Welcome!
Welcome to the internet home of Good Shepherd United Methodist Church of Waldorf. We are in our 56th year of serving the community of St. Charles and we are still singing and praising God every day of the week.
We are pleased to be the home of Good Shepherd Education Center, a center of caring and excellence for children ages 2 through Pre-K. The center is accredited at the highest level through MSDE. GSUMC is also pleased to host the community through “Our Place” dinners served twice a week, Scout Troops 1780 and 1781; Girl Scout Troop; Interfaith Community Connection; two NA groups and various community groups needing a space to meet. Good Shepherd is a church that is committed to making a difference in the community and world around us. We serve and support numerous missions both locally and around the world, including support to a missionary in Angola.
Music Ministry is an important part of our life together. We are blessed to have as our Music Director, Brian Turnmire, a member of the President’s Own Marine Band. Brian leads our Adult and Children’s Choirs and our Praise Band. In addition we have a bell choir. One of the highlights of our music ministry is the annual Christmas Cantata, which is accompanied by a professional orchestra of some of the finest instrumental musicians in the Washington, D.C. area.
Children and youth are vitally important to our church family. We have Sunday School for all ages as well as children’s programs throughout the year including Trunk or Treat, The Living Nativity, Easter Egg Hunt and Vacation Bible School. Our youth meet weekly in both Sunday School and Sunday evening youth group. Our youth also participate yearly in mission trips to Appalachia as well as in local outreach to families in need here in Charles County.
We are pleased that you found our web presence and we hope that you will find your way into our worship services. We worship weekly at 10 a.m. Sunday School for all ages is at 9:15 a.m.
Our Pastor - Rev. Laurie Gates-Ward
Rev. Laurie Gates-Ward came to Good Shepherd in 2012. She has been an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church since 1996. Rev. Laurie has a Master of Arts in School Psychology from Towson State University and a Master of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. Prior to serving GSUMC, Rev. Laurie served in Baltimore for 13 years after serving two appointments in Southern Maryland.
Rev. Laurie’s greatest passion is leading God’s people to connect with God through the love of Jesus Christ. She believes that all of God’s children of all ages are beloved and that the role of the church is to help them discover God’s love for them. Rev. Laurie also strongly believes that God leads us into a journey of ‘lifelong learning’ where we continue to become disciples of Jesus Christ throughout our lifetime.
One of Rev. Laurie’s strong commitments is to connect the church with the community. As part of her commitment to bring the church to the community, Rev. Laurie leads early morning teacher’s prayer groups at two local schools. It is her belief that wherever the people of God are, there is God.
Rev. Laurie serves as a mentor to candidates for ordained ministry and is the chair of the Committee on Buildings and Locations for this district of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference.
Rev. Laurie is married to Alan Ward, an Earth Science writer at NASA Goddard. They have two children this side of heaven, Brady (age 18) and Rebecca (age 16). They also hold in their heart their daughter, Hope, who resides with God.