We To See You This Sunday at Good Shepherd!

The Church of the Good Shepherd

231 North Church St.

Rocky Mount, NC

eShepherd October 16, 2025

This Sunday at Good Shepherd

The Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost

October 19, 2025

8 a.m.

Altar Guild Lalor Smith and Jeanette Belfield;

Celebrant The Rev. Rebecca Michelfelder;

Eucharistic Minister Marion Stoga;

Flower Guild Sally Harris and Pam Larimer;

Reader Catie Roche

10:30 a.m.

Acolytes Jack McKellar and Matthew McKellar;

Altar Guild Lalor Smith and Jeanne Shannon;

Audiovideo Engineer Ron Sowers;

Eucharistic Minister Bob Larimer;

Flower Guild Sally Harris and Pam Larimer;

Greeters Al and Barbara Hicks;

Intercessor Paula Stiles;

Musicians The Good Shepherd Choir; Lawrence Goering, organist;

Presider The Rev. Rebecca Michelfelder;

Readers Emily Bondy and Marzena Laszewski;

Vestry Counters Emily Dwight and Barbara Hicks

Click here for this week's Sunday Bulletin

*This Sunday's service will be recorded and uploaded for viewing next week. It will not be livestreamed on Sunday morning.

This Week at Good Shepherd

No Adult Formation Class or Confirmation Class This Sunday.

Choir Rehearsals This Wednesday-- Come sing with us!

The Cherub and Alleluia Choirs will rehearse Wednesdays with Cherub Choir starting at 5:00 p.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m. Alleluia Choir rehearsals will begin at 5:15 p.m. and end at 6:15 p.m. The two choirs will rehearse together from 5:15-5:30 p.m.

Mid-week Eucharist noon. All are invited to attend this healing service held in the Sanctuary.

Hello Good Shepherd Lambs,

It’s been a sobering October so far at Good Shepherd. We’ve had three deaths in rapid succession, two of them unexpected. Next weekend (Oct 24-26) we will be gathering to celebrate all three. Janet Bethune’s service will be Friday at 11:00, Ron Williams’ service will be Saturday at 11:00, and we’ll lay Harriet Moss to rest at 2:00pm on Saturday.

On Sunday, October 26th at 9:00am, we will be holding a (pre-planned) “Leaving a Legacy” workshop. We’ll be looking at the funeral service theologically through liturgy and music, along with other practicalities. The initial thinking was to do this workshop the week before All Saint’s Sunday, since we’ll be marking those we’ve lost. It seems almost too much for one weekend, but perhaps the timing is good.

When I can reach into our files and pull out funeral requests, along with burial plans, I breathe a huge sigh of relief. When I sit down with the family, I can say to them, “Well, this is what she would have wanted” or “His columbarium niche is all sorted out.” It’s one less thing for the family to worry about at a time when they are grieving and overwhelmed.

It’s also a meaningful spiritual exercise to plan ahead for our deaths. Our bodily lives were given to us, and one day they will be taken from us. When we keep our deaths close to our hearts, we remind ourselves that our time is precious, that our actions have meaning, and that ultimately we belong to God. Because we belong to God, we can be brave in our living and in our dying.

So I hope you’ll be joining us on October 26th. If you can’t make it, I’d love to schedule a one-on-one with you. For now, I’ll leave you with a line from the commendation we use at the end of a funeral:

All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Becky+

Coming Soon!!! Fall Gatherings! Don't Miss Them!

Please RSVP today to srollings@goodshepherdrmt.org

October 17

Don Ulrich II

Woodrow Braswell

October 18

Selden Bullock, Jr.

Katie Craig

Heather Seale

October 19

Kate Weeks

October 20

Emily Bullock

Katelyn Bock

Jenna Bock

October 21

Eliza Myers

Capson Tobias

Did we miss your birthday? Please email us at eshepherd@goodshepherdrmt.org

Parish Prayer List

For those in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity: especially Ann Burke, Janet and Brian McMaster, Donna Andrews, Joyce Greening, Hart Wiggins, George Vargha, Helen Sharpe, Jim Poole, George Townsend, John and Irene Groobey, Jim Facile, Shannon Sutton, Florine McClain, Scott Sumrall, Joyce Cuthrell, Whitney Herbert, Dinah Fowlkes, Amy McCotter, Chris Poole, and Gregory Strickland.

For continued health and healing: Brent Wilson, Jeanette Benfield, Notie Vay Meadows, Bill Harris, Aileen Harris, Bill Hudgins, Mary W. Dawson, Becky Bryan, Albert Ervin, Frances Gaither, Dwight Johnson, and Boo White.

For the blessings of this life:

For those expecting the birth of a child: Mark and Sara Burnette and Kathryn (Hicks) and Jackson Bowen.

For those who have died: Harriet Moss, Ron Williams, T. Harris III, Janet Bethune, and Jane Bruce.

To add or remove people on the Prayer List please contact Cheryl Coppedge at coppedgecheryl@gmail.com. Please ask their permission before submitting. Please include an address in your email to Cheryl so that the Encouragement Committee may send a card.

A note about pastoral care emergencies: If you are experiencing a pastoral emergency (e.g. someone you love or you yourself are in the hospital, or you’re experiencing some distressing news) please call my cell phone (570-259-0671) and leave a message if I don’t pick up right away. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. If in doubt, please call – I can’t support you if I don’t know you need support!

BZC+

252-442-1134 churchofthegoodshepherdrm@gmail.com

www.goodshepherdrmt.org

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