Pupusa dinner fundraiser for El Ocotillo scholarships

Make a reservation HERE for your family and friends! March 28th at 6:30 PM in the parish hall. Celebrate our 25 year relationship with the little village of El Ocotillo. Experience the cuisine of El Salvador! Dinner includes a variety of pupusas, red sauce, slaw, fried plantains, beverages, and desserts. No set cost. FREE WILL OFFERING is appreciated to support the scholarship fund for the children of El Ocotillo.

The Rev. Eleanor Applewhite Terry

2026-02-22 Gospel & Sermon, Rev Ellie Terry, Rector

Ash Wednesday Service 2/18/26

Rev. Ken Schmidt

2026 02 15 Gospel & Sermon, Rev. Ken Schmidt, Deacon

Rev. Eleanor Applewhite Terry

2026 01 25 Gospel & Sermon, Rev. Eleanor Applewhite Terry, Rector

Two ways to bring hope to a family

Are you feeling down about the state of the world? Here are two ways you can bring hope to a family.

Hundreds of social service agencies refer people who are recently homeless, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, low income, immigrants, victims of disaster, or are coping with illness or disability to Household Goods. Last year they furnished over 3000 homes including the home of our newest refugee family. Watch this video to see inside this amazing operation.

Join a team of Shepherds Jan. 24 or 28 12:45-4:00 doing a variety of tasks at Household Goods. Volunteers must be 14 years or older. Click here for the link to sign up.

Donate to our Linens and Lamps Drive. We are collecting towels, sheets and blankets in excellent condition and lamps with shades until January 28.

Rev. Eleanor Applewhite Terry

2026 01 11 Gospel & Sermon, Rev. Eleanor Applewhite Terry, Rector

2025 Mission Outreach Accomplishments

The Church of the Good Shepherd has had another wonderful year of showing what Faith in Action looks like.

Thank you to everyone who has supported our Mission Outreach programs this year. The list below is the outcome of all of your generous giving this fall.

Our 7-week food drive delivered 623 pounds of food to Loaves and Fishes and the Acton Food Pantry!

Along with other members of the partnership, we have supported our refugee families during particularly difficult months in several ways: providing Target gift cards so our new family could get needed furnishings and winter clothing. Together with First Parish of Stow and Acton we were able to give them cards worth $1000.

We purchased Market Basket cards to help our new family weather the halt in SNAP benefits while St. Anne’s in Lincoln did the same for the Rohingya households.

This week we delivered baskets of Christmas cheer to all three households, chock full of all kinds of fruits, homemade cookies and candy.

We far exceeded our goal to help finance the food that the mothers at Esperanza Academy prepare each year for their Christmas celebration. We will deliver these funds and the chocolate fountain to the school this week.

To finish out the year, the Fair Trade Craft Sale this Sunday and next will support scholarships for our Salvadoran students.

And every week during these months a contingent of devoted Shepherds has represented our community at the Burlington ICE protests no matter the weather.

We can proudly say our church has been busy doing good work!

We are full of gratitude for the many ways that you have all opened your hearts.

Fair trade craft sale

Beautiful, Unique, Affordable, Fair Trade Handmade Crafts on Sale

Sunday, Dec. 14, 11:00-3:30
Sunday, Dec. 21. 11:00-3:30

The purchase of these Fair Trade items benefit the artisans who made them – Mayan Hands collaborates with 15 artisan groups in the rural Guatemalan highlands, representing about 200 skilled craftswomen; UPAVIM’s member cooperative, located in a “Red Zone” of Guatemala City plagued by gang and violence, is comprised of more than 70 women working as seamstresses and making handicrafts.

Proceeds from the sale benefit a scholarship fund for students in the Church of the Good Shepherd sister community of El Ocotillo, a small village in the mountains of El Salvador – the sale does not benefit the church.

These Fair Trade items are affordable as they haven’t yet been subject to higher tariffs that are likely to be imposed due to changes to the CAFTA-DR regulations.

The lovely handmade creations reflect ancestral techniques, artisan craftswomanship, and heirloom quality in new, updated designs for the modern market. Come shop for exquisite:

• Baskets

• Ornaments

• Wooden crafts

• Ceramics

• Jewelry

• Textiles

• Scarves, Bags, Purses

• Children’s novelties

These items will be available for purchase at The Church of the Good Shepherd, 164 Newrown Rd., Acton, MA.

Download the flyer.

Food drive is a success

Thank you to everyone who contributed food, funds or time to the food drive. And thank you to the leaders of this drive for your incredible flexibility.

As the weeks of collecting food extended into a time of suspended SNAP benefits, we found out that the Acton Food Pantry was full and could not accept more goods until after Thanksgiving. How wonderful to hear that local communities had filled their shelves!

Loaves and Fishes, the food pantry at Devens, had lots of room and was able to take everything on Sunday as planned. It was 582.1 pounds of food - an amount that impressed the pantry staff!