Two months out
‘Billies for Goats’ L
ast December the pastor of Ho ly Cross Lutheran, Rockport, Ind., pitched an idea to the congregation that really got their goat. Richard W. Miller suggested teaming up with ELCA World Hun-
ger (
www.elca.org/hunger) for the season of Lent, and David Grose, congregational president, said his daughter, Katie Hess, accepted the challenge to be in charge of “Billies for Goats.” Members were encouraged to “give up” something for Lent and then put a donation in the Billie Bucket, placed in the fellowship hall. If the congregation could raise $500 (enough for 10 goats), Hess said her husband Matt would kiss a goat on the lips. Her father thought the challenge wasn’t high enough, however, and told the congrega- tion that if they could raise $1,000 surely his daughter would kiss the other end of the goat. The congregation didn’t just collect money, they used the Lenten season as a goat-inspired learning experience. After each Sunday worship service Hess shared goat-related activities, giving goat facts, re-enacting a religious version of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” and even awarding an “old goat” prize to the congregation’s oldest mem- bers. Prizes included goat cheese, goat-enriched hand lotion and a stuffed goat.
As a visual aid they set up a goat petting zoo for the March-May
Ultimate Goal Soccer Program that the church conducts for children on Saturdays, enabling the congregation to share the goat project with community kids and their parents. The congregation and community raised $1,500 and goat kissing commenced, though Hess was off the hook because she correctly identified seven goat body parts while blindfolded. The congregation celebrated with a goat project cake, goat cheese on crackers and lemon muffins enriched with goat milk. Holy Cross, with an average attendance of fewer than 50 people, challenges and encourages other con-
Katie Hess snuggles up to a goat during the “Billies for Goats” Lenten project at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Rockport, Ind.
gregations to do something similar.
For more information, contact the Hess family at
mkhess2012@gmail.com.
Good one! Livestock instead of lilies
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Virginia Beach, Va.,
started a tradition last year for Christmas and Easter. In addi- tion to ordering traditional poinsettias and lilies to decorate the church, members had the chance
to purchase livestock, specifically pigs and chicks,
through the ELCA Good Gifts program (
www.elca.org/goodgifts). The narthex was filled with paper pigs and chicks at Christmas and Eas-
ter to symbolize how many had been donated from congregational gifts. Twenty pigs ($600) and 470 chicks ($470) were donated. Contact
patm@goodshepherdvb.org for more information.
Send congregational stories—both those for a specific month/holiday or your best timeless idea—to
julie.sevig@
thelutheran.org. December 2013 41
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