Good Shepherd News 2019

WORSHIP SCHEDULE 8:30am Worship 10:00am Children's Sunday School 10:30am Worship

THE SHEPHERD’S STAFF Pastor Larry Grunden, Jr. Secretary Emly Dye Handbell Director Nancy Davis Choir Directors Nancy Davis, Mike Morris Organist Larry Halpern Custodian Coverall Custodial Services Nursery Donna Knasel

CONGREGATION COUNCIL Ginny Martycz President Chris Zechman Vice President Barb Bendure Secretary Diane Timmons Treasurer

Deb Botkin, Ron Green, Jeff Henning David King Susan Kogler, Melanie LeVan Jennifer Rousculp-Miller, Rebecca Sanders

OUR MISSION Called and sent into the world, we seek to be

the living expression of God's compassion, forgiveness & love.

The Wittenberg Choir will present a concert here Tuesday, March 5, at 7:00 pm. Ash Wednesday Worship - March 6 at 7:00pm Wednesday Lenten Program – March 13 - At 1st Lutheran - Noon worship Service, 5:30pm dinner, 6:30pm worship service March 20 - At Good Shepherd - Noon worship Service, 5:30pm dinner, 6:30pm worship service March 27 - At 1st Lutheran - Noon worship Service, 5:30pm dinner, 6:30pm worship service Celtic Service on Sunday, March 17, 8:30am and 10:30am.

The Good Shepherd News is a monthly publication from Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church

712 N. Fountain Avenue Springfield, OH 45504

(937) 322-7222

gselc@sbcglobal.net, pastorlarrygselc@gmail.com

Web site: www.jointheflock.org Facebook at facebook.com/GoodShepherdSpringfield

Daylight Savings Time ends

Saturday, March 10th.

Don’t forget to turn your clock AHEAD

one hour on Saturday night!

In my younger years, my father taught me quite a bit about the many different personalities of people in the Church (Believe me, there are many, many of them). I have always been amazed at how these personalities actually manage to get anything done, amidst the various opinions and perspectives! How can so many people, with so many different ways of doing things come together, as a church family, to do the work of the Lord?

But that is kind of the point isn’t it? Our individual personalities provide unique gifts that we bring with us, to be used for the glory of God and all of those many personalities are welcomed equally at the altar. It’s the community that we share in Christ’s presence that is the essence of the Eucharist.

So, how do we continue to keep up the good work of Good Shepherd, with some many backgrounds and opinions? Well, Jesus calls us to look beyond ourselves and beyond our own desires, to the needs of others. That is where we find our common ground. That is where we come together, with all of our different gifts, to do God’s work. That is where the power of the Eucharist meets us; in the community that is strengthened through Christ and through our willingness to bring our very selves to places that are uncomfortable, for the glory of God.

Now, Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and follow him and we are called to be in community, but let’s be clear; don’t deny your individual gifts! God will use every one of them. Rather, deny the selfishness, stubbornness and self-centeredness that clouds the generosity of your gifts, but let your light so shine before the world that God’s light may be seen through you. Then stand back and see what God has done through you.

So many personalities… And each one as precious as the next. So many gifts… And each as useful as the next. Yet, nothing is more glorious than to be unified in Christ. Come to the table, bring only yourself and offer up your gifts for the glory of God. Amen.

