Who We Are

The Church of the Good Shepherd is a community of Christians who belong to the Jesus Christ and have been redeemed, forgiven, and transformed by his grace. We are a fellowship of believers centered on the message of the biblical gospel—the good news of what God has done in his Son, the Lord Jesus, through his incarnation, death, and resurrection to make a way of salvation for sinners who come to him in repentance and faith. The extraordinary realities of these historic events form the foundation of our shared life together as a church. 

We are fundamentally a gathering of men and women who have been saved from our sins and have been powerfully changed by the Holy Spirit through the new birth. We are an imperfect group of people who still wrestle with sin, weakness, and failure and are still in need of daily repentance. Yet we have been graciously given a new identity in Christ and seek now to live lives that honor him and show forth the transforming power of his grace. Our entire lives are defined in terms of our relationship with Christ as our Savior and our Lord.

Essential to our identity in Christ is that we understand ourselves to be his disciples. A disciple is a lifelong follower of Jesus who, having turned from sin and trusted in him, submits to his teaching, walks in growing obedience to his commands, and lives in abiding fellowship with him. Thus, we make it our aim to follow Christ as he is revealed in the Word of God, and live in accord with his teachings and his commandments.

We are not a mere collection of individuals, living the Christian life alone. Rather we are a true community, a family, a body of believers united together in Christ. As such we seek to love one another, care for one another, bear one’s another burdens, support one another, and encourage and strengthen one another. We believe God has, by His Spirit, supernaturally united us together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Thus, we as a congregation seek to live out our unity in the context of committed relationships marked by love, mutual care, and holiness.

We are united as a church in our mutual commitment to the Word of God, to the message of the gospel, and to our shared body of doctrine. We are also united in our shared mission to reach our community and the world with the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. We long to see others saved from their sins and brought to faith in Christ through the gospel. Thus, we make it our aim to proclaim the good news about Jesus and the power of his death and resurrection so that more may come to know him as Savior and Lord.

Finally, we as a community of believers are waiting for Christ to come again to fully and finally save all those who have trusted in him and who long for his appearing. We eagerly look forward to the day when we will be raised with Christ and be made perfect in him. We look forward to the new heavens and new earth which we will inherit with him, and where we will be incomparably happy in sinless perfection for all eternity. There righteousness, joy, and peace will abide forever, and we will live always in the glorious presence of our God and Savior, world without end.