Celebrating 40 Years of Ministry

On Sunday, October 15, 2023 Good Shepherd Baptist Church celebrated forty years of ministry. This is certainly a milestone that clearly shows us the faithfulness of our gracious Lord. While it is vital that we look forward to our future and press on in fulfilling the purpose that He has called us to, we must never forget where we came from, how God has blessed, and how God has grown His church. 1 Chronicles 16:11-12 says, “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, His marvels and the judgments from His mouth.” The Lord has truly worked in wonderful ways throughout the life of our church. On January 29, 1983 the Lord led forty-two believers to meet together to worship Him. For three weeks this young body of believers met in the First National Bank community room. By the end of February, the group purchased and moved into a large farmhouse on a 37-acre site on State Route 639, east of Christiansburg. The first worship service was held there on February 20, 1983. On March 7, fifty-two individuals came forward as members, and the church was officially constituted.

The “Farm House”

In August of 1983 the Lord called Reverend George Bulson, III, to become the full - time pastor of the church. Under his care, we made great progress during the first year. The meeting room of the farmhouse was enlarged, five deacons were elected, the church was voted into the Highland’s Association, the Women’s Missionary Union began and three new Sunday school classes were formed. On August 29, 1984, a planning committee was formed to study needs for expansion. As a result of their findings, the church voted on October 10, to relocate rather than attempt enlarging their present facilities. A building committee was soon developed and on November 7, the church came to agreement to purchase eleven acres of land on Dunlap Drive. In August of 1985 the farmhouse and acreage were sold to prepare for this next stage of ministry. Ground was broken for the new church building on September 22, 1985, and the first phase of the building program began. During that time the church rented the Calvary United Methodist Church facilities from September of 1985 to March of 1986. After the completion of the building, the first service was held on Easter Sunday, March 30, 1986. The church consisted of ninety-seven members. Throughout the next two decades God worked in great ways. Many souls were saved and many lives were changed. Throughout these years the Lord established a strong foundation that He would continue to build upon in the days ahead. The church experienced numerous joys throughout this period, but as with life, we also experienced our share of struggles. Through it all, God showed both His faithfulness and His favor upon this young church family. After Pastor Bulson’s departure to pursue another endeavor, the Lord called Matthew Kirkland to be the next pastor of Good Shepherd Baptist Church on June 15, 2003. Throughout his tenure, Good Shepherd became a lighthouse to our community, set up on this little hill. Many people made professions of faith in Christ and our membership grew.

Additional new Bible Fellowship Classes started, men’s and women’s ministries were begun, the worship ministry grew significantly, and the children and nursery ministries were improved. With a larger membership which made it necessary to hold two services on Sunday mornings, we realized it was time to enlarge our budget for a building expansion. By the end of 2010 we had $132,434.78 in the Building Fund Account. God showed his faithfulness once again in providing funds and labor to construct our beautiful Worship Center. Workers included 87 Baptist Builders from 7 states, 65 volunteers and a construction supervisor, Mr. David Jennings from within our own membership. The Worship Center was dedicated on Sunday, April 21, 2013.

In June of 2016 Pastor Kirkland left GSBC to pastor in Harrisonburg, Virginia. A search committee began the search for a new pastor and a transitional pastor served during that time. After many months without a full-time pastor, there was discontent and unrest - GSBC had a split of the congregation in November of 2017. GSBC again prayed and would seek the Lord’s guidance in finding a new pastor. The Lord brought us together with Pastor Bruce Barger, who had a heart for revitalization and outreach to the community. He accepted our call and began his ministry on June 11, 2018. Pastor Barger’s tenure only lasted until July 21, 2019 before he returned to Tennessee to care for family members. Over the next seven months we had supply pastors to share God’s Word.

Once again a search committee was formed seeking the Lord’s guidance and wisdom to begin the search for a new pastor. The Lord brought us together with Pastor Michael Bartlett. He accepted our call and began his ministry on March 8, 2020. Pastor Michael is a dedicated minister of the Gospel of Jesus to all people of all ages. He is passionate about making disciples, reaching and training the next generation. After preaching to the congregation only twice, Pastor Michael received the news along with GSBC Family that on March 11th, 2020 the World Health Organization declared the global crisis of a new coronavirus a pandemic. As COVID-19 hit the U.S., many businesses and facilities were shut down and our church was closed to in-person, indoor gathering. Good Shepherd Baptist Church continued meeting by outdoor services in the parking lot and commenced online streaming of services, which helped people near and far join in our worship to the Lord. Today, we experience a "new normal" in reaching our community and the world with the Gospel. Small group discipleship, Zoom meetings and video training continue to be utilized as well as resumed in-person gatherings for worship and outreach. To God be the glory great things He has done! After 40 years, we have just had a taste of what God can do, and how he wants to mold us to be useful for Him in His kingdom. God still wants to do a greater work than what we can imagine in this “GSBC family”