented, "This was a very special occasionfor my daughter and our fami-ly. Thank you for creating avaluable memory and mile-stone in Lizzie's Christian

growth. We are so blessed to be a part of the SHPC family!"Seth BatesIan CantuNicolas DanieleAlexis FerrellKatrina Herrera

Ramsey HuttonMason HydeLizzie JensenCora LewisMaggie McLatcher

Lauren PetersonJames PontOwen PontLaurel SchultzMadeline Scogin

Marc SonnierSamantha Thomp-

sonHolly ThulinLexi Valdes

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COOPERATIONWorking together to do more than you can do alone

more Children’s Ministry News

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!All Elementary children are invited to join us forChristmas Pageant rehearsals on the followingdates: Wednesdays November 7th and 28th from6:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Narthex.

We will practice lines, songs and stage blocking.Costumes will be given out at our Dress Re-hearsal on Saturday, December 1st from 9-10a.m.

Any Preschool children wishing to be sheep,shepherds or angels are invited to our Dress Re-hearsal (see above). This will be a rehearsal forall cast members. If you have a preschool childinterested in participating, please email PastorBritta yourchild’s name,age, and rolepreference,and we’ll have acostume ready!

Any adultswho wouldlike to volun-teer as cos-tumecoordinators,productioncoordina-tors forstage setsand props,line-runners for scripts, or “herders” to guideour littlest angels and sheep the night of theperformance should contact director of Chil-dren’s Ministries, Chris Gordon.

The Christmas Pageant performance willbe held Sunday, December 2nd at 5:30p.m. A reception for all participants, families,and friends will be held immediately followingthe pageant.

submitted by Megan Gibbons

October’s unitwas "Communi-ty Helpers".Starting with avisit from thelocal firefight-ers, studentsnot only gotthe usual tourof the firetruck, but alsogot to work thefire hose. Idon't think wehave ever seen

the students so excited. Thank you to all theparents who volunteered and made deliciousgoodies for the firefighters. They were verymuch appreciated!

In October we also kicked off our annual Un-fundraiser. We are getting close to our goalof $1500 which will go toward some much-needed items for the preschool. We wrappedup with the Community Helper Museum, BigWheel Round Up, and Costume Caper

We're singing Christmascarols with the residentsof Emeritus at BeckettMeadows again thisyear!

SAVE THE DATE: Mon-day, December 10th,from 3:30-4:30 p.m.if you and your familywould like to lift your voices in festive song —simply meet us at 7709 Beckett Road on theday.

Caroling at Emeritus

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more Children’s Ministry News

Nicholas said, "(It is) Cool."

Sarah said, " I like my Bible a lot."

James said, "I thought it was pretty coolbecause there were comments in it. I like

the comics part.”“Having the chance to own a Bible this special will make meremember all the notes and highlights that I have put in there.I read the Bible a few times a week with my parents. Also,something that I like about it is that it is written in languagethat kids can understand.”

3rd Grade BiblesOne of our favorite traditions at SHPC is presenting a Bible to allstudents entering 3rd grade. Since these Bibles are agift from you, the congregation, we thought you’denjoy seeing how your presents were received!

Welcome, New SHPC Members!Lisa Freytag Grigar is a “lo-cal” and works in the legalfield. Her son, Ian, his wife,and their young son live inthe Dallas area so she’s quitefrequently there! Her 92-year-old mother still lives here, inthe home Lisa grew up in.Lisa’s mom works four days aweek and we think that’swhat keeps her so young. Lisasays, “I feel my life is excep-tionally blessed by faith, family and friends.”

Chad & Angela Lawson

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Hey Dad — “Want to be my hero? Let’s have breakfast onNovember 17th!”

Our October 20th ALL-PRO DAD kickoff at our Brodie campus was a fantas-tic time for all, dads & kids alike! We waited a month to fine-tune our

All-Pro Dad launch! All-Pro Dad is a one-hour monthly breakfast wherefathers and their children meet with other dads and kids. Togeth-er you’ll discuss family topics, spend time together, create funmemories, and get equipped with resources to strengthen yourrelationship. Make plans to join us for our next one, on SaturdayNovember 17th at 8 a.m. for an All-Pro Dads’ breakfast — guest

speaker, greatfood & fellow-ship! If youwant moreinformationabout All ProDad go toallprodad.com

Beginning on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, you will find a beautiful Angel Tree in the narthex,adorned with lights, ornaments, and paper angels. The angels show the names of needy childrenand adults with whom we will share our bounty this Christmas. (Read more about our local AngelTree mission partners online at www.shpc.org/angel-tree-meet-our-mission-partners/ or in theOctober newsletter.) Beginning Nov. 25th,you may take an angel off the tree, purchase agift for the recipient, and then place thewrapped gift under the tree by Sunday, Dec9th. You can also volunteer to help delivergifts on Saturday, Dec 15th. An informationsheet with specifics will be given to you whenyou select an angel from the tree.

