A Small Congregation with Deep Roots in Randolph County
The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd sits at 505 Mountain Road in Asheboro, North Carolina, where it has served as the only Episcopal congregation in Randolph County since a small group of citizens first gathered in March 1935. Almost ninety years later, the parish still occupies that same rise of land in the Dogwood Acres neighborhood, and its stone chapel and adjoining sanctuary remain the visible center of a quiet ministry that reaches across the county through soup kitchens, backpack programs, and partnerships with local non-profits.
Good Shepherd is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, one of more than a hundred congregations that make up the diocese within Province IV of the national church. Its members describe it as a place where ancient prayer meets ordinary life, a community shaped less by statements of belief than by the rhythms of the Book of Common Prayer and the steady presence of its people on a single piece of ground in Asheboro.
A Church Built in the Depression
The congregation began without a building. For its first two years, the group of Episcopal families met for worship at Pugh Funeral Home in downtown Asheboro, working with an annual budget of just $300, of which $16.50 was set aside each month for the priest's salary.
Soon after the first meeting, a land developer named Henry P. Corwith offered a lot in a new development called Dogwood Acres, and by August of 1935 the deed was in hand. Fundraising began in the depths of the Great Depression, and by April 1937 the young parish had gathered only $600 toward its building fund, still $1,400 short. Undaunted, the congregation voted to move forward in faith.
The bishop of the diocese at the time, the Right Rev. Edwin A. Pennick, urged the vestry to build "an honest material such as stone or brick," and the resulting chapel was modeled after a solid English medieval structure. Master mason Clyde Wood quarried the stone on the farm of Frank and Charles McCrary, and S.E. Trogdon was hired to complete the construction. A crowd gathered in 1937 for the laying of the cornerstone, and one woman's puzzlement - she asked why anyone would build a church "in the middle of nowhere" - drew the bishop's gentle reply that a person who cannot find God in such a beautiful setting will struggle to find God anywhere.
Worship began as soon as the roof went on. The first pews were simple boards laid across nail kegs, and the altar and pulpit were no more than piles of stone waiting to be set into the walls. There was no furnace that first winter; the vestry considered central heating an extravagance. The Episcopal Church Women solved the problem by opening a thrift shop in the furnace room at Standard Drug Store in downtown Asheboro, and within nine months they had raised enough to install heat in the building.
The chapel's furnishings came, in part, from the Church of the Ascension in China Grove, North Carolina, which loaned the altar, baptismal font, pulpit Bible, and the pews that still fill the chapel today.
The Sanctuary and Its Sacred Centerpieces
A parish hall was added in 1951 to provide a kitchen, gathering space, and meeting rooms, but by 1971 the congregation had outgrown the original chapel. Construction began on a new sanctuary and education building, with Colonel Croft again providing the design and S.E. Trogdon returning to oversee the build. The new nave seats roughly three hundred people.
Stained glass was added to both sides of the room, and a rose window was installed at the rear of the church, given by J.B. Davis in memory of his wife, Claire. The needlepoint cushions at the altar rail were made by the women of the ECW and their friends, and many other appointments in the church were given as memorials.
Dominating the sanctuary is the Christus Rex, an almost life-sized figure of Christ the King suspended on the cross above the altar. Hand-carved in Switzerland, it depicts the resurrected and ascended Jesus with the symbols of the four Evangelists marking the extremities of the cross. It was given to the church by Jane Isely Lisk and Tyler Lisk in memory of their young daughter, Laura Parker Lisk.
Two Sunday Services, Two Voices of Worship
Good Shepherd offers two distinct services on Sunday mornings, both centered on the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
At 8:00 a.m. in the chapel, the congregation gathers for Holy Eucharist, Rite I. The Rite I liturgy preserves the language and piety of the Elizabethan era and the original Book of Common Prayer, using old English forms such as thee and thou, along with classic hymns drawn from an older hymnal tradition.
At 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary, the principal service is Holy Eucharist, Rite II, supported by a full choir during the program year from September through June. Rite II uses contemporary English and reflects more contemporary theological and liturgical sensibilities, while still following the basic structure outlined in the Book of Common Prayer.
All who seek a deeper relationship with Christ are welcome at the altar, regardless of denomination, tradition, age, gender, or marital status. Services are also livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, where recordings of past services can be viewed at any time.
Wednesday Lunch and Healing
On Wednesdays at 12:05 p.m., the chapel hosts a Healing Eucharist, a brief communion service set in the middle of the workday. The congregation prays by name for everyone on the parish prayer list and offers the sacrament of anointing for healing to any who wish to receive it.
