eVOICE for January 8, 2026



GOOD SHEPHERD EPISCOPAL CHURCH



The First Sunday after the Epiphany

January 11, 2026



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

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Lunch Bunch- The first Lunch Bunch Potluck of 2026 will be held next Wednesday, January 14, at 12:30 in the Narthex. Bring a favorite dish to enjoy and share.

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.

Creativity Fair, April 19, 2026: Get your creative juices flowing for our return to a Creativity Fair in the Spring. We’ll have the “Fair” at the April 19, 2026 coffee hour.  Creativity could include crafts, food (cookies, cakes, bread or whatever), or even a service (babysitting, doing an Ancestry search, taking a photograph, etc.) Each item for sale would be donated to GSEC so that 100% of the price of the item would go to the church.  Let’s see how creative we can be!

NOMINATIONS FOR VESTRY: The Annual Meeting is fast approaching (February 22) and the nominating committee of the vestry is looking for nominations for 2 vestry positions (Class of 2029). Parishes in the Episcopal Church are administered by a vestry of 'lay' people (parishioners). Our vestry currently has a Senior and Junior Warden (who serve 2 year terms) and 7 members who serve 3 year terms. This year two members are rotating off the vestry so we need 2 parishioners to volunteer or to say "yes" if they are invited to serve. Our vestry provides our congregation with welcoming services to worship God who supports and sustains us in our ministries (food and other services). We also serve our community including two Latino Christian congregations and will expand with the advent of the Evergreen Montessori school in a newly refurbished part of our building. The vestry is vital to running our church and relies on trusted volunteers to make good decisions so that all our faithful activities and ministries can continue. Please consider volunteering (speak to Liz Cocke or Vanvisa Sivali), nominating someone you trust, or saying "yes" if you are invited to serve. We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you and us in this important endeavor. 

Thanks to your incredible generosity, in 6 weeks we collected $405 in grocery gift cards to help feed the hungry.

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.

Senior Warden's Message

A New Year and a New Season

" On January 6, the Christian calendar turned to a new season: Epiphany….

The Wise Men awaited a sign in the sky—a star—to guide them on this journey. Revelations break in, signs appear in dreams, light shines forth, and glory hovers all around. Such things are from the realms of miracle, awe, and wonder. They surprise and disrupt the normal course of existence.

We cannot create epiphanies, but, like the Wise Men, we can respond to them. Epiphanies grab a hold of us; we can’t shake them. Epiphanies beckon. The star invites; it calls to the attentive to do something—to act. [2]"



[2] Bass, A Beautiful Year, 73–74.

GOOD SHEPHERD EPISCOPAL CHURCH

818 UNIVERSITY BLVD. WEST, SILVER SPRING, MD 20901

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