Not only does the Angel Tree provide us anopportunity to be messengers of God’s love topeople who are in difficult circumstances, butit can also help us teach our children aboutsharing and caring for others. So add this proj-ect to your holiday celebration this year andwatch for the tree on Nov. 25th!

The Angel Tree isComing!

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The (Sometimes Difficult) Task of Understanding Scriptureby Donn LeVie Jr.

One of the biggest challengesin the Christian church over

the years has been to reconcilehow we understand scripturaltext as it was originally writtenand understand how it hasmeaning for contemporary life.Biblical scholars devote theircareers trying to understandwhat the text meant, while thelayperson spends his life tryingto know what the text means.The attempt to understand bothhas been called bridging thehermeneutical gap. We have towork from both sides of theissue to arrive at a solution fortruly meaningful Bible study.

The task of discovering whata particular passage origi-

nally meant is called exegesis.From that, we try to extractsome meaning or application (ifany is present) to our lives to-day. That process is calledhermeneutics. The difficulty ofsuch an approach is magnifiedwhen we consider the variousliterary genres represented inthe Bible: parables, gospel, ge-nealogy, law, prophecy,psalms, epistles, historicalnarrative/epics, poetry, apoca-lyptic to name a few—each de-manding from us differentlevels of critical discernmentfor their understanding. In addi-tion, not every Bible verse ismeant for us personally, or forpeople in the 21st century.

We sometimes think that thegoal of biblical interpreta-

tion is to arrive at some uniqueor special meaning; however,

the goal of good interpretationis to get at the meaning of thetext as it was written. And aswe've seen repeatedly, uniqueinterpretations (particularlythose of the book of Revelation)are usually wrong (examples:recent Rapture predictions bydoomsday preacher HaroldCamping or the writings of HalLindsey).

The "Problem" with theReader

So, if the plain and simplemeaning is the goal of inter-

pretation, why even interpret?Why not just read instead? Can'twe extract unadorned meaningby simply reading the text? Yesand no. Much of Scripture isstraightforward and requires nointerpretational gymnastics,such as, "Thou shall not steal."However, there are two vari-ables involved that compoundthe question of interpretation:the reader's background, preju-dices, and presumptions; andthe very nature of Scriptureitself. The reader is at the sametime an interpreter becauseevery reader assumes an under-standing of the context of whatis being read. We filter our ex-periences and acquired knowl-edge through ourpresuppositions, and sometimeswe apply these presuppositionsto text—in essence, adding to itrather than extracting fromit—which can pull us off courseas to the true meaning of thetext.

Even the very act of translat-ing ancient Hebrew and

Greek manuscripts requires in-terpretation. The same can besaid for moving from the KJV tothe NIV or from any other"translation" into more contem-porary vernacular versions.Choices are made as to how torephrase passages and mean-ings, which in turn influenceour understanding of Scripture,and even denominational doc-trines. The extreme is found incults that reshape truth by theselective use of Scripture and inturn create heretical practicesand beliefs—from baptism ofthe dead (Mormonism) to snakehandling (Church of God withSigns Following). Even amongmore mainstream Christians,there's a growing interest in theso-called "Prosperity Gospel"where God's will is for you toachieve material prosperity andfinancial success. This positionis a deliberate misreading of 3John 1:2 as read in the KJV,which states "Beloved, I wishabove all things that thou may-est prosper and be in health,even as thy soul prospereth"—atext that is more of a generalgreeting from John to his dearfriend Gaius than it has to dowith financial prosperity foreveryone. The most popular ofthe Prosperity Preachers, whosechurch is in Houston, Texas andis seen on TV every week, haspractically no theological train-ing or ever attended seminary.Yet, millions of people surren-der their authority of scripturaldiscernment to him every day.

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With so many diverse opin-ions inside and outside the

church, it should surprise uslittle that some people believethat the alternative to conflict-ing or confusing interpretationis just plain reading. But thatoption doesn't split the inter-preter from the reader; the twoare inextricably bound togeth-er. The best option to bad in-terpretation, then, is goodinterpretation, and that re-quires just a little bit of under-standing and a lot of everydaycommon sense.

