Fall 2020

Currently we offer worship in two mediums: online and in-person.

We gather as an online community on Sundays at 9am over on our Facebook page. The service is available afterwards both there and on our YouTube page for you to watch at any time. It also airs on Westborough TV at 9am on Tuesdays. For this service, we’re always looking for people who are willing to record themselves reading our lessons or our prayers. Please email office@goodshepherdcares.org to volunteer.

We gather at 10:15am on Sunday mornings for in-person worship. We meet on an alternating weekly basis, indoors and in our parking lot.

For outdoor worship:

All are welcome, and proper etiquette is expected, including masks worn over the nose and mouth, and physical distancing. Please bring your own chair to sit in. Masked singing and communion are offered at this 45-minute service, which is weather-dependent. If you’re unsure about how the weather will impact this service, please check our Facebook page or call the church office.

Right now, we all have a lot of questions about what happens when the weather gets cold. The short answer: we don’t know yet! We plan to continue to worship outdoors through October, to keep an eye on the ebbs and flows of the pandemic in our area, and to listen for feedback from our congregants and advice from our community leaders. If you want to stay in the loop on developments, the very best way to do it is to sign up to receive our weekly emails.

Sunday School has gone virtual! The 2020-2021 Sunday School program consists of weekly virtual, at-home Sunday School lessons, as well as Zoom calls on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month, for children ages Pre-K through 8th grade. The lessons follow the lectionary, which means that children will learn about the same bible stories read in church on Sunday mornings. It is our hope that all of God’s children, young and older, will be empowered to discuss the same biblical passages each week and grow in discipleship together.

We’ll also be offering learning series for different grades throughout the year, beginning with a 4th grade series on the history of Martin Luther in October. If you’d like to receive weekly lessons, Zoom calls, and more information about the learning series, please email samantha.menapace@goodshepherdcares.org.

There are several opportunities for adult learning:
Our adult forum is currently meeting on Sunday mornings via Zoom to learn about and discuss the criminal justice system in America, as well as our call as people of faith.
On Wednesday in October, our Reconciling in Christ committee will be leading a series exploring the so-called “clobber passages” of the Bible often used to condemn or exclude LGBTQIA+ folx, reframing them in a gospel light of healing and inclusion.
Our two bible studies also continue to meet via Zoom on Monday and Friday.

Please email the church office or sign up for our weekly news to receive the necessary links to any or all of these studies!

We all miss having a little more music in our life. To start the day off on the right note (pun intended), our music directory Kirby emails out daily installments of Music to Start Your Day, offering a bible verse and a piece of music for a few moments of contemplation. Email kirby.stalley@goodshepherdcares.org to be added to the list.

We’re also looking for special musicians willing to play and/or sing at home and record themselves for our digital worship service. Please email Kirby to be added to the rotation!