March 1, 2015
9:00 AM Pancake Breakfast
9:00 AM Ministry
10:30 AM TEAM Blessing
March 3, 2015
9:00 AM Forum Friends
March 8, 2015
Bishop Fisher's Visitation
10:30 AM Confirmations
March 22, 2015
Vivian Dawkins and Winnie Schubert will be featured violin instrumentalists
March 29, 2015
Palm Sunday
8:00 AM Rite I
10:30 AM Rite II
12:00 Open Music Rehearsal
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This Month's Weekly Lessons:
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Good Shepherd's Quick Links
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From the Desk of Fr. George
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 Greetings! As we move into Lent and are making our lenten observances in preparation for the Paschal Feast of Easter, we, as a congregation are beginning the process of making preparations for planning our way forward. Your vestry held a retreat in February to kick-off this planning, and now we are moving towards involving the ministry leadership and the whole congregation in establishing concrete plans of action that will carry us through the end of 2016 - through what I believe will be an exciting period of growth and mission for Good Shepherd.
As we discern our way forward, we will be building upon the work that this church did in 2012 which set goals and objectives for development in five key areas: music, youth, outreach, property, and christian formation. This was excellent work, and it is a good and joyful thing that we endeavor to see the outcomes of this process through to their final conclusions. Building upon this effort, we are also beginning to imagine and strategize how to reach out into our community in a missional way to touch the lives of a growing population of people who are not coming to church. As we move forward, we will have to reorganize our resources to live into our common mission. This means we will have to be thoughtful about what we are doing and take opportunities to make sure we have the resources and people necessary to implement our plans.
After careful consideration by those involved and by the vestry, one such opportunity was taken: not to hold the Luau this Spring as we have done since 2008. The reasons for that are detailed in an article below. As you will see, we are in a position that makes this year a good time to take a year off from the Luau as a fundraising event for our youth. In addition to the practical reason for doing so, taking this year off gives those who plan, help organize, volunteer, and donate to the luau a chance to rest. It is important as we are working hard to grow, that we build in opportunities for rest. We are an all-volunteer force that does a lot. Building rest into our regular patterns of ministry will be essential to keeping us healthy.
I am really looking forward to this exciting time at Good Shepherd. May God bless us in all we do, and may all we do be in accordance with His will.
In Christ, George+ |
Created in Christ Jesus: Faith as a Way of Life
Our Lenten Journey Together
Our Lenten Small Groups began on February 22. It's not too late to join one! Please stop by the Lenten Small Groups table in Bollinger hall, go to our website, or contact Mary or Denise and let us know your interest!
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Bishop Fisher's Visitation
Bishop Jeff Fisher will be visiting Good Shepherd on Sunday, March 8. During the 10:30 AM service, Bishop Fisher will confirm 4 adults and as well as 4 young people. Afterwards, please join Bishop Fisher in Bollinger Hall for a reception hosted by the Daughters of the King.
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Open Music Rehearsal
For this Lenten season, we would like to invite the congregation to lift their voices up to the Lord by coming to the Open Music Rehearsal for Easter and Holy Week. We'll meet after the second service on Palm Sunday, March 29 and at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, March 31 in the Sanctuary. Don't miss this wonderful opportunity for fellowship, fun, and singing!
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Music News
Good Shepherd is in for a treat this month! On Sunday March 15th, Vivian Dawkins and Winnie Schubert will be offering a violin duet during the 10:30 a.m. service. Then, in Holy Week, Michael Faircloth will play his cello for the Maundy Thursday service, and Winnie Schubert will be accompanying the process for Stations of the Cross with her violin. Don't miss these exciting musical events!
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Needed:
A part-time babysitter for the Nursery on Sundays. This is a paid position. If interested, please contact Julie Rhodes.
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 EYC Corner
All kids in grades 5th-12th are welcome to join. It's fun and easy, just show up! The kids will learn, laugh, and worship, and the best part is that it's with their peers. What better way to get to know God!?!? Club 56 is for 5th and 6th graders, Jr EYC is 7th and 8th graders, and SR EYC is 9th-12th graders. Meeting always start at 6:43pm and are held in the EYC room in Bollinger Hall. The meetings always have a "messy rating", to show the kids how messy they will! Sometimes they will just have fun and other times they may leave covered in shaving cream or drenched with squirt guns filled with paint. You just never know, so watch for the "messy rating". Also, if you want to get on the texting list for updates and text alerts, just let Sara know and she will add you. EYC meetings always end with a compline service out of the prayer books, getting to know God is the #1 priority.
During Spring Break we will have two cool events. On Tuesday, March 10th, the EYC will get together for roller skating at Champions Roller Rink for their $2 Tuesdays! We will meet at the rink and yes, they can bring friends. Just send money and socks of course. We need chaperones to help watch the kids, so please let me know if you can help.
Our convocation is getting together in March on the 14th to volunteer at the Houston Food Bank. All the youth groups in our area are joining to do some good and put in some hard work. Our EYC will meet at our church at noon and travel together to the food bank. We will be there from 1pm-4pm. Make sure to wear very comfortable shoes (must be closed toe) and clothes that you can move around in. We will need chaperones to help out on this event, so let Sara know if you can volunteer.
