|
BACK TO SCHOOL BLESSING
This Sunday,
worship will include a special blessing for those who have returned to school in the last week or who will begin in the coming week. We have many teachers and students in our congregation, both involved in education at Good Shepherd and at other locations. They love God and neighbor every day by living out their calling to learn, teach, and care for others. The blessing during worship will be a way for us to support them in their calling.
|
|
MEMBER CARE TRAINING STARTS THIS SUNDAY
Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2
The importance of relationships as the foundation for the work of the church is evident in Scripture. Supporting and caring for each other is not just one more task to do, but is meaningful work of our church community.
Many of us already care for others at Good Shepherd in a variety of ways. The expansion of the structure of member care won't replace those important interactions, but will help our congregation ensure that we don't overlook any needs.
Volunteers are needed to serve as visitors, home communion visitors, and transportation providers. Training for all visitors will be offered in August and September (August 18 at 9:15 a.m., August 25 at 11:45 a.m., and September 11 at 10:30 a.m.). Visitors only need to attend one session; home communion visitors will have additional training with Pastor Graf. If you would like to help,
please sign up on the bulletin board. Contact Jane McKeown or Kimberly Dunbar with any questions or concerns. Thank you!
|
|
REDUCE! REUSE! RECYCLE!
The children's Sunday school room is in need of a small rug to use during the Godly Play stories. We are on the look out for about an 8x11 rug that has a calming effect (i.e. calm colors and simple design, if any). If you or anyone else you know is downsizing and has such a rug to give away, please contact Heather Merritt (
[email protected]). Thank you!
Godly Play Stories
|
|
THANK YOU FROM PASTOR MARY
Thank you very much for the stained glass replica of the Good Shepherd window. It has been installed in my office at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, and it is catching the rays of the South Carolina sun beautifully. It is a lovely keepsake that reminds me both of the time we shared in ministry and of the love that Christ, our Good Shepherd, shares with us. Hank and I are humbled by your gift and delighted to have it as a lasting connection between us all.
In Christ's love,
Pastor Mary
|
|
BOOK CLUB MEETING
Book Club will meet on Tuesday, August 20, 5:00 pm at Broad Street Wines. All ladies of the church (and their friends) are welcome. This month we will be discussing Sunset Beach. Future reads include Radium Girls and Out Stealing Horses.
|
|
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?
Yes, it's time to sign up for the next round of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner starting in September! We will continue our adult groups as in the past, with a choice of six or eight members per group who will meet monthly in September, October, November and December in each other's homes, or at a restaurant if preferred. Each group will have an assigned convener who will then make the initial contact and host the first get-together, be it brunch, lunch or dinner with the host couple responsible for the entree, bread and beverages, while the others in the group provide the appetizer, salad and dessert.
And something new...
Per a suggestion from Heather Merritt, we will also attempt this time to have a family group version for those families with children. Heather, or our new Children's Ministry Coordinator, will plan these gatherings based upon input from the interested families.
Sign-up sheets are available on the bulletin board for the various sign-up options. Groups will be announced in late August/early September! We will do our best to accommodate everyone's wishes, so please sign up ASAP for this wonderful opportunity to make new friends and to reconnect with existing friends!
The sign-up deadline is August 25.
|
COMING SOON AT GOOD SHEPHERD . . .
Sunday, August 18
8:00 a.m. Worship Service (Sanctuary)
9:00 a.m.
Coffee Hour (Fellowship Hall)
9:15 a.m. Member Care Training (Conference Room)
10:30 a.m. Worship Service (Sanctuary)
11:30 a.m. Coffee Hour (Fellowship Hall)
|
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.
Brenda Allen, friend of Elaine Raynolds, passed away on August 6 after suffering renal failure.
Marci Kuhlman is having shoulder surgery today at Pardee Hospital.
George Chappell, brother-in-law of Deb Kelly Greene, was in the hospital earlier this week for heart-related issues.
Iann Russell, son of Pastor Jack and Lisa Russell of Living Waters Lutheran Church in Cherokee, is experiencing continuing medical issues. Doctors are struggling to make a diagnosis, and Iann will see new doctors this week.
|
|
SERVING THIS SUNDAY
Interim Pastor
...............................................................................Rev. Dr. Richard Graf
Minister of Music
....................................................................................
David Gresham
Organist
..................................................................................................Adelaide Kersh
Outreach Ministry Coordinator.............................................................Kimberly Dunbar
Assisting Minister
...............................................................Jody Schuld / Carolyn Smith
Reader
.....................................................................Sandy Ostermeier / Jack Gresham
Ushers
....................Debbie & Paul Cooper / Ken Aarsund, Hal Galloway & Kia Emaus
Acolyte
..............................................................................Jody Schuld / Sophie Dunbar
Greeters
.......................Jody & Bob Schuld / Patricia & Hal Galloway, & Jack Gresham
Child Care during Worship
.......................................................................Zia McConnell
Altar Care............................................................................................Sheila Swancara
Communion Bread......................................................................................Kate Reinke
Tellers
.....................................................................Nancy Cummins & Marilyn Carlson
Doorkeeper of the Day
.................................................................................Roy Larson
Coffee Hour (
8:00) ................................
.........................................Debbie & Paul Cooper
Coffee Hour
(10:30).
..........
