Welcome to Good Shepherd Episcopal Church – serving Sumter since 1913.
Guided by the Spirit of the Good Shepherd, we are a congregation that welcomes others, cares and nourishes ourselves and the larger community with compassion, and creates a safe place for all who seek a deeper relationship with each other and with the living God.
9:30 am Worship Service held the first and third Sunday of the month.
Service Times
Senior Warden, Lay Minister
Tommy Bultman
Experience the seasons of worship and joyous parish life at Good Shepherd.
Parish Life - Good Shepherd Sumter
Living in Partnership
St Augustine’s Episcopal Church
St. Augustine’s was founded in 1887 and Good Shepherd in 1913. Both congregations are early mission churches. Throughout our history, we have often shared clergy and frequently hold joint worship services.
The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina Racial Justice & Reconciliation Commission
The Diocesan Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission was formed in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina in 2020. The overarching aim of the commission is to strive to reflect the Beloved Community across the diocese.
History of Good Shepherd
Founded in 1913 by Dr. Charles Wainwright Birnie, a physician who moved to Sumter from Charleston in the early 1900 who shared the desire with other Episcopalians to start a Black Episcopal church in the city. A small but mighty group of the faithful gathered together to form The Church of the Good Shepherd. Funds were raised and a new sanctuary was built.
The building was consecrated on September 28, 1924 with Bishop William Alexander Guerry signing the Certificate of Consecration. The frame and foundation of the building date back to structures built in 1745 at Cherry Vale Plantation.