invites you to join us!
to download the September issue of the Shepherd's Staff newsletter.
This Week at Good Shepherd
Thursday, September 2
Labyrinth Available
Friday, September 3
Labyrinth Available
Saturday, September 4
8:00am: Men’s Breakfast Group
Sunday, September 5
8:00am: Holy Eucharist (HE)
10:00am: HE with Food Ingathering, Healing Prayers and Children’s Chapel
Nursery Available
No Financial Informational Sessions due to Labor Day Weekend
Monday, September 6
LABOR DAY
Office Closed
Wednesday, September 8
7:30am: Holy Eucharist (HE)
8:00am: Potluck Breakfast
12:30pm: Staff Meeting
7:15pm: Anthem Choir
Friday, September 10
Church Office Closed
Saturday, September 11
8:00am: Men’s Breakfast Group
10:00am: Teachers’ Meeting
8:00am: Holy Eucharist (HE)
10:00am: HE with Blessing of the Backpacks and
Commissioning of Those who Work with Children and Youth
Church School, including Rite 13, Begins
Nursery Available
Financial Informational Sessions after Both Services
Finance Information Sessions
On September 12th and 19th, there will be informational sessions after each service to discuss proposals for meeting the church’s financial obligations. There will be an all Parish Meeting on September 26th following the 10:00am Service to discuss all the options. Please plan to attend.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2010
For the news and pictures about this summer’s Green Vacation Bible School,
OFFICE HOURS
The office will be closed Monday September 6th for Labor Day. The office will also be closed on Friday September 10th and Monday September 13th.
Collection of Flash Drives and Other School Supplies
for the Esperanza School!
Please support this mission project by bringing in flash drives (thumb drives, 2GB) for the Esperanza students. The goal is to have one for each of the 72 girls. They also need 1/4" graph paper which they use for all their math work. Other options are gift cards to Staples or Office Max, or cash donations. Please put your donations in the basket on the mission table in the parish hall. (This is in place of the backpack collection.) Thanks in advance for your generosity. This collection will continue through the beginning of September. Deadline extended to September 12th.
NEWCOMERS COMMITTEE
The Church needs volunteers for the Newcomers Committee. Members of this committee welcome newcomers and plan events for them. They introduce newcomers to parishioners. They also will arrange for membership and confirmation classes if needed. Please contact the Wardens, Norm Farris or Sara Kilkenny, if you are interested in this ministry.
A Great Opportunity —
Join the Coffee Hour Committee
Every Sunday our parish family shares simple snacks, juice, and hot beverages after the 10:00 a.m. service. We have set up a calendar (from now until June 2011) on a scheduling website called “Doodle” which allows you to see what dates are open and indicate your choices — feel free to volunteer for as many Sundays as you want, whenever it is convenient for you. To visit Doodle you can type this link into your Internet browser or check your parish-wide weekly email to just click on it: www.doodle.com/22tqt9ct7qu5m6sb
The Diocese of Haiti and other partners are actively responding to the situation on the ground in Haiti with critical support from Episcopal Relief & Development. Please pray for those impacted and donate to the Haiti Fund. The most up to date information is available on the Haiti Crisis page.
BRING YOUR PLEDGES UP TO DATE!
Our treasurer, Noelle Dattilo, advises us that the church operating account is short of funds. If you are able to bring your pledging up-to-date, please mail a check today. If you can manage to make an additional donation on top of your planned pledge, this is the time to send that check. Any amount you can contribute will be very helpful. If you would like to contribute to a specific bill, please contact Noelle directly. This is the time to be generous. Together we can all keep Church of the Good Shepherd up and running. Thank you in advance for your support.
The Vestry
Children's Chapel: Preschoolers will be cared for in the Nursery.
Church School Registration for Children and Youth for the 2010-11 year continues Sunday. Forms can be found on the round table in the parish hall. This is a yearly event, so even if you registered last year or before please fill out a new form. The description for the entire Church School curriculum for 2010-2011 can be seen on the Christian Formation - Church School and Youth page (click here). Thank you!
Early this summer Good Shepherd held a one week Vacation Bible School. It was great fun for all and a time to grow in faith. Elgin Summerfelt has put 20 photos with text on the parish website. Please take a look! You can access it from the first page of the website or this link. http://www.goodshepherdacton.org/579287.ihtml
Godly Play Training: We are seeking storytellers for our Godly Play Class for grades 1 and 2. There is a training on September 11th in Belmont. Please contact Barbara for more information.
Other teachers: our first Teachers' Meeting will be on the same day, Sept. 11, from 10-12.
Do you like to make music? We have musical programs for people of all ages and all experience levels. Click on "Worship" and then "Music," above right.
Questions? Contact Casey Hannan at the church.
From the Music Minister -
The choir is not meeting or performing on Sundays throughout the summer but I'd really like to continue to present offertories and service music in collaboration with members of our congregation. A number of you have expressed interest but I would ask everyone to get in touch with me now that summer is upon us and as our summer calendars become a little more clear. It would be a lot of fun for me to vary the people and styles of music involved. Thank you,
Casey Hannan
Spiritual Oasis, the Church of the Good Shepherd blog
http://www.goodshepherdacton.wordpress.com
What is a blog? It is a web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer. Unlike the church web site, however, a blog is more dynamic and made for readers to participate by adding their responses to the posted content. Users can start a dialog or conversation that others may see and extend. Having a blog would help the parish with its spiritual outreach, enhance educational programs like Connect, and foster greater communication and understanding within the parish. We hope to have discussions threads dedicated to parish seminars, hot topics, and the Youth Group. Pretty soon other topics of interest to Good Shepherd folks will be popping up so bookmark this link. If you lose it, you can always find it again under the Resources-Links page on this website.
Good Shepherd Parish Prayer
Universal and unchanging God,
We are one, unalterably one,
With all the human race.
Grant that we
who share Christ's blood, may,
through your unifying Spirit,
Break down the walls
that divide us.
Amen.
NZPB page 637
Request for Furniture Donations
The Household Goods Recycling of
goods to agencies, such as Community Teamwork, Inc. (CTI) in Lowell, who are transitioning
homeless families out of shelters and hotels. We are in dire need of box springs, mattresses,
bureaus, dining tables and chairs. Of course we take all kinds of furniture. Please consult our
website: www.hgrm.org. Our drop-off times at
