Shepard Family Reunion Planned

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

For members and friends of the Shepard Family (descendants of William and Bura Shepard, their families, friends, and any other interested persons)...

This is your reminder that next year, on Saturday July 19, 2008, there will be a Shepard Family reunion in Anacortes, Washington, and you are invited! Barbara Shepard will be sending out a formal invitation to everyone in coming weeks (at least everyone for whom she has a physical address) and will provide more details. I know next summer is a long way off, but I'd like to keep you all informed of the progress with periodic posts like this one as we look forward to next summer.

Also I would like to offer a family picture or two with each post, and share some interesting facts about our Shepard family. Like this...

Fascinating Family Fact: Did you know that our part of the Shepard family began with two people, William Shepard (1888-1976) and Bura Davis Shepard (1896-1986), but now encompasses a family tree with over 60 individual branches?

Family Faces: With this post are two pictures: One of William and Bura's wedding picture, dated June 1915 (the oldest family picture that I have); and the other is a recent picture of Elmer Shepard and his son Dane, and Dane's two children, Kaylan and Nathan, of Oklahoma City. Thanks to Dane for sending me this picture! Do others of you have a family picture you would be willing to share with family members?

Have a wonderful New Year!
- - -
Steve

A Visit To Philippi

I was in Philippi not long ago. Not the one in West Virginia. Nor the one in Georgia. But the one in Greece. The original Philippi. It is about a 2 hour drive east of the second largest city in Greece, Thessaloniki.

Philippi was actually named Krenides in the beginning, in the late 4th century BCE. I have heard of the city of Philippi all my life because of its importance in the travels of the apostle Paul, but never knew till our visit that “Philippi” was a name forced on this community by the Roman emperor Philip II.

Only a few years after the town was formed, Philip decided it would make a good place for his headquarters, so he set up shop there and named it after himself. If you are emperor you can get away with those kinds of things, I suppose. Surely there were those who would have preferred that it keep its original name, which had not been in use very long. But when the emperor chooses your town for his home and for his name, you don’t have much say. So for all these years the town's name has been Philippi.

Interestingly when Philippi was abandoned several hundred years ago (after yet another devastating earthquake), the people started a new town next to it, and gave it the name Krenides, which it still has today.

When I was in in this beautiful Mediterranean community recently it was a warm day in late September. My wife Cindy and I were in Thessaloniki on vacation and at the last minute decided we had time to visit this ancient city. It was easy to find. We drove less than 2 hours east on the toll road, being careful to stay out of the fast lane where 95 mph vehicles will run you off the road without thinking twice about it. We left the freeway at Kavalla, the modern name for the first century coastal city of Neapolis, which is mentioned in the Bible. Philippi is just a dozen or so kilometers (about 7 miles) from the coast and would have been an afternoon’s trek for an ancient visitor like the apostle Paul.

We drove into the parking lot of this archeo- logical site and found a parking pace with ease. There was parking for hundreds of cars, but on this day we were one of less than a dozen. Before the entrance to the site itself there is a snack bar and shop where you can enjoy a cold drink and buy a book or a curio relating to what you will see. At the entrance there is a booth where attendants collect the 3 Euros it costs to walk around the grounds, which cover a surprisingly large area.

One of the first sites we saw was an arena. I do not remember this being mentioned in the book of Acts. Paul did say that he had fought with wild animals on occasion, but he did not mention fighting with them at Philippi. This Philippian arena had been used for many years throughout history and came complete with the Gladiator's entrance, the wild animal's entrance, and seating for thousands of spectators. (see first picture) It was not hard to imagine the courageous gladiators, the blood that flowed, the animals that died, the exciting battles and the thrill of the spectators.

There was a significant amount of serious archaeo- logical investi- gation taking place in all the many locations around Philippi, but our interest the day we were there, was purely casual. It was inspiring to realize that this was the very place where Paul established the first Christian community on European soil. We were impressed as we viewed the ruins of a larger than expected church that had been built in the 3rd or 4th century. (see second picture)

Overall the experience we had that day helped to complete the stories I had heard about Paul’s visit to this city -- his wonderful friendship with Lydia, his meeting with some worshipers "down by the riverside," his unexpected imprisonment with Silas, and his experience of a devastating earthquake.

One of the more popular sights one can see among the ruins is the traditional location of Paul's incarcer- ation referred to in Acts 16. (see the third picture) The informative signs posted nearby make it clear that this location is but a good guess. People want so badly to know exactly where Paul had been imprisoned that they have chosen one particular location, even though the historical evidence is not there for archaeologists to be convinced. It illustrates the tension between those who make religious pilgrimages to Philippi and those who come here with purely secular or scientific interests.