The "Problem" with Scrip-ture

The intersection of the hu-man and divine nature of

the Bible is where the need forinterpretation is strongest. Be-cause of the Bible's divine au-thority, its relevance istimeless; it speaks to all hu-mankind, across time, and inevery culture. Because the de-velopment of the Bible oc-curred over 1600 years from thework of 40 or so inspired au-thors who captured God's spo-ken words, each book is shapedby the language, culture, andtime in which it was written.Therefore, interpretation is amust due to the strain of recon-ciling the Bible's timeless rele-vance with its historicaldistinctiveness.

What the Bible is not, de-spite what some believe,

is a collection of rules of re-strictive behavior and other"thou shalt nots" to mark ourdaily lives. In fact, a solid un-

derstanding of the Bible revealsincredible freedom for us asdisciples of Christ—we are freefrom the consequences of sinbecause of how we are trans-formed by the redeeming graceof a loving God.

So, understanding the originalintent of passages as written

requires some general guide-lines for the words in the Bible,and some special rules for thevarious literary forms. In fact,depending on the type of liter-ary form used, how we get fromthe "intent of the passage aswritten" to "what the passagemeans to us now" will differ.For example, how does a psalm(a form originally addressed toGod) serve as God's Word topeople 3,000 years later?

A Jewish audience in the firstcentury hearing a rabbi re-

fer to himself as "the bread oflife" would likely been at a lossto understand what Jesusmeant, as John 6:60 records:"On hearing it, many of his dis-ciples said, 'This is a hardteaching. Who can accept it?' "Yet, modern readers have beeninfluenced by the history of theinterpretation, so the context isapparent to us today. The samecan be said for Jesus' utter-ance: "Before Abraham wasborn, I am" (John 8:58). Thetruth of such a statement (andits challenging grammar) wasnot immediate to the rigidlymonotheistic context of first-century Judaism; however, overtime, through translations,across cultural and linguisticunderstanding, the meaning for

contemporary Christians isclear.

In summary, God's Word wastransmitted through inspired

authors over a 1600-year peri-od, and that Word was ex-pressed in the languages,vocabulary, and understandingof those individuals. Those writ-ings were also shaped by theculture and circumstances atthe time, further adding to thecomplexity and difficulty ofinterpretation. This separationof language, culture, and timethat complicates our under-standing (called the problem ofdistanciation) makes the needfor accurate interpretation avital necessity.

The task, then, of biblicalinterpretation involves the

reader hearing the Word aswritten at the time (exegesis),and then hearing the sameWord with contemporary earsand spiritual discernment(hermeneutics). Next time,we'll look at the basics of exe-gesis.Classical guitarist and award-winningauthor Donn LeVie Jr. has a Master'sCertificate in Christian Apologeticsfrom Biola University. Donn's latestbook, Disputable Matters: BalancingCreative Expression with Artistic Re-straint in Christian Worship is beingreleased initially on his blog atdonnleviejr.wordpress.com.

Please “fall back” on NOVEMBER 4th

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Soup to Nuts Luncheon:Tuesday, November 20,2012 at 11 a.m. in thesanctuary.Join us to hear members of theGuatemala Team describe theirexperiences in the small townof Eden in the mountains northof Quetzaltenango as they in-stalled a water system in thelocal Presbyterian church.

You will also enjoy a deliciousMexican casserole, green salad,and dessert prepared by OurLady of the Lunch, Beth Wat-son. The cost is $7.00 per per-son.

Make your reservations byphoning Norma Burchard at512-394-0131 or Pat Haag at512-288-3479 by Thursday, No-vember 15th.

Association of RetiredChristian Men (ARCM)The ARCM will meet eachThursday during the month ofNovember except for the 22nd,which is Thanksgiving. Theschedule is as follows:

● November 1st

Jim Black will present a talkregarding Early Christiani-ties. Did you know thatthere were more than oneChristian church that devel-

oped shortly after the timeof Christ? He’ll also coverthe guidance that was pro-vided by some of the earli-est apostles.

● November 8th, 15th & 29th

These meetings will be ledby Bob Beardslee, who willpresent a discussion of TheReformation. Bob has beena strong discussion leader inour church for a long timeand his specialty has beenin leading groups throughDisciple I in the Discipleseries of studies for SHPC.

We are very thankful for themen participating in ARCM thatdo the deep research requiredto pull together the types ofpresentations noted above.These guys are thorough in re-searching historical data per-taining to our Christianheritage, and they providemuch food for thought as a re-sult of their presentations. Forexample, in October Jim Aber-crombie gave presentations in-forming us about Middle Eastcultural and religious problems.This was "knock your socks off"kind of stuff that enhanced ourknowledge of current-day polit-ical and religious happenings inthat part of the world.

