SHEEP BUZZ NEWSLETTER

November 15, 2024

ANGEL TREE

We are happy to share the news that Good Shepherd will again participate in the annual Angel Tree Project. Our church has partnered with Carmel Elementary School to provide Christmas gifts for 35 children.

The Christmas tree is up! Please choose an angel (or two). All angels will have the child's name, age and gift requests. We ask that you return all WRAPPED gifts to the church no later than Sunday December 1. 

PLEASE RETURN THE ANGEL WITH THE CHILD'S NAME WITH YOUR GIFTS! If you have any gift receipts, please put in an envelope for the parents.



We will deliver all gifts to the school on December 9th. If you have a truck, and would be available to help with the gift delivery, please contact the church office.

POINSETTIA FORMS- Last Day

It is that time of year when we begin to think about Christmas and all the decorations. Again, we will be ordering poinsettia plants to help beautify the Sanctuary on Christmas Eve. This week, Dedication Forms are on the welcome desk as you enter in the morning and will be near the flower chart in the Administrative Hallway. You can also find one on our website.

STEWARDSHIP GIFTS OF ABUNDANCE

Please remember to continue to bring your intent forms to church. A big thank you to those who have already returned their intent forms.

Additional forms are on our website.

A special booklet titled, "Stories of Abundance" is available on the Welcome Desk. This booklet contains all of the wonderful stories that we heard during worship the last few weeks. Please take one per family.

O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.

1 Chronicles 29:16

November Council highlights:

• 82 pledge cards were received by Consecration Sunday, including 39 increasing their giving amount. Thank you! Pledges are accepted after Consecration Sunday as well.
• The congregation generously donated $3,184 to the Hurricane Helene appeal.  $500 were given out in gift cards, $91 was used for food reimbursement money, $1,296 went to Inpiritus, $1046 went to White Oaks, the facility that had been providing shelter to volunteers with no compensation and $250 went to the Director of White Oaks to contribute toward money they had spent.
• Discrepancies in the payroll report were discovered for this past month. This appears to just be in the reporting function and the pay was correct for GSLC employees, but this is being further looked into.

Accolades:

• Gordon, Raelene and Garrett Swordsma and Bettina Miller – sanded off the rust and then painted the outdoor rails leading to the Education Building.
• Hurricane Helene response: All those who traveled to Augusta to help and all those who supported them with donations
• Donna Garges for organizing and leading the electronic recycling effort.
• Trunk or Treat: All those who decorated trunks and welcomed approximately 180 children from the community.
• All who shared their stories of God’s abundance in their lives: Barb Kidder, Kristen Freeman, Tammy Frink, Jeff Nugent, Chuck Storla, Paul Christensen.
• Donna Garges for all the behind-the-scenes work she did to make the Semi-Annual Meeting run so smoothly.
• The Fellowship “Crew” and others who set up, cooked, cleaned, and created an incredible Thanksgiving feast for the congregation.
• The new bread bakers who are helping to continue the tradition of freshly baked bread for our communion meal – Holly Jones, Nancy Dias, Sally George, Mary Wilson and Trina Hutchison
• Chancel Choir, Praise Team, Bells, Pam and Chase who gifted us with such beautiful music on Consecration Sunday.
• Gordon Swordsma, Clint Gruwell, and youth representative Brooke Myers, as they step away from their service to Good Shepherd as Council members.
• The Nominating Committee for presenting a strong slate of candidates for our Council election, and to all the candidates who offered themselves in service in this important way.
• Our Veterans and their families for their service to our country.
• Yarn Angels for the 307 items donated to The Encouragement Project in addition to the prayer shawls provided for GSLC members and loved ones.

GSLC CALL COMMITTEE NEWS

Ask a committee member to share one of the orange prayer cards with you. It is our hope that you will take these home and keep GSLC in your prayers as this process continues.

If you have any questions, please ask us! We invite you into a conversation with as much information as we can give, understanding that some information must remain confidential. Look for our blue name tags or email us at callcommittee@gslutheran.org.

LADIES NIGHT OUT will be on

Tuesday, November 19, at 7:00 PM at

Chili’s Restaurant

1460 Towne Lake Parkway

Woodstock, GA 30189

Please sign up in Fellowship Hall

CELEBRATION OF LIFE SERVICE

An announcment for a Celebration of Life service to take palce at Good Shepherd on November 23rd, for our dear member, Jennifer Riva was sent today. You can read that detailed announcement here.

SAVE THE DATE

Join us on November 30th, if you would like to help add decorations to the Sanctuary to begin the Advent Season. We will begin decorating at 12 PM. Many hands make light work for all. Sign-up in Fellowship Hall.

ALZHEIMER/DEMENTIA CARE GIVER SUPPORT GROUP

Please join us on December 7^th at 9 AM, for a kickoff meeting for an Alzheimer/Dementia care giver support group at Good Shepherd. During this one-hour meeting you will learn more about the program and how you can directly help care givers dealing with these types of patients. This informational meeting is open to anyone. Please invite others that might be interested in learning more and participating in this group.Christmas caroling event will follow after this meeting.

CAROLING ON SATURDAY, DEC. 7TH

Make a joyful noise with your Good Shepherd friends as we carol at the Oaks retirement community on Saturday, December 7th. We will meet in the Entry Way at 10am. Sign up in Fellowship Hall. We will be leaving shortly after gathering together. Bring your fa-la-la-la-la fun self and join us as we spread Christmas cheer!

