Rally Week & Fall Worship!
Rally Week Recap!
Wow. That’s about all I need to say to sum up what an unbelievably wonderful Rally Week we had. Just, wow.
This congregation showed up, throughout the week at a wide variety of events. From Bingo and trivia to art projects to pizza, to Feed My Starving Children, and more. This place, these people, you all… showed up.
On Sunday, we gathered for Rally Day worship and programming kick-off together. We began our fall worship series: Pray without Ceasing, and we celebrated the retirement of our mortgage!
On Monday, we had an awesome group of folks join us for Bingo and Trivia in the Narthex. Our Rally Week Trivia was won by the team: “Kids” which included Lily Klabo, Natalie Etemad-Stahl, Herb Morgenthaler, Ralph Johnson, Kaija Klabo, Joe Stahl, and Tor Johnson. Make sure you stop by the coffee shop to see their team photo on the wall!
Tuesday, the Art Ladies hosted an Art Project night where they created prayer beads for our Fall Worship Series. On Sundays during worship, a prayer bead is added each week and these ladies and volunteers helped make this project happen!
On Wednesday, pizza, choirs, and High School Youth Group all started back up. It was wonderful to gather in this space with these groups of people once again. Although, how is it already fall? Didn’t we just have Easter worship last week?
Thursday we had 60 folks meet us at the Chanhassen Feed My Starving Children for an evening of packing meals! FMSC switched things up on us and we packed a different formula which was awesome! Our group packed 47 boxes in total!
On Friday we gathered in the parking lot with 50 folks from the church and a handful of families from the neighborhood for an outdoor movie on a 40-foot screen and watched A Bug’s Life! Popcorn, candy, lemonade, and silent disco headphones made for a great evening together.
Finally, on Saturday, a small but mighty group helped at our Property Work Morning - which due to the weather - was indoors! Windows were cleaned, the sanctuary was dusted, all the chairs were vacuumed, and the narthex is spotless! A huge thank you to these folks who dedicated their early Saturday morning to this place.
Rally Week is now behind us, and as it kicked off the programmatic year with a bang, the fellowship and time together during that week continue to happen throughout the year. Join us on Wednesdays for pizza, no you don’t have to be involved in the choir to come! Join us on Sundays for LifeLines Adult Bible Study in the Parlor. Join us at Sunday School with your kids and grandkids. Find a way to plug in throughout the year.
Written by Mara Halvorson, Marketing and Communications Specialist
Pray Without Ceasing
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16
This fall at Good Shepherd our worship theme is Pray without Ceasing. Each week we have been focusing on an aspect of prayer; such as praying for forgiveness or praying for our neighbors.
To remind us to pray daily, the art team has created a series of prayer beads which we receive each week in worship.
Our sanctuary is also decorated with these colorful beads. Seeing and holding these beads reminds us that God is with us always in prayer.
Our Prayers of the Day have been selected to immerse us in some of the great prayers of the church including, The Prayer of Good Courage, Martin Luther’s Morning Prayer, The Prayer of St. Francis, and The Lord’s Prayer. As we pray the prayers of the church we sing O Lord Hear My Prayer from the Taize community.
God has given us the wonderful gift of prayer to strengthen and sustain our faith. This fall, may you continue to pray without ceasing as we love and serve God together.
Written by Pastor Deb Bergstrand, Interim Executive Pastor