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Shepherd of The Hills Episcopal Church
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Our mission is to be a beacon of faith known for engaging all persons in the love and truth of Jesus Christ |
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An open letter to the good people of Shepherd of the Hills So that everyone will know, we have four members of our immediate family. There is me, Bishop Jim, and my wife of 38 years, Stacey, and our daughter, Bethany Mary. Bethany is 26 years old and now lives in a group home in Ellsworth, Kansas, a small community 40 miles west of where we used to live. Bethany suffered two strokes when she was born and it re-sulted in cerebral palsy which has left her disabled. But do not let that fool you, she is a re-markable human being and you will get to meet her later on as it will take some time for her to follow us to Florida. It is amazing how much paperwork is involved in moving between states and we even have to go to court to be re-named her guardians. Then there is Ed (Edwin) Brookman, Stacey’s father, who has lived with us for over 20 years. Ed is 85 years old and heading towards what his goal has always been; the century mark. You will get to know us shortly as we arrived in Florida with our household goods on February 23rd. We have found a wonderful house at 428 Cobblestone Loop in Hernando, just 2.4 miles from the Church. You will all have the opportunity to see it as we will schedule a house blessing sometime in the near future. I can not tell you how excited we are as we come to be with you at Shepherd of the Hills. We met many of you as we visited in early January but there will be many opportunities for us to get to know each other in the months ahead. To enable that, I will be having a time on Sun-days, or whenever else is convenient, to have a few “Ask the Vicar Anything” times. I have had such get togethers in the past and they have allowed many people to get to know me as I spend some time, in many other ways, to get to know you all. To answer one question that many have asked, yes, I am still a Bishop as I join you at Shep-herd of the Hills. But, I have a new ministry, as the Vicar, which means that I represent your Diocesan Bishop, John Howe, in his ministry to you. I am coming to work with you as we continue to grow the Kingdom of God in Central Florida. I say we, because one of the things that impressed me greatly, as I talked with your Search Committee and your Vestry, is your wonderful ministries within your communities which reach out with Christ from Shepherd of the Hills. It is what excites me as a priest to see everyone taking upon themselves the minis-tries Jesus gives to each of us as members of His Body, the Church. We will talk a lot more about that, but it is a wonderful sign that God’s grace and love are alive and well in His Church here. I, and my family, look forward to the time when we will be worshipping, working, praying and living with you all. A new day is appearing for Shepherd of the Hills and we are privi-leged to have been asked to join you in it. One thing I want to do now is thank Fr. Ladd and Judy, his wife. I am telling you nothing new when I say that God has blessed you greatly through them and their ministry over the past five years. God’s further blessings and we will see you soon. In Christ, +Jim
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