Food for the Flock: Fifth Sunday in Lent

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Announcements

LENT HUNGER APPEAL

Our recent Lent tradition for giving at All Shepherds has been a call to help those in need through donations to the ELCA Hunger Appeal. In Matthew 6:1-21, Jesus calls his disciples to the traditional practices of "alms-giving, prayer, and fasting." Each of these, in its own way, points to following Jesus through a life of compassion. If you would like to contribute to this important ministry of our church, use the Lenten coin folders you will be receiving in the mail, the Lenten Hunger Envelopes at church or by indicating the amount you wish to give in your weekly offering. However you decide to act, you can be sure hungry people in the USA and beyond our shores will be grateful for your generous help.

GIVING MINISTRY 30 SECOND SURVEY

If you have not done so already, please remember to take the 30-second survey from the Giving Ministry,

CASTING CALL FOR ALL SHEPHERDS MEMBERS

We are putting together a short welcome video for the All Shepherds website, and we need your help. If you are willing and able to record yourself and/or your family sharing a welcoming message to website visitors, we’d love to include you.
Here are some guidelines:

  1. Use your smartphone to record, being sure to hold it sideways to capture a wide shot.

  2. Try to record in natural light, outside or near a window.

  3. Record yourself saying the following:

    • “Welcome to All Shepherds. We can’t wait to meet you.”

    • "We are all shepherds going, loving, encouraging, nurturing, serving All people in Christ’s name."

    • Then, record a sentence or two about something you love about the church.

  4. SMILE!

When you’re finished, send the recording to communication@allshepherds.org. Don’t worry about making it perfect. We’ll take care of the editing! Wed like to have all submissions by Friday, March 19. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or send us an email. We can’t wait to see what you submit!

EASTER SUNDAY SIGN-UP

Click on this link to sign-up for Easter Sunday Services. The code is WXR6V3.

We will need a worship assistant and 2 Ushers for the 7 am service on Easter Sunday. Please sign-up if you are interested.

LIVING LUTHERAN MAGAZINE

Current and past issues are available. If you would like these recent issues sent to your home, please call or email the church office with your request. In the meantime, stay safe at home, and pray for the congregation and all affected by the virus.

 
 

Worship with us in person or online!

IN-PERSON

  • 8:00 and 9:30 Traditional Services with Holy Communion

  • 11:11 Contemporary Service with Holy Communion

ONLINE

Join us live on our YouTube channel at 9:30 or 11:11, or catch the replay anytime. Help spread the Gospel and share the Good News by liking, subscribing to, and sharing our YouTube channel.

ZOOM WORSHIP

Worshipping online but want a little more connectedness to other church members? Join our AWE-some Zoom Worship Group on Sunday mornings! Our Zoom Worship room is open every Sunday at 9:15 AM. This allows time for us to greet one another before worship and then reconnect to discuss the pastor’s sermon after worship. Occasionally the pastor will even stop by and discuss the message with us. You can leave when the service is over or stay for the discussion and social time. Try it out! We’d love to have you join us.

Scripture Readings this week: Psalm 84: 1-4, 10-12, Luke 18:31-19:10

MIDWEEK LENTEN SERVICE

Wednesdays February 24 - March 24, join us at 7:00 PM in person or online for our midweek Lenten prayer service, Holden Evening Prayer.

AT HOME COMMUNION

Communion is an important part of our faith. Blessed Communion kits are available for pick-up at the church throughout the week. Pastor Craig or Pastor Wendy are also available to bring Communion to you if you would like to schedule this time with them. To schedule communion or arrange delivery of communion kits, please contact the office at aslcoffice@allshepherds.org or 740-548-0115.

SIGN-UP TO BE A WORSHIP ASSISTANT OR USHER

Please consider serving as a Worship Assistant or Usher, please go to Sign Up Genius to reserve the dates and times you are available to assist. Please feel free to contact Robert Horbatt, rhorbatt@gmail.com, if you have any questions. Thank you to all our members who have served in the past and during these difficult times.

If you are interested, please click on the sign-up genius links below.

 
 

LEARNING:

LEARNING STRATEGIC TEAM: DREAM TO VISION PART 3

Moving from Dream to Vision
As we share the story of Children’s Sunday School, we pick up in the mid 2000’s. Jennifer Gross and Karen Manngard led the ministry for about five years while their children were in elementary and middle school. Karen reflected on their time in leadership, as well as the strategic planning process in 2014-2015. Here are some highlights she shared.

How did you get started? What motivated you to take on the role?

I started teaching when Nik was in Kindergarten. Jennifer and I worked in a classroom together. Then she invited me to be a leader with her. I wanted to be involved and give back to the program since my kids were involved. It was a new experience for me but nice to be working with Jennifer since we already had a relationship, her asking opened my mind to stepping into the role.

