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OUR VISION
The vision of The Church of the Good Shepherd is to become a thousand-member regional resource church which will be a center for the worship of God, a staltshaker affecting economic, cultural, and political life, and a catalyst for the evangelization of the diverse people groups in the Triangle and beyond.

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Q. Where will we begin?
A. With the academic, business, and professional community between UNC and Duke.

Q. Does this beginning mean we intend to be exclusive?
A. Not at all! Our lord is no respecter of persons nor do we wish to be. We want to see disciples made here from every education, socio-economic, and racial group. To that end we will welcome enthusiastically any person who comes to us, and we will take initiative to help plant churches in other geographic parts of our area with other people groups or sub-cultures, using tools and forms adapted to those groups. We believe we are taking a strategic first step toward reaching all our area.

Q. Why do we describe our location as "the northwest side of the Research Triangle" instead of simply Chapel Hill or Durham?
A. Because we believe that we have been called to fill a gap between Chapel Hill and Durham (drawing from both communities) to complement and cooperate with other evangelical churches which were here before us and because we believe we have been called to try to become a regional "resource church" which can help start other churches and provide specialized ministries for the area.

Q. How large will we grow?
A. Only the lord of the church knows, but our current understanding of his plan for us would be to plant other churches rather than growing beyond 1,000 members. We believe it is desirable to be large enough both to make a noticeable impact on our area and to be a resource for world evangelization yet small enough to meet together at the same place and time.

Q. What kind of church will we be theologically?
A. We are an evangelical congregation affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America. By evangelical we mean "characterized by the gospel," the message about the seeking and saving Son of God, Jesus Christ, contained in the authoritative Word of God, the Bible. By being part of the PCA we bind ourselves to other churches of like heart who express their understanding of biblical teaching through the Westminster standards. We describe ourselves as evangelical first and presbyterian second to distinguish essential doctrines from important but non-essential ones.

Q. When will our vision for this church have been fulfilled?
A. When "the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). We intend to be "worshiping the Shepherd, feeding the flock, and seeking the lost" until Christ's Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 is completed not just in Chapel Hill-Durham, but around the world and our Lord returns in glory to consummate his kingdom.