Shepherd's Heart/Council Update 2/14/25

Good Shepherd Family,

I have always felt that my first responsibility as Council President is to listen. Therefore, after a few conversations I’ve had with members of our church, I wanted to clearly communicate a newer policy that has been established by our council. Good Shepherd is my home, and if you’re reading this, I know you love Good Shepherd as well.

We’ve established a Safety Team from members of our congregation with the simple but critical goal of keeping all of us safe during Sunday mornings and certain church events. You likely have seen their yellow lanyards if you’ve joined us on a recent Sunday morning. 

I am grateful to be a part of a church family that prioritizes clear communication and I appreciate your grace as we have established this team. Below you will find a summary of the key objectives for this team, but if you have any questions about this or wish to talk further, please feel free to find me on a Sunday morning or reach out to the council at any time.

• In the fall the Church Council created a committee dedicated to determining the best way for us to keep our building safe. This was not in response to any particular incident, but we wanted to evaluate practices at Good Shepherd and see recommendations in areas that we could be more prepared or better equipped. Part of that committee's recommendation was to establish a safety team that could be utilized during Sunday mornings and during other church events. This safety team includes congregants who are medical personnel that are trained and available to help if there are any medical incidents, as well as congregants who are trained to provide watchful eyes. Ultimately this team will also help us refine and communicate our safety procedures during a weather event, like a tornado, and any other needs that may arise related to the security of our building and, more importantly, our people.
• While we have routinely had a police presence on Christmas and Easter (among a few other key dates) in our history, part of the security team’s recommendations have included having a police presence more often, as you have likely seen. This included having a police presence on campus after a contentious election season, and continuing to have a police presence after incidents of a suspicious person on our campus. These kinds of incidents have happened in the past and at no time was there a credible threat to the building or our congregation. Anytime anyone walks into our building, our first instinct is to welcome them and help them in whatever way we can, particularly through our many mission partners. We will continue to be evaluating situations and looking to see what’s best at any given moment, prioritizing the safety of the congregants and children of our church. 
• Our safety team joined the Naperville Area Church Security Alliance. In doing so we’ve learned from the 16+ member churches of various sizes how to best navigate all things security, including having regular police presence. A byproduct of this has been that we’ve established great relationships with the Naperville Police Department as part of our commitment to be for our neighbors. We got to serve them food from our hospitality room on Christmas Eve, and even welcomed officers as members of Good Shepherd! Only God would take something as simple as a safety team, and create an opportunity for families to become deeper connected to Him through our local church.
• We all have various levels of concern or comfort around law enforcement or safety personnel. The last thing anyone on this team, our Council, or our staff wants is for this to negatively impact anyone’s worship experience. Our Council is regularly reviewing how the safety team operates in order to ensure we keep everyone at 1310 Shepherd Drive safe while not creating a distraction.

Thank you all for making Good Shepherd all that it is, and helping move Good Shepherd Forward to all that God has for us.

-Tyler Wojtkiewicz, Council President