Churches are usually as quiet as, well, church mice in the days surrounding the 4th of July.
But not here, and not this week.
Instead, the people of this church are in the midst of a wide array of ministries this week, and I suspect that most of you don’t even know it’s happening.
So here are the Top Five Things You Didn’t Know About Good Shepherd This Week.
1.In partnership with Charlotte Family Housing, church volunteers are serving as meal makers and overnight hosts for families working towards self-sufficiency. I have been most grateful to see that the team includes volunteers from both Moss Road and Zoar Road campuses.
2.Every week, our Children’s Ministry Department empowers residents from nearby Mother Teresa Village to play a role in inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ. These volunteers — all of them adults with special needs — come each Monday to our Moss Road campus to help sort, cut, paste, and position all the needed supplies for children’s ministry programming for the coming Sunday. It takes all people to invite all people . . . and Monday mornings around her demonstrate just that.
3. Twenty-five students and adult volunteers are currently in Guatemala City, Guatemala working with locals there on projects ranging from Vacation Bible School to home construction. And oh yeah: worship as well. Here they are in song:
You can follow the happenings with at #gsguat2016 or by following Devin Tharp on Facebook. You will be so proud of what God is doing in and through our students.
4. This coming Saturday, July 2, offers TWO outreach opportunities. You can either help serve lunch at the Charlotte Rescue Mission or provide companionship to & play Bingo with residents of the Mecklenburg Health Center on Sandy Porter Road. Just because it’s the 4th of July weekend doesn’t mean we squelch the impulse to serve. You can sign up for these projects here.
5. Construction crews doing site work on the “West” (Lake Wylie side) entrance to the church to make it both more expansive and inviting. Until that particular project is finished, those who park on that side of the church will enter through the (previously locked) nursery door. We will have both signage and directional volunteers in abundance.