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HISTORY
Our earliest beginning was in October 1962, when The Rev. Rodney A. Gatzke was appointed by the then-Lutheran Church in America to develop a Bel Air mission. On Christmas Eve that year, 25 people met for worship in the basement of the Harford County Public Library. |
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The first Good Shepherd worship service was celebrated February 17, 1963 in rented space at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Bel Air. On Organization Day, October 20, 1963, The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd officially became a congregation with 92 charter members. These charter members pledged "to support Good Shepherd and do all within their ability to advance its growth and support its work.”
We gathered on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of our Organization Day at two services and a banquet dinner. Delaware-Maryland Synod Bishop Wolfgang D. Herz-Lane preached, and our Chancel Choir sang "Take Us to This Place With Music," a new choral anthem commissioned for and written by church musician and former member Thomas Keesecker in honor of the occasion. LCGS had a period of wonderful interim Pastors while we were in the process of discerning where God was calling our congregation. In November 2014, The Rev. Gregory Fetzer was called as our Senior Pastor. Pastor Greg brought with him a passion for walking alongside other disciples of Jesus Christ and assisting them as they strive to understand more fully who they are and whose they are as God’s beloved children. With his leadership, we defined our vision and mission to focus our efforts on becoming more faithful disciples and taking the love of Jesus Christ into the community and the world! Pastor Greg resigned his call in June 2022. In June 2017, the Rev. Teal Anderson was called as Associate Pastor. Pastor Teal served as the Director of Youth Christian Education Ministries and Pastoral Care as well as occasional preaching and presiding at worship. Pastor Teal resigned her call in November 2021 to serve at Oak Crest Retirement Community. |
