As noted in the What Is Benevolence? article, 20.25 cents of every undesignated offering dollar donated goes to support ministries and programs within Good Shepherd, locally in the metropolitan DC area and beyond.

Of the internal ministries that benefit from this benevolence giving, 5 of those 20.25 cents is used to grow Good Shepherd’s Long-term Property Maintenance Fund. Recent, major repairs and improvements to the church such as the basement floor replacement, HVAC replacement, and elevator waterproofing were made possible using these funds.

While your generous donations provided the funds to pay for these improvements, neither major improvements nor day-to-day maintenance of the building would have been realized without Good Shepherd’s Denise Elfes and her gift of her time and talents as Property Chair over the past 2.5 years.

Denise has this to say about what her time as a steward has meant:

"Being the property chair again has brought all kinds of emotions:

• Anxiety dealing with the flooding in the basement time after time.
• Blessings at the support from other members who helped clean up after the floods.
• Excitement at discovering new materials and technology that exist to help prevent future damage.
• Thankfulness for all who have stepped forward to meet with contractors when I've been unable to be at the church.
• Pride at knowing how what I have learned of the workings of the building and how to keep it running smoothly as property chair contributes to the safe and welcome feeling we have when entering our church.

I look at being the steward of the property as my way of giving back to the church that I have been a member of for almost 20 years (really?). Through the investments made this year, our beautiful building will remain in use long into the future. If you have some time, consider stopping by to help out. There's always something to do."

There are many opportunities to get involved and share your time and talents like Denise!

Attend Good Shepherd’s annual meeting on Sunday, Nov. 14 to hear about our many worship and mission activities over the past year and look toward the future.

Consider increasing your regular offering to the operating fund through the 2021 matching funds giving campaign. In doing so, you’ll also be a caretaker for the building through the long-term property maintenance fund.

Help us build a bigger table!