Services

Worship is an integral part of life at Good Shepherd. We are committed to growing spiritually by gathering each week for prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, and through lifelong learning. Whether it takes place virtually (livestream or recorded) or in-person, worship remains central to Good Shepherd's community.

Our worship services give us an opportunity to sing praises to God, strengthen our bonds of friendship with one another, express our concerns for our friends, families, community, and the world through prayer, listening to God’s word and meditating on it. During worship, God comes to us through his gifts of Word and Sacrament. 

GSLC has upgraded the worship experience to allow for an immersive experience by upgrading the audio and visual components in the Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall. High resolution projectors allow for just-in-time delivery of all sermon elements, to include all liturgy and songs, via our service slides. In addition, the sound system has been upgraded to a include state of the art six-speaker system with control panel and microphone upgrades. For those with hearing concerns an additional hearing assistance tool has also been added.

What a joy to come before God with our songs of praise and our prayer. Come experience that joy with us.

Traditional Worship

Traditional Worship

The traditional worship services take place each week in our beautiful sanctuary, surrounded by stained glass windows that show God's story of salvation. These services are organ-led with hymns and liturgy from the Lutheran Service Book.  The liturgy includes invocation, confession and absolution, hymns of praise, reading of the Word, the sermon, professing the Creed, prayer of the Church, celebrating Communion, and the benediction. We have traditional, organ-led services in the sanctuary at our 8:00 a.m. each week and also at 11:00 on the first, third, and fifth Sundays of the month. Holy Communion is celebrated at both services on the first, third, and fifth Sundays of the month.  Come join us in song, prayer, and thanksgiving to our Lord!

PRAISE/Contemporary Worship

PRAISE/Contemporary

The PRAISE/Contemporary service is a more informal and 'come as you are' type of worship. This service takes place on the second and fourth Sundays of the month at 11:00 a.m., in our Fellowship Hall. These services are led by our talented Praise Band who sing contemporary songs of praise.  The service includes several songs, a call to worship, sharing of God's peace, confession and forgiveness, readings from God's Word, a message, and prayers of God's people. Holy Communion is celebrated every fourth Sunday. We look forward to praising and worshipping the Lord together with you!

Virtual (Livestream) Worship

Virtual Worship

Each week we will provide a livestream of our applicable service, which is currently our 11:00 a.m. service. This service will be recorded in order to provide virtual worship capabilities, for those unable to attend in person, on our Facebook, Vimeo, and YouTube channels. You can find links to join the livestream on our Livestream Worship page, where you'll also find the worship bulletin, a PDF of the Praise Song, the latest News & Announcements document, information about Sunday School and Adult Ed opportunities (when offered), and more. The sermon is available on major streaming platforms by Sunday afternoon, and you can find some previous audio files in the Sermons & Devotions section of our website.

Worship Schedule

Good Shepherd offers 2 services every Sunday, at 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. This normal worship schedule runs from Sunday, September 1 (Labor Day weekend) to Sunday, May 26 (Memorial Day weekend), at which point we change to our summer schedule.

Please check back here for updates to the Seasonal Worship Schedule.

 

Holy Communion

We believe that Christ is truly present in the bread and wine, according to His Word: “This is My Body . . . this is My blood” (Matthew 26:26-27), and that in this sacrament our Lord gives us forgiveness of our sins, unity with God, and strength for a life of service.

We invite all baptized Christians who have made their First Communion, examined themselves, discern the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament for the forgiveness of their sins, and sincerely seek to amend their lives to join us at His Table.

Good Shepherd uses a “communion at the rail” distribution procedure. Check out the video, by our God Shepherd youth, for details. 

During communion at the rail:

  • Groups of about 10 people kneel “at the rails” on the left and right sides of the chancel (the raised area with the altar and the pulpit) to receive communion together.
  • Ushers direct people when to walk toward the front of the sanctuary and when to join a group kneeling at the rail.
  • Because there are two “rails,” two groups receive communion at about the same time.
  • Each group continues to kneel until all in that group have received the bread and the wine and the communion assistant has spoken a blessing that concludes with the words “Depart in peace.”
  • After a group has received this blessing, they arise together and return to their pews, depositing their empty cups in a bowl on a stand.
  • Another group of about 10 people then kneels at the rail and receives communion as a group.
  • This is repeated until all worshippers have communed.
  • Children who have not received their first communion are welcome to come to the communion rail with their family to receive a blessing.
  • If you see someone who is tentative about this procedure, please offer to help them out.

Flower Sponsorships for Worship Services

Flowers beautify our worship spaces and help us glorify God. You can help support the purchase of floral arrangements, plants, and greenery that are placed in our worship spaces by donating to the Flower Fund. You may give any amount to the fund, or you may choose to give $50 for an arrangement to commemorate a special event, anniversary, birthday, or other life event on a particular Sunday or Sundays.

Fill out the form below to sponsor flowers on Sundays or to pay for poinsettias for Advent and Christmas.

Pay either by check or through our online giving portal. Details are on the form.

Flower Sponsorship

 

I wish to sponsor flowers:

Payment Options

You may pay by check or online.

Make checks payable to GSLC and indicate on the Memo line if you are giving to the Flower Fund for a specific Sunday. Indicate "Poinsettias" if you are paying for poinsettias. Mail checks to the office or place them in the offering plate on Sunday morning.

To give online, go to our Giving page to access Vanco, our online giving portal.

Flowers for Sunday ($50 each arrangement)

Poinsettias for Advent/Christmas ($11.00 per plant)

Please indicate your dedications below. If you are sponsoring flowers for more than one occasion, type in your dedication and put the date in parentheses after the dedication text.

For example:

To the glory of God in honor of

Daughter (January 14); anniversary (May 14)

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