Good Shepherd Lutheran Church ECHO the love of Christ

We are a Christian community united in God’s call

to serve others by sharing the love of Christ.

A congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

JULY 2020

Grace and peace to you from our Gracious God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well I hope that everyone is getting through this pandemic okay. The world has changed, but it always does.

The next change you will see at Good Shepherd, sometime in the summer, is air conditioning in the fellowship hall. The ballots were received until the 19th of June and we waited for any stragglers which had them post marked by June 19. The count was 124 yeas and 14 nays. Mark, our council president will contacting Burdick to see when the installation can proceed. Unfortunately we won’t need it as much this year as both the fish fry and the rummage sale have been cancelled. Those were usually the hottest events we had in August. VBS has also been cancelled.

TGIF is looking a lot different this year than last because of the cancellation of all events at Camp Luther. We will have service events scheduled, but it won’t be a whole week. It will be individual events that we can use 2-5 people involved with at a time. Many of our homebound could use some help around their house and we can plan for a few of those also. There will be a community garden going in across the street that the kids can help to start and it would carry through each summer with newer kids coming up.

I am starting a book study. Kind of like a Bible study. The book is called Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith by Michael Yaconelli. Here is an excerpt:

A cow is nibbling on a tuft of grass in the middle of the field, moving from one tuft to the next, and before you know it he ends up at some grass next the the fence. Noticing a nice clump of green on the other side of the fence, the cow stumbles through an old tear in the fence and finds himself outside on the road. “Cows don’t intend to get lost,” the farmer explained, “they just nibble their way to lostness!”

If you would like to join our book study, please send and email to the church or to me (gslcpastor@gwcmail.net). We will be using Zoom in order to conference together. It is free and can be used on your computer, tablet, or phone.

Blessings of Peace in Christ’s name.

The Rev. Patrick J. Van De Motter

2

Good Shepherd Ministries All committees meet the second Tuesday of the month at 6:00 PM

(For more information about our church ministries please call the church office)

Evangelism Property Social Ministry Worship & Music Christian Education

· Community Outreach

· Promote Events · Maintain Website · Family Events · D-Day Parking · Back to School Rally · Support Other

Committees

· Maintain building and grounds

· Care for church rental properties

· Men’s Maintenance Ministry (3 M’s) is a group of men who meet every Tuesday at 9:00 am for social time and to work on the maintenance of the church.

· Support Other Committees

· Tree of Warmth · Cooks for Christ · Holy Communion

Home Visits · Card Ministry · BINGO at Ashtabula

County Home · Nisua Bakers · Turkey Box · Quilting · Funeral Ministry · Support Other

Committees

· Special Music · Ushers · Assisting Ministers · Altar Guild · Abiding Memorial · Pastoral Support · Acolytes · Greeters · Readers · Communion

Assistants · Support Other

Committees

Sunday School Classes 9:45 am

Preschool thru High School

September thru May

· Acolyte Training · First Holy

Communion · Confirmation · Vacation Bible

School · Youth Sunday · Mission Trips · Support Other

Committees

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 876 Grove Street

Conneaut, OH 44030 440-599-8908 / www.gslcc.org

Worship Times Sunday 8:30 Contemporary

Sunday 11:00 Traditional Holy Communion at all services

Office Hours Monday-Thursday – 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

Pastoral Staff Rev. Patrick Van De Motter, Pastor

gslcpastor@gwcmail.net

Office Staff Stephanie Patriarco, Administrative Assistant

Clarissa Murtha, Secretary/Financial Secretary

goodshepherd@gwcmail.net

A congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The deadline for ECHO articles is the 20th of every month. Articles/notices received after the 20th will be saved for the following month. Submissions can be emailed to Kelly Anthony at klanthony@gwcmail.net.

Contents

Section I – Monthly Features .................................... 1

Section II – Upcoming Events ................................... 6

Section III – Updates, News & Stories ....................... 9

Section IV – Schedules............................................ 14

3

Monthly Prayer Calendar July

To initiate a prayer on the prayer chain for someone CALL: Nancy Sackett (440-593-3673).

