Good Shepherd Episcopal Church

Welp, cat’s outta the bag!

We are excited to announce the hiring of and !

🎶Karin will join us on September 16th as our new Music Director. She has been a frequent guest and supply musician at Good Shepherd and has extensive experience as a Music Director at St. Mary’s of Bethany, and Church of the Redeemer in Nashville. You can find a playlist of Karin’s music on Spotify and Tidal.

🌠Abigail Hawkins will start as our new Youth Director and Assistant Music Director on September 3. Abbi is relatively new to Nashville. She has served as worship director in churches in Michigan and most recently at Sacrament Church in Nashville. She is also an experienced Youth Leader; most currently at First Presbyterian, Nashville. On Spotify you can hear an album that Abigail collaborated on with fellow students at Grace College.

Karin and Abbi will work closely with Berit and Jamie to make the transition as seamless as possible. They are both still with us until September 15. 😢

Be sure to mark your calendar to be here to celebrate their ministries and say thank you!

It has been MAD summer for our little scientists! They made elephant toothpaste, learned about magnets 🧲 , launched 🚀 , created color-changing keychains, bracelets, and slime strings, and even got a visit from Mr. Bond's Science Guys!

Big thanks to all of our volunteer scientists. We look forward to the beginning of our NEW fall programming this Sunday with the following new grade-level classes:

🍼Nursery: for little ones 0-2 yrs old

🧒🏻 Preschool: toddlers age 3 & 4 yrs old

📖 Godly Play: Kindergarten and 1st grade

🖍️ Whirl Lectionary: 2nd & 3rd grade

🔔 Connect: 4th grade and up

Our favorite summer splash pad [baptismal font] saw a lot of action [baptisms] on Pentecost Sunday!

We are overjoyed to have celebrated NINE new brothers and sisters in Christ. Welcome Meara, Charlie, Logan, Patterson, Monroe, Chloe, Ella, Wyatt, and William!

From our Junior Warden, Bob Thompson: “Boy Scout Troop 8 put down mulch and pine straw and replaced the feet on all the chairs in Herlong Hall on Saturday!”

We’re thankful for you Troop 8! Thank you for all of your hard work! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Bob has been leading a series of workdays at the church, with a Men’s Work Day scheduled for June 29th. Stay tuned for more hands-on ways to show our love for Good Shepherd!

Just spreadin’ the love!

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” John 15: 9-12

It's coming up quick y'all!

May 12 is YOUTH SUNDAY when our youth lead EVERY part of the service (except for administering communion) at 10:15 AM. If you/your youth isn’t already signed up for a role, talk to our Youth Min Director, !

Yesterday was Good Shepherd Sunday and our annual visit from the Rt. Rev’d John C. Bauerschmidt! During the service, three adult members were confirmed and two were received. It’s such a blessing to see the Church grow!

Last weekend our youth had their annual weekend retreat at ! We had a blast on the giant swing, rock wall climbing, dominating capture the flag, archery, and learning a new skill—book binding!

With those new prayer journals we explored who we are as a reflection of what we love and Who loves us. This provoked some great discussion and bonded our group!

🔔🔔 The Lord is Risen! Alleluia!

If you were one of the over 435 people joining us in person for worship on Easter Sunday, thank you. Between an actual parade (with bells!) to children’s church, a beautiful family baptism…and nearly running out of seats in the sanctuary…we feel very blessed by this year’s Triduum!

The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! 🔔🔔

Day > Night

See you at 7.

🌿Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!🫏🌿

We did it! 1000 Fuel Bags packed and sent for schoolchildren in need. A special thanks to the Boy Scouts for helping us get the extra work done in the same amount of time it takes for us to pack 450!

We’ll be back to our original Fuel Bags schedule in April—3rd week of the month @ 6PM. Look out for news about our annual Go 4 GraceWorks fundraiser too!

Best way to get more Fuel Bags setup volunteers? Upgrading the snacks to Slim Jims. At least Peter seems to think so!

We’re getting ready to pack 1,000 Fuel Bags NEXT WEDNESDAY for GraceWorks. Want to join? There are TWO ways to help:

1. Come by 9 AM on March 6th with box cutters to unpack inventory and organize the items on our assembly line tables. This usually takes until noon—stay as long as you can afford and leave when you need!