Pastor Larry

STEWARDSHIP REFLECTIONS DURING LENT With the whole Christian Church, God's people at Good Shepherd will enter the Season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, March 6. Originally begun centuries ago, a period of 40 days set aside to provide instruction to candidates for Baptism, typically adult converts, who would then be baptized at the Easter Vigil service, Lent in modern times serves as a time for more intentional reflection by those already baptized (hopefully, all of us) upon the depth of our Christian faith, our relationship with God who has made us and given us everything we are. and how that faith more deeply may shape our daily decisions and lives. Classic disciplines of Lent for those already baptized may include prayer, fasting, alms giving, and works of love. Clearly, the last two items mentioned, alms giving and works of love, get to the heart of Christian stewardship. Alms giving demonstrates our unflagging Christian concern for the needy persons among our community, for whom having basic life necessities becomes a significant challenge every day. We freely give such help, not because we feel sorry for their plight, but because, deep in our relationship with Jesus Christ, we understand that God's gifts are to be distributed fairly and justly among all people. And, those of us who have much bear an even greater faith burden to share with those who have little. Works of love as a Lenten discipline arise directly from the New Commandment Jesus gave to his disciples during the Last Supper (recalled in our Maundy Thursday liturgy), that you love one another as I have loved you. The most perfect example of love, of course, is our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ. He loved all, he loved unconditionally, he stood for justice and reconciliation, he preached and practiced forgiveness and restoration of righteous (just) relationships, at whatever cost. And the cost can be high. He was nailed to a cross. And several of his followers met the same fate. Yet, discerning how we can be ever more faithful in giving ourselves away; our time, our talents, and our treasures, for the sake of love for others, as Jesus has loved us; is central to our disciplines of Lent. Perhaps the best methodology to strengthen our generosity for the needy, and to practice works of love, as Jesus has loved us, is to pray for the Spirit to guide us to a situation where God would use us now for just such acts. Evaluate how your gifts and your love could make a difference in God's world, and do it, right there. And, if you are unable to be the personal presence of such care for others, but can make a gift to someone else to make it happen, do it. Experience the deep joy giving and sharing, materially, spiritually, lovingly, all of which will strengthen us during these Lenten days. Thanks be to God. Ron Green

WEDNESDAY LENTEN WORSHIP Ash Wednesday Worship - is March 6. This service marks the beginning of the season of Lent. For forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness and faced temptation. We are reminded of our own temptations in life and our mortality thru the imposition of ashes. You are invited to this meaningful service at Good Shepherd at 7:00pm. Wednesday Lenten Program – This year Good Shepherd and First Lutheran will collaborate for the Lenten season (Not Ash Wednesday) with a theme of “Reconciliation.” On Wednesdays, you are invited to a light soup supper from 5:30pm – 6:30pm and a Lenten worship service at 6:30pm. Come, eat and worship! Please sign up in the hallway or contact Marcia Morris to provide soup for an evening. The schedule for the Wednesdays is: March 13 - At 1st Lutheran - Noon worship Service, 5:30pm dinner, 6:30pm worship service March 20 - At Good Shepherd - Noon worship Service, 5:30pm dinner, 6:30pm worship service March 27 - At 1st Lutheran - Noon worship Service, 5:30pm dinner, 6:30pm worship service April 3 - At Good Shepherd - Noon worship Service, 5:30pm dinner, 6:30pm worship service April 10 - At 1st Lutheran - Noon worship Service, 5:30pm dinner, 6:30pm worship service

COMMUNITY GARDEN There will be a Community Garden meeting, Saturday, March 2nd @ 9:00am. It's time to start thinking about the coming Spring and Summer, and our Community Garden! We will be discussing last year's garden and the coming year. Please join us as we make plans to embark on a new season of planting and growing! Contact Deb Botkin at 937-271-7688 or dbotkin@woh.rr.com, if you have questions.

WITTENBERG CHOIR

The Wittenberg Choir will present a concert here at Good Shepherd on Tuesday, March 5, at 7:00 pm. The program, “The Living Spirit”, will feature a wide variety of music in five sets: The Spirit Transcended, The Spirit at Rest, The Human Spirit, The Spirit Ascended, and Folks Songs, Hymns, and Spirituals. The Human Spirit includes music from composers that have pushed the boundaries in composition like a 36-part canon by Ockeghem and a vocal exploration piece called Nyon Nyon, by Jake Runestad. Eric Whitacre’s, Sleep, and Eriks Esenvalds, Only in Sleep, highlight the set of music, The Spirit at Rest. A favorite from the concert will likely be the piece, Indodana, arranged by Barrett and Schmitt. The haunting music of Indodana depicts the scene of Christ on the cross, underscored by the movements of a dancer. Other composers featured on the concert are Paul J. Christiansen, Donald Busarow, Shawn Kirchner, F. Melius Christiansen, Knut Nystedt, William Byrd, and others. The concert is free and open to the public – a free-will offering will be taken.

CELTIC SERVICE Come join us for our Celtic Service on Sunday, March 17, at 8:30am or 10:30am. Not Irish? Not Scottish, you say? That's okay. The Celtic movement extended from modern day U.K. down to Greece and Asia Minor, including Germanic territories. The Celts were instrumental in spreading Christianity throughout the lands. So let's celebrate together!