If you know of someone who is hospitalized, sick or needs a visit, please CALL the church office (440-599-8908) so that a visit can be arranged.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

Let us pray for countries that have experienced the COVID-19 Pandemic. This month, for those in The Americas.

1 For Antigua & Barbuda

2 For Argentina

3 For The Bahamas

4 ForThe United States

5 For Barbados

6 For Belize & Suriname

7 For Bolivia

8 For Brazil

9 For Canada

10 For Chile & Venezuela

11 For Colombia

12 For Costa Rica

13 For Cuba

14 For Dominica

15 For Dominican Republic

16 For Ecuador

17 For El Salvador

18 For Grenada

19 For Guatemala

20 For Guyana

21 For Haiti & Uruguay

22 For Honduras

23 For Jamaica

24 For Mexico

25 For Nicaragua

26 For Panama

27 For Paraguay

28 For Peru & Saint Lucia

29 For Saint Kitts & Nevis

30 For Trinidad & Tobago

31 For Saint Vincent & the Grenadines

4

JulyBirthdays

Janet Antila Addison Beagle Virginia Black Janice Borgner Jerry Brookhouser Rachelle Douglas Emilee Esposito

Anthony Gauvin Julie Kantola Mary Lou Moisio Adam Lytle Mike Malys Timothy Moga Mildred Niinisto

Ken Pew Payton Poff Amelia Sanford Grace Todaro Brandon Vidmar Aiden Vidmar Kenneth Woodring

GENERAL FUND BALANCE AS OF MAY 30, 2020 $ 18,333

MONTH OFFERING

INCOME YTD

INCOME

%ESTIMATE BUDGETED REVENUE

EXPENSE

YEAR TO DATE

% ESTIMATED OPERATING

COST

January $ 22,607 $ 22,607 140.0% $ 21,248 $ 21,248 102.4% February $ 13,816 $ 36,423 108.2% $ 14,981 $ 36,229 95.6%

March $ 14,413 $ 50,836 102.7% $ 18,347 $ 54,576 101.4% April $ 10,974 $ 61,810 92.2% $ 13,479 $ 68,055 98.4%

May $ 16,106 $ 77,916 94.0% $ 14,907 $ 82,962 95.7%

ATTENDANCE

5/31 13 6/7 35 6/14 33 6/21 40

TheBig Churchy Wordthis month is:

“Tongues (Speaking in)” An iftgay of the OlyhayIritspay that nobody can understand (see 1 Corin-thians 12:7-10 & 14:2).

On the first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came on the believers . . . and they started speaking in foreign languages that they had never studied, and they were understood by foreigners who couldn’t speak their language. Since then, during worship services, some Christians have been known to start speaking ecstatically in sounds that others don’t understand. If you have never spoken in tongues, don’t worry—the Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people. The most important gifts of the Spirit are faith, hope, and love (see 1 Corinthians 13).

Adapted from: Jacobson, R.A., Editor, {Crazy Talk}: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Theological Terms, p. 164, Augsburg Books, (2008), Minneapolis.

5

Memorial Candle

Our Recent Sponsors

Date In Honor/Memory of Given by

Bulletins:

June 21 Mackenzie’s 18th Birthday Aunt Peggy & Aunt Shirley

July 26 John Harco Harco 3

Flowers:

June 7 Wes & Susan Combs’ 16th Wedding Anniversary

June 14 In Memory of Loved Ones Judy & Family

July 12 Happy Birthday Kelsey Love Mom

Memorial Candle:

March Michael & Victoria Anthony Chuck & Kelly Anthony

April Gil Kuivila Chuck & Kelly Anthony

May Loved Ones Family

June My Kelsey Love, Mom

The following events and activities have been cancelled or postponed due to the current health crisis:

There will be no Vacation Bible School this year. There will be no Rummage Sale this year. All services and activities at our area nursing homes are cancelled until further notice. Quilting is cancelled until further notice. Any of the girls can come in and take material to

work on in their homes. 3Ms is cancelled until further notice. Choir practice to be determined week by week.