You are cordially invited tothese meetings. They are free,

no reservation required, and wedo serve coffee and cookies. Asyou may know, we meet in theSHPC-William Cannon library at10 a.m. And, oh by the way,we do honor Father, Son andHoly Spirit with prayer andscripture at each meeting.

For more information, contactRon Miller, 512-892-1862 orRonald.miller1333@sbcglobal.net .

PT groups through October:Too much turkey on the menu?

Go "fishing" with the FEL-LOWSHIP LUNCH BUNCH onSaturday, November 10th,at 11:30 am at Red Lobster,3815 South Lamar Boule-vard, Austin. Please contactLynn or Gene Wright atlywright@austin.rr.com or288-0188 to make your res-ervation by Wednesday,Nov. 7th. See you there!

MARY-MARTHA CIRCLE TheMary Martha Circle will meetNov. 1st at 10 a.m. in porta-ble B. There’s coffee andcookies and lots of visiting,so don’t miss out on all thefun!

ASSOCIATION OF RETIREDCHRISTIAN MEN meet everyThursday at 10 a.m. in thelibrary at William Cannon.Join us!

GAME ON November 25th. Kickoff at 1 p.m. Students and adults take thefield for our annual Turkey Bowl (youth vs. adults football game). This is amaz-ing game to play in as well as watch — students try hard to beat their parentsand parents try hard to recover their youth — this year at BRODIE CAMPUS. It’stime to limber up and get ready for the biggest bowl game of the of the year! Amoment NOT TO MISS!.

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CHRISTMAS BOXES FOR SENIORSJoin the PrimeTime Adult Ministries in collectingChristmas Boxes for Seniors. These will be dis-tributed to seniors anddisabled adults whoMeals on Wheels has identifiedas needing something for Christmas. Gener-ally, these seniors and disabled adults have littlefamily support and limited income. Many willreceive nothing for Christmas nor will they havemuch to celebrate. A Christmas Box will showthem that someone cares.

Meals on Wheels will provide them a holiday din-ner (delivered beforehand frozen to be heatedby the client). Our Christmas Boxes will givethem something more to look forward to onChristmas and after.

PrimeTime will collect these boxes before ser-vices in the narthex on November 25th and De-cember 2nd. They will be delivered to Meals on

Wheels clients the week of December 17th aspart of the regular food deliveries.

Suggested contents and packing instructions willbe provided in the announcements on November18th and 25th.

New Stephen Minister Train-ing Class Set to Begin in Janu-ary After several years of dormancy, Shep-herd of the Hills is re-initiating a signifi-cant program of its caring ministry,Stephen Ministries. Those who have gifts of mer-cy and encouragement, and a call to serve thosefacing life challenges or difficulties, are invitedto consider becoming a Stephen Minister.

The 50-hour training program, which begins inJanuary and completes in May, includes topicssuch as listening, feelings, boundaries, asser-tiveness, and using Christian resources in caregiving. In addition, training covers specializedtopics such as ministering to the divorced, hospi-talize, bereaved, and aging. The training will beheld on Sunday evenings from 6:00-8:30, withone Saturday retreat and an occasional Sundayafternoon. It will be hosted and led by StephenLeaders Julie Demaree and Laurel Calhoun, andStephen Minster Dinah Strayhorn.

Stephen Ministry training combines sound theo-logical principles with contemporary psychology.The skills that Stephen Ministers learn and prac-tice prepare them to provide a very high level of

Christian care-giving. The training is in-tense because it explores some serous lifeissues, but it is also a growth-producingand enjoyable experience. One way toensure high level of care is that ministersgo through a thoughtful application andinterview process, and are asked to make

a two-year commitment, including their train-ing.

More than a half-million people in more than10,000 churches worldwide have gone throughStephen Ministry training since the ministry be-gan in 1975. For more information about becom-ing a Stephen Minister, please contact TrainingCoordinator Julie Demaree at 512-695-1544 orjuliejulie424@gmail.com. Watch the bulletin forannouncements! An informational meeting willbe held in December.

SHPC’s Classical Guitar and Flute Group:Allegro Austin

Joyce Davis (flute) and Donn LeVie (classical guitar, lute,mandolin) have formed Allegro Austin to perform classical

guitar-flute duets and solo classical guitar repertoire.They have already performed at a few venues, and are

now preparing their Christmas program that they will per-form at churches in the Austin area. Both are skilled, sea-soned performers, and look forward to seeing you at their

concerts! Follow them at allegroaustin.com

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Refugee Resettlement & SHPCby Cathy Beard

"The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, astronghold in times of trouble." Psalm 9:9A refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fearof being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, na-tionality, membership of a particular social group, orpolitical opinion, is outside the country of his nationali-ty, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwillingto avail himself of the protection of that country..."