March 28th-29th will be the annual Volunteer Work Weekend at Camp Allen and it's FREE!!!! All EYC kids are welcome to sign up, but do it quick, we only reserved 10 spots. Camp Allen is organizing all the volunteers for several jobs throughout the camp. Our church participated in this event last year and everyone had so much fun. It is an overnight stay, so the kids will be need to bring changes of clothes, shower stuff, and bedding. Everyone that goes needs to be registered with Camp Allen, so rsvp to Sara so we can get you signed up!
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WHY IS THE LUAU NOT BEING HELD IN 2015? Good question, and here is the story. The Luau has been, since 2008, an event of fun, fellowship and fundraising, with the funds mainly going toward scholarships for our Youth to attend summer camp at Camp Allen. Your Vestry has steadfastly agreed that Camp Allen summer camp is a great event and that any child or grandchild should be able to go without any impediments, particularly a financial impediment. So we have traditionally given a 2/3 scholarship and Camp Allen a 1/3 scholarship so the entire cost, currently $576 is covered if needed. We have consistently raised more funds than needed and currently have a surplus in that account. OK that the history of it, so let's talk about 2015. When the Luau was concluded in 2014, several of the Committee members wanted to take a look at the event and see if it was time to change or upgrade what we did and possibly split out the fundraising portion, from the fellowship and fun portion, and the Vestry concurred. Well with so much going on in our church, the review did not take place. As the committee began to organize this year's Luau, they were up against a time crunch for soliciting auction items, and simply, the availability of everyone's time became a problem to pull off the Luau as we have become accustomed. However, we did check on budgets and our Treasurer indicated we could adequately fund Camp Allen scholarships for 2015, so with these issues in play, we made a decision to take a year off for the Luau and do the review and get our plans in place. We also committed to do the picnic in the fall and would add extra activities to make it bigger in scope. That's the story, but in the interest of trying to do only work that is done well and minimizing the extra strain on our volunteers, we are taking a timeout for 2015. |
Donate Product Labels to Benefit Down Home Ranch
The Diocese of Texas DOK chapters, including Good Shepherd's, are sponsoring a drive to collect Campbell's Food Product Labels, a part of the "Labels for Education" project, to benefit Down Home Ranch. This is a Ranch Home in Elgin, Texas, for individuals with Down Syndrome and other disabilities. The Ranch needs a minivan and the goal is to collect 1,500,00 labels to support this.
Please save the labels from these products and bring them to church. The collection box and display about Down Home Ranch is on a table in the hallway between Bollinger Hall and the church.
The following labels can be donated:
- Campbell's products, such as soups, beans, tomato juice, Spaghettios, gravies, Supper Bakes, etc.
- Franco-American products, such as gravies and Spaghettios
- Pepperidge Farm products, such as soups, breads, croutons, rolls, stuffing, crackers, snack mixes, frozen garlic breads, cakes, turnovers, dumplings, and puff pastry
- Swanson products, such as broths
- V-8 Products, such as juices
- Prego pasta sauces and bake sauce
- Pace products, such as salsa, picante sauce, con queso, taco sauce, enchilada sauce, Mexican Creations, refried beans, chilies, peppers, and taco seasoning
Copies of this product list will be available at the collection box. Thanks for your help!
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Winter Blood Drive
March is our Winter Blood Drive. The closest collection centers are the Champions and Cy-Fair Centers, both located on FM 1960. These centers draw whole blood, plasma, packed red blood cells and/or platelets. You can also donate at the monthly blood drive scheduled at Tomball Hospital on every 4th Friday. In order for our church to receive a donation credit, please provide our donation ID number, which is1751, to the Gulf Coast personnel on site as they have no way to access this number. For every good gift, give thanks to God!
Annette Matthews, Blood Drive Contact
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Easter Sunday Flowers
On Saturday, April 4th, we are asking the congregation for help to decorate the church for Easter (kind of like "greening the church" at Christmas). If you can spare an hour of your time, please join us at 10 a.m. that morning. Also, please bring flowers from your gardens on Easter Day for the children to flower the cross during the service that morning. We are very grateful for your continuous support. The Altar/Flower Guild
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Daylight Savings Begins
Daylight Savings begins on March 8. Don't forget to set your watches and clocks forward by one hour!
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Holy Week Schedule
Palms Sunday
March 29
8:00 AM Rite One
10:30 AM Rite Two
Maundy Thursday
April 2
7:00 PM
The Vigil
April 2 9:00 PM through
April 3 Noon
Good Friday
April 3
Noon (Good Friday Service)
6:00 PM Rosary
6:30 PM Stations of the Cross
The Great Easter Vigil
April 4
Service (7:00 PM)
Easter
April. 5
8:00 AM Rite One
10:30 AM Rite Two
Noon Easter Egg Hunt
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Monthly Financial Report
Please click here for the Monthly Financial Report
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EYC Meetings:
Wednesdays
March 4, 18 at 6:43 PM
Believing Thomases:
Thursdays
March 5, 12, 19, 26 at 9:30 AM
Daughters of the King Meeting:
Saturday,
March 21
9:00 AM
Vestry Meeting:
Monday,
March 16
7:00 PM
Women Who Read:
March 9
6:30 PM
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8:00 AM
Holy Eucharist, Rite One
9:15 AM
Children's Sunday School
10:30 AM
Holy Eucharist, Rite Two
11:45 AM
Fellowship Time
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March 1-29
No Altar Flowers during Lent
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