Thank you for your generosity as a church community! Many of you have turned in pledge cards already. If you haven’t, please do so by the end of this month – that allows us to better plan our budget for next year. If you would like to set up automated withdrawals for your pledge, you can click the Give Online button on the right hand side of the page. If you would like our help, you can download this form and turn it into the office, and we will get it set up for you.
Beginning September 8th, we have some exciting new opportunities specifically designed to help support and engage our children and youth.
Birth – 4 years: Care is provided in the nursery from 9:15-12:00 each Sunday.
Kindergarten – 4thgrade: We are starting our Godly Play program September 8! After the children’s time during worship, any children in this age range who wish to attend will be accompanied by a teacher to the middle portable room. They will be accompanied back to the gathering space at 10:45, when they can be picked up by parents, or go to the nursery for Children’s Second Hour from 11:00-12:00.
5th– 8thgrade: Starting in 5thgrade, children will remain with their family in worship. At 10:50 they will gather in the choir room for opening activities with youth of all ages. Then they will be accompanied by their leaders to the youth room (the east portable room) for education hour from 11:00-12:00, using engaging curriculum to teach the core aspects of faith and allow room for questions. They will then be accompanied to the library at noon to join the older youth again for lunch. They can be picked up to go home at 12:30.
9th– 12thgrade: High schoolers remain in worship, then meet in the choir room at 10:50 for opening activities with all youth. At 11:00 they will have a discussion group in the choir room, engaging how current issues intersect with their faith. At noon they will have lunch in the library, and then head to the youth room for youth group activities. They can be picked up around 2:00
UTZ: youth of any age are invited to be part of our youth praise band. They practice from 11:00-12:00 in the sanctuary most Sundays.
AdultsWe are excited to be offering two tracks of adult education at 11:00 each Sunday starting September 8th.
Track 1: We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation by Brian McLaren
This book invites us to explore the Bible with fresh eyes and new perspectives. McLaren offers both in depth studies of passages as well as a clear view of the overarching biblical narrative. He invites us to make connections between stories and see the big picture of God’s loving involvement with humanity. In using this as our study guide, we will be challenged to grow deeper in our faith and how we live it out in the world.
Track 2: MADvent Intergenerational Activities
During Advent, we are offering activities for all ages during the 11:00 hour focused on Music, Art, and Drama (MAD).
Soul Bags are prepared with healthy, nonperishable food items by the Outreach Team and purchased by the church community for distribution wherever they see the need in our city.
Shepherd of the Valley has a relationship with La Luz Elementary School in order to show God’s love to our community. Project Shine promotes church partnerships with title one schools in the Albuquerque Public School district. The goal is to support our schools with no agenda to proselytize or preach. The focus of volunteers is to show love and care for children and those working with them. We are available to help with needs identified by the school.
We made some great relationships with kids and teachers.
Here are some ways we were blessed to share God’s love to our partner school:
Volunteers read with, tutor, and mentor children. We sponsored a First Grade Family Incentive Reading Program. Members of the church sewed book bags, purchased and sorted books to give to children. Twenty-four families read 8,379 minutes with their students in April.
The program ended with a family pizza party and puppet show.
We supported the school with a Clothing Drive, Thanksgiving Baskets, and a Mitten Tree. The church responded to crisis needs when families became homeless and needed immediate assistance.
We bring food and pack Feed the Kids Weekend Food Bags to help fill the gap on the days children do not receive school lunches.
The church purchased and donated classroom books and supplies to fill specific teacher requests. We provided healthy snacks for PARCC testing days so kids could do their best.
We sponsor Teacher Appreciation events. We love working with these teachers and want to support them to help retain good teachers in Albuquerque schools
Monthly food drives and quarterly donations of tangible goods go to these community partners
Supporting our Neighbors at the Rio Grande Community Garden
Garden manager Andrea is standing next to one of the trees Shepherd of the Valley donated to the garden.
The church donated 3 rows of space to Sylvester, a refugee from Uganda, to help him raise food for his family of 8.
We have crossed the two month dateline. I am happy to report we are both doing better in every way.
The partnership agreement between Shepherd of the Valley Presbyterian Church and The Presbyterian-Reformed Church of San Nicolas de Bari is renewed through 2020.