6

UPCOMING EVENTS

There will be a Blessing of the Bikes on

Sunday, July 5th, at the 8:30 Outdoor Service on the church’s front lawn.

(This is for bicycles as well as motorcycles.)

The Youth will be holding a sub sale on July 18. The cost is $5.00 per sub, with the proceeds benefitting the Youth Mission Fund for the upcoming Youth Gathering next year as well other youth events throughout the year. So beat the heat and order your sub by the July 10 deadline! Pick up will be on July 18.

To order, please contact the church office at 599-8908; Michelle Logan, 265-8727; or Stephanie, 813-0045.

Our youth are reaching out to the congregation hoping there might be interest in having a round robin of yard/rummage sales on a selected weekend in August. We are looking to have it the same time that the church has held the annual rummage sale in the past, which had to be cancelled this year.

The church would place an ad listing the different sites throughout the community. Tables are available at the church for participating families to use. Each household would then donate all or part of their proceeds from their sale to the youth mission fund.

Please contact Michelle (265-8727) or Stephanie (813-0045) if you are interested in participating.

Attention Parents!

Parent volunteers are needed to organize car wash events in July & August to help our youth reach their fundraising goals. Please contact the office if you can coordinate one of these events.

Please see the Evangelism Committee update on pg. 12 for information about more upcoming events and ways you can help!

Youth Sub Sale! July 18

7

BLOOD DRIVE

Wednesday, July 22, 1 — 6 p.m. in Fellowship Hall

Contact Stephanie for more information

(440) 599-8908

Important Update

Communities across the country count on the American Red Cross for help every day - and supporting those communities is at the heart of what we do. We are pleased to share that as of June 15, all blood, platelet and plasma donations will be tested for COVID-19 antibodies. As an organization dedicated to helping others, we are fortunate to be able to step up to help during this pandemic by offering this service at upcoming blood drives.

Here's what you need to know about the COVID-19 Antibody testing:

The COVID-19 antibody test used by the Red Cross is authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and may indicate if the donor's immune system has produced antibodies to the coronavirus, regardless of whether they developed symptoms.

The Red Cross is not testing to diagnose an illness, referred to as a diagnostic test. Individuals who believe they may be ill with COVID-19 should not present to donate until they are symptom free for 28 days.

The blood donation process will not change - donations will be tested using samples obtained at the time of donation. There will be no charge to donors.

Due to the anticipated high demand, appointments are highly encouraged. Donors can expect to receive the results of their antibody test within 7 to 10 days of their

donation through the Blood Donor App or donor portal at RedCrossBlood.org.

Donors need to have a successful donation to receive the COVID-19 antibody test results. Per standard donation procedure, only successful donations are sent to our laboratory for testing.

COVID-19 INFO:Donating blood products is essential to community health and eligible donors are encouraged to donate during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Red Cross follows the highest standards of safety and infection control, and volunteer donors are the only source of blood for those in need.

For the safety of our donor community and in accordance with CDC guidelines, all donors are required to wear a face covering or mask. Please bring one to your donation. If you do not have one, a mask will be provided to you.

Thanks for your ongoing support of patients in need.

8

Donations are requested for a Feed Our Vets program offered the last Saturday of each month. This site is visited by an average of 90-150 veterans who stop in for a variety of items. They are in need of everything and are VERY grateful. However, below is a list of suggested items to donate, which can be placed in the barrel in the gathering space.

paper products—toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex, etc. hygiene items—soap, shampoo, deodorant, hand soap canned goods of any sort—soups, fruit, vegetables peanut butter, jelly, pancake mix, syrup, condiments

cake mixes, brownie mixes, frosting, jello, pudding & any pasta items

Mission Sunday July 12

The Food Pantry item for July is toothbrushes. Please place your donation on the altar.

Thank you!

