The Rev. Eleanor Terry, Rector

2025-01-26 Gospel & Sermon, Rev. Eleanor Terry

Good Shepherd at Household Goods

In the middle of January, two teams from Good Shepherd, totaling 20 people, brought lots of energy to a variety of tasks at Household Goods. Over two afternoons they created family-size dish sets, sorted bins of donated linens, cleaned rugs and assembled dining tables. Our teams were amazed at the logistics and organization required to have enough goods in ready-to-go condition to completely furnish apartments for 104 households a week! This is something we will definitely do again! But, in the meantime, the next time you clean out your home or the home of a loved one, please bring your furnishings to Household Goods in Acton to help a family. They especially need lamps and twin sheet sets today. And, if you are looking for a regular volunteer commitment, they will put you to good work!

Two teams of shepherds recently volunteered their time and talents at Household Goods.

Rev. Ken Schmidt

January 19, 2025 Gospel & Sermon Rev. Ken Schmidt, Deacon Emeritus

Rev. Eleanor Terry, Rector

25-01-12 Gospel & Sermon, Rev. Eleanor Terry, Rector

Epiphany Lessons & Carols

Feast of the Epiphany - Lessons & Carols, January 5, 2025

The handbell choir rings again

Pastoral Associate of Music and Liturgy, Ellen Oak, led six members of the Good Shepherd community in a beautiful handbell performance this Christmas season. The merry crew of amateur musicians learned and played four festive pieces. You can watch their moving rendition of Carol of the Bells in the video below.

Members of Good Shepherd play Carol of the Bells.

The history of handbells at Good Shepherd

In October 2007 parishioners at Church of the Good Shepherd raised enough money to purchase a 3-octave set of high-quality English handbells. Jay Lane, our music director at the time, also purchased several other items helpful for handbell choirs: stand-up music folders; music stands with space underneath to lay bells down; additional sheet music arranged for handbells. The new handbells made their debut at the Lessons & Carols service in December 2007, adding their lovely sweet sound to an already special service.

Over the years, we have assembled both adult and youth handbell choirs to provide special music at select services. Early handbell enthusiast Ronnie Diesl created several protective foam pads and decorative cover slips to use with our folding tables. Bells are an easy and fun way to participate in our music ministry. All the skills you need are the ability to count to 4, and to tell your left hand from your right.

If you’d like to get involved in making music at Good Shepherd, please contact us.

Rev. Ken Schmidt

2024-12-29 Gospel & Sermon, Rev Ken Schmidt

The Rev. Eleanor A. Terry

2024-12-24 Gospel and Sermon, Rev. Eleanor Terry, Rector

The Rev. Eleanor Terry

2024-12-22 Gospel & Sermon, Rev. Eleanor Terry, Rector

The Rev. Ken Schmidt

Advent 3, Gospel & Sermon, Rev. Ken Schmidt