For the first year, Jennifer, Judy Lanzendorfer, Kristen Manivilovski, and I led together. We all had kids in the program and we worked well together as a team. Each of us had very specific roles that played to our strengths.

Jennifer and I led together for about 5 years. During this time, we had a robust group of teachers. There were so many children involved we sectioned off the big room so there was enough room for everyone. We incorporated activities beyond Sunday School, including social events such as game nights and larger congregational events. Rally Day became a party day to kick things off.

However, all these things also became our nemesis. We were stretched to manage all the add on activities and there was often insufficient help to organize everything, which led to burn out.

Were there any things that changed when Pastor Wendy and Pastor Craig came to ASLC?

They recognized the burn out that some were faced with and we moved towards a model of building up a team to work together. Through the strategic plan, we clearly delineated the lines of where things belong. There was support for those who were doing the work. It changed how we approached things. We looked at what was sustainable and how we could bring leaders into ministry so they would learn the ministry and then step into leadership for the future.

How did developing the strategic plan impact the Learning program at ASLC?

Pastor Craig and Pastor Wendy brought structure and defined responsibilities, helping people to define structure and support they needed to accomplish the ministry. This opened up opportunities to partner with other ministry areas.

Moving from Dream to Vision

Creating a larger vision for the congregation moved us from dream to vision in Children’s Sunday School. We started seeing this as Learning ministry. Bringing together the structure, and design, and the thought process of what was important and what fit within that ministry allowed everyone to see how things fit together and where we wanted to go with all our ministries.

All the good things we were doing collided with some societal changes, however. Many families struggle to worship regularly on Sunday mornings. Finding leaders to teach Sunday School on a weekly basis becomes a challenge. Much of the leadership and work falls back on Pastor Wendy. Dawn Shepard took on a huge role in supporting Pastor Wendy as a volunteer. When Dawn took the opportunity for a paid position using her seminary degree near her home, we knew we had to act.

Making the vision reality requires the focused attention of those gifted in working with children and youth. Next week we’ll share more about how we see the vision growing into reality in 2021.

CONFIRMATION

Will meet on Sunday, in-person 4-6pm and Zoom 7-9pm. *Reminder, parents please attend the Zoom session with your child, we will have a special guest speaker joining us to talk about the importance of being good stewards.

5th GRADE BIBLE CLASS

Will meet on Sunday, in-person from 1-2:15pm and on Thursday, March 25 on Zoom from 6-7pm.

VBS

Save the date, June 28-July 1. The theme is Discovery on Adventure Island: A quest for God's great light.

SUMMER CAMP AT LMC & CAMP LUTHER

Summer church camp is an amazing way to strengthen and deepen our faith. Elementary students are invited to attend the week of July 6-9 with one of our Pastors. Families of all ages are invited to attend family camp with the Pastors July 18-24. Our church sees this as such an important opportunity that we supplement costs. Check out LOMOcamps.org for more details and Pastor Wendy with any questions.

UPCOMING ZOOM CLASSES AT ASLC

Everyone is welcome to participate, contact your leader for Zoom codes.

  • Bible, Brothers & Brew with Pastor Craig: Friday mornings at 8:00 am

 
 

SERVING

LENT COMMUNITY SERVANT SHEPHERD PROJECT

Please remember all finished cards and snacks need to be at Church no later than March 24. We will then assemble these care boxes to be delivered the following week. Thank you so much for your service to show our appreciation to those who care for others in our community.

Cleaning Cabins at LMC

A group of ASLC members are planning to go up to Camp Luther on Sunday, March 28 and will meet at the camp at 2:00pm. If interested contact Pastor Wendy for more details.

 
 

GIVING

Your financial support is vital to strengthen and expand our congregation's ministries, you can mail offering checks to All Shepherds Lutheran Church, 6580 Columbus Pike, Lewis Center, Ohio 43035. You can also give electronically. To donate using a smartphone, search the Google Play Store of the Apple App Store for “ELCA Giving” and download the Tithe.ly app. To make a Tithe.ly contribution from our website, visit www.allshepherds.org/electronic-giving. You can designate the amount, select a specific operating fund and even set up a recurring donation so you don’t have to repeat it each week.

Thanks again for your courageous giving because of your courage and faithfulness our mission is being strengthened now!

ELECTRONIC GIVING

In 2020, All Shepherds received more than $81,000 in contributions using Tithe.ly. That is more than 20% of all 2020 contributions. Tithe.ly started as an alternative approach to giving, but during the pandemic, our members found it to be a very convenient and reliable method to financially support All Shepherds. We now receive more than twice the monthly contributions via Tithe.ly than before the pandemic. Thanks to all members of the congregation for your continued financial support of the All Shepherds ministries during 2020. For additional information on Tithe.ly please contact Becky Lickfelt.

GIVING QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.”
Luke 12:15

DONATING SECURITIES

In order to donate securities to All Shepherds, please directly contact our Huntington Financial Advisor to request a Transfer Request Form.