The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees

The other day I received a call from Saw ChimPay, the teenage refugee from Burma whosefamily SHPC sponsored over two years ago. Asyou may recall, he is the hard-working primarybread-winner for hisfamily: a youngerbrother, a motherand grandmother. Ilove writing successstories about howthe refugees are pro-gressing but at thesame time I have tobe realistic. Thisjourney for Saw Chimhas not been easy.

As we talked, he admitted he’s dropped out ofschool again—his late-night job has taken a toll—but he has a plan! He wants to attend Gary JobCorps and get his GED and he is scheming for hisbrother to take over his nightshift washing dish-es at the AT&T Service Center, and would Iplease call his boss and ask him!? Yikes! How inthe world do I advise him? Thank heavens wehave Refugee Services of Texas staff to help us.

Thanks, everyone who has helped contribute tothe paying-back of Saw Chim’s family's travelloan! It's over half-way there, which eases onemonthly burden. His mother Daw and grand-mother Sa are weavers and sell their goodsthrough the Hill Country Hill Tribers. To viewtheir products and read their bios, point yourbrowser to hilltribers.org. Talk about inspiring!

If you'd like to know more about the refugeeresettlement ministry at SHPC or to specificallylearn more about this family and find out howyou can help, please contact me, Cathy Beard,at 263-9910 or beardfamily@austin.rr.com.

What is FREEZE NIGHT?by Mary Lynn Sheirer

Imagine 32 degrees, it's dark, you're cold, you'rea female, you're hungry and you're homeless.Where do you go?

The answer: Central Presbyterian Church.

On Thursday night and sometimes Tuesday night,SHPC women and men treat these ladies withhomemade hot dinners and breakfast. We're veryfond of our homeless ladies and the ladies arefond of us. They tell us we are the only churchthat serves them beef & every veggie we canthink of, cornbread, cakes & cookies. Some of usput out cheese & crackers to go with their hotcoffee while we're putting everything together.

The ladies finally trust us. Three years ago theywere not saying their own blessing for the meal.Now they do. Three years ago — as a group —they decided to tell us their lives and how theylanded where they were now. Some sad, someunbelievable, some even funny. Yes, they canstill smile when you let them into your heart.

Two years ago one of our regulars didn't show.She made her own clothes by hand and youwould have thought they cam from a boutique.Then she branched out and started making beau-tiful handbags and selling them for $35 and $45dollars. She couldn't keep up with the demand.The ladies told us she had her own corner onLamar and doing well and no longer needing ourservices but she still prays for us daily.

IT JUST DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!

We need women and men who will step up andspend a couple of hours cooking, serving, eat-ing with them, listening when they want to talk,respecting their privacy, cleaning up. Two ofthose men will need to spend the night there tocover emergencies.

We have room for 24 guests, and all the volun-teer women and men who want to walk awayfrom an experience with a heart full of love.

E-mail Linda Wheeler at freezenight@gmail.com

Contact Mary Lynn Sheirer at 512-394-9585 orsheirerhere@yahoo.com.

true SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS STUDENT MINISTRY NOVEMBER 2012

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true banana actiontrue is rockin’ and rolling andwe have even more crazy, awe-some events to mark down onyour calendar. Breaking Bananawill be our all-banana themednight November 4th at true HighSchool-, and November 7th attrue Middle School. BreakingBanana will be the continuationof the legacy that is the AngryBanana, an event so messed up,so ridiculous, and so much fun

that The Revenge of the AngryBanana happened two yearslater due to popular demand.This is the third installment,and the Banana-Brethren areback and seeking revenge,ready to bash, break, burn andbury. Expect crazy games, a20-foot long banana split, andlots of fun! Remember to dressfor the mess, to bring $2.50 andto bring three RIPE bananas!

Spirit Fest coming soonSpirit Fest is November 11th atthe Dell Diamond, and will fea-ture a full day of national andlocal Christian bands such asJeremy Camp, David Crowder,

and MercyMe. Spirit Fest is cen-tral Texas’ largest family-friendly festival. In addition tothe music, Spirit Fest also has aFamily Fun Zone, complete withbounce houses, interactivegames, face-painting, prizesand more. This all day eventstarts at noon and continuesthrough the evening, and is agreat chance to hear amazingbands and refuel your faith withthousands of other Christianfamilies. Make sure to get yourtickets in advance atiamtrue.org.

