On Webster Road, just outside the village of Webster, New York, the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd gathers each week as a parish of the Diocese of Rochester. Its members describe themselves as an Episcopal expression of the Jesus Movement, people who believe that everyone is a beloved child of God and who try, in their words, to "walk each other home." The church's life is split between two sanctuaries: the main church on Webster Road and a tiny wood chapel, St. Andrews by the Lake, where summer services have been held for generations.
Two Sunday Services, Two Characters
Good Shepherd offers two very different Sunday Eucharists. At 8:00 a.m., the earlier Rite I is intentionally quiet, with no music and a simple liturgy that allows space for prayer and reflection. At 10:15 a.m., the later Rite II fills the sanctuary with music, families, and a fuller congregation. Children begin their Sunday School at the start of that service and, following the collection, are brought upstairs and process in together while Father Lance invites everyone except the parents to be seated so the children can be spotted on their way in. The 10:15 service is livestreamed on Vimeo, and recordings of past Sundays are available for replay.
On the first Sunday of each month from October onward, the later service becomes Family Sunday. No Sunday School classes meet on those mornings; instead, youth choirs sing, young people read scripture and lead the prayers, and children serve as ushers, acolytes, and bearers of the sacred elements.
St. Andrews by the Lake: A Summer Chapel
For more than a century, a one-room chapel hidden in a locust grove on Lake Road has been a place of worship for Good Shepherd's people. St. Andrews Chapel began as the District No. 5 schoolhouse, where Hannah Strowger Burnett was given permission to hold services in 1885. Her heirs bought the building in 1913 in her memory and turned it permanently into a chapel, fashioning a rosewood altar from the concert music piano she had once owned. By the 1930s the chapel was known as a "summer chapel," with visiting clergy offered a small cottage on the grounds in exchange for their priestly duties. Good Shepherd's rector began leading summer services there in the 1980s, and Christmas services were added in 2000, followed by Easter Sunrise and Easter Vigil services. At the end of 2018 the Diocese deeded the chapel to Good Shepherd. Father Lance still leads worship at St. Andrews on Sundays in the summer, and the chapel hosts the parish's healing prayer service in July and August.
A Healing Prayer Ministry at the Center
Healing prayer is one of the most developed ministries of the parish. After the 10:15 Sunday Eucharist, prayer ministers are available on a first-come, first-served basis to practice the laying on of hands for physical healing, emotional wounds, relationships of the mind and heart, addiction, grief, spiritual concerns, and generational needs. A Monthly Healing Prayer Service is offered on the second Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m., September through June at Good Shepherd and in July and August at St. Andrews. Individual appointments, including hospital visits, can be arranged by emailing Amy, and the parish also offers a three-level Healing Prayer Ministry Training program using materials from the School of Healing Prayer created by Christian Healing Ministries of Jacksonville, Florida. The Prayer Chain intercedes for any request, regardless of parish affiliation; only first names or initials and a general description are shared with the chain.
Education for Every Stage of Life
Sunday School at Good Shepherd runs from mid-September through Father's Day in June, beginning at 10:15 a.m. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade meet in the gathering room off the upstairs parish hall, while grades six through twelve meet in the Teen Room below the main entrance. The curriculum is primarily lectionary-based, so the children usually learn the same Bible lessons their parents hear upstairs, drawn in part from web-based resources such as Sermons 4 Kids and the Episcopal Church's Lesson Plans that Work. Teachers and substitutes are all volunteers. For the youngest children, nursery care is available each week for babies through age three, and there is a quiet room in the back of the sanctuary with a sofa and chairs for families who choose to stay together. Activity bags with coloring books and soft toys are kept in the Narthex for the same service.
