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Announcements

The SWPA Synod thanks you for your partnership

From our partners at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA:

This year, as we have had to transform our worship, our gatherings, our understanding of church, the one thing that congregations continued to do exceedingly well was minister to one another and to the communities around them.

Your gifts to your congregation, to partner ministries, and to Mission Support have saved and improved lives across the globe.

Pass On the Gratitude
All the blessings we’ve shared happen because we each commit to participating in the Church’s call together. Please share the heartfelt thanks of all within our synod with your congregation, council, and lay leaders for their contributions to Mission Support.

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Announcements

Angel Tree

We are still planning to have the Angel Tree! We have 25 names this year. In communicating with the Director of The Northside Common Ministry, the suggestion was made to provide gift cards this year. Target, Amazon, and Dollar General are all stores accessible by most families in the program. If you wish to donate money, the Service Committee will purchase the gift card for you. If you are donating money, bring the donation to the church in an envelope labeled Service Committee/Angel Tree. You can come to the church to select a name from the tree or call the church office, 412-372-2934, to get a name. Please have your donation to the church by Sunday, December 6. The church will be open on Sunday, November 22 from 11am to 1pm, Monday, November 23 from 10am to 2:30pm and 5pm to 7pm, and Tuesday, November 24 from 10am to 2:30pm for drop-off of your donation or pick-up of a name from the Angel Tree. Again, we Thank You!

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Announcements

Order your Christmas flowers online

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Announcements COVID-19

In-person events suspended

In keeping with our COVID-19 policy, in person events at The Good Shepherd have been suspended as of Friday, November 13, due to a surge in cases in Allegheny County.

We will continue to offer worship online each Sunday at 10:30. It’s easy to join us!

Please visit our COVID-19 Information Center for more information and current status updates.

Remember that we are the Church together – nothing can separate us from Christ’s love for us, the love that makes us family. Stay safe out there!

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News

Synod Assembly this Saturday

The 2020 SWPA Synod Assembly will be held online this Saturday, November 14. Please pray for us as we elect leaders, debate the budget, hear from our staff and partners, and more.

Your voting members are:

  • Cathy Holm
  • Leigh Pogue
  • Gretchen Weisner
  • Pastor Bob

In addition, Pastor Bob is the chair of the Assembly Planning Committee, and the manager of the online event. He’d appreciate your prayers for a smooth meeting with no glitches!

You can watch the Assembly live beginning at 9:00 on the SWPA Synod Facebook page.

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News

Join us for an all-synod Sunday worship!

On Sunday, November 15, the Good Shepherd will join congregations from around our synod in a special online worship service honoring the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women in the Lutheran churches of America. The service will be led by women clergy of our synod, and Bishop Kusserow will preach. The service is offered as a way to bring our congregations together on the day after our Synod Assembly.

You can join the service in a several ways:

In Person

We’ll be showing the service in the sanctuary for anyone who wants to join us in person. We’ll also be premiering a performance by the Virtual Choir of “O Christ the Same” (to the tune of Londonderry Air, more commonly known as “Danny Boy.”)

On Our Livestream

We’ll be livestreaming the synod’s service and our Virtual Choir in all of the normal ways.

On the Synod’s YouTube Channel

Pastor Bob is taking a well-earned Sunday of vacation time, after chairing the Synod Assembly planning committee. Our council will be taking over the tech responsibilities in his place.

We think it’ll go just fine, but if something goes wrong, you can always watch the synod’s service live at 10:30 on their YouTube channel. It’ll work no matter what technical difficulties we might encounter on our end.

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Announcements

Harvest Sunday 2020

Reminder- Sunday, November 22 is Harvest Sunday. Since there is no in-house worship, please bring your donations to the church. If you have a key to the church, you can bring your donations anytime. The church will be open on Sunday, November 22 from 11am to 1pm, Monday, November 23 from 10am to 2:30pm and 5pm to 7pm and Tuesday, November 24 from 10am to 2:30pm. The food collected for Harvest Sunday will be donated to local food banks. Let’s take a big bite out of hunger, one mouth at a time!

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COVID-19

Free COVID-19 Testing

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) is reminding residents of a series of free COVID-19 testing events that will take place in the parking lots of faith-based organizations over the next few weeks.

The Allegheny County Health Department along with the Allegheny Health Network, Cornerstone Care Community Health Center, Metro Community Health Center, Northside Christian Health Center, Primary Care Health Services, Inc., Sto-Rox Family Health Center and 21 congregations representing both the Faith Based Health Collaborative of Pittsburgh, and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Churches of God in Christ have joined together with the Pennsylvania Department of Health for this program.

More information about the faith-based COVID-19 testing is available here: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Faith-Based-Testing.aspx.

The tests are free. Prescriptions or referrals are not needed. Insurance is not needed, but those with insurance should bring their information for tracking purposes only. Pre-registration is not required.

Testing events will occur outdoors where participants may drive through or walk up. On average, the turnaround time to receive results will be two to three days after testing.

Testing will occur at the following sites this week and next:

Wednesday, October 21
Petra International Ministries
235 Eastgate Drive, Pittsburgh, PA, 15235
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Thursday, October 22
The Hill House Family Health Center with Calvary Baptist Church
2629 Wylie Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15219
11:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Mount Ararat Church
271 Paulson Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Monday, October 26
Jerusalem Baptist Church
12 S. 5th St, Duquesne, PA, 15110
12:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Hilltop Community Health Center with St. Paul AME Church
151 Ruth Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15211
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Wednesday, October 28
Mt. Olive First Baptist Church
451 Park Ave., Clairton, PA, 15025
12:00 PM to 3:30 PM

Thursday, October 29
Pentecostal Temple Church of God In Christ
6300 E Liberty Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA, 15207
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

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Announcements

Service Committee News

The Service Committee would like to thank everyone that contributed to the making of the Personal Care Kits.  We made 48 kits for Lutheran World Relief and were able to donate toward the shipping cost of the kits.  Thanks to Mary Jo Batley, Jeanne Lewis and Mary Duggan for assembling the kits and to Harry McCollum for taking them to Zelienople to the in-gathering church.

The Service Committee will once again be sponsoring the Angel Tree for holiday gifts to those in need.  We have requested 25 names. We are not sure how the sign up will go, (to maintain social distancing), but we will work something out.

We will also try to do something for our home bound members for the holidays.

Men’s Shelter Meal – we continue to provide a monthly meal. To help you can call the church office to add your name to the list of items needed, or, place a green envelope marked “Shelter Meal” in the offering. We just confirmed with the Pleasant Valley Men’s Shelter our commitment for 2021. Your support of this is also appreciated!

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Announcements

Nathan Mauser Thanks You

I just wanted to thank everyone that helped make my Eagle Scout Project successful and for allowing me to complete it at the church. Thanks to everyone in the congregation that made donations and also to Thrivent Financial for their generous contribution. I am happy that the project was finished just in time for the Sunday worship services to begin at the Gazebo. It definitely made all of the work worthwhile. Thanks again!

Nathan Mauser