Fields of FaithOver 400 students stood togeth-er on October 10th at BurgerCenter, and the Holy Spiritmoved (as it always does) in abig way. As the band led wor-ship, I looked around and sawthat our students were singing,arms high and hearts aban-doned. Even though we gotslightly rained-on, students ofall ages and from all over Austinwalked on to the stage andshared their stories and theirfaith in Jesus Christ. I think thiswas the most beneficial part forour students, because theyoung adults that went on stageto share their faith were from

the same schools our kids wentto. At the end of the night stu-dents who felt moved to dedi-cate, or re-dedicate their livesto Christ were invited onto thefield to be prayed for. So as atrue family, we took a knee onthe 40 yard line of Burger Stadi-um and prayed together. Weprayed for family and friends,for academic and social accep-tance, for strength and pa-tience, for continuity andcommitment. We had a greattime partnering with Fellowshipof Christian Athletes for what

was for many a life changing,faith building event.

It’s true! at true NewsHave you seen true News? Thisweekly news program has hilari-ous stories, picked from thenews for that week. true newshas only featured the Wes’ andNoah so far, but will soon fea-ture segments from other stu-dents at true. If you’reinterested in being a part oftrue News talk to Wes at a truegathering, or email him atwes@shpc.org.

ps:DON’T MISS THE TURKEY BOWL!

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Your generous support for ourPraise for the Past, Faith forthe Future campaign continuesto improve our ministry. Thisreport on the Wm Cannon cam-pus remodel is one piece thatit supports. Thank you for yourgenerosity if you are contribut-ing to the campaign and keep-ing your pledge current. If youaren’t yet contributing to itand are interested, please con-tact me for information on howto do so. (Contact info at theend.)

Since the October update,we’ve nearly completed thescheduled remodeling work atWm Cannon. We have a fewfinal pieces yet to be done in-doors – mostly related to doorsthat have taken time in arriv-ing - but the bulk of the workin the Sanctuary and classroomareas is complete. Outside, theparking lot improvements andlighting are finished and land-scaping work is progressingnicely. The new monument signat the corner of Wm Cannonand McCarty Lane is going to bea very visible marker to folksdriving by that we are a vibrantchurch. Upgrades to the twoexisting driveway entrancesigns are also most welcome.Our hope is that all of the re-maining work will be complet-ed by the end of November.

We had two major plan revi-sions since our last update –the Family Ministry Centerporch roof and the Sanctuaryterrace storage space. We hadto allocate funds to correct

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unanticipated problems onthe roof of the Family Min-istry Center deck datingback to when it was origi-nally built and the much-needed storage had to beeliminated to stay withinbudget. We still have nottotally resolved how weare going to work aroundthe loss of the table andchair storage space, but

we know that the FMCdeck gets used all thetime and the covering iscritical for that.

Separately, we had spe-cial, designated giftswhich enabled us to re-place the flooring in theEducation Wing hallwaysto more closely match theupgraded classrooms andalso to re-key all the doorson the Wm Cannon cam-pus. Both had remainedlargely unchanged sincethe original building wasbuilt, so were most wel-come.

If you have any questionsabout the status of theproject, the financing ofit, or the overall plans,please feel free to contactme: bizmgr@shpc.org orcall me in the office dur-ing my office hours ofMon/Tue 9-5.— Greg Merrell

ANNIVERSARIES2 Nov Faries & Ann McDaniel4 Nov Liz Maxfield & Ross

Pumfrey5 Nov Emily & Aaron Bush6 Nov Jonathan & Amy

Slaughter, Richard &Debbie Chase, Richard &Karla Snell

7 Nov Lisa & Steve Crawford8 Nov Diane & Martin Ramirez9 Nov Dan & Marilyn Lawler10 Nov Greg & Dee Merrell11 Nov Gary & Lucy Gibbs13 Nov Bill & Nancy Zuraitis,

Dana & Julia Manuel15 Nov David & Julie Nachman19 Nov Steve & Jane Thompson21 Nov Chris Boyd & Rick

Mattingly, Steve &Andrea Gerlach

23 Nov Andy & Ana Rooke26 Nov Tom & Mike McNelley27 Nov Bob & Bobbye Barker,

Rich & Laura Morales

28 Nov Bill & Corinne Davis

BIRTHDAYS1 Nov William Balke, Chris

Boyd, Bill Goodman, Rob-in Lenertz, Ted Miller,Mark Ramos

2 Nov Bryan Payne3 Nov Al Addison, Leslie Flow-

ers, Lindy Flowers, Court-ney Groves, PollyKruczkowski, Alison Simp-son, Drake Wilkes

