End of the Sunday School Year and Loaves and Fishes
Sunday School 2025
Well, another Sunday School year at Good Shepherd has been completed. I can’t believe seven years have come and gone since I became Director of Children’s Ministries. I admit that I get immense satisfaction from creating our curriculum year after year and teaching the kids the stories and songs that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Our theme this past year was Fed, Cleansed and Restored: Food and Water in Our Favorite Bible Stories. All of our weekly Bible stories contained some element of food or water in them. And all of our activities revolved around the story of the week.
From early March to Palm Sunday, on April 13, we also included rehearsing and performing our Passion Play along with our regular Sunday School activities. We performed our annual Passion Play Dramatic Reading, With Songs on Palm Sunday.
We concluded another successful Sunday School year on Mother’s Day, May 11, with a big Party on the Plaza, which was blessed with perfect weather.
We’re gearing up for VBS, which is right around the corner, June 9-13. Our theme is Imagining Jesus and we’re going to have a blast!
Written by Karen Walhof
Loaves and Fishes
On paper, it’s pretty simple: brown beans, kidney beans, ground, beef, onion flakes, brown sugar, and some ketchup; buttered bread, carrots, and an apple; to-go containers, silverware, and milk for any who would like.
The volunteers' dedication and compassion before, during, and after are what make those simple ingredients into a nourishing meal for someone who needs one.
Every other month, a group from Good Shepherd meets down at the Peace House to prepare 325 or so meals for our neighbors in need. The whole process is less than five hours, divided up between two teams of people. In that short time the dedicated volunteers make an important step towards meeting people where they are, and filling a need that they have.
If you are interested in learning more or volunteering with this powerful ministry, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, and we will get you plugged in, turning those simple ingredients into hope.
Written by Mark Halvorson, Director of Congregational Ministries