Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is sponsoring a Lenten Organ Recital Series with three concerts to be held on three successive Wednesdays, March 12, 19, and 26 in the Sanctuary. The concerts will start at 12:15 and finish by 12:45. A free-will offering will be taken. The opening recital will be played by Brad Schultz, Instructor at Luther College and organist for the Luther congregation on Sunday mornings.

The Hook and Hastings Organ at Good Shepherd was acquired in 2009. This 2-manual, 8-stop, 11-rank organ was built in Boston in 1883 as a parlor organ for use in a private home. Acquired in 1973 by Pastor Paul and Ruth Tweeten, the organ was moved to the Midwest and in 1990 underwent an extensive rebuild by J.C. Taylor Organmakers, in Kaukauna, WI. After being damaged in a storage location, the organ was once again refurbished and restored by Jim Taylor in 2008, prior to its installation at Good Shepherd.

The public is invited to bring brown bag lunches which can be eaten in the Fellowship Hall afterwards. Coffee and light refreshments will be served. For further information contact Brooke Joyce, Good Shepherd Organist and Interim Director of Music, who coordinated this series.

Recitals by Date

March 12: Brad Schultz
March 19: Christine Skogen and Shayla De Jong (Luther students)
March 26: Brooke Joyce

Pastor Joan A. Mau, pastor of Good Shepherd since 1999, resigned effective September 1, 2014. Pastor Mau announced her plans to retire at the May Council meeting.   Linda Hudgins, Assistant to Bishop Ullestad of the Northeast Iowa Synod, will start the formal call process for a permanent pastor at a specially called Church Council meeting on June 23. An interim pastor will be named to serve for a period of time before a permanent pastor is called. A farewell celebration for Pastor Mau is being scheduled in August.

During the Lenten season Good Shepherd will again be participating in the Lutheran World Relief “Baskets of Promise” appeal by collecting and assembling Personal Care Kits. Each week a different item will be collected that will be used to assemble the kits that give people around the world tools to stay healthy in life’s most challenging situations.

Here is the collection schedule:

• March 9 (4-5 ounce bars of soap in the original wrapping)
• March 16 (52” x 27” light-weight bath towels, dark colors recommended)
• March 23 (adult size toothbrushes in original packaging)
• March 30 (combs)
• April 6 (nail clippers, metal, attached file optional)

Members of WELCA are spearheading the initiative for participation by the congregation.

During this Lenten season, Adult Forum programs at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church will focus on Osvaldo Golijov’s composition La Pasion Segun San Marcos (The Passion According to St. Mark).

La Pasion Segun San Marcos, which premiered in 2000, was commissioned to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. CD’s of the work received numerous awards including nominations for a Grammy and Latin Grammy.

Golijov is currently Loyola Professor of Music at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts where he has taught since 1991. According to his official website, he was influenced by a variety of music growing up in Argentina including classical chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music and traditional Latin musical forms. After studying in Israel, Osvaldo moved to the United States where he earned his Ph.D at the University of Pennsylvania. He has collaborated with many internationally known musical artists, received commissions from major ensembles and institutions in the US and abroad and is the recipient of numerous awards including a MacArthur Fellowship.

Brooke Joyce, Good Shepherd Organist and Interim Director of Music, coordinated this six-part series with other professionals in music and theology from Luther College including Michael O’Brien, Ethnomusicologist; David Vasquez, Campus Pastor; and, Germano Streese, Pastor and Librarian. Joan Mau, Pastor of Good Shepherd, will also be a presenter. During the first session, Streese, a native of Brazil, will discuss several works of liturgical music from Latin America that include indigenous pieces. During the following five Sundays, segments of Golijov’s work on DVDs will be shown and discussed.

The schedule for the Adult Forums, held in the narthex of Good Shepherd at 11:00 am each Sunday, is below:
March 9: Germano Streese (Part I)
March 16: Brooke Joyce (Part II)
March 23: Joan Mau (Part III)
March 30: Michael O’Brien (Part IV)
April 6: David Vasquez (Part V)
April 13: Brooke Joyce (Part VI)

The public is welcome at all of these events. Further information about the series may be directed to Brooke Joyce, Associate Professor of Music and Composer-in Residence, at Luther College.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry members have expanded their ministry beyond creating shawls and scarves by designing and crafting prayer squares. These squares, intended to fit in a pocket or purse, are available on a table in the Narthex for worshipers and visitors to take at will. The goal of the prayer squares is to serve as a reminder of God’s presence in times of need or joy. The squares have been knitted or crocheted in a variety of colors and patterns. Since this ministry started in 2005, over 250 shawls and scarves have been created.