Adults have several options. Adult Forums are held Tuesday mornings at 10:15 a.m. on wide-ranging topics, from music to theology. A Tuesday-evening Bible Study at 4:00 p.m., meeting in person in the church library and on Zoom, walks through the weekly lectionary and other books and themes; it takes a break from late June to the end of August. A Wednesday Bible Study meets at 10:00 a.m. in person and on Zoom. Education for Ministry (EfM), the four-year lay education program of the School of Theology of the University of the South, meets Monday evenings at 6:45 p.m. in person and on Zoom, September through May, covering the Old Testament, the New Testament, church history, and theology in turn. The church library, just off the Narthex, holds a collection of reference books, fiction and nonfiction, and children's books maintained by librarian Marilyn Nuffer.
Music as a Living Part of Worship
Music is, in the parish's own description, "a vital part of our worship," and the program has been shaped for decades by Dr. Karyn Robbins, who has served as Music Director and Organist since 1988. She holds Master's and Doctoral degrees in Organ Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and also teaches piano and organ at the church. The Adult Choir rehearses Wednesday evenings from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. and leads worship every Sunday at 10:15 a.m. except on Family Sundays, with extra music for Christmas and Holy Week. The Youth Choir, for grades five through twelve, rehearses Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. and sings once a month for Family Sundays and on Christmas Eve and Easter. A senior-high-and-adult Chime Choir rehearses Wednesdays from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m., and a brass ensemble plays for festive liturgies and special occasions. Instrumentalists of any age are invited to share preludes, postludes, and anthem accompaniments.
Fellowship, Food, and Looking Out for Neighbors
Fellowship at Good Shepherd centers on a long-running Coffee Hour after the later Sunday service, hosted in a loose rhythm with the school year. Families and individuals sign up to provide coffee, juice, and treats, and the same group hosts receptions around funerals, memorial services, confirmations, and recognitions. Two parish groups knit and read together. The Stitchers meet at 10:00 a.m. on Thursdays at the church, creating baptismal blankets, prayer shawls, incubator covers for the Rochester General Hospital nursery, and lap quilts for breast cancer patients; the Zoom Book Club meets with the Stitchers once a month on the fourth Thursday. Shepherdess, a single women's group, gathers on the fourth Tuesday of each month at a local restaurant.
Good Shepherd takes food ministry seriously. The Backpack Program collects items in the Narthex each week and is sent to Immanuel Lutheran Church in Webster for distribution to Webster Elementary students identified by school personnel as at risk of weekend food shortage; overflow donations go to the Little Food Cupboard behind Immanuel. The parish helps A Meal and More, a Rochester soup kitchen that serves free midday meals at Christ Church on Wednesdays and Sundays, by preparing and serving meals three times a month and contributing food and money. A Monthly Community Dinner at the parish hosts neighbors on the last Friday of each month at 5:00 p.m. The parish also keeps a small store of Good Shepherd apparel, with all proceeds benefiting the Outreach Commission.
Outreach Across Rochester and Beyond
Good Shepherd's Outreach Commission supports a long list of local and international partners with both money and volunteer hours. Local recipients include A Meal and More in Rochester, the Pines of Peace Hospice in Ontario, Project URGE/Mothers in Need of Others, the Williamson Come-Unity Center, the Webster Comfort Care Home, Willow Domestic Violence Center, Shepherd Home in Penfield, the Center for Youth in Rochester, Family Promise of Greater Rochester, SPIRIT NYS/Rochester, Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing, and Mercy Flight. Beyond Rochester, the parish supports Episcopal Relief and Development and has sent mission trips to assist a partner church and school in a village near Limón, Costa Rica, and to provide medical attention in remote villages in Guatemala. The parish building also hosts three weekly Alcoholics Anonymous groups and three weekly Gamblers Anonymous groups, opening the doors to the wider recovery community throughout the week.
Bereavement Care and the Parish Family
For parishioners facing loss, Good Shepherd offers free bereavement counseling with Marilyn McCann, a registered nurse and certified, experienced pastoral bereavement counselor. The ministry is offered in a caring, non-judgmental setting for those grieving the death of a loved one, the diagnosis of acute or chronic illness in themselves or a relative, divorce, the experience of crime, or other significant losses, and confidentiality is strictly maintained. The parish also keeps an active Meal Ministry: when a parishioner is ill, injured, recovering from surgery, caring for an infant or an elderly relative, or otherwise unable to cook, fellow parishioners prepare and deliver dinners, coordinated by Debra Nelson.