I am grateful for both approaches. Without those who use the scientific method one’s visit would be little more than superstition, and would have very little credibility. Without a faith based interest the scientific method would be cold and sterile and would lack something invaluable.

We finished our visit this warm September afternoon and drove away grateful we had the opportunity to add this visit to our busy itinerary. It gave us a connection to the stories of the New Testament that we would never have had otherwise.

Click here to see pictures of our trip to Greece, including Philippi.

Top 10 Reasons for Shaving One's Head

10. Shampoo and conditioner costs go to zero!



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9. Some people find shaved heads attractive.



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8. No more helmet hair.



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7. Never have to “wash that man right out” again.

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6. Throw away the brushes and combs.

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5. Showering is now a breeze.



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4. Wearing hats is much more fun.



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3. Never have to pay a boring barber again.



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2. Get to join the Headblade community.



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1. No more bad hair days!

Thanks for the Memories, August 2007

I want to say how much Cindy and I appreciate all the kindnesses and generosity expressed at the end of my ministry with you. It was truly a fine conclusion to a very rewarding experience as your Interim Pastor. The gifts and well wishes, the cards and the hugs, and every expression of appreciation touched us very deeply. We are especially grateful for the cash gift and the gift cards we received. We wish we could say a "thank you" to each of you individually. You will have a special place in our hearts always!

We have been keeping busy in recent weeks and look forward to a great time of catching up on things that have needed doing. We have also done some traveling to see family, taken some hiking excursions around California, and enjoyed life as we anticipate my next interim position.

Our prayers are with you as you enter this time of getting acquainted with your new pastor, Rev. Alan Claassen. We are confident that this will be the beginning of a wonderful chapter in the life of First Congregational Church. We look forward to hearing about great things happening in your life and ministry with Alan, and to the time when we will be able to worship with you again. Much love and best wishes for great success!

The Home Stretch, June 07

Let us hold fast

to the confession of our hope

without wavering,

for God who has promised

is faithful.

Hebrews 10.23

As I write this I am sitting in my room at Asilomar during the Annual Meeting of our UCC Conference. It has been a rich and rewarding experience with 7 others from our church, and several hundred others from around Northern California.

The highlight of the weekend were the presentations by Ken Samuel, a mega-church pastor in the Atlanta area. After much thought, he and his congregation decided to affiliate with the United Church of Christ, a decision fraught with difficulties. But faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ compelled him and his church to make the move. It has not been easy for them, but it has given him and the several thousand members of that church a new sense of living faithful to the love of God for all people.

The weekend at Asilomar was inspiring, restful and very enjoyable. But through it all my mind was on matters at home in Murphys. As you probably know by now, the Search Committee, after many months of looking at profiles, has selected a candidate to present to the congregation for consideration.

Just a few weeks ago we were wondering if the process would ever reach a conclusion. “We could go on like this for another four years,” one person said to me the day before the announcement. Then suddenly we turned a corner, and here we are, making plans for the candidating weekend, and anticipating what may very well be the arrival later this summer of a new pastor to serve this congregation.

Much will need to be done before that, of course. Much of what will occur in coming weeks are shared in this edition of the Nugget. Please read about all the plans very carefully. And be a part of the gatherings that will take place and the information that will be shared as we move into this final phase of the Interim Process.

I am filled with mixed feelings, of course. I have served you for over two years now, and consider myself blessed indeed to have been your Interim Pastor. It has been a wonderful experience. As with the conclusion of any chapter in one’s life, I feel sadness to see it end. But more importantly there is a sense of satisfaction and gratification. This is what our time together has been all about. This is exactly what we have been anticipating ever since Pastor John left in March 2005.

Part of the gratification that I feel is due to the fact that the process has had great integrity all along the way. The Search Committee deserves thanks for their diligence and their fine work. To a great extent what is happening right now is simply a reflection of the overall health and vitality of the congregation, and the constant faith of each of you.

Many of you have asked, “What will you do now?” Cindy and I have not yet decided what is ahead for us. We will probably take some time off before I consider another Interim. But at this point there is still a great need to remain focused on finishing my ministry here among you.

There is work yet to be done: one big congregational decision to make, lots of plans to be formulated and details to be carried out. Even the final part of an Interim process takes effort and requires careful attention. But through it all I encourage you to remain strong and faithful to the call to be servants of the still-speaking God, who remains our constant guide.

Steve Shepard
Interim Pastor

The Nugget, May 2007

God’s mercy is as welcome

in time of distress

as clouds of rain

in time of drought.

Sirach 35.26

Did you know that Easter is a season not just a day? It is a 50 day period of time from Easter Sunday until the day of Pentecost, this year on May 27. This 7 week season is a time to rebound from the joy and excitement and fury of activity in Lent and Easter and respond to the challenge to make resurrection something we live.

Part of us would like to hold on to the large worship attendance, to bask in the delight of seeing extra visitors in church, to drink in the excitement of the Easter Sunday events, to dream of what it would be like if we had that many people and that much offering and that much enthusiasm every Sunday.

But there comes a time when we must let go of that dream and get on with the task of being Easter people. We are like Mary who, in John's story of the resurrection, tried to embrace the risen Jesus. But he would have none of it. "Do not hold on to me" he said to her. "I have not yet ascended to God."

The joy of Easter Sunday is not something to cling to, to hold on to, as if we could freeze it in time. It is not something to be framed and hung on a wall like a trophy. Instead we let it go so that it can be the seed that springs forth from our lives in acts of peace and love and justice and holiness.

This Easter season is a very special time for First Congregational Church as we anticipate what the future will bring. The Search Committee continues their work diligently and needs our continuing support and prayers, our ministries move forward with faith and spirit, and the promise of spring gives us strength for the journey.

Here is a story that helps to get at the heart of what I am trying to say:

The fields were parched and brown from lack of rain, and the crops lay wilting from thirst. People were anxious and irritable as they searched the sky for any sign of relief. Days turned into arid weeks. No rain came.

The ministers of the local churches called for an hour of prayer on the town square the following Saturday. They requested that everyone bring an object of faith for inspiration.

At high noon on the appointed Saturday the townspeople turned out en masse, filling the square with anxious faces and hopeful hearts. The ministers were touched to see the variety of objects clutched in prayerful hands ... holy books, crosses, rosaries.

When the hour ended, as if on magical command, a soft rain began to fall. Cheers swept the crowd as they held their treasured objects high in gratitude and praise. From the middle of the crowd one faith symbol seemed to overshadow all the others.

A small nine-year old child had brought an umbrella.

Let the spirit of Easter in you lead to acts of great expectation, lives of living faith and being ready for the refreshing rains of God’s spirit.

Steve Shepard
Interim Pastor

The Nugget, April 2007

“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable,

always excelling in the work of the Lord.”

1 Cor. 15. 55-56

I have come to understand how active and busy this church can be, but the last few weeks have brought this to my attention like never before. The energy, enthusiasm and excitement surrounding our most recent activities has been remarkable. The Costa Rican dinner and silent auction, the Pancake Breakfast for Irish Days, and many other activities have been exhausting, but they have also been exhilarating and have brought out the best in us. (And have been very profitable for their respective causes – did I mention that?) And as I write this, Holy Week and Easter are still to come!

I thought Lent was suppose to be a time to pause and reflect? Lent is to be that, of course, but it is also a time of service and good works. And that we have been doing. Thanks to everyone who has shared in the recent activities and has made a positive contribution. My hope is that each one can find the time to rest and recuperate in the midst of all the activities and busyness.

Bishop Spong likes to say that the richest expression of Easter comes when it is exclaimed rather than explained.

Which is to say that Easter is not so much about how we talk about it, but how we experience it. The varied interpretations and meanings -- and arguments -- over the particulars of the resurrection are not nearly as important as whether or not Jesus is alive within us; whether or not our Savior is experienced by us and leads us to community and service.

When spring time rolls around, and when Easter draws near, you can be sure that there will be media reports of some new discovery that raises questions about the resurrection of Jesus. So it was with a sense of déjà vu that I read the news reports of the discovery of the purported remains of Jesus. Actually the claims that they had discovered the remains of him and his family -- including his wife Mary Magdalene (?!) – had been made some years earlier. What was new was a documentary film about these discoveries that had been released recently by a major Hollywood film maker.

After the film’s release certain scholars questioned the validity of some of the prime evidence that had been presented, nearly debunking the whole project. But did this put the issue to rest? Not at all. Any kind of publicity is good publicity in these matters. (Am I sounding cynical yet?)

Here is where I am going with all this: Whatever it is that keeps us focused on the explanation rather than the experience of Easter needs to be resisted. We can argue all we want about the particulars of what happened so long ago at the tomb of Jesus, but the only thing that really matters is whether or not we are experiencing the risen Christ. What is needed today is not a new argument, but a new experience of God that gives rise to acts of compassion and justice.

May God give each of us this Easter season a new awareness of the risen Christ, alive and active within us.

Steve Shepard
Interim Pastor

The Nugget, March 2007

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and sustain in me a willing spirit.

(Psalm 51.10,12)

We need this season of Lent in which we find ourselves. The spirit of Lent is something like the person who smacks himself on the forehead and says, “What was I thinking?” When awareness of our imperfections dawns on us, we want to do better, and need to find the strength to choose a better way. During Lent we are offered the opportunity to consider the better way, the path that leads to wholeness and peace rather than estrangement from God and one another.