For those who want to dig into Scripture during the week, Bible Study meets on Tuesdays at 9:00 a.m. in the parlor or over Zoom, opening the biblical text to discussion and shared learning in a small, conversational setting.
The Book of Common Prayer at the Center
The Book of Common Prayer provides the basic structure for worship at Good Shepherd and at every Episcopal church across the country and around the world. The same skeleton of prayer used by the earliest Christian communities remains in use here, and is shared in many forms by Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and some Methodists and Presbyterians. For that reason, the worship at Good Shepherd often feels familiar even to those who are walking into an Episcopal church for the first time.
The Book of Common Prayer also outlines the Daily Office for those who wish to structure their prayers along the lines of ancient monastic practice, and includes pre-written prayers for a wide range of specific circumstances and people. Members are encouraged to supplement these prayers with personal devotions, silent meditation, centering prayer, and other forms of prayer.
Good Shepherd in the Episcopal Family
Good Shepherd is part of The Episcopal Church, an inclusive and affirming branch of Christianity that welcomes everyone regardless of race, class, age, gender, sexuality, or marital status. In Episcopal teaching, women have full access to all orders of ministry, including ordained priesthood and the office of bishop. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons are full and equal members of the church, with access to the sacraments of ordination and holy matrimony.
The Episcopal Church is often described as the via media, or middle way, between tradition-rooted Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, Scripture-oriented Protestant denominations, and experience-driven charismatic and Pentecostal communities. Drawing on Scripture, Tradition, and Reason as its threefold basis for theological understanding, the church is shaped less by binding doctrinal statements than by shared liturgical practice and prayerful participation in the world.
Episcopal parishes follow the seasons of the liturgical year - Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time - a cycle that allows the congregation to live into the story of Christ's life, death, and resurrection year after year. The name "Episcopal" itself means "bishop," and reflects a church led by bishops whose spiritual authority traces all the way back to the apostles.
The national church gathers for General Convention every three years, where bishops, clergy, and lay representatives from every diocese vote on important matters of church life. The presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Curry, formerly served as bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.
The Rector and the People Who Keep the Doors Open
The parish is led by the Reverend Dr. John Campbell, who joined Good Shepherd as rector in September 2025. Born in the mountains of Tennessee, he spent much of his adult life in South Louisiana, where he served as a pastor in another denomination before spending seven years in Bulgaria and Lithuania as a missionary, professor, and orphanage worker. He was ordained as an Episcopal priest in January of 2021. He describes his call as making God's love known to all people, and his underlying philosophy as love more, fear less.
Lisa Johnson serves as organist and Jessica Blackwell as choir director, providing the musical foundation for Sunday worship. The parish office is staffed Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and can be reached at 336-625-5234.
Episcopal parishes are governed by a Vestry of elected members who serve three-year terms and support the rector in the life of the church. Good Shepherd's Vestry has twelve members, with four rotating off each December and four new members elected at the annual meeting. The Senior Warden is appointed by the rector, and a Junior Warden focuses on the upkeep of the buildings and grounds.
Grounds Open to the Neighborhood
Good Shepherd treats its grounds as part of its ministry. The property includes an outdoor chapel, a columbarium courtyard, and a creek crossed by a footbridge, and the parish considers the whole landscape a quiet place of retreat and solace for the surrounding neighborhood and the wider Asheboro community.
Anyone is welcome to come by any time of day to walk the bridge, sit by the creek, pray or meditate at the outdoor chapel, or spend quiet time in the columbarium courtyard. The grounds are always open.
Serving Randolph County
Beyond its own walls, Good Shepherd's Mission Outreach team partners with a circle of local non-profit organizations that serve neighbors in need throughout the county. Ministry partners include Habitat for Humanity, the Christians United Outreach Center, Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, Lydia's Place, the Communities in Schools BackPack Pals Program, and Operation Red Sleigh. The parish provides financial support and other practical assistance to these partners through its Mission Outreach Fund.
Giving in Many Forms
Good Shepherd teaches that there are many ways to give. Time and talent are offered through the church's many ministries, showcased each year at Rally Day in September when ministry leaders share their work and invite newcomers to sign up. Financial giving can take the form of gifts placed in the offering plate during worship, online donations through the church's online giving page, or annual pledges made during the Every Member Canvas stewardship campaign each fall. A separate Memorial Endowment Fund allows gifts in memory of loved ones, with the principal held in trust to sustain the long-term life of the parish.
The Book of Common Prayer reminds members that prayer is itself a form of giving, and Good Shepherd encourages its people to support the life of the church through prayer even when time or treasure is limited.