Sunday, 8 November: Chilbi Celebration!

Come to Chilbi at Good Shepherd!

On 8 November at 10:00 a.m., the bells will call us to Good Shepherd for a festive Chilbi Mass for all missions, followed by a sumptuous reception. Join us! (There’s no evening Mass.)

Chilbi What?

In case this is new for you, a "Chilbi" in Swiss German (or Kirchweihfest) is a celebration of a church’s dedication. Once a year, a community pauses to remember and give thanks for when it began to gather together to pray. We celebrate a special Mass and enjoy food, conversation, child ren, familiar faces and new ones. Most of us escape to the comfort of our home after Mass because we don’t feel like encounter. (I understand!) But Chilbi is worth the effort, if only for the food!

Good Shepherd: We're Turning 89!

For generations, a Chilbi has been a day when ordinary Sunday life becomes something a little different. The celebration belongs to the church and the community. Good Shepherd has known that kind of gathering for nearly ninety years. Built and dedicated in 1937, as Zug grew alongside its factories, Good Shepherd became the spiritual heart of a changing neighborhood. Today, it remains a home for people from Zug and around the world.

Celebrate with Us!

Buildings don’t make a church; people do. Buildings don’t make a church; people do. This is what a parish is: we (try to) follow Jesus together and receive his Eucharist in the midst of the mess of life, bringing our joys, worries, questions and hopes. We pray together, celebrate together, and make room for one another. In all of it, we discover that we were never meant to live our faith alone. So come and celebrate this living tradition with us. Give thanks for the church that has gathered generations before us, and for the God who gathers us still. Bring your children. Bring a friend. Stay awhile. We look forward to seeing you!

• Mantalin Kyrou

Image: Gabby Wyss