eVOICE for April 2, 2026



GOOD SHEPHERD EPISCOPAL CHURCH



Easter Sunday

April 5, 2026



We will be celebrating with Transfiguration Church via Zoom at 9:00 am and in-person at Good Shepherd Church at 10:30 am.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Schedule of Services for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter

Maundy Thursday, April 2, simple soup dinner 6 pm, service with foot washing 7pm

Good Friday, April 3, 7:00 pm

Easter Sunday, April 5, 9 am zoom, 10:30am in-person

Construction Update

We haven’t lost our sign, it is just uprooted for the moment to put in a new water main large enough to accommodate overhead sprinklers in the school!! The new addition to the old Parish Hall is also taking shape. Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of May! They will be installing overhead sprinklers in the offices and the bathrooms after they remove the ceiling tiles and residual insulation but all this work will take place during the week so as not to disrupt weekend services. 

Annual Meeting Presentation and Annual Report

The Annual Meeting Presentation and Annual Report are on our website at the following link: https://www.gsecmd.org/annual-meeting-2026 Enjoy!!

Maundy Thursday & Meal In A Bag- We are continuing our tradition at GSEC - our simple bread and soup supper on Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 6pm. It involves a simple meal of a bowl of hot soup, some bread and water. After the meal, we will proceed to the sanctuary for a service involving foot washing and prayers. All GSEC and friends are invited; the meal will be provided to you. Please bring a donation of a bag of groceries (non-perishable foods), or a cash donation or gift card from a local grocery store. Donations will be added to our usual food drive. See Florence Walters for more information.

Easter Sunday Celebration - Plan to bring the whole family for our festive Easter celebration on Sunday, April 5! Following the 10:30 service we'll have a stand-up Potluck Luncheon in the Narthex. Please bring finger foods, a dessert, or drinks to share. For more information contact Shaun Hardy or Allen Wyrick. There will be an Easter Egg hunt for children following the Easter service. We will need a few dozen eggs. Please contact Elisa Elliot at Elisa.elliot@verizon.net or 240-688-6994 if you are willing to bring a dozen decorated hardboiled eggs for the hunt.

Lunch Bunch- April 8, 12:30 - Easter celebrations go on at least until Lunch Bunch next Wednesday, April 8th at 12:30 in the Narthex. Bring a favorite dish to enjoy and share.

AIM Candidate Forum, Wednesday, April 22. 6-9 pm, Harvest Intercontinental Church, 16227 Batchellors Forest Rd, Olney.  In October last year, Good Shepherd held its first congregation-wide Listening Session to understand the social concerns of our congregation and community. Many in Good Shepherd spoke very passionately and eloquently about their concerns for housing and the cost of living and the well-being of our immigrant neighbors. We now have the opportunity to act on our concerns. Attend the AIM Candidate Forum where we will ask candidates for County Council and County Executive to support these needs in our community.  For more information contact: Lillian ldohertyuam@gmail.com or Ray raybatt@verizon.net.

All Episcopalians are invited to create origami cranes (tsuru) and mail them to the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (1551 10th Ave. E, Seattle, WA 98102) to arrive by April 10. The cranes will be strung together and displayed outside the DHS detention center in Tacoma, Washington. Click here for more information.

Wednesday Bible Study - 11:30am in-person with Deacon Linda Mahler

Telephone prayer meeting every Thursday at 9:15 am. The number to call to join the prayer meeting is 518-318-5354. If you have any questions contact Lynette Clark at 301-357-1726.

Heifer Campaign- Heifer International’s goal is to break the cycle of hunger and poverty around the world. In 2024, Good Shepherd raised $2257.72 for Heifer. During our 2025 fundraising campaign for Heifer we raised $3106.78, exceeding our goal to send two gifts of “Joy to the World” ($1500 each). Each gift includes two sheep, four goats, one heifer, and a bundle of seeds, along with training and education. The money will be sent to Heifer International indicating that the additional money is to be used where it is needed most. Thank you for your continued generosity for this worthy charity that Good Shepherd parishioners have long supported.

Food Drive - We are accepting non-perishable food donations and work with partner organizations like MUM (Midcounty United Ministries) and Luther Rice to ensure that all food donated to Good Shepherd reaches our neighbors in need. Here's how you can help:

· Bring your food donations to Sunday services and place them in the wooden chests at the rear of the sanctuary

· Drop off food on weekdays when the Office is open (currently Wednesdays and Thursdays)

· Drop off food in the plastic bin outside the narthex entrance any time, even when church is closed

With your help we can continue to respond to the words of Jesus that have become the motto of Good Shepherd: Feed my Sheep.

WARDENS' MESSAGE



At the Annual Meeting we announced that the Vestry has begun the process for discerning a new halftime Rector for Good Shepherd. We are working closely with Canon Anna Olson (our previous Interim Rector) who is now in charge of this process in the Diocese. The Vestry had reached out to Canon Anna in December of last year (she had just been installed as Canon of Faith, Leadership and Collaboration) and we are at a point now that we feel confident we are ready to move forward. It is important to remember that we suspended our rector search in March of 2024 after a financial retreat with the vestry and Canon Andrew Walter of the Diocese (at the time) who did a thorough analysis of our finances. It was determined at that point that we were not in good financial shape to be able to hire and sustain even a halftime rector. With the opening of the Evergreen Montessori School this coming September, an increase in revenue from our newest tenant congregation (Iglesia de Dios Casa de Dios), increased attention to reducing our operating costs and most of all the sustained support from our faithful congregation, our finances are in much better shape as explained at the Annual Meeting (see the Annual Report here). As a result the Finance Committee and the Vestry budgeted for a halftime rector beginning in September and the budget was approved by the vestry at the vestry meeting prior to the Annual Meeting February 18. The budget was presented during the Annual Meeting (see link above). We met with the Rev Thom Sinclair (our prior seminarian!) who is now the Chief Operating Officer in the Diocese and who has given us the GREEN light on our finances!! His analysis assures that we are ready financially to hire a halftime rector!!!

In short, the process is the same as it was when we were first conducting a search two years ago. However, we are not starting from scratch! The Office of Transition Ministry (OTM) profile that the vestry (back then) wrote is still applicable according to Canon Anna. Canon Anna (who, of course, is working closely with Bishop Mariann) knows the clergy who are seeking positions in our Diocese and is our source for candidates. At this point and for obvious reasons the process is confidential (who the candidates are) which has always been the case. Also the vestry has supplanted a 'search committee' as explained 4 years ago so the vestry is responsible for both the search and the selection (subject to approval by the Bishop) of the rector. 

The Wardens and the Vestry will keep you posted as the discernment continues and let us know if you have any questions. Also please keep us and our congregation in your prayers as we move forward!! 

GOOD SHEPHERD EPISCOPAL CHURCH

818 UNIVERSITY BLVD. WEST, SILVER SPRING, MD 20901

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