History

 

Since 1942


Good Shepherd Lutheran Church was organized in 1942, as a congregation of the California-Nevada-Hawaii District of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod (LCMS). Three men have served as its pastor: Rev. Hilton Schlecht, Rev. Oren Geiger, and Rev. Ron Youngdale. In 1986 a Director of Youth Ministries position was added. Jen de la Motte currently serves as the DYM.


The congregation met in several locations for the first few years. The current site was purchased in 1947. Property in northeast Turlock was purchased in 2002 for future expansion needs. Good Shepherd and Grace Lutheran (Modesto) participated in Ceres Lutheran Mission from 1988 – 1996. It included a preschool and church. Valerie Stonebreaker was commissioned as a fulltime missionary in Togo, Africa, from 1997 – 2020. She recently retired. The congregation continues to support five missionaries. (Check out our Missions section.) We support the Lutheran Hour Ministries and the Lutheran Women's Missionary League.


The mission of Good Shepherd is summarized with the words: “Enabled and equipped to share Jesus.” The congregation has adopted a vision statement as a driver for ministry: “Community Focused to be Community Engaged.”


Currently, the congregation offers a variety of ministries for all ages. Two community focused ministries we have developed are Learning Matters, which offers English speaking people a way to get a GED or to become more proficient in reading and writing, and the Lutheran Church Charities Comfort Dog Ministry, where a trained dog is a bridge for a team of people to bring comfort to people in times of need and to bring the Gospel.


To God be the glory!


Our Beliefs

 

Holy Spirit Into Our Hearts


· Our God is the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

· God created the whole universe by His Word.

· Jesus Christ is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity and true man, born of the Virgin Mary.

· Jesus Christ was willingly crucified on the cross for the punishment of our sins, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and will come again to bring the ones who believe in His forgiveness into eternal life and condemn those who do not believe.

· The Holy Spirit dwells in all who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. He empowers us to live in a manner that will make our world a better place through the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

· The entire Bible, the Old Testament and New Testament, is the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God and is the only source and authority for all matters of faith and life.

· In the Sacrament of Holy Communion, Christ's body and blood are really present in, with and under the bread and wine. We partake for the forgiveness of sins and to strengthen our faith.

· Christ commanded us to go and tell everyone about His love and to baptize all people (including infants). In Baptism God brings faith into our hearts, forgives our sins, promises to be our heavenly Father, and sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts.


We believe God has called us to love Him and others.





 Strategic Focus

 

Mission & Vision


This Strategic Focus has been developed and revised by the Church Council as outcomes for our congregation. The staff is responsible for addressing these outcomes with the ministry teams by developing action plans to fulfill the outcomes as we carry out our mission.


Staff


Get To Know Us Better


Pastor Emeritus

Director Youth Ministry

Violet Hammonds

Business Administrator

Louise Rickey

Volunteer Assistant

Joshua Jackson

Director of Digital Media