First Tuesdays at The Church of the Good Shepherd are family-friendly evenings of community-building, service projects and prayer. It starts at 6:45 p.m. and ends at 8 p.m. People of all ages are welcome to come to the parish hall for fun and fellowship.
In February the church’s get-together falls in the week before the beginning of Lent. The discussion topic will be Lent and why we give things up or take things on as a practice in this penitential season. Are we meant to feel sad or guilty during lent? Or are we meant to intentionally engage how we are living our lives, contemplate whether we are satisfied with it, and discern where and how we might want to make changes? Lent ends not with the great pain of Good Friday but with the great joy of Easter morning. How do we get there?
The service project will be putting together “blessing bags” for the homeless. These Zip-Lok bags will hold a variety of single serving food items, personal hygiene products, warm clothing, and prayer cards and bibles. The First Tuesday event will include making prayer cards to go in the packs and packing the bags for next-day distribution. Donations of the items requested must be at the church no later than 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6. The First Tuesday crew is looking for donations of socks, handwarmers, scarves, hats, gloves, beef jerky, breakfast and granola bars, Squeezables (apple sauce), packaged peanut butter or cheese crackers, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hotel-sized shampoos, lotions, and soaps, sanitary wipes and hand sanitizers, and small bibles. All are welcome.
A full schedule of services and events are planned for the Lenten season, which begins in February. The church starts with its traditional SHROVE Tuesday Pancake Supper on Tuesday, Feb. 13 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Parish Hall. Pancakes will be served by the parish youth.
The Church of the Good Shepherd will offer Ashes-On-The-Go on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14 at two times this year: from noon to 1 p.m., and from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Drive up to the front doors of the church to receive ashes and pray a short prayer, then be on your way to work or home. At 7 p.m. there will be a regular Ash Wednesday service at the church with Holy Eucharist. All are welcome to receive ashes at the Church of the Good Shepherd.
The church will hold the first CGS Family Bowl event at the Amity Family Bowling Center at 30 Seldon St. in Woodbridge from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Feb. 11. This event is open to all ages; no bowling experience is necessary. Bring yourself, family and friends and come have some fellowship and fun. The cost is $10 per person, which gets you a bowling ball, shoes, soda, and popcorn. Money will be collected at the door. Please contact the office at 203-795-6577 or thegoodshepherd@optonline.net by Feb. 8.
The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd is located on 680 Racebrook Rd. in Orange. For more information, visit thegoodshepherdorangect.org or facebook.com/cgsorangect.