Lutheran World Relief Kits

Sunday School kids packing up kits for Lutheran World ReliefThis spring Good Shepherd members, under the leadership of W/ELCA, have collected and assembled 3 sewing kits, 5 quilts, 34 baby care kits and 40 personal care kits. The kits collected by churches from Northeast Iowa will be sent to the LWR warehouse on May 3 on a truck donated by Olson Explosives of Decorah.

Monetary donations will still be accepted to help with the shipping of the kits to their final destination. For every $1 given, someone in need receives $8 worth of essential personal items. Checks can be made out to W/ELCA with LWR shipping on the memo line.

LWR Team

Baby care kits

Personal care kits

Thanksgiving Events This Week

Good Shepherd is participating in the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Eve service to be held this year at Decorah Lutheran Church on Wednesday, November 26 at 7:00 pm.  Pastor April will be a participant.  The theme is “It’s All Gift!” and offerings are designated for Habitat for Humanity, Bread for the World, and local food pantries.  Pie will be served in the Social Hall following the service.  A joint choir rehearsal will be held on Tuesday, November 25, at 7:00 pm at Decorah Lutheran.  All are welcome!

Stewardship Campaign Begins

THE ANNUAL STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN is being held this coming weekend, November 22-23.  Letters with pledge cards have been mailed to congregation members.  Jon Christy is presenting a temple talk about stewardship.  This year for the first time, it will be possible to pledge online.  To access the pledge form, click on the “Serve/Give” tab on the Good Shepherd homepage, and then click on the “Give” link.  The online pledge form will be submitted directly to the church office for processing.  A link to the PDF of the paper pledge form is also there.  Pledging will greatly assist the Council in preparing the congregation budget for 2015.

Pastor April Ulring Larson Welcomed!

Pastor April Ulring Larson began as the Interim Pastor at Good Shepherd  during the weekend of November 8-9, 2014, during special services followed by a reception on Sunday.  The reception was integrated with the annual W/ELCA Soup Luncheon and Country Store event.  The congregation welcomed Pastor April with the long-standing Good Shepherd tradition of a potluck, but for this significant occasion supplemented with  cupcakes, unique fall centerpieces, welcome sidewalk flags and a short program.  The reception was held in the Fellowship Hall.

Photo Gallery

Online Directory Demonstration – November 16

Tabita Green, webmaster for Good Shepherd, will be demonstrating the new Good Shepherd online directory and answering questions during fellowship time after the service on Sunday, November 16.  Paper access instructions will also be available.  An app can be downloaded for Androids and iPhones.  All updates for the directory should be submitted to the church office where they are continually added to the new directory. For more information, consult the FAQs on the website or contact Jeri Laursen.