SHEEP BUZZ NEWSLETTER

March 7, 2025

 We are called gathered and blessed to be a community and instrument of grace for all sheep of the Good Shepherd.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS

Remember to Spring forward this weekend or you run the risk of missing worship this Sunday. Set your clocks ahead one hour before you head to bed Saturday evening.

Starting March 9 -

After many discussions, the Worship and Music Committee decided to move the announcements from the end of worship to the beginning. We'll enter into worship, have the welcome and the announcements, then transition with a just a moment of music to prepare our hearts and minds for worship. This will retain the continuity of our worship together through to the end of the service and we pray this will be a meaningful change for all of us. 

HUNGER WALK/RUN 2025 AND MORE

THIS SUNDAY

Online Registration for the Atlanta Food Bank Hunger Walk has closed, but you can still be a part of the Good Shepherd Team by just heading downtown for the Hunger Walk Event. The event opens at noon with the Walk/Run starting at 2 PM at the Home Depot Backyard in Atlanta. The address is 1 Backyard Way, Atlanta, GA 30313

Don't want to walk downtown? On the same day, March 9th, we are preparing for a local walk to support reducing food insecurity in our area at Good Shepherd. Bring your pets and a can of food and enjoy a great healthy afternoon with friends. QR codes will also be available to donate to the Atlanta Food Bank.

We continue to distribute coin boxes to fill throughout Lent to support families that struggle paying for school lunches at Carmel Elementary School. Find those boxes in the Entryway.

Lastly, we will place more emphasis on collecting food donations for our food ministry partners throughout Lent. Find more details on all of this below or at gslutheran.org/hunger.

TWO-CAN SUNDAY-On Repeat

This week we are continuing our drive to FEED HOPE with our food ministry partners. Last Sunday, we delivered a whopping 158lbs of food to help support local food needs. This Sunday we will collect again, but for MUST (leave in the MUST barrels on the porch) and the week of March 16th we will collect for Timothy's Cupboard. If you plan to attend our local hunger walk at Good Shepherd on March 9th, please bring a canned good for that event too! Together we can really make an impact for those around us.

MIDWEEK LENTEN STUDY

Each Wednesday during Lent, we will gather at noon and 7:30pm. A simple soup/salad supper will be available before the evening service, beginning at 6:30 PM. (Please consider signing up to bring a soup or help/set up the meal, sign-ups in Fellowship Hall.) Our services will use Vespers: A Service of Evening Prayer by Carla Gioma, a beloved sung liturgy from Good Shepherd’s past. Our reflections each week will focus on the messy middles of our life, inspired by resources from Sanctified Art.

BIG THANK YOUS

INSPIRITUS

A resounding success has been delivered to both of the urgent pleas for the refugee families that Inspiritus has been helping. They have obtained the financial support through many, including Good Shepherd, to help keep the 80 families from being evicted. In addition, the need to obtain household furniture and goods has also been fulfilled by another congregation that has stepped up and provided all the needs. Thanks Be To God!

BOOK DRIVE

Thank you all so much for making the book drive such a success! Because of you, The Children's Haven will be receiving 420 books in the upcoming weeks! I truly appreciate your generosity, and I feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing community. 

Sara P.

THE LUTHERAN COALITION AND HABITAT BUILD

The Lutheran Coalition Website lutheranhabitat.org has been updated with the latest Habitat build information. Use the site for everything you need to know about the current build AT 617 Hickory Nut Dr. in Canton and signing up for it.

Sunday Servant Schedule-March

Direct all updates and changes to the schedule to our new Office Coordinator, Alissa at Office@gslutheran.org. Please remember to try to find your own replacements. Thank you.

CAREGIVERS SUPPORT GROUP

Our next Caregivers Support Group in connection with the Alzheimer's Association is scheduled for Saturday, March 8th, at 1 PM in Fellowship Hall. Anyone in the community who is supporting and/or caring for a loved one experiencing dementia or other long term debilitating issues are invited to attend and become a part of this group.

EXPLORING EVANGELISM

Congregational Wide Study

Get excited because it's coming! Our second annual congregation wide study will be launched during Lent! It's a three-week study on EVANGELISM! We're planning for all the current weekly and Sunday morning classes to use the study, as well as provide an evening session with an online Teams option on March 24, 31, and April 7th. If you normally attend any of these classes, you do not need to sign up, however if you would like to participate in this offering, sign up sheets are available with all the class options at Sign-Up Central. Most of the current classes will begin the study this coming week.

We are excited for next Sunday, March 16th, when Rev. Ana Lugo will join us in worship and following the 8:30 service in the Meeting Room at 9:45 AM on the topic of Legacy Giving; a seminar on your final gifts and your values. Plan to attend. Rev. Ana is a wealth of information and a great resource for all.

LADIES NIGHT OUT

Ladies Night Out for March will be on March 18 at 7:00 pm at

Kani House Japanese Steakhouse

2455 Towne Lake Parkway

Woodstock, GA 30189

Please sign-up in Fellowship Hall.

EMPTY NESTERS CARTER MUSEUM AND LIBRARY

Saturday, March 22nd join us at the museum from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM and a early dinner (approx. at 2 PM) at a nearby restaurant (TBD). Visit Sign up Central to sign up!

