Our Location

As a Christian community, our life is based upon and bound up in the reality of the Incarnation—that in Jesus Christ, the Word became flesh and in Eugene Peterson’s words, “moved into the neighborhood.” God entered into time and space, and even more, took up all the concrete particularities of a human body, a human story, in a particular place, among particular people. The implications of this reality are manifold, but at a very basic level, the incarnation offers a deep affirmation of places, peoples, and stories in all of their particularity. Part of what that means for us as a church is the recognition that we are stepping into a history that predates us, and as we do so, we are seeking to be attentive to what has come before us and seeking to gently step into and participate in what is already happening around us. 

Theologian Willie James Jennings argues that inherent to Christian identity is the recognition that “we have been brought into another people’s story.” Rightly understood, this means that there is a deep connection between our discipleship and the places we live and inhabit, a perpetual invitation to nurture a curiosity and humility that resists centering ourselves and instead situates ourselves as participants in an already unfolding story. In Jennings’ words, much of this is dependent upon our ability to “become better storytellers of the places we inhabit.” As a new church, we desire that our presence be one that is gentle, honest, and that seeks to partner with and nurture the life of the people and organizations already present in a neighborhood

In December 2023, Church of the Good Shepherd purchased the building at 500 Church St in the city of Charlottesville from Hinton Avenue United Methodist Church. We will begin meeting there in early 2025. Stay tuned for more of our thoughts on this journey, the building, the neighborhood, and its history.

From October 2022 to January 2025, Church of the Good Shepherd met in the historic Ridge Street Church in downtown Charlottesville. That place and the history it holds were foundational to our beginning as a body. Learn more here.