2. Arrive at 6 PM on March 6th to pack 1k bags for children in need! Plan to stay for an hour. If you get tired of walking the assembly line, we always need help breaking down food packaging and clean up!

Both meet in Herlong Hall. Sign up in bio. See you soon!

Last weekend our Women’s Ministry had an INCREDIBLE time on retreat at the Hiding Place Retreat Center with guest speaker Dr. Cindy Wallace. We talked, ate, sang, hiked, yoga-ed, and laughed until our stomachs hurt. Thanks to all who came!

Today is our Youth Ministry Intern's Birthday! Along with writing newsletters, planning games, making popcorn, and helping organize the youth calendar, Emma Kate serves frequently as an acolyte and a reader!

Happy sweet 16 Emma Kate! Hope this day is the best!

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

Sunday, February 11 was Newcomers’ Sunday. We are delighted to welcome the following new members of the Good Shepherd family:

Since January of 2023, we have added a total of 71—yes, 71—new faces at Good Shepherd. Whenever you see a new face, be sure to introduce yourself.

Our community is growing!

There's been some recent confusion as to why we'd dare have services next Wednesday...

That's right! This year Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day fall on February 14th. So, you have one of two options:

1. Celebrate on the 13th and come observe your mortality and dependence on God at our 7 AM service.

2. Go out for dinner on the 14th and then join us for our service at 7 PM!

We look forward to seeing you there.

BRRR! With 10° temps and gusty winds, it's not worth going out if you can avoid it!

The following events have been rescheduled or canceled this week:

🐑 Fuel Bags: RESCHEDULED for NEXT Wednesday, the 24th

🐑 Men's Gathering: Breakfast for Dinner CANCELED for January, and moved to Thursday, February 15th

🐑 Youth Group: CANCELED

🐑 Saturday Women's Study: CANCELED

For a full calendar of events: https://www.goodshepherdbrentwood.org/events

Nothing better than a baptism!

We had a great Sunday last weekend with FOUR new siblings joining the Church. Welcome Thomas, Benjamin, Ivy, and Jude!

New, sunny lil' activity corner of our Nursery!

Can't wait to see what the kiddos build with those magnetic tiles. See you Sunday!

𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘺𝘮𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦;
𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.
𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥! 𝘖 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳!
𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸’𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮!
𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸’𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮!

Have a sweet and peaceful night basking in the light of the Lord.

Moments from last night’s Christmas Eve service captured by Communications Intern Jayden Russell ()

That’s a wrap on Advent! Big thanks to the kiddos that lit the way for our worship each Sunday. ❤️

We’ll see you for our Christmas Eve service tonight at 7 and our Christmas morning service tomorrow at 9 AM!

We hope you join us for our upcoming Christmas services!

The morning of December 24th we will observe the Fourth Sunday of Advent––the 8 AM service will be a spoken service, and our 10:15 AM service will feature a few instrumentalists and soloists.

Later that evening we will celebrate Christmas Eve at 7 PM with a big, festive, candlelit service featuring a full choir and band. If you and your family look forward to singing those classic carols, this is the service for you!

Both Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve are Eucharistic services at 9 AM.

We look forward to observing the Christmas Octave with you!

Last Friday’s Live Nativity was /angelic/. We had a blast! So blessed by our children, youth, and hospitality volunteers.

Another shout out to for providing beautiful music for caroling after the performance, and thanks to all from the community who came out and supported our ministry!
Photos by and (Go team!)

Advent is a season of preparation: preparing our hearts, preparing our minds, preparing our souls for the arrival of Emmanuel: God with Us.

This beautiful season of preparation and anticipation was ushered in by our own children with special blessings—it is a blessing in itself to have them lead us throughout Advent. Plus, they had a guest—Saint Nicholas—lead them to their classes and teach them about generosity.

We are truly thrilled to have them as brothers and sisters in this season, and in our journey to Christ. What might we anticipate this Sunday?

Y'all are the GOAT!

Last Sunday we welcomed back the trip (actual term for a group of goats) to help us kick off our annual Food for the Poor campaign. We are still below our $1.5k goal to provide two cows and a donkey, but there is plenty of time to contribute! Tap the link in our bio and select "Children's Ministry" with the note "Food for the Poor."

In the meantime, check out these great photos from the event!

We're so proud of our youth! This Sunday they sang, played in the band, read, served as acolytes, ushered, and PREACHED.

Can't wait for the next one!