Updated April 23, 2026

WORSHIP

Leadership Transition

Questions about our leadership transition? After prayerful consideration of the available paths toward new spiritual leadership, the vestry is seeking a Priest in Charge to succeed Fr. Kyle Babin. Learn about the search process and the position here. And plan to join our next Parish Conversation at coffee hour on April 26!

This Sunday/today we welcome Fr. Alistair So-Schoos as our Celebrant and preacher. Fr. So-Schoos has served parishes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., and is a data scientist for the Church Pension Group.  He will return multiple times over the next few weeks.

Learn about the priests who are helping Good Shepherd during the transition period, as we seek a Priest in Charge.  

FORMATION

Online Adult Formation Series 2025–2026
Our monthly online adult formation series for the  2025–2026 program year continues on May 7, 2026: “The Lady and Her Handmaid: Prayer and Practical Discipline” (A full, homely, and boisterous look at the ascetical thinking of Walter Hilton and his friends in the 14th century) with Donald McCown, Ph.D., Professor of Public Health Sciences and Director of the Center for Contemplative Studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. We hope that parishioners and Friends of the parish  alike will join us for these stimulating presentations! Email the parish office for the Zoom link.

MUSIC

Music Notes for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
This Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” In the Gospel reading we hear Jesus declare, “I am the good shepherd;” the appointed Psalm for the day is the 23rd Psalm; and a number of prayers throughout the Mass reinforce the theme. For obvious reasons this Sunday is also our “Feast of Title,” when we recall and celebrate Good Shepherd’s connection to this comforting and sustaining image of God’s love revealed through his Son.

Both of these observances find expression in the music we will hear and sing. To mention just a few instances:

We will hear Psalm 23 in two musical versions: first, as it appears in the Book of Common Prayer, sung to a gentle Anglican chant by the English organist and composer H. Walford Davies; and later in the service as the anthem My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, a moving paraphrase by Isaac Watts (1674–1748), “the father of English hymnody,” set to a southern American folk tune by the American composer Virgil Thomson (1896–1989).

We will also sing Hymn 478, based on what is perhaps the very oldest Christian hymn to appear in our Hymnal. The author of the original “Hymn to Christ the Savior” is Clement of Alexandria, and dates from the end of the 2nd century. The first line of an earlier English translation was “Shepherd of tender youth…” The version in our Hymnal 1982, “Jesus, our mighty Lord,” is a paraphrase by one of the most gifted contributors to American hymnody, F. Bland Tucker (1895–1984).

The organ voluntary which precedes the Mass, a portion of J. S. Bach’s Pastorella, is based on musical ideas and idioms of Bach’s era that are intended to suggest the shepherds in the fields surrounding Bethlehem.

Good Shepherd Choristers
Our chorister program for children ages 7 and older is going strong, but it’s never too late to register to participate! If you know of a child who might be interested in joining, please contact Jack Burnam, and please help us share information on this program with others in the local community. During the interim music period, there will be only one chorister rehearsal per week on Tuesdays from 4:45 to 6 p.m. Once our new Organist and Director of Music joins us, twice-weekly rehearsals will resume.

OUTREACH

Campus Ministry
Good Shepherd’s campus ministry is open to all students at local colleges and universities. The group meets bimonthly on the campus of Bryn Mawr College for an LGBTQ+/Allies Bible Study. Our last meetings of the season are on Tuesday, April 28 and Tuesday, May 5  at 6:15 p.m. at Bryn Mawr College (Old Library, Quita Woodward Room).

Social Concerns

The next Social Concerns meeting is scheduled for May 16 via Zoom. Please email the parish office for the Zoom link.

Are you interested in helping to prepare and/or serve meals for homeless families? Please contact Social Concerns chair Jason Crockett at the parish office to let him know your interest. 

COMMUNITY AND FELLOWSHIP

Next Parish Conversation – Sunday, April 26
The next parish conversation will take place after Sung Mass on Sunday, April 26. We will discuss the transition in parish leadership. Come and lend your voice to the conversation! If you’re unable to be present in person, please email the parish office for the Zoom link. Please log on by noon, knowing that the meeting may start a bit later. 

Save the Date! – Sunday, May 3
On May 3 we will welcome our new Organist and Music Director, Alden Wright, and offer our profound thanks to Jack Burnam, who has served with distinction as Interim Organist and Director of Music for several months. Come to coffee hour after Sung Mass to meet Alden and offer thanks to Jack! You may contribute to a purse for Jack here.

Feast of the Ascension – Thursday, May 14
On May 14 we will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension with a Sung Mass at 7 p.m., followed by a festive potluck. Plan to join us! You may sign up to bring a dish or beverages here.

Parish Prayer List

In the Anglican Communion cycle of prayer for The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) (Sunday), The Diocese of Windward Islands – The Church in the Province of the West Indies (Monday), The Diocese of Wondurba – Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (Tuesday), The Diocese of Worcester – The Church of England (Wednesday), The Diocese of Wulu – Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (Thursday), The Diocese of Wusasa – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) (Friday), and The Diocese of Wyoming – The Episcopal Church (Saturday).

For Sarah, Archbishop of Canterbury, Sean, our Presiding Bishop, and Daniel, our bishop, and in the diocesan cycle of prayer for The Anglican Church of Melanesia (Sunday), Diocese of Los Angeles (Monday), Diocese of Louisiana (Tuesday), Episcopal Community Services (Wednesday), Holy Nativity, Rockledge (Thursday), St. Andrew and St. Monica, Philadelphia (Friday), and Non-Parochial and Retired Clergy (Saturday).

For peace across the world; for this nation and its elected leaders; for all who live and serve in this local community; for the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the lonely, the oppressed, those in vulnerable communities, immigrants, and refugees; for those in prison, especially Dwayne and Michael, and all those who are suffering; for an end to injustice of all kinds, especially racial and economic injustice; for an end to gun violence, especially in our local community; for the good creation that God has entrusted to our care, that we may be faithful stewards of it; for this parish church, for all who worship and serve here: for our staff and vestry, for our Advancement, Finance, and Social Concerns Committees, for our campus ministry, for our chorister program, for our retreat house, for those who share space with us on this campus, for all yet unknown to us whom God will draw to this place to come to know and love our Lord Jesus, and for the growth of ministry here for the sake of the Gospel.

In our parish cycle of prayer: William Shepard (Sunday), Eric Simonis and Shushi Yoshinaga (Monday), Dillon, Lorraine, and Charlie Mahoney (Tuesday), Karen Tripp (Wednesday), Jack and Jeannette Burnam (Thursday), Mary Campbell (Friday), and Rufus and Anne Hallmark (Saturday).

In our Friends of Good Shepherd cycle of prayer: Paul McKee (Sunday), Joshua Castaño (Monday), Jon Kligerman (Tuesday), Michael Krasulski (Wednesday), Charlene Cranmer (Thursday), Jesson Geipel (Friday), and Gary Harney (Saturday).

For those in need, especially for  Jim, Pam, Julius, Holly, Robin, Debbie, Sean, Diane, David, Linda, Connie, Paul, Signe, Rita, Fred, Leslie, Kile, Bradley and family, Drew, Susannah, Kathy, Phil, Jane, Bruce, Pat, Jesson, Doug, Gilbert, Marcille, Charles, Carol, Alex, Frank, Lizzie, James, Sue, Peter, Rebecca, Haviland, Molly, Carolyn, Brandon, Gary, Justice, Jim, Deidre, and Sandra.

To add names and requests to the prayer list, please complete this form.