4 Nov Georgia Crawley, AnneKirsch, Jerry Ouzts, JayWoods

5 Nov Max Brauer, Norma Bur-chard

6 Nov Lucy Gibbs, Robin Huettel7 Nov Madeline Brock, Clint

Harnden, Amy Low, JennyMcLatcher

8 Nov Gerard Harrison, FaithLawrence, Robert

McLaughlin, Kam-eron Wright

10 Nov Heather Bettridge, MyrnaLewis, Shelley MacAllis-ter, Susan White, JohnWhitten

11 Nov Dylan Freytag, Don Great-house, Griff Griffith, JeffMiller, Marty Soques

12 Nov Cindy David, BrookeEveleth, Sally Moaddeb,Mo O'Meara, BobbieSoques

13 Nov Gordon Box, JenniferSims

14 Nov Kristi Fisher, DebbieSchiller

15 Nov Colin Ashorn16 Nov Suzanne Martinez, Han-

nah Parsons17 Nov Stuart McIntire18 Nov Benjamin Houston, Diane

O'Leary, Sherry Smith19 Nov Katie Garrett

20 Nov Knox Cannon,Caden Pietsch, DuanePietsch, Jenny Saw-yer, Scott Starkjo-

hann21 Nov Jacob Arthur,

Joyce Davis, RogerKeen, Michael Spink

22 Nov Natalie Aman, BryanGardner, Byron Hilton,Sharon Markham

23 Nov Tom Fiedler24 Nov Charlie Balke, Elizabeth

Byrd, Glenna Jaeger, Ry-an Teague

25 Nov Kristin Aardema, GarrettBaschnagel, Shannon Shu-maker

26 Nov Shannon Cannon, AllisonGerold, Mia Pugh, Grego-ry Sonnier

27 Nov Gail Moore, Clay Morgan,Ricky Vaughn

28 Nov Hollis Boehme29 Nov Brian Melnyk, Josh Peter-

son, Samuel Teeple, MarkVenditelli

30 Nov Grace Albertson, SharonDeVries, Jennifer Moore

More pictures at: www.shpc.org/remodel-at-william-cannon-2012

15

Feel free to save this page to help you keep on top of everything that’s happening atShepherd of the Hills!

For updates to rooms and times, visit calendar.shpc.org

1 Thursday10 a.m. Mary-Martha Circle,

W-B4 Sunday

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIMEENDS

5:30 p.m. Inquirers’ Class, W-library

8 Thursday9:30 a.m. MOPS (Mothers of

Preschoolers)10 Saturday

11:30 a.m. Fellowship LunchBunch

11 Sunday5:30 p.m. Inquirers’ Class, W-

libraryFILO Young Adults,W-9

13 Tuesday1:30 p.m. Book Group, W-97 p.m. Prayer Shawl Ministry

14 Wednesday6:15 p.m. KidStuf!, FMC

15 Thursday10 a.m. Prayer Shawl Minis-

try, W-A17 Saturday

8 a.m. All-Pro Dad, FMC18 Sunday

DECEMBER NEWSLETTERDEADLINE

20 Tuesday11:30 a.m. Soup to Nuts, W-sanc-

tuary21 Wednesday

12 p.m. CHURCH OFFICECLOSES FOR THANKSGIV-ING. The office will reopenMonday, November 26th.

25 Sunday Angel Tree begins1 p.m. TURKEY BOWL! B- field

29 Thursday9:30 a.m. MOPS (Mothers of

Preschoolers)

EVERY WEEKSunday

9:30 & 11 a.m. UpStreet, the Ark10 a.m. Worship Choir, W-86 p.m. true high school / true deep

Monday9:30 a.m. Disciple 3, W-97 p.m. Disciple 1, W-library

Disciple 2, W-9Tuesday

9:30 a.m. Disciple 1, W-9Women’s AM Bible Study, W-B

10 a.m. Icing on the Cake, W-AWednesday

9:30 a.m. Disciple 4, W-96 p.m. true tween / middle6:30 p.m. Pageant Rehearsal, W-FMC

Foundations, W-97:30 p.m. Praise & Worship Team rehearsal,

W-sanctuaryThursday

10 a.m. Association of Retired ChristianMen, W-library

6 p.m. Women’s PM Bible Study, W-li-braryHandbell Rehearsal, W-8

7 p.m. Worship Choir rehearsal, W-8

Rooms are at our William Cannon campus (W)or our Brodie campus (B).

