Good Shepherd is blessed with a dedicated team of staff who work with church leaders, volunteers and friends to serve congregation members and the broader community. Meet them and get contact information below.
Good Shepherd Staff
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Pastor
703-548-8608
Pastor Kate serves our congregation by preaching and teaching, presiding in worship, baptisms and holy communion. She counsels those with personal needs, preparing for baptism or marriage and other life passages, and conducts other special services. She works with the leaders of the congregation to attend to the daily happenings of Good Shepherd and represents GSLC in the community.
What's a Bible verse or spiritual concept that's meaningful to you?
Micah 6:8 What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
It's a great reminder that all we do is centered in God, and that the central priorities of our faith should always be revealed in how we treat others.
What service do you usually go to? All three!
Where did you grow up? Abingdon, Virginia, a small town in the Appalachian Mountains.
What’s an example of how members can help/volunteer in your GSLC ministry area?
There are so many opportunities to serve in our congregation and in the wider community. I'd love to chat with you about your gifts and passions and find the perfect opportunity for you. "Your vocation in life is where your greatest joy meets the world's greatest need." Frederick Buechner
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Vicar
703-548-8608
Vicar Amy has been studying theology and pastoral leadership at the United Lutheran Seminary for several years, and now is ready to put that learning into practice. She'll serve as a pastoral intern for two years, working alongside Pastor Kate for many ministry tasks like preaching, teaching classes, visiting, and collaborating with our teams and committees.
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Administrative Secretary
703-548-8608
Karen is the friendly face folks encounter at GSLC on weekdays in person and on the phone. She manages the church office, prepares bulletins and other church documents, maintains congregation membership records and other files, and keeps the building use schedule.
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Education Ministry Coordinator
Denise works with kids, parents and volunteers to facilitate Christian and Lutheran learning at GSLC. She coordinates Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, confirmation, first communion preparation, and other education and youth activities.
What's a Bible verse or spiritual concept that's meaningful to you?
Romans 3:23-25 Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.
This verse is so freeing for me just as it was for Martin Luther - we are all sinners but God's gift of grace through Jesus is all that is needed. I still remember my Sunday School teacher teaching that justified kind of means "just as if I had not sinned" - God wipes the slate clean and gives us a fresh start in our relationships and lives so that our sins are not a weight we bear that drags us down, but they are taken away. What an amazing gift!
What service do you usually go to? I usually go to 9:45 AM and often to 11 AM
Where did you grow up? On a dairy farm in Auburndale in central Wisconsin.
What’s an example of how members can help/volunteer in your GSLC ministry area?
We need volunteers to help with summer day camp/VBS, teach Sunday School, serve as mentors with our confirmation students, and assist with special events like the Christmas program and Easter activities.
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Ethan Lolley
Choir Director
Ethan Lolley holds a master's degree in music education and choral conducting from Auburn University. He's performed and worked in a variety of different contexts, including youth bands and orchestras, Disney Performing Arts and Central Florida Community Arts. Currently he directs multiple choirs for Encore Creativity, an organization that provides opportunities for older adults in our community. He'll continue that work as he begins at GSLC.
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M. Alexander Gray
Organist
organist@gslutheran.netAlex provides organ and piano music and coordinates musicians for Good Shepherd's worship services. He also accompanies the choir.
Alex has worked as a church musician for many years and is also a professional artist with a studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. He's played a wide variety of choral and instrumental music for several churches in northern Virginia, with a particular interest in the organ compositions of Bach and the Baroque era. Previously he served as organist at Messiah Lutheran Church.
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Bookkeeper
Paul ensures the checks get cut and the financial records are maintained accurately. If you’re around the GSLC office in the evenings, you’ll often see him there.
What's a Bible verse or spiritual concept that's meaningful to you?
John 3:1-10 …Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You[d] must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit…”
A verse that has a lot to say about our human natures and the "new nature" that is mentioned so often in the Epistles and which we are urged to put on.
What service do you usually go to? 11 AM
Where did you grow up? I was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Park Ridge, the first suburb on the northwestern tip of Chicago.
What’s an example of how members can help/volunteer in your GSLC ministry area?
My staff position is bookkeeper. Instead of asking for help with that, part of my job is to assist any member of Good Shepherd who has a question about our church finances, so please feel free to do that.
I am also the head usher, and I would very much encourage any member to prayerfully consider volunteering for our usher crew.
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Custodian
Hector maintains the cleanliness of the church and sets up for events. We’re thankful for the pride he takes in caring for GSLC for members and visitors.
What's a Bible verse or spiritual concept that's meaningful to you?
Romans 10:8-10 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Where did you grow up? I was born and raised in a small town near San Miguel, El Salvador. I came to the U.S. in 1990 and live with my wife, children and grandchildren in Woodbridge. I worked for many years as a custodian at Episcopal High School before retiring a bit ago. My children work at Episcopal now.
What’s an example of how members can help/volunteer in your GSLC ministry area?
If members of Good Shepherd want to help with my ministry, they can do small things like take the trash to the cans outside and replace the paper products in the bathrooms when they run out.
