 One of the great ministries here at Church of the Good Shepherd is “The Meal Train”. Nan Boyne serves as its “Chief Conductor” and she is always looking for additional volunteers to help deliver a meal or two when needed. Here are some important details for your consideration as a one-time or frequent volunteer:
For more details or to get your name on the Meal Train, contact Nan Boyne at [email protected]. All Aboard! You will be amazed how easy it is and how great you will feel when you ride this train! 
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 Back-to-School Backpacks for Episcopal Farmworker Ministry Again this year, The Church of the Good Shepherd is collecting back-to-school school supplies to benefit approximately 350 children served by Episcopal Farmworker Ministry. Our goal this year is to collect 80 backpacks! Here’s how it works:
Thank you in advance for your generous support! Contact: Gerard McNeill or the Parish Office. Learn more about this important ministry below:  The Episcopal Farmworker Ministry: Support for Agricultural Workers in North Carolina The Episcopal Farmworker Ministry (EFWM) is a dedicated organization committed to "responding to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of farmworkers." As a collaborative effort between the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina and the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, the EFWM has been a vital resource for agricultural workers and their families across Eastern rural North Carolina since its inception in 1978. Mission and Reach Based in Sampson County, the EFWM primarily serves crop field workers and meat processing plant workers, along with their families. Their comprehensive approach includes direct services, educational initiatives, and various other programs designed to support this essential community that supports our nation’s agricultural system. A History of Service The EFWM's journey began modestly in 1978 as the "Clothing Closet Ministry." Over the years, it expanded its scope to address a broader range of needs:
 Programs and Current Focus Today, the EFWM continues its mission with a wide array of services and programs. While historically working with Latino migrant workers from other states and abroad, the ministry has expanded its reach to include Latino agricultural workers who reside in North Carolina year-round. This includes individuals working in meat processing plants, nurseries, packing houses, animal farms, and various field roles. Beyond their foundational services, the EFWM offers specific programs where community support makes a tangible difference in the lives of farmworkers:
Support the Ministry The Episcopal Farmworker Ministry remains a beacon of hope and support, continually adapting its services to meet the evolving needs of agricultural workers and their families in North Carolina. To learn more or to contribute financially to their work, you can donate directly through their website: https://www.efwm.org/donate. All photos and information above from the EFWM website. Please read and subscribe to their newsletter to get more involved: https://www.efwm.org/ Back-to-School Backpacks: Supply List Our parish goal is to fill 80 backpacks during July. Thank you in advance for your generous support! Contact Gerard McNeill or call the Parish Office if you have questions. Instructions:
Pre-K / Kindergarten School list ● Pencil pouch/pencil box pencils ● Scissors blunt tip/child size scissors ● Expo markers ● Glue sticks ● 2 boxes of Kleenex tissue ● Crayons ● One pair of headphones ● One pack of dry-erase markers ● 1 box of gallon-size ziploc bags ● Construction paper ● Pocket folders ● Backpack Elementary School Supply List (1rst grade through 5th grade) ● 2 inch 3 ring binder ● Wired Headphones (No earbuds) ● Pencil pouch ● 2 composition book ● Crayons ● Pencils ● Pink erasers ● Dry erase markers ● Scissors (2) Kids friendly ● Three plastic pocket folders ● Glue sticks ● 2 pack of loose leaf paper ● 2 Subject notebook/Composition notebook ● 1 box Tissue ● 1 box of gallon size Ziploc bags ● Colored pencils ● Highlighters ● Pens ● Backpack Middle School supply list (6th grade to 8th grade) ● 3 inch 3 ring binder ● 1 set of 8 tab dividers ● Glue sticks ● Wired headphones (No earbuds) ● Graph paper / squared paper ● Pencils ● Pencil sharpener ● Pens black red and blue ● Erasers ● 2 Folders with pockets ● 1 pack of highlighters ● Index cards ● Pencil case/bag ● 2 Composition notebook ● Colored pencil ● Ruler ● Box of tissues ● Backpack with padded laptop slot High School supply list (9th grade to 12th grade) ● Highlighter ● Pack of pens (Assorted colors) ● Colored Pencils ● Pencil pouch ● Pencils or mechanical pencils ● (1) 5 subject notebook ● Index cards ● Pencil sharpeners ● Erasers ● Sticky notes ● Index cards ● Ruler ● Wired headphones (No earbuds) ● Backpack with a padded laptop slot   By Brett MacDonald, Diocesan Intern What does it mean to love our neighbor as ourselves when that neighbor’s body or mind challenges our assumptions about what is “normal” or “complete”? July is Disability Pride Month and it invites us to consider this question. In response, I’d invite us to see disability not as a problem to be solved, but as a theological gift that helps the Church glimpse the mystery of God. Many traditions have linked the image of God (imago Dei) to traits like reason, autonomy, or moral capacity. But what happens when we tie dignity to abilities some people don’t possess to the same degree? Where does that leave those with intellectual or developmental disabilities? Theologian Warren Kinghorn warns that “capacity-based accounts of human dignity always fail individual human persons who do not display the capacities that are most valued.” 