The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

This week we are praying for:

Janell S.

Steve S.

Mel T.

Beth and Michael

Jolene S.

Amy L.

Georgie W.

Nancy J.

Karen

Charles O.

Join us on Sunday, September 7th for our annual GWOH event. The Service Committee will be hosting a service event to assemble personal care kits for Lutheran World Relief immediately after worship. The committee will provide many of the items and are looking for donations of soap (4 oz. bars – no Dove or Irish Spring, please) and toothbrushes (individually packaged are preferred) to add to the kits. Financial donations are also accepted.

The Sunday School children will also be doing a service project at the same time.

Sandwiches will be provided for anyone wishing to join. You are welcome to bring a side dish or dessert to share.

This day is an opportunity to celebrate who we are as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — one church, freed in Christ to serve and love our neighbor.

Service activities offer an opportunity for us to explore one of our most basic convictions as Lutherans: that all of life in Jesus Christ – every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life — flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. Help us to celebrate with Lutherans around the United States in giving back what God has first given us!

This week we are praying for:

Kaeden C.

Joan L.

The family and friends of Jim M.

The following message from the Congregation Council was shared during the announcements at our worship service on Sunday, August 10th. At our last congregation informational meeting on Sunday, July 13, 2025, we shared with the congregation that the sale of our property was progressing as expected and that we were actively investigating two very different options for where we would be moving in the near term: 1. Lease space from a local non-ELCA church and 2. Lease space from a commercial property.  Since that meeting, we have been approached by the Sampson Morris Group, the intended buyer of our property, to investigate a third option which would potentially allow us to preserve a portion of our existing church building by moving it to a portion of our existing land that they do not intend to use.  Most likely that would be in the parking lot area used by Golden Triangle, the contractor that is leasing space from us today.  We do not know if this is truly possible and it will take up to 6 months to get a thorough enough proposal/feasibility study from which to make an informed decision.  To facilitate the feasibility study, Sampson Morris Group, has sought an additional extension on the original due diligence period from 6 months to 12 months.  The feasibility study will be at Sampson Morris Group’s expense.

In simplest terms, what has changed is this:

Our original Due Diligence Period commenced on February 12, 2025, and expires on February 12, 2026. This has not changed. In the original agreement, the buyer had the option to request a 6-month extension to August 12, 2026. This did change. The buyer now has the right to opt for an extension of 1 year, expiring February 12, 2027.  The buyer must provide written notice to us on or before February 12, 2026 to enable the one-year extension.  This extension was agreed to so the buyer can investigate the church building move near the parking area now leased to Golden Triangle Construction Company. 

Here’s what this means for us and our plans for vacating the building:

• It is unlikely that we would be required to vacate the building before the feasibility study is completed – which could be up to six months from now.   Assuming no other changes, we would anticipate that the earliest date to vacate would be February/March 2026 as opposed to the original September 2025.  However, all dates are subject to change.
• We should be prepared to vacate in 2026  (specific date to be determined once we have more information) as vacating the building in any of the 3 scenarios must happen.
• We must actively continue a downsizing plan for our new space because in any scenario we will have less space in the future than we have today.

To be clear – the only thing that has changed in concrete terms is the timing of our move out and we’ve added a possible third option to where our new home may be.  We don’t know yet whether this new option will be viable, but we believed that we owed it to you, our congregation,  to consider it seriously while continuing to do the work of transition.

To that end, our Transition Work Stream Teams will need to carry on as outlined in the July meeting.  We have some volunteers for the teams and are seeking more.  The only thing that has changed is that the date when we must be out will be later than the “worst case scenario” of the original sales agreement with Sampson Morris.  It is still necessary but timing is uncertain.

Your Congregation Council continues to work to find the most effective alternative for our future.  We know that this will generate more questions – and while we may not have many new answers, we want to hear from you.   If you have questions, please submit them using the “Ask the Council” forms that are available in the Narthex or contact the office.  The Council and the Transition Team commit to informing you of any new developments.

This week we are praying for:

Laura P.

Dena G.

Heather

Tiffany R.

This week we are praying for:

Roddy S.

Barbara

Mark R.

Karen

Barbara S.

Family and friends of Dennis S.

Lorraine

Jim M.

We are excited to be joining some of our neighboring ELCA Lutheran churches for an outdoor worship service and picnic on Sunday, August 17, at 10:30 am at the Silver Beaver Pavilion at Boyce Park.  This worship service will replace our regular Sunday worship here at the Good Shepherd on that day.  The service will also be streamed on YouTube for those who prefer to participate remotely.

The picnic will be potluck style and everyone is invited to bring something to share.  Zion Penn Hills members will provide hamburgers and hot dogs.  You may also want to bring lawn chair(s) and drinks.

All are welcome for worship, food, fellowship and fun!!

This week we are praying for:

The family and friends of Brother Ed G.

The family and friends of Donna W.

The family and friends of Nicholas R.

Bess

Greg N.

Les

Mary K. W.

The victims of the flooding in Texas

Thank you to all of our members, friends and families who sat for their directory photos or submitted a photo on line! We are actively working to capture photos of all of our formal and informal groups and committees and hope to have that completed this summer. Our goal is to have all of the photos taken and ready for publication in September. If you have a group that would like to be represented and haven’t had their photo taken, please reach out to Pastor Bob. Also, we are still able to receive downloaded individual, couples or family photos for the directory. You can find the way to do that on our website.

Looking forward to completing our 2025 GSLC Photo Directory soon!