Turkey Box Please look for the Turkey Box in the gathering space and drop in your spare change and bills. Money is collected year-round then used for our Thanksgiving and Christmas families.

Thank you!

Please continue to save your box tops for Conneaut Schools. Watch for them on grocery items you purchase. You’ll find a collection box in the gathering space.

9

News & Updates

Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible Amazon Smile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice.

AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products,same prices, same service.

Support your charitable organization by starting your shoppingat smile.amazon.com

We are shopping online for home delivery more than ever right now!

Recently, we received an email from AmazonSmile letting us know of our current donation:

“Good Shepherd Lutheran Church has been issued a $10.68 donation from the AmazonSmile Foundation as a result of AmazonSmile program activity between January 1 and March 31, 2020.”

In continuation, “You can increase donations for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church by reminding your supporters to do their shopping at smile.amazon.com.”

10

!

The 2020 flower gardens are 99% complete and appear to be growing quite well, in spite of the heat and dry conditions we have had lately. A few plants here and there need to be replaced, but other than that, I am very pleased with the outcome. And it is only going to get better and better each day for the next couple of months. I am so appreciative of the help I had this year. First, and foremost, I thank the ever-faithful Janelle Cole. I have lost track of the number of years she has worked side-by-side with me but there she was again this year. Whenever I asked, “Are you available at 9:00 tomorrow morning?” she would be there. I haven’t ever counted the number of plants we put in the ground but I know it is in the hundreds and Janelle was there until the last one went in. This spring we had two new helpers, Tammy and Madeline Owens. They were a great help with fertilizing and mulching the plants. Mulching is very important because it helps retain moisture in the soil where it is needed and the mulch also makes the colors of the plants ‘pop’ with intensity. We sure got the job done a lot faster with their help and it was good fellowship, too. Thank you to Janelle, Tammy, and Madeline!! It never ceases to amaze me what God can do with a brown seed and dark brown, almost black soil. What emerges from that soil is lush green leaves and vibrant reds, pinks, yellows, oranges, whites, and blues. I love it and I hope you do also. I thank God for providing us with such beauty and for blessing our work to glorify Him. May God’s peace be with you, Mark Lytle

11

A Message from the President

Proposed Air Conditioning Vote Voting for or against the proposed A/C in Fellowship Hall and the kitchen ended Friday June 19th but we need to allow a couple of extra days for mail delivery before we can ‘officially’ announce the outcome. Having said that, the running totals in the last week were 118 for and 11 against. I am writing this on June 21st so I don’t know the final count at this time but it is highly unlikely for the ‘Yes’ votes to be overcome by a surge of ‘No’ votes. Burdick Plumbing and Heating will install a ductless A/C system and it will be paid entirely by the Capital Improvement Endowment Fund. At this time there is no estimated completion date.

The vote by mail instead of calling for an in-person meeting was done because of the COVID 19 virus pandemic. To the best of my recollection this method resulted in a much higher total number of votes than we have received in past congregational meetings and, therefore, perhaps resulted in a more accurate representation of our voting members. Thank you for participating in this important decision.

Live Worship Services On May 31st, Pentecost Sunday, we re-opened Good Shepherd to live, yet modified, worship services at 8:30 and 10:15. That first Sunday we had 8 worshipers at each service. It has grown little by little each week. Today, June 21st, we had 27 at the early outside service and 13 at the indoor service. Outside there is sunshine, fresh air, a beautiful setting, plenty of room for safe distancing, and more importantly, live music from Jim Fuller and drummer, Tim Montagano. Inside at 10:15 there is also plenty of room and traditional music from organist, Bobbi Boles. It is great to see so many familiar faces and to share the gospel with each other. We are following a safety protocol so I hope that you, too, will join us each and every week.

Strong Financial Support At the outset of the COVID shutdown I was fearful of how it would affect the offerings at Good Shepherd. With the doors closed I thought our offerings would drop off to near zero. I am happy to report that offerings through May have been stronger than expected with our members largely keeping up with their pledges by mail, office visits, and now through re-opened services. May was our second best month of the year. On top of that, some of our expenses have been lower than predicted. All in all we are in fairly good shape financially. Thank you for your faithful support!

