The Lutheran Church is named for Martin Luther (1483-1546), the great sixteenth-century reformer of the Christian church. He is pictured above on the left with his colleague, Philipp Melanchthon. Most historians consider June 25, 1530, as the day when the Lutheran Church was officially established, as that was the day Luther's followers presented the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, with their official confession of faith called the Augsburg Confession.

In time the Lutheran Church splintered into many different groups when some who claimed to be followers of Luther did not continue in the teachings of Scripture. In the United States alone, there are several dozen Lutheran Church bodies.

Good Shepherd Ev. Lutheran Church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) which was established in 1850. Our church body has about 1,250 member congregations around the world and nearly 400,000 baptized members. The WELS headquarters in located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

On July 10, 1977, Pastor Edward P. Schuppe was ordained and installed at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, Florida. For six months he served in "Team Ministry" with Pastor John Vogt to establish a WELS mission on the west side of Jacksonville. On January 8, 1978, Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church held its first service at Little Friends Nursery with an attendance of thirty-three.

In October 1979 Good Shepherd purchased its current plot at 6551 Argyle Forest Boulevard, and broke ground on September 28, 1980, for the construction of its worship/education/fellowship (WEF) building. On Christmas Eve 1980 the congregation held its first service in that building, pictured below.

God richly blessed the congregation in those early years, leading us to begin plans for a chapel.  On March 6, 1983, ground was broken for that chapel.  On September 25, 1983, the first service was held in our new sanctuary, pictured below.

The congregation has enjoyed the leadership of four pastors in her 25+ year history.  Pastor Ed Schuppe served from 1977-1990. In 1991, Pastor Richard F. Hennig replaced him, serving until 1997. On July 26, 1998, Pastor Peter Prange was ordained and installed as Good Shepherd's third full-time pastor.  Pastor Jon Kuske began shepherding the flock in March 2005 and is the current pastor.  He and his wife Lynn have a daughter middle school age and a son in elementary school.

As a congregation we continue to pray for God's guidance and strength as we carry out our mission to help everyone grow in faith and love through Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd.

If you'd like to know more about the history of the first 25 years of our congregation (1978-2003), please link to our Twenty-Fifth Anniversary History.