SERVICES
SUNDAY AT 8:00 AM (2nd & 3rd Sundays)
SUNDAY AT 10:30 AM (every Sunday) 
WEDNESDAY AT 6:00 PM (in Chapel)

Welcome Home

 

Above all else, Good Shepherd is a place of welcome. When the parish was founded in the spring of 1950, those first prayerful Episcopalians took as their patron Jesus himself. They named their community the Church of the Good Shepherd, commemorating their first meeting on the Fourth Sunday of Easter - Good Shepherd Sunday. But they had more in mind than just the calendar, when they chose their name. They wanted this to be a place where Jesus could truly seek and save those who are lost, and where Jesus knows his own and his own know him. At Good Shepherd, we are all God's sheep, objects of his endless and unconditional love. 

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At the Rite of Burial, our Book of Common Prayer asks God to acknowledge and receive "a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming." As we are received into the arms of God's mercy after death, so his arms of mercy enfold us here and now. We have all been welcomed by the Good Shepherd, and we extend that same love to all who walk through our doors.

 

How can we help you feel at home?

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There are lots of ways to be one of us here at Good Shepherd. Maybe this is a place where you just like to drop in for worship once in a while, or maybe this is a place where you like to show up regularly. Maybe this is even the place where you want to make your formal commitment to the Body of Christ by joining this parish community. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, this place is for you, and you are welcome. 

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If you are still figuring out where you are in that journey, and how Good Shepherd fits into that picture, I would encourage you to drop me a line. I would love to have coffee with you and learn your story. This is not a community that will ever pressure you to join or make you feel uncomfortable about where you are in your journey. It is deeply a part of our Anglican tradition that we respect individual conscience, and we recognize that the call of God looks different for each person. Your story is yours, and it is holy.  

 

 

What do next steps look like?

 

After some time spent around Good Shepherd, you might want to move deeper into our community. There are many places to exercise baptized ministry - serving in worship by reading, by singing in the choir, or by administering the chalice; organizing fellowship, flowers, or being a part of our Parish Life nights. Committing more fully to Good Shepherd means pledging a portion of financial resources to our shared ministry of Christ.

 

The fullest level of commitment to the faith is found in being Baptized, Confirmed or Received into the church. While baptism happens here in our parish, confirmation and reception are liturgies led by the bishop. You can learn more about those options here, or by getting in touch with me to begin further conversation. Whatever steps God is leading you to take, we believe that it is in community that we find our highest and truest calling. There is a story that St. Basil, the great 4th-century bishop and monk, was speaking with a monk who was eager to become a hermit, living off by himself in the woods, wholly surrendered to prayer. St. Basil listened carefully to this monk's dreams, and then he gently asked, "But whose feet will you wash?" 

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Our love for Jesus means that we live out our salvation in community, with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We cannot fulfill the two great commandments - love of God and love of neighbor - unless we live alongside and with our neighbors and fellow sheep. 

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​Whatever brings you here on a Sunday, I rejoice that you are here. Please stick around after our worship on Sunday so that I can have a chance to say hello at coffee hour, and so that you can get to know some people. And may our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, bring you safely to your journey's end in his arms of love. 

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With every blessing in Christ,

Mother Mary Grace DuPree