Writers and Storytellers in the Pews
Good Shepherd's writing ministries give shape to the parish's shared life. The Good Shepherd monthly newsletter carries news, birthdays, happenings, and links for the parish. The Flock Quarterly is a literary magazine written by and for parishioners, open to short stories, essays, prayers, poems, and photographs. Each year in Lent the parish publishes a booklet of daily meditations, drawing on writing and artwork contributed by members of the congregation. Submissions for all three are coordinated by parishioners and announced in the weekly church update.
Invite, Welcome, Connect
The parish grounds its hospitality in Invite Welcome Connect, a ministry of evangelism, hospitality, and belonging created by Mary Parmer and built around three words: Invite (the ministry of evangelism, whose deep truth the rector names "courage vs. fear"), Welcome (the ministry of hospitality, whose deep truth is "seeing the other"), and Connect (the ministry of belonging, whose deep truth is "the sacred art of listening"). Greeters are on hand in the Narthex to answer questions and help newcomers find their way. The Coffee Hour doubles as a way for visitors to meet people. Visitors who would like a private prayer appointment can email Amy. Those wanting a plan for coming to a service can fill out a Connect With Us form to let the parish know they are on the way.
The Building, the Grounds, and a Columbarium
Good Shepherd's main building offers ample parking on the east and south sides of the church, with handicap parking adjacent to the main entrance. Visitors enter through the white glass doors on the east side of the building; the red doors on the west side lawn are not the public entrance. Once inside, the building is handicap accessible, and greeters in the Narthex (the lobby at the back of the sanctuary) help newcomers find classrooms and restrooms. Outside, on the northwest corner of the property just outside the outer entrance to the Parish Hall, the parish maintains a columbarium for cremated remains, set inside a black, gated fence with a few chairs and benches for quiet meditation. Niches can be arranged by contacting Father Lance.
Stewards of the Parish: Clergy, Staff, and Vestry
Father Lance Robbins has served Good Shepherd since 1991. A graduate of Thiel College and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, he previously served parishes in western Pennsylvania and was chaplain at the University of Missouri and associate rector at Calvary Episcopal Church in Columbia, Missouri. Deacon Roch Whitman, a member of Good Shepherd for almost thirty years, completed a three-year seminary training program at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and now serves the parish. Barbara Fornalik, Deacon Emeritus, was ordained in 2008 after beginning seminary studies in 2005. Dr. Karyn Robbins has been Director of Music at Good Shepherd since 1988. The parish also keeps a Sexton, Chris Nuccitelli, who maintains both the main church and St. Andrews Chapel. The vestry, which typically meets on the second Tuesday of each month from September through June, is led by Senior Warden John Trompeter, Junior Warden Dawn Wilkins, Treasurer Bruce Dunn, Finance Committee Chair Richard Robinson, and members Gary Gailor, Gary Richardson, Carol Wawrzycki, Mary Randall, Beth Wrisley, Brenda Pierce, and Ed Kushall, with Tom Nairn and Father Lance Robbins as Rector.
A Parish Life Shaped by Scripture, Tradition, and Reason
Good Shepherd's faith is rooted in scripture, tradition, and reason, with a Eucharist-centered liturgy and music as a vital part of worship. The parish baptismal covenant unites its members with the life of Christ, and the church teaches that everyone has a gift from God and that sharing those gifts enriches the community. Visitors can come as they are: the early Sunday service and the Wednesday noon service are quiet and prayerful for those who prefer worship without music; the later Sunday service is filled with music and families for those who prefer a fuller liturgy. Children are taught and nurtured in the Sunday School and music programs to grow up to be the next generation of leaders in the church. People of all backgrounds, races, and sexual orientations are welcomed without hesitation or prejudice. Good Shepherd's people put it plainly in the words of 1 Corinthians 12: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ."