About All Shepherds

All Shepherds Lutheran Church, a community of over 600 baptized members of Christ’s Church in Delaware County, Ohio, has gathered together in God’s word, administered the sacraments and carried out God’s mission to the world since January 14, 1990 as a chartered congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Who we were, who we are and who we hope to be shapes our mission together as a community of believers of the ELCA and the Southern Ohio Synod.

Go! Love, Encourage, Nurture, Serve ALL people in Christ’s name!

Our mission statement reflects our desire to serve those inside and outside our congregation. TOgether, we are the Body of Christ, serving each other and reaching out to our local community and the world to share the gifts God has given us for the kingdom.

Go! The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 is clear about the fact that we’re not to sit idle in our comfort zone. WE are called to reach out to those in our community and the world who are in need. We bridge cultural and physical boundaries, working with those who are different than us. We go to them. We GO in partnership with the broader church and non-profits. We disciple our members to view all of life as an act of service, redefining GO-ing as a way of being outwardly focused, helping members see that living their faith is an offering to the Lord. This doesn’t mean preaching, but being a light for the gospel in how we accomplish our work and treat those around us.

Love God’s love is the foundation and fuel for all we do at All Shepherds. At All Shepherds, love is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling, but an action. Love here is seen and experienced; first we see the love God gives us in our sharing of the Word and in the sacraments. In response to God’s love, we share it with each other and the greater community. It is through God’s love that we become more fully who we are created to be. This love is lived out in how we care for each other in times of celebration and hardship, how we support families as they bring their children for baptism, and assist them in bringing their children up in the faith. God’s love fuels our going, encouraging, nurturing and serving as a community of the Body of Christ living out Christ’s commandment to love one another. “We are church, we are Lutheran, we are church together and we are church for the sake of the world.”

Encourage At All Shepherds, we have courage together. The word “encourage” literally means “with courage.” Our faith community supports each other by working and playing together, as well as walking together through joy and sorrow. Ministries, social events and support groups provide a wide variety of options to encourage each other to try new things, grow our faith and keep going when things are tough. We encourage by doing simple things for each other: providing a meal, babysitting for children, visiting someone in the hospital or sitting with someone in a nursing home. Encouraging is one way we show God’s love to our fellow members and the community

Nurture All Shepherds is a community where faith is nurtured. We hold a deep value for growing in our understanding of God, God’s love for us and our relationship with God. To that end, we provide many intentional learning opportunities throughout life. We address faith through Word and sacrament across the lifespan, providing formal instruction for baptism, first communion and confirmation (affirmation of baptism). We also have structured learning opportunities in children’s and adult Sunday School, Bible studies for teens through adults, Vacation Bible School and premarital counseling. Nurturing also happens in other ministry environments, including retreats, church-wide events and individual experiences such as the prayer path in our wooded ravine.

Serve All Shepherds is a launching pad for serving inside and outside our four walls. Serving provides a means of responding to God’s love for us, as well as a means to express our love for God. Each member of our congregation is encouraged to use the gifts from the Holy Spirit for our fellow members, those in our community and the world; this provides the one being served with a tangible experience of God’s love. Through serving, we become the hands and feet of Jesus in our church and the world, following the model He set for us in washing the disciples’ feet.