SHEEP BUZZ NEWSLETTER

April 18, 2025

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

April 18, Good Friday, 7:30pm

We will honor the crucifixion with our final service on Good Friday, which features several scripture passages with candles that are extinguished. During this experiential service we will physically nail our sins to the cross, reflecting in our own sinful nature. We will also incorporate solemn reproaches and veneration of the cross. We will end the service in darkness as we remember the death of our Lord.

No Sunday School | We will resume these classes next Sunday at 9:45 AM

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

Faith Stories: Rm 117: Come join us. We will explore the beginning of a new book titled, "Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers" by Anne Lamott.

Coffee and Conversation: Rm 118:  We will continue our previous volume of our "Hope in the Lord" series

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

  Accolades

• Musicians who assisted with Wednesday mid-week services – Pam Weinelt, Chase Peterson, Alan Boda, Lori Peters, Bill and Paulette Alderfer, Drew Dickerson. Jennifer Taylor, Barb Kidder, Melinda Mundis, and Aaron Frink
• Bell choir for the wonderful music that they bring to BOTH worship services
• Good Shepherd congregation for supporting our Lenten Hunger Focus to help our hungry neighbors. We raised over 3K and collected many, many cans of food. We’ll be counting the coin boxes soon!
• Many thanks to Monica Smith for her time as Altar Guild Chair. We appreciate you, Monica!
• Thanks to all who have financially supported the Intergenerational Mission Trip this summer and continue to support the Youth and Family Ministry!
• Those who beautified the church for Holy Week and Easter – Carrie and Jaime Escamilla, Clint Gruwell and Ken Eggers
• A BIG thank you to everyone who made our Lenten Soup and Suppers a big success by making delicious soups, hosting, and cleaning up: Clint Gruwell, Barb & Ken Kidder, Jamie & Carrie Escamilla, Janice Swinford, Tom & Mary Wilson, Gail & Ben & Steven Setzer, Joella Molway. Karin Storla, Tammy & Steve & Aaron Frink

Council highlights:

• Spending has been down, but giving has been low as well.
• Those of us who are able are asked to park away from front rows in parking lot to keep the front spaces for visitors and those who need a closer spot.
• We are still in search of a shared youth coordinator.  Personnel liaison provided Council an update and shared potential steps to attract additional candidates.

RETURN YOUR COIN BOXES

Now that the Lenten season is over, please return your coin boxes so we can get them counted and disburse the funds to Carmel Elementary School. Thank you for all your support for these families in need of help providing lunch for their children.

EASTER MONDAY

The office will be closed for the Easter Monday holiday to give our staff a much needed rest after last week's busy Holy Week schedule.

Please also note as we change staff members in the Office Coordinator position, the physical office will be closed on the Mondays following Easter Monday until June 2nd, we can still be reached via the church phone number or email.

Stop in and say Hello to our new Office Coordinator Michelle Provost beginning Tuesday, April 22nd.

SUNDAY SERVANT SCHEDULE-APRIL

• Check if you are scheduled to serve for Easter. (see link below)

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

YOUTH SUNDAY - April 27th, 8:30 AM.

Please sign up TODAY!! to help serve at our Traditional Worship Service. We need all hands available to fill the spots. Thank you.

A SERVICE TRIP OPPORTUNITY

Unable to join our GSLC service trip? Others from ELCA congregations in Metro Atlanta will be traveling to work at LutherRock from Wednesday May 28th to Saturday May 31st. This area experienced severe damage from Hurricane Helene and has to this point been underserved. If you're interested, please reach out to Mike Dooley for information about how to get involved. This trip is not being coordinated by GSLC but welcomes all adults to join.

CAREGIVERS SUPPORT GROUP

Our next Caregivers Support Group in connection with the Alzheimer's Association is scheduled for Thursday, April 24th, 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.

TACOS AND TRIVIA

Please join the Youth & Family Ministry Committee on Sunday, April 27 from 12pm-2pm for some delicious tacos and fun trivia to raise money for our Inter-Generational Service Trip in June.

Lunch will be $5.00 per person (maximum of $20 per family), and Trivia will be $10 per team (maximum of 4 people per team).

Everyone is welcome to enjoy some lunch, fellowship, and trivia for a good cause! Please RSVP using the link below so we are sure to have enough food.

Thank you for your support of this important ministry!

The Youth & Family Ministry Committee

LADIES NIGHT OUT

Ladies Night Out for April will be on May 20th, at 7:00 pm

Keegan's Public House

1085 Buckhead Crossing

Suite 140

Woodstock, GA 30189

Please sign-up in Fellowship Hall.

YOUTH & FAMILY EVENTS

SAVE THE DATE

FOR VBS

June 9 –13,

 9 AM—12 Noon.

Registration will open

May 1st.

 Interested in helping this year? A sign -up sheet has been posted in Fellowship Hall. Sign up today!

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 expanded 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

GREETING CARD MINISTRY

ALL OCCASION handmade greeting 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.

EASTER CARDS: There are a few last minute Easter cards available. Look for the bin on our card table in the Fellowship Hall.

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. 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.

Word on Wednesday 10:00 AM Fellowship Hall. We have resumed the Rachel Evans study, "Searching for Sunday". A great place to join us as we pick this up again. 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. We are just began our new study by Priscilla Shirer titled, "He Speaks to Me". This is a great time to join the Book Club type study group.

Thursday Bible Study:  We have returned to our Lectionary based study at 10 AM. Join us after Easter.

Theology On Tap: We will meet at Game Day, at 6:30 PM, on April 30th.

CARING FOR CREATION

We continue our many recycling initiatives. We appreciate all the 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

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.