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Worship & Education
GOODBYE, PASTOR GRAF!

Pastor Graf's last Sunday with us will be January 26. Please join us on Sunday as we thank him for his service to our congregation and wish him and Shirley well as they look forward to full retirement. 

Pastor Ken Albright's first Sunday with our congregation will be February 2. 
SUNDAY CLASSES
Classes begin at 9:10 a.m.

Elementary School children will begin with music in the choir room, then return to Room 3 for a Godly Play story. 

On January 26, the confirmands will begin learning about the Old Testament with Pastor Rich Handschin. 

Intersections will look at and discuss an article from Living Lutheran magazine entitled  "God Is Present Every Day."   
LENTEN DEVOTIONAL BOOKLET 2020
Members and friends of Good Shepherd are invited to write brief devotionals to share with our congregation and others during Lent. This year, we will focus on the passage from Philippians known as the Christ hymn (2:5-11). You are asked to share a story from your life that relates to one of the five themes pulled out of the Philippians text. (Click here for more information.)
  
Maybe your story will illustrate how someone showed humility or obedience in a difficult situation. Or maybe your story will share a time when you witnessed others praising Jesus or when your mind was like Christ's. We all have stories to share, and they can support those around us as we travel together on our faith journey.

We have again invited the people of Living Waters to share their stories for this booklet, and have also asked Pastor Kristin Engstrom and the YAGMs in Senegal and the members of the small group at Sharing House that Kimberly Dunbar co-leads to submit their stories.

Your story should be around 300-400 words. If you would like, you can include a question at the end of your story that prompts the reader to further reflection and/or a prayer. You are welcome to submit more than one story. Please send in your story contributions to Kimberly Dunbar in the church office ([email protected]) by Friday, February 21, or contact her with any questions. Thank you.
At Good Shepherd
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
On  Sunday, January 26, at 12:00 p.m., please join us for our annual congregational meeting and to vote on the proposed 2020 budget. A potluck luncheon will be held during the meeting. 
WE NEED YOUR PICTURES!
Do you have pictures of Good Shepherd activities or celebrations? We need them! Efforts are underway to build a library of digital pictures that can be used for various communications initiatives, including updating our web site, revising our documented church history, on bulletin boards, etc. Any pictures you are willing to share - especially those taken in the past 2 to 3 years - would be greatly appreciated! Please email them to Donna Aiken-Colflesh at [email protected] or, if you have a large quantity of pictures to share, contact Donna to determine the best way to transfer them. Thank you! (Note that parental permission will be obtained prior to using any pictures of our children.)
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
Another round of this fun fellowship activity will begin in March. Here's how it works:
 
Six to eight people will be assigned to each group. A designated convenor for each group, usually the first host, will contact everyone regarding a convenient date for the first dinner. The host(s) furnish the entrĂ©e, bread, and drinks. The other members are assigned to bring either an hors d'oeuvre, salad, or dessert. This set-up rotates through the participants, so that each person or couple (not necessarily a male and female couple, by the way) hosts once. These groups will get together four times. Typically, the groups meet in each other's homes for dinner, however, the groups have the flexibility to decide to meet in a restaurant for brunch, lunch or dinner. The Fellowship Committee will set up the groups and send out information before the sessions begin in late February or early March. 
 
Please sign up on the bulletin board by  February 16 if you'd like to participate. Singles are encouraged to sign up either singly or be paired with another. If you have any questions, contact Donna Brim (884-5055,  [email protected]) or Marilyn Carlson (884-2756, ( [email protected]).
OUTREACH MINISTRY COORDINATOR REPORT HIGHLIGHTS
January, 2020
 
Community Involvement
I continue to co-lead a small group at Sharing House. We're currently doing a book study of 8 Habits of Love by Ed Bacon. 
 
World and Community Committee
Our Reimagining Health Collaborative (RHC) team received $5,000 in grant funding from ELCA Disability Ministries. We tentatively plan to use some of the funding to help bring a comprehensive suicide prevention training program to our community.
 
I've been in contact with Pathways to Promise to schedule a companionship training for this spring. The training will be for 15 people in our congregation and will focus on a model of accompaniment for churches. It will be paid for with grant funding RHC received through the NC Synod.
 
