SHEEP BUZZ NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

February 9th in Fellowship Hall beginning at 6:30 PM. Hope to see you there. Anyone and everyone can play!

Get Ready for "Souper Bowl" Sunday, bring in

Soup cans and place in the team labeled bins. Pick your favorite team to win.

One can of soup = one raffle ticket Raffle prize = a surprise gift card! Winner will be drawn on Feb. 12

Family Fun Night is Sunday, Feb. 11th, at 1 PM at Stars and Strikes in Woodstock. All families are welcome, young or old. A great pre-super bowl activity!

The Youth Envelope Fundraiser

Questions and Answers

What is it?

In an attempt to fundraise for all youth grades 6^th-12^th grade, we launched the Envelope Fundraiser. Envelopes are labeled 1-100 in Fellowship Hall, on the divided wall. Take whichever envelope you wish and place the same amount of money in the envelope as the number on the envelope. If you are feeling extra generous, there are extra envelopes that you can place any amount you wish.

Why are we doing it?

These opportunities for our youth are once in a lifetime, especially the ELCA Youth Gathering. To ask each family to fund the whole trip by themselves would be a huge financial ask, so we wanted to reach out to the congregation. We know how much you support to growth of our youth and we know this summer will be no different.

How much do you have to raise?

Our goal is to fill all the envelopes before March 17^th. We have an exciting event planned for this day if we meet our goal. If you fill an envelope at any time throughout this campaign, you earn a ticket for one pie to throw in the face of one of our staff members.

Will the envelopes really help?

Absolutely! If we can fill all the envelopes, we will have raised a little over $5,000.  THANKS BE TO GOD!

The Long-Range Planning Task Force (LRPTF) held its second and final Conversation Circle with the congregation last Sunday, February 4^th and it was also a resounding success! Despite a full calendar of church activities, approximately 50 additional members shared fruitful discussions and meaningful feedback. Thank you to all who came!

 If you were not able to come to one of the Conversation Circles, please select the link below, which will open a Google form and give you the opportunity to add your input on the questions that were discussed. In addition, there are paper copies of the forms in a basket at the welcome desk in the Entryway. We will keep this option available for two weeks to gather every voice possible. Parents, if you have youth members, please help them submit their voice too. We want to hear from everyone.

There is a sweet spot between the known and the unknown where originality happens; the key is to be able to linger there without panicking. Ed Catmull (Pixar)

Council has posted information including Council Minutes and more detailed financial numbers, in the Fellowship Hall.

NEXT COFFEE WITH COUNCIL: February 18 @ 9:45 AM

Lent is a season of 40 days, not counting Sundays, that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. It is a time of preparation, repentance, and renewal for Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Prayer is a way of communicating with God, expressing gratitude, praise, confession, intercession, and petition. Candles are often used as symbols of light, hope, and faith in prayer. They can also represent the presence of Christ, the Holy Spirit, or the saints.

Join us for worship beginning with Ash Wednesday and the following 5 Wednesdays at noon or at 7:30 PM. For our mid-week services, we will use “Holden Prayers Around the Cross” as a guide for a contemplative service of prayer, and yes, there will be candles!

Pastor Karen will also be offering Ashes and prayer, drive-thru style from 5PM -6:30 PM on Ash Wednesday in the parking lot.



February 21: Our Light and Our Salvation – a service of light and intercessory prayer based on Psalm 27

February 28:In Silence we wait – a prayer of longing and hope

March 6: For the Healing of Creation – Prayers on behalf of the whole creation based on Psalms 105 and 145

March 13:Beside Still Waters – a liturgy of healing prayer and anointing based on Psalm 23

March 20:For the Healing of the Nations – intercessory prayer for peoples, lands and nations based on Isaiah 65 and Revelation 21

BULLETIN UPDATE

Your staff and Worship and Music Committee have heard the concerns about the bulletins and agree with the goals to make them more visitor friendly, reduce cost, and reduce waste. Starting Ash Wednesday, we'll launch the new bulletins. We'll save significant waste each week and thousands of dollars/year by using a smaller paper size (same font size!) and using color only for festivals and celebrations. A small number of "big print" bulletins will be available each week for those who prefer a larger font size. The inserts will be half sheets and include the upcoming dates and critical items - perfect for hanging on your refrigerator each week! Thanks to the staff and the W&M committee for the redesign. We hope you'll love it!

Worship Matters at Good Shepherd!

We're launching a congregation wide small group study during Lent and we want you to join us! Thirteen different groups will be studying the same curriculum - Worship Matters. It's a short term commitment 

of 6 sessions that will begin after Ash Wednesday, and is a great way to learn about Lutheran worship and meet new people. 

Got questions? See Holly Jones, Pastor Karen, Melina Thurmond, or Karin Storla.

Oh, and we promise that you'll learn something. Why do Lutherans sing so much, stand up and sit down so much, sprinkle instead of dunk, and are focused on grace? Come and find out!

New member Sunday is set for February 18th. Stop in Fellowship Hall between services and introduce yourself to our 10 new families and enjoy a piece of celebratory cake!

Ladies Night Out

Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 ;Time: 7 PM

El Ranchero

1025 Rose Creek Drive

Woodstock, GA 30189

Sign up in Fellowship Hall.

Save the date and Register Now!

In-Person and Virtual Event:

Sunday, March 10, 2024

In-Person Event at The Home Depot Backyard

Onsite Registration and Pre-event activities: 12:00 PM Race begins at 2 PM. Event ends at 4:00 PM.

Good Shepherd is also proud to host a local walk here at Good Shepherd on March 10th at 2 PM to help raise money for the Atlanta Food Bank. Share this event with you neighbors. Rain date is scheduled for March 17.

OR Donate! Put Hunger Walk in the memo line or your check and drop in offering plate or in slot near bookkeeper's office. Electronic giving option is coming soon.

THANK YOU GOOD SHEPHERD!

OUTREACH COAT DRIVE CONTINUES IN FEBRURAY

We have delivered 85 men’s coats/jackets to MUST and 140 women’s/children’s items to the Cherokee Family Violence Center. The center informed us that they are not accepting any other clothing right now because their warehouse is full from the Christmas time donations, but the coats and jackets would be very welcomed.

Handmade Card ministry at GSLC

VALENTINES DAY AND All OCCASION cards are available for a donation of $2.00 per card. All proceeds will support our Good Shepherd Youth Mission Trips. This ministry is being hosted by Molly Maher, Linda Rowell and Pam Hough.

MORE NEWS AND INFORMATION

We are continuing to hear that many churches and their members, including Good Shepherd, are receiving e-mails, texts and phone calls posing as pastors asking for gift cards. GOOD SHEPHERD WILL NOT ask for gift cards in this format EVER!

As a reminder:

• Check the entire e-mail address before responding. All the staff email extensions are @gslutheran.org NOT gmail or yahoo.
• If you are unsure if information is legit, don't answer the text or email or hang up and respond with information you know is correct or contact a friend and ask questions.
• Don't act on urgency, always think first

Thank you for the overwhelming response to our pancake fundraiser last Sunday. We had an amazing time of fellowship and an amazing response to our fundraising. We thank you for all the support you continue to give the youth here at Good Shepherd.

DATES TO REMEMBER

This is our submission form for you to submit non-urgent prayer concerns. Prayers will be posted to the Prayer Circle, via e-mail, during normal business hours, usually around 3 PM. As always, if you have an urgent prayer request, please contact Pastor by cell or email. 

If you would like to pray for others, as part of our prayer circle, please contact our Office Coordinator and she can add you to the Prayer Circle group.