Be a Light This Advent—
Give or Volunteer for Our Neighbors in Need

Alternative Gift Giving: Loving our Neighbors

This season, we invite you to embrace a thoughtful solution to holiday shopping: Alternative Gift Giving (AGG). By donating to a non-profit on behalf of a friend or family member, you can honor their values while making a real difference for those with high levels of need.

This Year's Focus The Outreach Committee has chosen the theme "Loving Our Neighbors." All donations will support proven charities, including those with direct CGS connections, specifically dedicated to serving disadvantaged children and families.

How to Participate Visit our tables in the Commons to make your donation in person. We will be set up after the 8:00 AM and 10:15 AM services on December 21.

Learn More & Donate Online For more information, please read our blog article here: https://www.cgs-raleigh.org/blog/alternative-giving

❄️Volunteer for White Flag Shelter Nights

On Sunday, December 21, during the 9 AM Adult Formation, we will offer another White Flag Information Session. This is the perfect opportunity for potential volunteers to get a sense of how and why we do this work. If you would like to know more about the Continuum of Care, White Flag Shelters, or our Wake County homeless population, please join us on the 21st.

If you are ready to help out, we need volunteers week! Current weather conditions are necessitating more White Flag Alerts.

The White Flag status, issued by the Wake County Continuum of Care, has officially been declared for the following dates, meaning The Church of the Good Shepherd will be activated to provide shelter on these nights:

Tuesday, December 16
Wednesday, December 17 (anticipated)

Here is the signup page for the week of December 15-21: White Flag Signup

Please contact Rev. Justin if you have any questions.

Advent 4: Christmas Pageant, December 21 at 10:15 AM

We warmly invite you to experience the joy and wonder of the Christmas season at our annual pageant. Come celebrate the birth of Christ with us through a heartwarming pageant filled with music, laughter, and the true spirit of the season.

This year's intergenerational Christmas Pageant will take place during the 10:15 AM service on Sunday, December 21.

The Angel/St. Nicholas Tree success!

Isaac and Felipe from the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry (EFWM) came Wednesday, December 10, with a large truck and collected the bags, boxes and bikes for the 80 kids that we sponsored. They are especially grateful this year as they told us "many of the children do not feel welcome now".

Thanks to all of you who participated and shopped; and special thanks to Randy Roberts for helping to check in all the gifts, to Stephen, Val and Amanda Penny who helped load the gifts, and to Jennifer Tlusty for coordinating this meaningful project. Once again, CGS is being "a light this Advent".

Worship with us this Advent Season

Advent is a special and busy time in the life of the parish! We hope that each of you will join us and bring friends to the special worship services and fellowship activities this December. Please read the newsletter, facebook page, and visit our Advent page on the website:

https://www.cgs-raleigh.org/advent.html