About Us
Founded on November 21, 1947, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church had its beginning as Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church. On April 9th, 1967 the voter’s assembly voted to relocate the church to where it now stands and changed the name to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.
Whether under the name of Bethel Evangelical or Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, the church has continued its first and foremost mission of reaching those outside the Church with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that reaching everyone with the true knowledge of Jesus Christ is to spread His love and forgiveness, starting right here in Fort Dodge, Iowa and our surrounding communities.
Good Shepherd is part of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a Historical Church Body. We continue to follow and teach the original teachings of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. We believe and teach the inerrant Word of God as God instructed Moses, the Prophets and the Apostles what to write, as shown in 2 Peter 1:21, “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” These teachings have been continued in their purity through the doctrine of the Augsburg Confession and the Apology of the Augsburg Confession which we ascribe to.The Bible clearly teaches that we are all sinful and deserve nothing but temporal and eternal death as shown in Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and again in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death.” Therefore, we know that we can do nothing to earn forgiveness, life, or salvation but it has been given to us freely by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and His Life for us as shown in Eph. 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast”, and again in John 3:16, 17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
We would love for you to join us here at Good Shepherd. We worship every Saturday at 5 p.m. and again on Sundays at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. with Sunday school for adults and children at 9:15 a.m. We also offer other opportunities during the week for you to encounter God and His love for us in Jesus.
Good Shepherd offers adult instruction opportunities at different times throughout the year for those interested in joining our fellowship and for members interested in having a refresher course from their catechism days. We come together to learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Of course, children are a huge part of our mission as a Church of Jesus Christ and we offer opportunities for children to participate. Our Little Lambs Preschool teaches two 3-year-old classes and a 4-year-old class. We lead Sunday school and Catechism classes from fall to late spring, along with our C.I.A (our youth group) who are very active throughout the year. Of course, we encourage and welcome children to worship our Lord right along with us and with Pastor’s amazing children’s messages.
Good Shepherd prays that you may find us to be your Church family as we join together in spreading the Love of God by telling people about Jesus Christ.
