The Beginning
Good Shepherd Parish, as it is known today, was first established in 1975 as a mission church of St. Joseph's Parish in Newton, NJ. An all-purpose structure was erected and dedicated by Bishop Lawrence Casey of the Diocese of Paterson and the faithful were served by priests of St. Joseph's. After four years of celebrations and setbacks as a faith community, such as the building collapse during a bad winter, Bishop Frank Rodimer made the decision to establish a parish and in 1979 he appointed Father Richard Steiger as its founding pastor. Mrs. Elena Kissell became the director of religious education and pastoral associate, the first one in the Diocese of Paterson. Located in the Sussex County countryside near Lake Tranquility, the parish was named the Church of Our Lady of Tranquility to honor the Blessed Mother and to reflect the seven neighboring communities. The first mass was celebrated on Pentecost, June 1, 1979 in the Tranquility Methodist Church. In an effort to unite the different parish communities, a suggestion was made to change the name from Our Lady of Tranquility to Good Shepherd because, although the parishioners were geographically spread out without an official home, they were always brought together by Fr. Steiger through the celebration of the sacraments. In August, 1979 the parish officially became Good Shepherd. Throughout the first few years, weekend masses were celebrated in the Andover Borough Fire Hall and the Andover Presbyterian Church while daily masses often were celebrated in parishioners' homes and local lake club buildings. The original parishioners were dedicated and active despite not having a physical church building to call their own.
A New Home
In 1982, Westby Farms president Finn Caspersen donated a 10 acre parcel of land along Rt. 517 in Andover Borough to the parish for the purpose of building Good Shepherd Church. Plans were formulated and the new church was designed because of the dedicated efforts of the first church building committee, architects, and consultation with local liturgical experts. Parishioner Henry deMena, Director of Development for the Diocese, chaired the Pledge Campaign Committee who organized a campaign which was a huge success. A touching groundbreaking ceremony was held on the future site of the church building on September 30, 1984. After a little over a year of construction, Good Shepherd Church was dedicated by Bishop Rodimer on December 14, 1985. Good Shepherd had grown from a mission church of about 200 people to a parish with 525 registered families at the time of the dedication thanks to the commitment and hard work of so many over a ten-year period.
Two special statues welcome parishioners outside of the Church building. The statues of The Good Shepherd and Our Lady of Peace were carved of white marble in Carrara, Italy specifically for the parish. In 1987, the Blessed Mother statue was incorporated into an outdoor grotto. During the spring of the following year, Bishop Rodimer designated the grotto as an official peace site in the Diocese of Paterson.
Through the years, improvements and additions were made to the parish building and grounds including the roadway and parking lot, a rectory adjacent to the church building, a digital organ for liturgical celebrations, and the parish hall. With the help of generous parishioners, the projects were successfully completed and parish life continued to get stronger.
In addition to physical upgrades, Good Shepherd began to expand offerings in the spiritual life as well. Mrs. Kissell facilitated the first RCIA group in 1988, an Adult Bible Study group was formed in 1989, the Religious Education program grew with the addition of new families, and the music ministry expanded as the children's choir and adult bell choir were established. Beloved Mrs. Kissell tirelessly and joyfully continued to minister to the parish alongside Fr. Steiger until her death in October, 1991. Mrs. Nancy Reading was director of religious education from 1992-1998, followed by Mrs. Sharon Matuza, the director of religious education and pastoral associate from 1998 to the present. In 1998, Fr. Steiger received the papal honor of Reverend Monsignor by Pope St. John Paul II. His name was submitted by Bishop Rodimer in recognition of all the work he had done to establish this new parish. Fr. Steiger faithfully served as pastor of Good Shepherd until 2011 when he retired.
Those Who Have Gone Before
Not every Catholic parish is fortunate to have a cemetery to call its own. In 2001, 18 acres were purchased about a mile from the parish property for development of the Good Shepherd Cemetery. Through pledges to the Diocesan Prepare the Way campaign, parishioners supported this purchase and development got started. In 2003, the cemetery was officially dedicated and blessed in a celebration led by Msgr. Herbert Tillyer, Diocesan Director of Cemeteries. Today the cemetery is a beautiful setting for prayer and reflection as well as an earthly home for those who have gone before us, including some founding members of the parish.
On September 16, 2013, Good Shepherd mourned the loss of its founding pastor, Msgr. Steiger. A packed church celebrated his life and dedication to the people of Good Shepherd realizing that the community, as it is today, would never have come into existence without his leadership and vision. His final resting place is the tranquil cemetery he built.
Today's Church
On July 16, 2011, Good Shepherd welcomed Msgr. Martin McDonnell as its new pastor. The parish community has continued to grow spiritually and physically since Fr. Martin's arrival. In 2014, Fr. Martin led a group of parishioners in an effort to refurbish the inside and outside of the church building, just as the original parishioners had done almost 30 years prior. Some of the renovations inside the church were the expansion and remodeling of the sanctuary area and upgrading the sound system. Just as in previous times of need, the parishioners' financial generosity to the Diocesan Partners in Faith campaign enabled this project to be completed.
As renovations continued into the next year and a half, additional upgrades were made to include new pew cushions and kneelers, a donated rose window added to the Chapel, followed later by full length windows being added to bring more light into the main church. The Rectory and garage were also resided and the Chapel and Sacristy were refreshed with paint and new carpeting.
On the Feast of Pentecost in 2015, the new parish website was launched. The site was born of an effort to more effectively communicate with the parish community by sharing news, happenings, and photos. A parish-wide e-mail list was created and utilized to send out a monthly "News and Notes." Good Shepherd also entered into the social media age with pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Later on in 2015, we welcomed two new part-time coordinators of Religious Education: Phyllis Haarmann, grades K-7 and Gail A. Egan, grades 8-10, Youth Minister. The presence of Phyllis and Gail have allowed Sharon to concentrate her efforts on her role as the Pastoral Associate. The revisions made to the Religious Education program have brought about significant changes, innovations and a new curriculum under their leadership.
On June 26, 2016, Fr. Martin retired as Pastor of Good Shepherd after serving us for 5 years. With his warmth, laughter and smiling Irish eyes, he has shown us that we are all welcomed, loved by God . . . welcomed and loved by him. We, in turn, grew in our capacity to love God and each other because of him. The impact he made on our lives in the short time he was ministering to us, will remain with us for many years to come.
On July 3, 2016 Good Shepherd welcomed Fr. Timothy Dowling as its new pastor. Celebrating his first Mass with us on October 8th, we also welcomed Fr. Michal Jan Szwarc, newly ordained in May as the Parish’s first Parochial Vicar.
The new Good Shepherd statue which was custom designed for our parish and carved out of Carrara marble, traveled from Italy and arrived at our Church on July 13, 2016. The statue stands 8’ tall, weighs 3,574 lbs. and was the generous donation of a parishioner. The new statue was blessed and dedicated by Pastor Emeritus, Msgr. Martin McDonnell on August 13th and now looks out over the valley beckoning all to come and be welcomed by him.
On the same day, a white dogwood tree that was planted at the North entrance to the Church was also blessed and dedicated in memory of our founding Pastor, Rev. Msgr. Richard A. Steiger. A monument was placed in front of the tree in Fr. Steiger’s memory.
With new landscaping completed on the hillside, in front of the Chapel and Prayer Garden, the outside of the Church was completely transformed.
Over the summer months, new technology including flat screen TV’s, sound bars, white boards, media carts and laptops were added to all of the CCD classrooms to further upgrade and enhance the Religious Education program.
Additionally, a movable divider wall was installed in the Holy Trinity Room (behind the Parish Hall) to allow for more classroom space.
While the names and faces may change over the years, the constant force behind the vitality of Good Shepherd is the people who make up the community. This parish thrives because of the faith of its people, their willingness to sacrifice for others and their participation in the life of the Church. We pray God continues to bless the Parish of Good Shepherd, currently the spiritual home for more than 1,400 families in our local area.