Pastor Joan A. Mau, pastor of Good Shepherd since 1999, resigned effective September 1, 2014. Pastor Mau announced her plans to retire at the May Council meeting.   Linda Hudgins, Assistant to Bishop Ullestad of the Northeast Iowa Synod, will start the formal call process for a permanent pastor at a specially called Church Council meeting on June 23. An interim pastor will be named to serve for a period of time before a permanent pastor is called. A farewell celebration for Pastor Mau is being scheduled in August.

During the Lenten season Good Shepherd will again be participating in the Lutheran World Relief “Baskets of Promise” appeal by collecting and assembling Personal Care Kits. Each week a different item will be collected that will be used to assemble the kits that give people around the world tools to stay healthy in life’s most challenging situations.

Here is the collection schedule:

• March 9 (4-5 ounce bars of soap in the original wrapping)
• March 16 (52” x 27” light-weight bath towels, dark colors recommended)
• March 23 (adult size toothbrushes in original packaging)
• March 30 (combs)
• April 6 (nail clippers, metal, attached file optional)

Members of WELCA are spearheading the initiative for participation by the congregation.

During this Lenten season, Adult Forum programs at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church will focus on Osvaldo Golijov’s composition La Pasion Segun San Marcos (The Passion According to St. Mark).

La Pasion Segun San Marcos, which premiered in 2000, was commissioned to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. CD’s of the work received numerous awards including nominations for a Grammy and Latin Grammy.

Golijov is currently Loyola Professor of Music at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts where he has taught since 1991. According to his official website, he was influenced by a variety of music growing up in Argentina including classical chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music and traditional Latin musical forms. After studying in Israel, Osvaldo moved to the United States where he earned his Ph.D at the University of Pennsylvania. He has collaborated with many internationally known musical artists, received commissions from major ensembles and institutions in the US and abroad and is the recipient of numerous awards including a MacArthur Fellowship.

Brooke Joyce, Good Shepherd Organist and Interim Director of Music, coordinated this six-part series with other professionals in music and theology from Luther College including Michael O’Brien, Ethnomusicologist; David Vasquez, Campus Pastor; and, Germano Streese, Pastor and Librarian. Joan Mau, Pastor of Good Shepherd, will also be a presenter. During the first session, Streese, a native of Brazil, will discuss several works of liturgical music from Latin America that include indigenous pieces. During the following five Sundays, segments of Golijov’s work on DVDs will be shown and discussed.

The schedule for the Adult Forums, held in the narthex of Good Shepherd at 11:00 am each Sunday, is below:
March 9: Germano Streese (Part I)
March 16: Brooke Joyce (Part II)
March 23: Joan Mau (Part III)
March 30: Michael O’Brien (Part IV)
April 6: David Vasquez (Part V)
April 13: Brooke Joyce (Part VI)

The public is welcome at all of these events. Further information about the series may be directed to Brooke Joyce, Associate Professor of Music and Composer-in Residence, at Luther College.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry members have expanded their ministry beyond creating shawls and scarves by designing and crafting prayer squares. These squares, intended to fit in a pocket or purse, are available on a table in the Narthex for worshipers and visitors to take at will. The goal of the prayer squares is to serve as a reminder of God’s presence in times of need or joy. The squares have been knitted or crocheted in a variety of colors and patterns. Since this ministry started in 2005, over 250 shawls and scarves have been created.

This 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.