Linda & Bill Essig, Aggie Romans, & Leigh Ann & Rodney Stinson
|
|
VISIT TO LIVING WATERS
On Sunday, August 11, a group from Good Shepherd (
Barb Jackson, Ellen Dozier, Fred Weed, Kimberly Dunbar, Rich Handschin, and Sue Barrett) worshiped and visited with the congregation of Living Waters Lutheran Church in Cherokee. Other visitors included a couple from Living Savior Lutheran Church in Charlotte and a family from Chapel Hill, Tennessee.
During the announcement time prior to worship, Kimberly greeted the congregation on behalf of Good Shepherd, thanked them for their welcome and hospitality and said that we at Good Shepherd would like to be one of Living Waters' mission partners. Here is a copy of what Kimberly said:
"We have been blessed to get to know you, our brothers and sisters in Christ, over the past couple of years. The idea of accompaniment is something that we as a congregation want to more fully understand and live. Seeing how you accompany and journey with each other and those in your community has been a wonderful example for us. Good Shepherd would very much like to be your mission partner, and we hope that our relationship will continue for years to come."
Worship at Living Waters incorporates Cherokee traditions. "Smudging (breathing in smoking sage) to cleanse our minds and hearts, to bless our building as we make ourselves ready for worship" takes place immediately prior to worship. The Call to Worship, Gospel Acclamation and Offertory are all Cherokee songs or chants. After the Benediction, everyone shares the peace of Christ with one another and gathers in a circle for prayer, during which many prayer requests from Pastor Jack and members of the congregation are lifted to God.
The worship service was made even more special by two of the Cherokee women offering a lovely song as their gift to the Lord after the offering was collected. Following worship there was special time with the family from Tennessee whose 13 year old son had just received his Eagle Scout award and had been officially adopted by his parents. The Living Waters congregation presented them with a "unity blanket" and welcomed them as a part of their extended family. Then tables appeared, chairs moved around, food was arranged on long tables and everyone shared in a meal of Indian tacos and other foods in a pot-luck meal.
Our group delivered the many food items that Good Shepherd folks had brought for Living Waters' Food Pantry. Thank you for all of the donations! The food pantry is open two times each month and is a very important ministry that serves people in the Cherokee community.
The
August 2019 newsletter gives more information about ministry happening at Living Waters. Hard copies are available in the Commons area.
Looking to the future, there will be a meeting of all churches who serve as a mission partner with Living Waters on Wednesday, November 6 in Cherokee. This will be an important time to get to know other churches partnered with Living Waters and to think together about moving into the future as we accompany one another.
|
|
COLLECTION FOR CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES
Thank you for the many donations you have given over the past few weeks to support our local Child Protective Services Unit. They are greatly appreciated.
If you can donate any of these needed items, please place them in the bin on the pew in the commons by August 25:
- socks (new, all children's sizes needed)
- underwear (new, all children's sizes needed)
- shampoo
- conditioner
- deodorant
- hairbrushes, combs and picks
- body wash or soap (if bars, individually wrapped, please)
- sanitary pads
- tampons
Why Are We in Partnership with CPS?
The Reimagining Health Collaborative (RHC) team at Good Shepherd has been focusing on mental health and building community partnerships since its inception two years ago. One of our areas of focus is trauma and resiliency, and being in partnership with CPS is one way that we can accompany those who have experienced trauma.
|
|
SMALL GROUP AT SHARING HOUSE
On August 15, Outreach Ministry Coordinator Kimberly Dunbar led another session of a journaling and discussion small group at Sharing House which focused on compassion and self-compassion. The group was offered in response to Sharing House's invitation to local organizations to offer small groups focused on health to their neighbors, and is a great way to get to know and accompany others. Members of Good Shepherd are welcome to attend the next session of this group on August 22 at 10:00 a.m. Please talk to Kimberly if you'd like to do so
(
[email protected]
or 883-3680).
|
|
ELCA, NC Synod, & LWF News
|
ELCA CHURCHWIDE ASSEMBLY ACTIONS
A message from Bishop Tim:
Dear synod partners in ministry, as you are perhaps aware, the triennial ELCA Churchwide Assembly (CWA) was last week in Milwaukee. We gathered together with the theme, "We are church." Our time included daily worship, testimony of the ways God is working through this church, and the re-election of Bishop Eaton--on the first ballot. And, as the legislative body of our church, we considered several issues. It was intense. Lots of questions remain for those of us who were there, so no doubt you and your congregation also have questions. Rather than simply consuming the "spin" of the national media or anti-ELCA groups, the following three items might be helpful to you:
|
|
SYNOD STORYTELLERS
Synod Storytellers is a series of stories about ministry taking place within the congregations of the NC Synod, which focus on the components of the NC Synod's vision statement: God calls the NC Synod of the ELCA to cultivate and celebrate vital congregations, identify, equip, and nurture whole and healthy leaders, embrace and engage in collaboration, and proclaim the promise of the resurrection with a prophetic voice.
Prophetic Voice: Yoked Congregations Find Joy
In a season where fear has become increasingly abundant as congregations are challenged to sustain ministries and meet financial obligations, two NC Synod congregations have faithfully stepped outside of their comfort zones to participate in a Holy Innovation. Recognizing the need for vital, vibrant congregations, the synod staff encouraged the congregations of St. John's, Hudson, and St. Stephen's, Lenoir, to consider partnering together in a process known as yoking. Yoking enables struggling congregations to become vibrant congregations by sharing pastoral leadership and congregational ministries with each other.
|
|
|
