Help us give our Good Shepherd Families with young children a special Wednesday Night Devotional Treat!

After our 5:30 p.m. Wednesday Night Family Worship, Sue Blair, (member of Good Shepherd and long time 1st grade teacher who worked with puppets at St. Benedict School), will, with her inquisitive, energetic puppets, offer children 1 to 10 years old, a quick mini Lenten message and song just after our half hour worship is over.

We invite children into the classroom by the sanctuary immediately following worship (about 6 pm.) to join Sue and her puppets for about 10 -12 minutes.  The kids will interact with the puppet and song and mini Lenten lesson while the congregation is in line for our Lenten Soup Supper.

When our Puppet lesson is over, Sue will bring the kids down to the lobby by the kitchen where you can have your family hook up for the Soup Supper.

May we all be like children, full of wonder, joy, laughter and love during this Holy Season of Lent.

New activity bags are available to children and guests during worship services. Bags are geared toward children ages 9 and younger and include a multitude of activities (coloring books, stuffed animals, games, puzzles and toys) to help keep our little ones occupied.  Special thanks to the members of Good Shepherd W/ELCA who put together the new busy bags for church worship. Bags are located near the coat racks closest to the sanctuary.

You are invited! Join Pastor April’s Lenten Bible Study Series, “Going Deeper”, on Thursday mornings during Lent. The sessions begin on February 26 and extend through Thursday, March 26. They will meet from 10:00–11:30 am in Good Shepherd’s Fellowship Hall. Each session is an in-depth study of the upcoming weekend’s worship service texts. Participants are welcome to come early for coffee.

The Sunday School would like to invite you to contribute to this year’s Lenten Project:  Mutuelle Matters.  Last year, member Julie Jensen connected us to Partners in Health and their work in Rwanda.  We will again be supporting Rwanda by helping individuals who can’t afford Mutuelle de Sante, their public healthcare insurance (sample insurance card above).  Five dollars provides healthcare coverage for an individual for an entire year! Let’s see how many people we can help – drop your donations into the doctor’s bag up front during offering.  The Mutuelle Matters project will extend from the weekends of February 21/22 through March 28/29.  It will be a blessing for us all to mutually Reach Rwanda once again as we collect for our project, Mutuelle Matters!

LENTEN SERVICES

Good Shepherd’s mid-week Lenten services begin on Wednesday evening, February 25, and continue at 5:30 each Wednesday through March 25. Pastor April Ulring Larson will preside; the service will follow the worship setting of Marty Haugen’s Holden Evening Prayer. At each service, a congregation member will share a brief reflection on the ways their Christian faith impacts their understanding and practice of Christ’s call to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). Those sharing faith stories are Luther Snow, February 25; Matt Tapscott, March 4; Wanda Diefelt, March 11; Sarah Wicks, March 18; and Barbara Berg, March 25. In addition, several Luther College ensembles are scheduled to perform at these services: Cantorei, February 25; Collegium Musicum, March 4; and Aurora, March 11. Good Shepherd’s traditional ‘Soup Suppers’ will follow each service at approximately 6:00 pm.  Updates to the schedule may be found under the “Worship” tab on the homepage.

The congregation welcomes all to share these evenings of worship and fellowship at its Lenten Services and Soup Suppers. Pastor April Ulring Larson and the Worship and Music Committee offer special thanks to the speakers, Luther musicians, and Soup Supper hosts.

Organ Recital Series     

In addition to its schedule of worship services and soup suppers, Good Shepherd is offering it’s third noontime Organ Recital Series on four Wednesdays during Lent. Each performance begins at 12:15 and lasts about a half-hour. The organists performing on Good Shepherd’s historic Hook & Hastings organ are Christine Skogen, March 11, Aaron Burmeister, March 18, Mike Reiter, March 25, and Rev. Marion Pruitt-Jefferson, April 1. This recital series is open to the public. Coffee and light refreshments will be served in the Fellowship Hall after the performances; attendees are welcome to bring their lunches.