Food Pantry Garden Jim Fuller asked council’s permission to break ground for a Food Pantry vegetable garden next to the west parking lot. Council, of course, approved the idea. Jim’s plan is to start with a garden approximately 20’ x 30’ to be maintained by himself, Good Shepherd youth, and any other volunteers. He spoke with Renee Roach of the Conneaut Food Pantry and was told, yes, the Food Pantry will accept fresh produce. This first year may be limited in the variety of vegetables to be grown due to the fact we are well into the growing season, but it is a noble beginning to help provide quality food for so many that are in desperate need. Thank you, Jim, for taking the Gospel to heart and spearheading this project.

Peace be with you,

Mark Lytle

Council President

12

Committee News

Evangelism

In addition to the sub sale, the youth are looking for other creative ways to fundraise in a safe and mindful way during this pandemic. They are reaching out to the congregation hoping there might be interest in having a round robin of yard/rummage sales on a selected weekend in August. We are looking to have it the same time that the church has held the annual rummage sale in the past, which had to be cancelled this year. The church would place an ad listing the different sites throughout the community. Tables are available at the church for participating families to use. Each household would then donate all or part of their proceeds from their sale to the youth mission fund. Please contact Michelle (265-8727) or Stephanie (813-0045) if you are interested in participating.

We are also in need of parents of our youth who would be willing to organize a car wash in the months of July and August.

Keep an eye out for other events TBD: September – Meat Loaf Dinner To Go October – Chili or Soup Cook Off November – Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Sales (in time for the holidays)

Readers are needed for both services.Please contact the office if you are able to serve.

Serving Christ,

Michelle Logan

Chair, Evangelism

Social Ministry/ Worship & Music

ONE STEP CENTER CLOSING On July 1

st, 2020, One Step Center will be officially

closed. Although One Step has not been in session since

the COVID-19 quarantine, the Board members continued

to explore ways to keep their doors open to the middle

and high school students in the Conneaut area. In January

and February, the program was growing and Board

members were trying to figure out how to expand their

space; as well as searching for dedicated volunteers to

help expand the program in the Fall of 2020. After many

hours of discussions and meetings with other 501c3

organizations the decision was made to close One Step.

The Board members would like to thank Good Shepherd

for supporting One Step. If you cooked, cleaned, painted,

repaired a building, worked with the students –THANK

YOU!

13

14

July 2020

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1

2

3 OFFICE CLOSED

4

5 Bike Blessing 8:30 Service 10:15 Service

6

7

8

9

10

Deadline for Sub sale OFFICE CLOSED

11

12 8:30 Service 10:15 Service

13

14 6:00 Committees

15

16 5:45 Finance

17 OFFICE CLOSED

18 Sub Sale

19 8:30 Service 10:15 Service

20 Echo Articles Due

21 6:00 Council

22

1:00 Blood Drive

23

24

OFFICE CLOSED

25

26 8:30 Service 10:15 Service

27 28

29

30 31

OFFICE CLOSED

Food Pantry Item for July

Toothbrushes

15

Lord, we are your servants . . . (Currently only readers are being scheduled.)

DATE/ TIME

ASSISTING MINISTER

COMMUNION ASSISTANT USHERS GREETERS READER HOSPITALITY ACOLTYES PROJECTION

7/5/2020 8:30

Shirley Harco

11:00 Taylor Racut

7/12/2020 8:30

Jasmine Steighner

11:00 Nickolas Mason

7/19/2020 8:30

Richard Tulino

11:00 Stacy Racut

7/26/2020 8:30

Tim Moga

11:00 Mark Lytle

8/2/2020 8:30

Mary Vidmar

11:00 Paul Mechling

JULY ALTAR GUILD: Susan Tan, Amanda Sanford, Ruth Brown, Susan Combs

AUGUST ALTAR GUILD: Ruth Brown, Janelle Cole, Susan Combs

16