The new Good Shepherd Directory project is in process!  Photographer Brittany Todd has taken photos of 66 families so far during photo sessions held in the Fellowship Hall. Make-up sessions for families who were unable to participate in these photo sessions will be scheduled later in the summer.  Forms for submitting information about families have been mailed; 30 have been returned so far.  Completed forms need to be mailed to the church or dropped off at the church office no later than Sunday, June 1.

The Directory will be online, linked through our website, with color photos and household information in one list. Access will be by login and password.  A print version will be available to those without internet access.  Questions should be addressed to the Directory Committee:  Elizabeth Kaschins, convener; Jane Kemp, Jeri Laursen, Doris and Dennis Barnaal, Lindy Moeller, Tabita Green or Pastor Mau.

Good Shepherd will have its traditional and familiar services during this week but please note the information below about the new Community Easter Vigil.

Passion/Palm Services

• 5:00 p.m. – Saturday, April  12
• 9:30 a.m. – Sunday, April 13 – Procession of the Palms

Maundy Thursday – April 17, 7:00 p.m.
Holy Communion, Foot Washing Ceremony, and Stripping of the Altar

Good Friday – April 18, 7:00 p.m.

Community Easter Vigil – Saturday, April 19

• 7:00 p.m. – Fellowship Gathering – Fellowship Hall or outside (weather permitting) near the Bonfire
• 8:00 p.m. – Lighting of Paschal Candle, Procession, Affirmation of Baptism, and Holy Communion

(Click here for details..)

Easter Sunday Festival Worship – April 20

• 9:15 a.m. – Low Brass Consort plays old, familiar hymns
• 9:30 a.m. – Procession with Paschal Candle and altar appointments; service with Holy Communion

Hope you can join us for one or all of these worship services!

Luther College Spring Fling Crew, Saturday, April 26 – Five Luther students spent a bright, but cool and windy Saturday morning cutting back perennials left for winter interest, cleaning out the rocked and mulched beds, applying a top dressing of mulch, and even pulling some weeds! The parking lot berm gardens, Lynette’s Garden, Sign Garden, and the landscape beds across the front of the church received the greatest attention. Three members of the Landscape Subcommittee, Marty Steele, Bob Felde, and Elizabeth Kaschins, joined the student crew.

 A contribution was made to College Ministries to be divided between the U-Visa Program of the Northeast Iowa Peace & Justice Center and the Syrian Disaster Appeal of ELCA Disaster Response.

St. Grubby’s Day, Sunday, April 27 –

The annual St. Grubby’s Day initiative held on April 27 was most successful despite the heavy rain and wind making outdoor projects difficult. Members tackled interior projects including vacuuming and cleaning carpets, washing light fixtures, changing light bulbs, sorting items in the music room, and cleaning the Annex. Many items were recycled, discarded, delivered to the Depot or repositioned. A pre-cleaning of the Sacristy, LWR cupboards, Coffee Room, Library, Kitchen and Fellowship Hall Closet preceded the St. Grubby’s Day event.   The pre-cleaning turned up a hand-made violin created by member Martin Bergan (1876-1968) which he donated to the church; a story on Bergan and his   donation will be featured in a subsequent article.

New Products for Sale in Addition to Equal Exchange Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa

Organic strawberry jam and organic orange marmalade are two new products the Coffee Committee is selling along with coffee. tea, and cocoa from Equal Exchange. The jams are made with sugar from farmer co-ops in Paraguay and sell for $4.00 per 12 healthymanviagra.com ounce jar.
Organic strawberries are cooked down in traditional copper pans with organic sugar to preserve natural sweet and juicy flavors in the strawberry jam. With golden slivers of tangy oranges and the natural sweetness of raw sugar, the orange marmalade has a fresh, zesty flavor.

We’ve also added Apricot and Chocolate Raisin GeoBars. The Apricot Geobar is a mix of wild apricots, juicy raisins, and sweet honey blended with toasted wheat flakes, oats, and crisped rice. The Chocolate Raisin Geobar has juicy raisins, cocoa, and dark chocolate chips blended with toasted wheat flakes, oats, crisped rice and honey. For those interested in calorie content, one bar is 120 calories. There are 6 bars per package, and each package sells for $3.00.

As always, all products offered through Equal Exchange are Fair Trade, which benefits small farmer cooperatives around the world.  We are able to purchase items at wholesale through Equal Exchange’s InterFaith Program, and a percentage of what we purchase from Equal Exchange is donated to Lutheran World Relief.

Please provide feedback to the Coffee Committee so we can tailor the Equal Exchange products we sell to what you like. We just ordered Chai and Peppermint teas based on congregational feedback!

On Sunday afternoon, our middle school youth gathered at Good Shepherd to assemble school kits for Lutheran World Relief. Bev Sheridan organized the collection of notebooks, string bags, pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners, erasers, and rulers from the congregation. (Thanks Bev!)

We learned that many children are not able to go to school, because they don’t have school supplies. These kits especially helps girls, whose education is often a lower priority.

It was exciting to discover that we will be able to track our school kits and find out where in the world they end up!

We celebrated with lemonade, popcorn, chocolate balls, and games. 🙂