frequently asked questions.

On this page you’ll find quite a few frequently asked questions. We’d still love to meet you in person, but knowing these answers can save you and our pastors time, put your mind at ease, and help you discern if Shepherd’s is the right fit for you. After reading through the FAQ, find out more about who we are by clicking the button below.

FAQs

  • Our services typically run for about 70 minutes. On any given Sunday we sing, preach, baptize, take communion, & provide ways for you to grow and take the next step.

  • Shepherd’s Kids is a full service ministry devoted to sharing the gospel with your kids, giving them a place to belong, and loving on parents and families. Our kids page has everything you need to know and more!

  • All teenagers are welcome to attend the main services. If they’d like something more relational and connected, on Sunday mornings during the 10:30am service, we offer student discipleship groups. These are spaces for your teen to connect with trained, passionate, mature, qualified leaders and mentors who are the same gender. We offer groups for jr. high through high school students. Students are placed with others who are the same gender and grade level.

  • We are a non-denominational Christian church. We partner with reliable and proven organizations for various projects, but we are 100% independent.

  • The role that most churches call the “Teaching Pastor” or “Lead Pastor” is held by Costi Hinn. You can read about his background and ministry bio on the team page.

  • Pastor Costi practices expository, verse-by-verse preaching so that when you leave a sermon you know what God’s word means and how you can live it out. You can watch sermons on our media page.

  • Always! We love to use modern technology and creativity with our online resources, but when it comes to the gathering of the church, preaching, and real pastoral ministry, you can find our people, our preacher and our pastors shepherding live and in person each week.

  • Elders undergo an extensive process whereby they are tested, tempered, and then trusted with servant-leadership in the church. They are expected to be 1 Timothy 3 qualified and be known amongst the congregation. In the final phase of the elder process, they sit for a 60-minute theological examination before a panel of fellow elders & members, during which time they must defend sound doctrine and convey God-given wisdom as a shepherd of the flock (Acts 20:28).

  • No. We hold to the Biblical position that the office of pastor and elder is reserved for men only. This does not devalue the high calling of God on women, and our pastor has written a position paper that is available here: Is it Biblical for Women to be Pastors or Elders?

  • We sing a variety of modern hymns, contemporary music, and songs our team has written.

  • No. First, while we do not believe it is a sin to sing a theological accurate song by a questionable source or that every church who differs with us on this issue is compromising. Many churches faithfully proclaim the gospel, scrutinize song lyrics, but land more openly on this issue in their local body. We have chosen to view this issue through the lens of Romans 14:13-23. With God saving and rescuing so many people out of these abusive and dangerous movements, we do not want to cause them to stumble by presenting music from sources that propagate what once blinded them from the true gospel. Second, we do not want to knowingly and directly pay royalties to dangerous movements. It can be difficult to track every aspect of this, but we aim to do our best to avoid direct support of their divergent works, but rather, to expose them (Ephesians 5:11). Thirdly, we do not want to post the names of dangerous movements on the screen in our worship service or on church playlists and be mistaken as endorsing these groups. Our pastor has written a position paper titled, Should Your Church Sing Bethel Music? and did a video interview on the dangers of false worship here.

  • Shepherd’s House employs a third-party accounting firm to oversee all budgets, financial handlings, and bookkeeping. We also practice member reporting to provide the church with a full overview of budgets, spending, projections, and financial processes.

  • Our vision, mission, and a list of our convictions can be found on the Who We Are page. These ten convictions are the overarching priorities and we use them to assess our ministry effectiveness.

  • We are elder protected and staff directed. This means that our vocational staff pastors lead a staff to run day-to-day operations, execute the ministry vision and mission (set by the elders), and build teams of faithful members to serve and strengthen the body. Elders practice plurality in their leadership including spiritual oversight, financial decisions, vision & mission assessment, church discipline, leadership development, accountability, member care, and strategic planning.

  • Membership at Shepherd’s House is about knowing and being known, loving and being loved. We don’t believe that church goers are just a number. A member is someone who has fully committed to being a part of Shepherd’s House, and someone who our pastors and elders are actually accountable for (Hebrews 13:17). Learn more in a message by our pastor titled, What is Church Membership?”