Working with other RHC team members, I submitted a story to the NC Synod for their Synod Storytellers series, wherein congregations are invited to share stories of ministry taking place in their settings. We shared a story about the community suicide awareness training, led by Fe Avis, that we offered in October. The story was published in the NC Synod's newsletter, and you can read it here.  
 
Candidacy and Education Plans
Earlier this month, I attended a week-long diaconal formation event in Minnesota, which is a requirement of my candidacy process through the NC Synod.  I arrived a day early to learn about the ELCA Deaconess Community. I plan to submit an application and begin the discernment process with them about joining their community.
 
My Clinical Pastoral Education work will begin on February 3 at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, and will continue through July. 
 
Respectfully submitted,
Kimberly Dunbar,  Outreach Ministry Coordinator
SAVE THE DATE!
The Annual Fish Fry to benefit Sharing House will be held on Friday, February 28 at Good Shepherd. The evening will include delicious food and music. Tickets will be on sale beginning February 2. 
HEARING LOSS ASSOCIATION MEETING
Do you enjoy spending time with folks who enjoy the same kinds of things you do? Do you like to have some fun while you are at it? Then the place to be is with the Brevard chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America on Saturday, February 8, beginning at 1:00 p.m., at Good Shepherd. 

The program will be presented by Ms. Tzena Keyes, who retired from working as a manager in the NC Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing - Asheville Regional Center in 2018. She continues to work as an adjunct instructor in the Interpreter Training Program at Western Piedmont Community College.

Chapter members, hearing professionals, and anyone interested in learning about hearing loss and hearing solutions are welcome.  The room will open at 12:30 p.m. so people can sign in, browse the free literature, grab a snack, and meet others. Captions will be provided. Questions? Please email [email protected].
COMING SOON AT GOOD SHEPHERD . . .

Sunday, January 26, 2020
  8:00 a.m.  Worship (Sanctuary)
  9:00 a.m.  Coffee Hour (Fellowship Hall)
  9:10 a.m.  Elementary Children's Sunday School (Education Wing)
  9:10 a.m.  Confirmation Class (Loft)
  9:10 a.m.  Intersections Class (Room 6)
10:30 a.m.  Worship Service ( Sanctuary)
11:30 a.m.  Coffee Hour/Potluck Luncheon (Fellowship Hall)
12:00 p.m.  Congregational Budget Meeting (Fellowship Hall)

Membership & Evangelism
COMMUNITY CARE CORNER
The "Community Care Corner" feature in the weekly newsletter allows us to update you on people for whom we are praying or to submit a new prayer request. If you have an update on someone or a new prayer request to share in the Corner, please email or call the church office ([email protected] or 883-3680) by noon on Thursday. 
 
Aggie Romans was admitted to Transylvania Regional Hospital early this week for high blood pressure. She was discharged home on January 22 with adjusted medications.

Ellen Dozier  is in Guatemala working with a microloan program she has been involved with for many years.  She will return on February 3. 

Eric Edwards, friend of Kimberly Dunbar, will have shoulder surgery on January 29. This will be the third surgery on this shoulder. 
ANNIVERSARIES & BIRTHDAYS

Anniversaries
Bob & Ginny Landwehr................................................................................ February 20

Birthdays
Mike Whitaker.............................................................................................. February 01
Kimberly Dunbar.......................................................................................... February 02
Ruth Unger.................................................................................................. February 05
Frances Beck............................................................................................... February 08
Jackie Jenkins..............................................................................................February 10
Leigh Ann Stinson....................................................................................... February 10
Barbara Meyer............................................................................................. February 17
Jim Trefz...................................................................................................... February 18
Karen Anderson........................................................................................... February 19
Robert McKeown......................................................................................... February 19
Heather Merritt............................................................................................. February 22
Mike Becker................................................................................................. February 23
Jack Gresham............................................................................................. February 26
Ike Kennerly................................................................................................. February 28
SERVING THIS SUNDAY

