The "Little Church with the Big Heart"

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is a new church established in 2003 as a congregation of the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. From the beginning, we did not presume we had a “right” to exist merely because there was no Lutheran congregation in our area. Rather, we have begun from the perspective that unless there is a compelling mission of ministry to our community and its people, then the Elizabeth City area really does not need one more “church family” in its already fractured ecclesiastical system of congregations.

As a new congregation with minimal resources, we quickly realized that all we really have to offer is our heart for community needs and wounds. So we offered what we had – space to share, a heart for healing, and a desire to encourage all persons who were ministering to our community (US!) through their daily vocations. We found ourselves beginning to offer short visits to various agencies and community programs to take them a “Thank You!” This consisted of a modest “party” with homemade goodies and prizes, and a word of encouragement from Galatians via a certificate of appreciation in which we named them as ministers. Our first visit was to the Hopeline domestic violence shelter. We came to call our visits Ministry of Encouragement (MoE). Its effect surprised us as doors began to open and as we began to be educated about how stressed community servants are in our NE NC area of high needs and low resources.

As time passed we discovered several agencies and schools that drew our hearts and what little concrete resources we could gather. We discovered Kid’s Café through the Food Bank and soon we were supporting their kids with school supply backpacks and Christmas gifts for each participant – along with some scholarship help for a family or two with multiple kids needing this after-school program. Along the way, we found a deep need for support and supply at H.L. Trigg School – our community alternative school for long-term suspensions. A faculty welcome to begin the year and fund-raisers for a few supplies in this school where PTA has no roots are our routines – along with proctoring exams and whatever else the Principal asks.

Congregationally, we began servant Sundays twice yearly, going to member and non-member homes where house repair of maintenance tasks were needed by elderly or physically disabled persons. Blue Jean Servant Sundays began and continue with 30-35 folks participating each time. A mission trip to Biloxi was aimed at Katrina victims and we helped Habitat build new homes. Then our hearts were drawn to the needs of homeless persons in our city and a new ministry experiment begun by our Vicar found us feeding 30-50 persons every other Thursday evening. Gradually other congregations have come along with us and are considering claiming a night of feeding of their own for these same folks for what we call Nights of Hospitality. Most recently, several of the homeless have asked to come to worship with us on Sunday, so we are working on a transportation schedule to keep them with us as they are able.

This time is part of our congregation’s sharing of our heart for the needs of all persons, especially the “least of the brothers and sisters.”

We continue to share what we have and what we are – no big bucks or magic solutions to life’s problems in our burdened world. However, we believe that Christ’s Heart must be our heart also and so we let ourselves risk failing or looking silly or naïve in order to grow our hearts toward Jesus. “The Little Church with the Big Heart” – really we are indeed just a little church seeking to grow by living our calling as disciples who are grateful for God’s Heart which has been given in Jesus.