1 Rather than viewing the imago Dei as a quality that can be measured or marred, John Kilner emphasizes that it is an unchanging divine gift, and the standard to which humanity is progressively being conformed through the work of Christ and the Spirit. Kinghorn adds, “We are not said to be made in God’s image because we can think, because we can use language, because we can relate warmly to others, [or] because we can adhere to social norms and expectations… we are made in God’s image, rather, because God has created us so, in love.”2 In other words, we must realize humans bear God’s image not because of what we can do, but because of God’s unchanging love for us.3 Thus, human dignity rests not on any present resemblance to God but on God’s unwavering commitment to bring humanity into the fullness of that image. This means that disabled persons are not deviations from some imagined ideal of humanity. They are living witnesses to the diversity of God’s creative love. This truth shapes how we imagine resurrection hope. Too often, Christian visions of heaven assume that disability will be erased, as if perfection means able-bodiedness. But as Stanley Hauerwas remind us, to erase disability is to erase the person.4 Our resurrection hope is not about achieving some able-bodied ideal, but about being glorified in our full, particular selves. Like Christ’s risen body still bearing the scars of the cross (Luke 24), our bodies will bear the marks of our stories—transfigured in glory, not erased. If this is our hope, then the Church’s task is not simply to serve or accommodate disabled persons but to incorporate them as indispensable members of the Body. Disabled persons reveal the Church’s true nature as a community bound not by strength or achievement, but by unhurried love. Living this out means learning to love at a different pace. Our culture prizes speed, efficiency, and productivity. But as John Swinton writes, God’s love unfolds slowly. Time is best conceived,” he writes, “as an aspect of God’s love for the world.”5 Jesus, he observes, living in a society without motor vehicles, walked at three miles per hour—a pace that reflects not urgency but attentive presence. I am often reminded of this through my friendship with Alex, my roommate at Friendship House—an intentional Christian living community comprised of adults with and without intellectual disabilities. One evening, I was supposed to drive Alex, who has Down syndrome, to an event at a local Christian nonprofit that serves adults with disabilities called Reality Ministries. I was anxious to be on time, and as we prepared to leave, Alex kept stopping to chat with people. With each delay, my stress grew until I finally interrupted him: “Alex, we’ve really got to go if we want to be on time!” He looked at me, puzzled, and asked, “What’s the hurry?” I stammered, “We’re going to be late;” and he simply said, “We’ve got time.” In that moment, Alex revealed to me a different way of being, one where people matter more than schedules, where presence matters more than productivity. His friendship invited me into the unhurried nature of God’s love. Friendships like these don’t slow down the Christian life, rather, they are the Christian life. Disabled persons should not be seen merely as individuals in need of care. Instead, the Church must realize that disabled folks offer gifts that reconfigure the Church’s very understanding of itself. Disabled persons are not just welcomed so that abled-bodied Christians can serve them as a project or a charitable act; rather, they themselves are agents of God’s work who teach us how to be the Church. Disabled persons teach the Church not only how to care, but how to be: how to wait, how to rejoice, how to depend, and how to love without condition or measure. Disabled presence calls the Church to abandon worldly measures of worth, such as strength, efficiency, or productivity, and to embrace a community held together by love, dependence, and grace. In receiving these gifts, the Church learns more fully what it means to bear the image of God. Different ministries such as Reality, L’Arche, and Friendship House offer living models of this reality, where mutuality replaces hierarchy and the contributions of those with disabilities are received not according to worldly standards, but as revelations of God’s grace. Friendship with those the world too often overlooks teaches us to wait, to rejoice, to depend, and to love without condition. These friendships bear witness to the nature of God’s love and invite us to participate in it. As Amos Yong puts it, true friendship is not transactional or utilitarian; it is a gift of grace that disrupts our assumptions about value and teaches us how to receive one another as God’s beloved.6 Join us in celebrating disabled belovedness by attending the Disability Pride Parade in Durham Saturday, July 26th from 3:30PM – 6:30PM at Duke Memorial United Methodist Church. Sources: 1 Warren A. Kinghorn, Wayfaring: A Christian Approach to Mental Health Care (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2024), 155. 2 Kinghorn, Wayfaring, 155. 3 John F. Kilner, Dignity and Destiny: Humanity in the Image of God (Grand Rapids Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015), 114. 4 Stanley Hauerwas in The Deprived, the Disabled, and the Fullness of Life (Michael Glazier, 1984). 5 John Swinton, Becoming Friends of Time: Disability, Timefullness, and Gentle Discipleship, Studies in Religion, Theology, and Disability (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2018), 58. 6 Amos Yong, The Bible, Disability, and the Church: A New Vision of the People of God (Chicago: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2011), 114. Links for more information:
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