WHAT IS EVANGELISM

In the feedback gathered from all of you by the Long-Range Planning Task Force, the congregation indicated a strong need to explore and re-ignite evangelism at Good Shepherd. To do this, we'll start with a gathering to talk about what evangelism is, brainstorm low hanging fruit, especially with Christmas ahead, and talk about strategies for moving forward. Let Pastor Karen or Debi Radcliff know that you'd like to come and talk and brainstorm with us on Sunday, December 8, after the second service. No commitment to be a member of Evangelism for the next 50 years - promise! We just want your feedback and ideas! Sign up in Fellowship Hall.

E-MAIL SCAMS

It has been brought to our attention again that e-mails are going out from someone posing as Pastor Karen. Always double check that the e-mail comes from pastor@gslutheran.org before responding or interacting with any requests where pastor might be looking for help. Also remember, the church does not conduct any business using gift cards. Stay vigilent.Think first before acting or call the church if you are in doubt. If interested, there is good information about scams on the table near the doorway in Fellowship Hall.

OUTREACH UPDATE and MORE

This Fall was filled with many community events. Here are some of the numbers of how we served our community:

Trunk or Treat hosted more than 180 trick-or-treaters.

Red Cross Blood Drive - The Red Cross collected 58 units of blood which is the largest amount we have collected since before COVID. They were very appreciative since the two hurricanes have increased the need significantly.

MUST - We sent a check to MUST for $500.00 to help with turkeys and hams for Thanksgiving.

Angel Tree - The Angel tree is up. Reminder that all gifts must be wrapped and back to GSLC by December 1st. Please let others know.

Electronic Recycle: We filled a truck full of electronics and are waiting to hear back from our recycling partner on our collection success.

MLK Day of Service - Monday, January 20th. We have already set up for the youth and their families to work at Mostly Mutts Marketplace. We are looking for other ideas. Let a member of outreach know any of your ideas.

NOW HIRING - PART-TIME OFFICE COORDINATOR

We are hiring for a part-time Office Coordinator Position. This position will be 12 hours/week and will work a set schedule Monday-Thursday from 9AM -12 PM. We are seeking a friendly outgoing person with working knowledge of many administrative functions including software knowledge of Excel, PowerPoint, and databases. If interested please contact personnel@gslutheran.org.

WORSHIP ATTENDER SURVEY

Our congregation has been given the unique opportunity to participate in a national study of worship attenders. The study is being conducted by Faith Communities Today (FACT), a research partner of the ELCA. Since 2000, FACT has conducted research that provides religious leaders of all traditions with critical information about the changing nature of congregational life and how to respond effectively.

For participating in this survey, our congregation will receive a $200 Amazon gift card and, if at least 10 people respond, a report of our responses.

Anyone 18 or older who is a regular participant can complete the survey. It should take between 12 to 15 minutes. Our Good Shepherd goal is to have a minimum of 50% of our regular worship attenders complete the survey. To take the survey, please click the link below.

TAKE THE SURVEY HERE

Please complete the survey by Friday, Nov. 22.

If you are interested in learning more about this study, please visit: https://www.covidreligionresearch.org/attender-survey/

Thank you for your participation.

SUNDAY SCHOOL | 9:45 AM

All youth classes will meet downstairs. K-5 in B3, 6-8 in B8 and High School will meet in B1.

Faith Stories: Rm 117: Book study on “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  

Coffee and Conversation: Rm 118: "Hope in the Lord" series. The series draws from numerous parts of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. The author writes that "Through our study of God's word, Christ's Spirit strengthens us to people who hope in the Lord.

Men in Mission: Rm 116: Various topics and discussions just for men. 

WHAT'S NEW

Wednesday Lunch and Learn will begin a new study for Advent titled, "The Weary World Rejoices" by Lifeway Women. Join us at 11:30 AM. Bring your lunch if you'd like.

WEEKLY BIBLE STUDIES

We are blessed to have great lay leadership to host weekly Bible studies on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Roughly 40+ people attend these studies each week. Check out the Bible Study page on our website to see where you might want to join us.

LAST THEOLOGY ON TAP for 2024

Hickory Flat Kitchen at 6:30 PM on November 20th. We are breaking in December.

THANKSGIVING WEEK

All mid-week Bible study groups will NOT meet the week of Thanksgiving.

HANDMADE CARD MINISTRY AT GSLC

ALL OCCASION cards are available, most for a suggested 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. Thank you for your wonderful support of this GSLC ministry.

LOOK FOR WAX SEALS!

Look for new cards that have beautiful wax seals on the fronts. Once again, the cards provided are mostly one of a kind and a wonderful gift for anyone who receives one. Also, there are a few hand painted cards left that were donated to GSLC from a local artist. Surely someone you know would love to get one in the mail!

CARING FOR CREATION

We continue our recycling initiatives. We appreciate all help from congregation members to keep these items out of landfills. Looking for more info? Visit our website page.

1. ORAL CARE WASTE

2. HEFTY ENERGY BAGS: (first Sunday of the month)

3. BATTERIES: (Size D and smaller) 

4. OLD EYEGLASSES

5. POPTABS

6. CLEAN-NO LABEL-PRESCRIPTION MEDICINE BOTTLES

7. DRAKE HOUSE: SEASONAL, PROFESSIONAL, WOMENS CLOTHING,

8.METAL RECYCLING: Drop off your scrap metals in the white 55-gallon drum located at the north side of the garage and we will take it to the Metal Recycler in Woodstock.

Chase would love to SEE MORE YOUTH in both the Chancel Choir and Bell group. Please contact him if you have questions or interest.

These rehearsals will continue weekly or as noted by Pam or Chase.

Do you love your church? Consider giving Good Shepherd a 5 Star review on Google. It helps other know about who we are and what we do!

CHURCH CALENDAR

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 Media Coordinator and she can add you to the Prayer Circle group.