Sorrows – Pauline Beezley passed awayon October 17th —Fred Dunlea, father ofFran & Ted Miller's daughter-in-law, passed

away October 19th — Lydia Ellison passedaway October 6th

Please pray for— Helen Turrentine,recovering from a stroke—Thure Cannon’s friend Kevin Robnett,returned safely from military service—Amy Evens’ friend SteveAndricak, cancer—Gloria Drake’s friend Glenda Hamilton,recovery after surgery— Gloria Drake’s friend Jan Downey,successful surgery—Al Lepley, recovering from minor surgery onhis ear and from a recent fall (unrelated)—Bill Hall, returninghome to continue recovery—Doug Welch, former PC(USA) WorldMission staffer, injured and in a coma—Chester Wuest, kneereplacement surgery—Jason Kwak’s father, surgery— GastonBroyles and his wife Junie; Gaston is undergoing testing at MDAnderson—Angela Immitt, insomnia—Gene Wright’s mother,Leta Wright, released from the hospital; more testing scheduledto determine the cause of chest pain—Susan Fields’ daughter,Melissa Phillips, hospitalized with complications of pregnancy—Wilma VanLandingham, home after being hospitalized to treatan infection—Louise Froelich, recovering very well following apartial hip replacement—Lisa Middleton, for her healing—

Andrew Milam’s grandpa, Bob Milam, in hospice; God’s peaceand comfort for the family—Helen Turrentine’s daughter,Donna Hogg, breast cancer and scheduled mastectomy —JimImmitt’s mother, Ileanna Immitt, recovering from doubleabdominal surgery—Jamie May’s sister, Linnea Bates, chestpains—relief from ongoing pain for Mary Lynn Sheirer, mother ofJamie May—the family of Gwendolyn Clifton, who passed awaySept 26th; she was the mother of Gay Langston and grandmotherof Lisa Torres—Abigail Caitlin Elms, 10-yr-old daughter of GlennDukes’ co-worker, diagnosis for joint pain—Capt. RobertBeardslee, grandson of Bob & Carolyn Beardslee, unexpectedsix-month deployment to Doha, Quatar—Susan Parker, DonNowakowski’s sister, complications resulting fromchemotherapy—Jack Lord, Mark Lord’s father, in failing health—Pam Gonzalez’s friends, the family of Tom Tomczak, followinghis passing—Akemi Hoffman, recovering from cancer surgery—Rober Strebeck, recovering from heart surgery—Tony Luczak,father of Pam Gonzalez, on the passing of his sister, Sister MarySidonia—Jeanne Lintelman, mother of Gayle Grance, recoveringfrom knee replacement surgery and a stroke—Fran Miller’sbrother, Watson Hall, recently diagnosed with cancer—Austin,the city where we’re planted—Pastor Alfred Mtonga, his family,and Manyamula CCAP Church—Pastor Chimwemwe Mhango andhis family—Pastor Kenneth Muyila and his family

Please pray for members of the Armed Forces, loved ones, and all world leaders involved in war zone crises including:Robert Beardslee, grandson of Bob & Carolyn Beardslee… Stefan & Pat Haag's daughter Felicia Ferguson-Cox…Nathaniel Miller, son of Fran & Ted Miller… Morales family neighbor Brian Moran… Jose Fernandez, friend ofGaston & Junie Broyles and graduate of PPAS… Andrew Figer, son of a friend of Bill Brock… John White, Susan’shusband... Mitch Guile, friend of Eddie & Stacey Reynolds... Teddy Sweredoski, friend of Stan & Jessica Wade...Tyler Moser, son of a friend of Dee & Greg Merrell... Temple & Janet Ingram’s daughter Kate Ingram...Christopher Lehmann, son of Mark Lehmann... Larry Roberman, brother of Lori Whitmire... Derek & KristiFisher's nephew, John Fisher...

The Rev. Larry Coulter, PastorThe Rev. Michael Killeen, Associate Pastor The Rev. Britta Dukes, Associate Pastor The Rev. Ted Thulin, Associate Pastor5226 West William Cannon Drive, Austin, TX 78749-2212 Phone: 512-892-3580, FAX: 512-892-6307www.shpc.org Pastor’s email: larry@shpc.org church@shpc.org

Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION5226 West William Cannon Drive U.S. POSTAGE PAIDAustin, TX 78749-2212 AUSTIN, TX Permit #1279CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Nov 2012

Issue 10