Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Our doors to our building may be closed for the safety of everyone but worship continues. Pastor Wes leads us in a video service of word and prayer from our homes. The video can be watched anytime you and your household is ready to worship and pray.
Follow along in your Bible or go to biblegateway.com to read along with the following passages:
First Reading – 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Second Reading – Ephesians 5:8-14
Gospel of John 9:1-41
Life as we know it is changing around us. For now we cannot meet in person to worship but we can worship in our homes. At 8:00am tomorrow a video service of word and prayer will be available at goodsheperdwb.org. Log in anytime to view the service lead by Pastor Wes. The service will be able to be viewed on any device you have. Have your Bible ready or go to biblegateway.com to follow along with the readings that will be listed with video.
In accordance with CDC recommendations as the Covid-19 virus emergency evolves we are canceling all church services and church related activities through April 4th. At this time we are planning to resume services on Palm Sunday, April 5th. Easter services will be held according to schedule on April 12th but we will not be serving Easter Breakfast.
We are currently researching options to post an abbreviated video service online. Check back for more updates later this week.
The church office will also be closed during this time however messages can be left at the church if anyone needs pastoral care. Messages will be checked regularly.
Other groups using Good Shepherd Facilities may or may not continue to meet. Please check with your organization’s leaders for updates on non-church related activities.
As always we should to continue to uphold one another, our extended communities, and the world in prayer. Even alone in our homes, we aren’t helpless. Keep praying for all those affected. God is always with us.
Posted on behalf of Pastor Wes Poole and Guy French
The results are in from Good Shepherd’s Youth Souper Bowl collection and the red team pot (neutral) wins. The total raised for Meals on Wheels is $186.75. There were also 82 food items collected for the CEO Weinberg Food Bank.
Three pots were available for donations, one for each team playing in the Super Bowl, plus a pot labeled “The Red Team” for those who could not decide which team they wanted to win.
The donations in each pot were:
$92.00 “Red Team” (Neutral)
$76.51 Chiefs
$18.24 49ers
Thank you to everyone for your support to tackle hunger.
If you missed donating cash or food items we will still be collecting next Sunday. Simply put cash donations in a green envelope marked “souper bowl” or send donations to the church office. The box for food items will still be in the narthex for donations next week.
Good Shepherd welcomes Patrick Wesley Poole to serve as our
congregation’s pastor. We look forward to having Pastor Wes as part of Good Shepherd’s ministry. The gifts he brings will allow Good Shepherd to continue proclaiming the love of Christ through partnership with the members of Good Shepherd.
Pastor Wes received his Master of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia South Carolina. He also has a Bachelor of Arts in Music/Vocal Performance from Newberry College, Newberry South Carolina. He has served in churches in Florida, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and New York. He also has taught at Wyoming Seminary Preparatory School and Marywood University. He is a member of the Arcadia Chorale Group where he also does chorus and solo work.
Pastor Wes and his family reside in Kingston. He enjoys cooking, science fiction, and collecting guitars.
Families created a unique Advent calendar during the Advent workshop on December 1st. The calendar will help families count down the days until Jesus’ birth. The craft included a painted cookie sheet with Christmas wrapped matchboxes. There was a matchbook for day of Advent that can hold. A piece of candy or a Bible verse. Tins were also decorated with ribbons and bells.
See more photos at https://adobe.ly/2sAqEYm
Good Shepherd needs volunteers to assist with sexton duties while we are without a sexton.Please call the church office at (570) 824-2991 and leave a message if you are able to help with any of the following tasks. Help is appreciated even if you can help with just one of these tasks.
InsNide Tasks needed:
Outside Tasks needed:
If you know of anyone interested in working part time as a church sexton or secretary please contact Brooke Yeager or leave a message at the church office.
Children learned about creation and how God wants us to care for it during our Creation Celebration today. The event kicked off our Faith Journey program for 2019/2020.
The event started with a puppet show to introduce the creation story from Genesis. Children then made a “sea in a bottle with used water bottles teaching them how we can care for creation by reusing and recycling old things. They also participated in a game of creation bingo to help reinforce the creations story. The kick off ended with snacks related to the theme of the day.
Faith Journey will continue Sundays at 9:45am as children continue to learn more about creation and other Bible stories from Genesis.
The Adult Forum is doing a study on the Gospel of John. The study discusses how people misunderstood Jesus during his earthly life, and how we struggle to fully understand him today.
The forum meets Sunday mornings at 9:45am in the conference room and is open to adults of all ages. Parents and Grandparents, bring the children to our Faith Journey program and stay to build you own faith.
Good Shepherd has been collecting duffle bags, clothing, toiletries and other needed items for Valley Youth House since May. This month we delivered items collected to the shelter. The youth were excited and loved the duffle bags. They were picking favorites as they helped carry them into the house. You could tell how much they appreciated that someone cared enough about them. WE were just in time with the toiletries as they had just run out of supplies that day.
My wife Eileen, along with my daughters Amanda and Caela delivered the items. We also prepared lunch and spent an afternoon getting to know the youth currently at the shelter. During lunch preparation we had the opportunity to help some of the teens learn new cooking skills. Throughout our visit we learned about their hopes and dreams. These children left lasting impressions on us. It was a privilege and a blessing to be able to deliver these items and spend time with them.
The need for the items collected is ongoing. We will continue collecting items and make additional deliveries. Click here to view the list of items needed. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far.