ADULT SMALL GROUP

Monday’s Fellowship Group this month meets on March 11th and 25th at 7pm at the home of Mark and Denise Roberts.

BIBLE STUDY

Tuesday’s 9:30am Bible Study group meets at church in March on the 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th. Together we study the weekly scriptures and pray for the needs of our church family, our community and our world.

WOMEN’S BOOK GROUP The Good Shepherd Book Group will meet on Monday, March 18 at 7 PM at the home of Marcia Morris to discuss this month's book selection “The Testament of Harold’s Wife” by Lynne Hugo.

MIRIAM CIRCLE

Miriam Circle will meet at 9:30am on Wednesday, March 6 at the church. Refreshments will be served. Discussion will follow a short movie on “Bad Girls of the Bible.”

THE SHEPHERD'S YARNERS Shepherds Yarners will meet on Wednesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 20 after the Lenten church service in the fellowship hall. All are invited to bring a project to work on and join us.

First Communion Workshop

Is your young disciple wondering about Eucharist? Are they being called to participate more fully in communion by taking the elements? Good Shepherd and First Lutheran will offer a First Communion Workshop on April 6th from 2:00pm - 4:00pm here at GS. We will explore the meaning and power of the Eucharist through fun activities and discussion. Please see Pastor Larry for more information!

Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) Deb Botkin

IHN is in urgent need of laundry detergents, trash bags, paper products, and toiletries. Items can be left in the IHN box in the fellowship room. Thank you in advance for your donations.

FOOD PANTRY Denise Roberts

We finally caught a break with the weather, yay! Providing refreshments, hospitality, fresh produce, a variety of groceries, eggs, baked goods & meat are what these food angels are good at. Heck, we even take it up to your vehicle! Thus, 167 food insecure clients were nourished. Many thanks to the following people that help make it happen: George & Mary Parsons, Hailey Zehring. Rick Broderick, Bob & Sandy Falkner, Nick Lubbers, Paul Buckles, Barb Shuirr, Elise Schwenn, Carla Canales, Ellyn & Mark Shirk, Ginny Martycz, Abby Frock, Pastor Larry Grunden, Angela Barber, Brittany & Barbara Strawsburg, Chad Carr, Lily Kilgore, David & Teri King, Richard Kogler, Deb & Randy Botkin & Mark Roberts. Sharon Veale thank you for all the cards & cat food you so generously provide! Ed Everhart, thanks for fixing our tent sign. It's better than new! Nick Martt was back at work fitting 40 clients with shoes, awesome! God's work. Our hands! denise FUNDRAISER REPORT! The 2019 Soup, Sand & Sun food pantry fundraiser was a huge success because of all the talented participation by our congregation and friends. So far, we have raised $4,000+ which will translate into food for those in need. Thank you for the unique item donations, delicious soups and wonderful baskets! Top soup winners were: Jenny & Scott Miller, Merritt Wichner and the team of Erin Zink, Carly Clem & Chris Zechman. Plan on attending next year: Saturday, February 8, 2020!

THANK YOU! Dear church family, Pastor Larry, and other friends & relatives, I want to thank you all so much for coming to my January 27, 90th birthday party. It meant so much to have you there and thanks for all the lovely cards and gifts. Also a special thank you to the Singing Shepherds. I really miss the choir and it meant a lot to have them there to sing, thanks Nancy. A special thanks to my Michigan relatives for coming and bringing all the lovely table service and to the many people who brought food. I can't say enough to Stephanie & Bob Antal and Stacey & Brad Malone and all others who made this all possible. It is a day that I will never forget. Love to you all, Betty Wilkins.

MARCH BIRTHDAYS 2 Brad Jarzab 4 Sharon Martt, Andy Rigsbee 6 Tim Bell 8 Bryson Malone 9 Shawn McCombs 10 Brad Malone 19 Chelby Dye 24 David King, Norma Shuirr 27 Dean Archambeau 29 Angela Barber

MARCH ANNIVERSARIES 2 Alma and David Rutherford 15 David & Teresa King 23 Laura and Shawn McCombs