About Us

On January 1, 1989, after much prayer and fasting, The Good Shepherd Church of God in Christ was founded in Woodlawn, Maryland as the Ramada Inn hotel. Having felt the leading of the Lord to start this ministry, Elder Tony W. Torain, Mrs. Floretta Harris and Mrs. Dorothy A. Faulkner committed themselves to a weekly prayer meeting, beginning in the fall of 1988 for guidance, opportunity and souls. This prayer group was visited by others as they were invited to participate, but the core group kept the focus of the prayer group on the founding of a church.  In October of 1988 the Lord gave the name of the church.  While meditating on John 10, Elder Torain said to God that he wanted the characteristic of Jesus that was identified as “the good shepherd.”  Thus, the name that was given was given to reverence the attribute of Jesus that is identified as The Good Shepherd.

After a year at the Ramada Inn in Woodlawn, Maryland, the church moved briefly to the Lord Baltimore Hotel in downtown Baltimore.  Because of the bad parking situation in the city, the search for a better location continued until connection was made with Econolodge in Catonsville, Maryland.  In that location the church grew as many young adults and children were added to the church. With the very low rent that was paid at the Econolodge, the church was able to save money to purchase its own worship space.  Near the end of 1995, the church entered into a purchase agreement with the Methodist Conference to purchase the Sexton United Methodist Church at 1721 Sexton Street in Baltimore City.  The membership of this once flourishing church had grown too old to take care of the property, so the conference decided to sell it.  In the spring of 1996, The Good Shepherd Church went to closing on this 250-seat church building with its substantial educational space.  Immediately, the church began working on the deferred maintenance and making major improvements to the property.  This church home served this body of believers well with worship services, bible study classes, auxiliary meetings, ministerial training classes, children’s plays, and musical events. The problem, however, was that the church sat on a side street which gave it very little visibility. Only people who knew that the church was on Sexton Street came.  There was not the passive public relations that comes with having a church on a major thoroughfare. So, the church prayed for a facility on a major thoroughfare where people would know that the it was there.

In 2012 the church began pursuing vacant church property at 8301 Liberty Road in Windsor Mill, Maryland.  The church had housed a Lutheran congregation since the early 1900s. However, that congregation had dwindled down to almost nothing.  The Lutheran synod sent the few members to a nearby Lutheran congregation and set out to sell the property.  Working with at church real estate agent, the church building was sold to The Good Shepherd Church of God in Christ for 1.6 million. Using the money from the sell of 1721 Sexton Street, the church was able to secure a mortgage from Harbor Bank of Maryland in the amount of $900,000.  On the first Sunday in January of 2014, The Good Shepherd Church held its first worship service at the Liberty Road property, on one of the busiest intersections in Baltimore County. 

Today the church is an active vibrant fellowship of believers with ministries for all ages.  There are activities specifically for youth and seniors.  There is a music ministry that strives to be excellent.  There is a major outreach ministry that started during the COVID pandemic which now feeds about 200 families per month.  There is a Men’s Ministry and a Mothers’ Board that seek to take care of the needs of those demographics.

Before the COVID pandemic, the church had an online ministry presence; however, with the coming of this pandemic the church’s online presence has become a major force in the Christian media world.  It can be seen on Facebook, YouTube, and the church’s website on Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m. and on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. This is a telephonic conference call prayer line that meets every night at 7:00 p.m. during the week, except on Wednesdays.  On Wednesdays the conference call prayer line meets at 12:00 noon.

All are welcome to The Good Shepherd Church of God in Christ as we seek to serve people and to win souls to faith in Jesus Christ.

 Our Vision

• Our vision is to be an intergenerational Pentecostal church where the gospel is faithfully taught and preached, where believers are encouraged to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ, where the indigent can find help and support, where praise and worship are exuberant and free, where our affairs are handled with openness and honesty, and where the spiritual formation of children is intentional.