eVOICE for March 5, 2026



GOOD SHEPHERD EPISCOPAL CHURCH



The Third Sunday in Lent

March 8, 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

Troop 97 Boy Scouts at Good Shepherd! The Boy Scouts came to Good Shepherd last Sunday, March 1st and helped Greet with Gusto (opening doors wide with bulletins in hand!!) and Usher. Thanks to Diane for showing them the "ropes" for ushering; they did a terrific job!! They also brought coffee and donuts for a wonderful coffee hour afterwards!! We love our Boy Scout Troop 97!!!!

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!!

Lenten Book Study and Discussion on Immigration Issues- Deacon Linda and Lynn Wood will co-lead a discussion of Migrant God: A Christian Vision for Immigrant Justice (2025) by Isaac Samuel Villegas. It will give us an opportunity to understand issues immigrants are facing now and how we as Christians are called to respond. The Episcopal Diocese of Washington passed a resolution this year asking everyone to learn about this issue and discern how to be strong allies to immigrants. We will meet on Zoom on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 PM to 8:30 during Lent. The remaining dates are: 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, and 3/31. You do not need to commit to attend every session. Email Deacon Linda at deacon@gsecmd.org if you would like to participate to receive the Zoom link.

Stations of the Cross- On Friday evenings at 7:30 PM during Lent Deacon Linda Mahler will be offering Stations of the Cross on Zoom. This liturgy tells the story of Jesus' passion and death. This short service (30-35 minutes) offers an opportunity for prayer and meditation that many people find meaningful. The service is the same each week. Come as many times as you like. The remaining dates are: 3/06, 3/13, 3/20, and 3/27.

Lunch Bunch- It's a "green" theme for our next Lunch Bunch Potluck. However, you don't have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with us on Wednesday, March 11th 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.

Five of us from Good Shepherd joined over 100 others from parishes all over the Diocese at the Migrant Solidarity Convening: Learn, Act, Resist to learn more about efforts to respond to the needs of the immigrants in our area. The emphasis was on offering solidarity in times of vulnerability as we strive to fulfill the promise in our Baptismal Covenant to respect the dignity of every human being, especially in this time of the dehumanization and violence that many of our neighbors are facing. We heard stories that both saddened and inspired us. We joined breakout sessions for skill-building. We feasted on a delicious lunch of pupusas, and we sang and created art. We will be sharing more with you. Ana, Jay, Joe, Lynn, and Melissa

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!

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 will meet on Friday March 6 with the Rev Thom Sinclair (our prior seminarian!) who is now the Chief Operating Officer in the Diocese and who has analyzed our finances to assure that in fact we are ready financially. 

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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