• Cost for museum (payment goes to GSLC cash or check with Empty Nester's Carter on the memo):
• Seniors (62+) and Military: $10 | Adults: $12
• Please arrange your own carpooling.
• more information here: Carter Museum and Library:. 

The next activity will be on Saturday, May 3 to Uhuburg Castle in Helen, GA.

YARN ANGELS

Yarn Angels will meet at the home of Linda Rowell on April 7th, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided.

YOUTH, YOUTH AND MORE YOUTH HAPPENINGS

YOUTH FUN SERVICE OPPORTUNITY

Please join us in serving at Mostly Mutts Market on Sunday, March 16th from 1:00-3:30pm. This is the first event for the youth from the three congregations to come together in fellowship and service. We will be working together to sort donated items, assist the Market in whatever ways needed and learn more about this animal rescue organization. Afterwards, we can grab some ice cream together at Brusters and continue to get to know each other! We hope you can join us!

We will be hosting the "Second Sunday Family Activity" on the 4th Sunday of March instead. Save March 23rd at 12 PM for a "Pizza Party" and "Let's Make Art" with Allison Frink. There is no confirmation on this Sunday. We hope many of you will attend.

Sign-up below or in Fellowship Hall.

COMING SOON - Intergenerational Summer Service Trip

This summer, the Youth & Family Ministry Committee is working on putting together a service trip in conjunction with NovusWay and LutherSprings to hurricane affected areas in Florida (this is the same organization some of our High School youth worked with last summer and based upon their positive experiences, we are opening up the opportunity to anyone aged 12 and up). Travel will be June 15-20 and in our effort to ensure as many people as possible can participate in this service trip, the Youth & Family Committee will be launching an envelope fundraiser like we did last year. Beginning Sunday, March 16 there will be colorful envelopes posted in the fellowship hall in various denominations. If you are able, kindly take an envelope or two, fill them, and return them to GSLC - either in the offering plate, or place them in the gold slot next to the Bookkeeper's office. Funds raised will help offset costs for this service trip. Thank you for your support - we appreciate you.

SAVE THE DATE

FOR VBS

June 9 –13,

 9 AM—12 Noon.

Registration will open

May 1st.

NOW HIRING A YOUTH COORDINATOR

We have a shared Youth Coordinator position open and we're accepting resumes if you know of anyone that might be a good candidate to apply. Please pass them the following link to apply or let them know to reach out to our Personnel Committee with any questions. This will be a shared Youth Coordinator between GSLC, Christ Lutheran Church of Marietta and First United Lutheran Church in Kennesaw. We are looking to have an organized youth program to incorporate more families together. We plan to have Middle and High School youth join up for service projects, fun youth outings as well as mission trips. We also plan to have joint confirmation classes together as well.  

https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=6a8cbe8612456a00&from=shareddesktop_copy

HANDMADE CARD MINISTRY

ALL OCCASION cards are available, most for a suggested donation of $2.00 per card. All proceeds 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.

NEW: Look in the card bins for LARGE PRINT cards. We now have a few Large Print cards available for your friends and loved ones who have vision problems. They will be distributed throughout the bins, but labeled as Large Print.

We have a new donation supply of HAND PAINTED cards from a local artist. If you enjoyed the hand painted cards previously, check out the new ones in our card bins. They are beautiful and special. 

Weekly Bible Studies

Word on Wednesday 10:00 AM Fellowship Hall. We will be participating in the Evangelism study beginning March 12th, and will resume the Rachel Evans study again after Easter. As always, both in-person and Teams options are available for our group. Please contact the church office for Teams link.

Wednesday Lunch and Learn: We will meet at 11:00 AM in Mtg. Room on March 12th for Lent, with the first three weeks focusing on the Exploring Evangelism study.

Thursday Bible Study:  On March 13th, we will begin our Exploring Evangelism study. Join us anytime.

Theology On Tap: We will break during Lent.

CARING FOR CREATION

We continue our recycling initiatives. We appreciate all help from congregation members to keep these items out of landfills. 

NEW WAY TO RECYCLE THOSE PLASTIC BAGS

Mostly Mutts Market is accepting plastic bags from various businesses - Target, WalMart, Publix, Kroger, etc. to use at the store. They are also accepting cardboard boxes, flattened or not, as well. Their address is 5505 Bells Ferry Rd. Acworth 30102.  

1. ORAL CARE WASTE

2. HEFTY ORANGE ENERGY BAGS: (First Sunday of month) Please remove labels (see below)

3. BATTERIES: (Size D and smaller) 

4. OLD EYEGLASSES

5. POPTABS

6. PRESCRIPTION MEDICINE BOTTLES

We need to remove labels from these bottles try these methods:

1. Warm the label in the sun
2. Use a hairdryer for heat
3. Put bottle in a glass of very hot water

MORE NEWS AND INFORMATION

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

ONLINE CALENDAR

The online calendar on our website has been fixed! Please continue to use this as a resource for all Good Shepherd Events. Need to add an event? Contact our Media Coordinator and she will get it on the calendar for you.

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.