Interim Pastor.................................................................................Rev. Dr. Richard Graf
Minister of Music ..................................................................................... David Gresham
Organist ......................................................................................................Vance Reese
Outreach Ministry Coordinator..............................................................Kimberly Dunbar
Assisting Minister .........................................................Linea Warmke / Karen Anderson
Readers...........................................................................Bob Schuld / Kathleen Milligan
Ushers .........................Debbie & Paul Cooper / Ken Aarsund, Hal Galloway, & Hadley Merritt
Acolytes .........................................................................Linea Warmke / Sophie Dunbar
Greeters .................................Lauren & Fred Weed / Linda & Terry Moore, & Ian Merritt
Elementary Sunday School Teacher......................................................Suzanne Barrett
Doorperson for Sunday School.......................................................Margarette Kennerly
Nursery Care during Worship...................................................................Zia McConnell
Altar Care & Communion Bread ...........................................................Suzanne Barrett
Tellers .........................................................................Mike Anderson & Jane McKeown
Doorkeeper of the Day ............................................................................Mike Anderson
Coffee Hour...............................................Ruth Lentz  / Annual Budget Meeting Potluck
                                                                                                                     
World & Community
SOUPER BOWL SUNDAY IS FEBRUARY 2!
This year, our children and youth, with guidance from a few adults, will be making neck warmers to help neighbors at Sharing House stay warm. (The scraps of fleece that will be used are representative of several football teams!)

The children and youth will also  collect cans of soup and other non-perishable food items to give to Sharing House. Please bring your food donations to Good Shepherd on February 2 and place them in the labeled bins under the mailboxes in the hallway. Thank you!
REFRESHMENTS FOR GETTING AHEAD CLASSES
Sharing House is offering another Getting Ahead series, designed to help people imagine and create a more stable financial future for themselves and their children.  Sharing House needs help providing snacks and drinks for the class.  If you'd like to help, please sign up on the bulletin board or contact Kimberly Dunbar ([email protected]).  Thank you! 
In Our Community
 
A PILGRIMAGE FROM BREVARD TO MONTGOMERY
You are invited to join others from Brevard who will travel to Montgomery, AL from October 22-24, to visit the Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Individuals from Brevard College, Center for Spiritual Wisdom, our local NAACP chapter, and various congregations have helped to plan this trip.  Read more here.

To learn more about this pilgrimage or to be on the list of persons interested, please  contact the Rev. Bill Livingston ( [email protected] , 828-577-9325) by February 7.
NATIONAL LUTHERAN CHOIR IN CHARLOTTE
The Church sings because there is so much to sing about, and singing is the deepest way to embody the sacred story we share.  The Minneapolis-based National Lutheran Choir, winners of Chorus America's Margaret Hillis Award  for Choral Excellence, sings this sacred and spiritual story in a way that is guaranteed to soothe your soul.  This eclectic program celebrates the depth and breadth of the Lutheran choral tradition.  Led by Artistic Director, David Cherwien, the program features choral works by Felix Mendelssohn, Ola Gjeilo and Ralph Vaughan Williams set alongside new arrangements of familiar tunes, including Kenneth Dake's "Sweet Hour of Prayer."

The 60-voice National Lutheran Choir seeks to strengthen, renew and preserve the heritage of sacred choral music through the highest standards of performance and literature. To learn more about the Choir, visit NLCA.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube @NLChoir and Instagram @nationallutheranchoir.

National Lutheran Choir on tour -  Saturday, February 22,  7:00 p.m.
FREE Admission  (Please c onsider bringing a donation of new or gently used clothing for Crisis Assistance Ministry.)
Christ Lutheran Church -  4519 Providence Road,  Charlotte, NC 28226
ELCA, NC Synod, & LWF News
ON TURNING 60
Here is this month's reflection from NC Synod Bishop Tim Smith. 

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. - Anne Lamott


Early in the morning of January 20, 2020 I will begin my seventh decade. While even as recently as 20 years ago that would have seemed ancient to me, I get that by today's standards-especially in the church-that's not such a big deal. Maybe what's eating at me is that for about 10 weeks Sandra Cline and I will both be "in our 60s."  Read more here.  
MODELLING GOD'S LOVE, INCLUSION AND MERCY
One year ago, Rev. Leonardo Schindler took up the position as pastor president of the 
Evangelical Church of the River Plate  (IERP), serving communities scattered across Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The roots of these communities go back to the mid-19th century, with the arrival of German and Swiss immigrants in the region. Read more here. 

The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
(828) 883-3680     [email protected]     lutheranchurchbrevardnc.com
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