Only by taking the time to understand our brokenness and seek the better way, will we be ready to celebrate Easter. Jesus’ resurrection was such a seminal event for Disciples of Christ that it cannot be remembered and observed without a time of preparation.

On the Wednesday evenings in March everyone is invited to join us in our Soup Supper and Video Vespers. You will find the soups delicious and the Vesper services inspirational. Different committees and boards of the church are taking turns bringing the light meal which will begin at 6 pm. Special thanks to the various groups within the church who are working hard to prepare the soups.

After we eat, we will gather for a time of reflection and prayer, singing and meditating, viewing a video clip as part of the basis for our reflections. The films from which the clips will taken will be as diverse as “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Amistad” and the newly released “Amazing Grace.” Our Vesper services will conclude each Wednesday evening by 7:30 p.m.

“Give Me a Clean Heart, O God,” is the overall theme of the Video Vespers. Each Wednesday will carry a particular theme, such as “Give Me a Clean Heart, O God, That Works for Peace” (March 4) or “Give Me a Clean Heart, O God, That Seeks Justice.” (March 11). Invite your neighbors and friends and join us for this special series that will bring us to that wonderful time of celebrating Jesus resurrection.

The front of this edition of the Nugget has information on the events of Holy Week, which this year is the first week of April. I invite you to participate in as many of these special services as you can. Our Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunrise services are joint worship times with other churches in town, which give them added meaning.

Working with Rev Russ Ogren of Sierra Bible Church, and Rev Doug Merritt of Faith Lutheran Church has been an exceptional experience for me. And not just during this season, but for the entire time that I have been your pastor. I invite your to join me in celebrating the ecumenical relationship we share with these other pastors and their congregations. We sometimes forget that despite the fact we each have our own particular church life, we share a risen Savior whose love extends far beyond each congregation. Thanks be to God for the common life we all share in Jesus Christ!

Steve Shepard
Interim Pastor

The Nugget, Feb, 2007

Do not abandon that confidence of yours;
it brings a great reward.
For you need endurance,
so that when you have done the will of God,
you may receive what was promised.
Hebrews 10.35-36

Having been with you so long, it feels like we are fast friends, with a strong relationship that could go on indefinitely. You have been supportive of my work, and I have been enjoying our time together tremendously. Let’s face it, our relationship has been very good for both of us!

For this reason I want to say how much I appreciate all of you and the many ways that you have blessed my life. Your generosity is tremendously appreciated. Your welcome of Cindy and me has meant more to us that we can say. We thank you for being our church family.

The fact of the matter is that since the beginning of our relationship – over a year and a half ago – we have understood that I am your Interim Pastor, and you are my Interim Congregation. The Search Committee continues their work of seeking a settled Pastor for this Church, and I continue to focus my attention on the transition of this Congregation.

It is gratifying for me that the church is doing so well during this Interim Time. The standard measures for the health of the church remain good – worship attendance remains fairly constant, we have added a dozen or so new members in the last year, our pledges for 2007 are actually up almost 10% over last year, and the programs of the church continue steady with some growth.

Besides all that, there is a wonderful spirit among our members, our worship services are positive and uplifting, and our relationship to our community remains healthy and strong. All in all, life at First Congregational Church is good. We can be confident in the quality of life we share and in our prospects for the future. And all of this is happening while we are in the midst of a transition from one settled pastor to another.

You, the members and the fine staff of this church, can be proud of how well you have done under the circumstances. You deserve a word of appreciation for remaining faithful in a time of uncertainty and change. It speaks well of the health and strength and recent history of this congregation that you have continued so steadfast. I would like to think that I have had a part in making that happen, but the fact of the matter is that it is a team effort, which has required the diligence of each one.

This Interim Time is, however, proving to be longer than we had expected. I smile to think that when I first came to this church, the Interim Search Committee and I agreed to a 6 month contract, thinking that might be long enough! Here we are 21 months later, and the Search continues. For those of you unfamiliar with the Search process in the UCC, that may seem like a long time, suggesting something is very wrong. But the fact of the matter is that it is not all that unusual. But it does require a measure of patience and endurance. It also calls for the need to continue in faithful witness while in transition. We are in a waiting time to be sure – not static waiting, but waiting in anticipation.

So keep the church, and the Search Committee in your prayers. Our Committee continues diligently as they seek a settled pastor for this church. Their work is low key, by design, but their efforts and their goal remain constant.

We do not know what the future will bring, or when future changes will happen. But we do know that with faith, patience and the grace of our Creator, we can be assured that God is still with us, still speaking, and that our future will be bright.

Steve Shepard
Interim Pastor