Vicars of the Chapel of the Good Shepherd
1905-1907: The Reverend Eli D. Sutcliffe
1908-1909: The Reverend E. A. Evans
1910-1923: The Reverend James Oswald Davis
1914-1915: The Reverend E. A. Evans
1916-1918: The Reverend R. A. Silk
1918-1929: The Reverend John D. Duncan
1930-1936: The Reverend Boardman Wright
1937-1943: The Reverend Joseph L. Germeck
1943-1944: The Reverend E. Spencer Gilley
1945-1951: The Reverend Joseph L. Germeck
1953-1958: The Reverend K. Gordon Drescher
Rectors of the Church of the Good Shepherd
1958-1965: The Reverend K. Gordon Drescher, Founding Rector
1965-1976: The Reverend Lloyd H. Uyeki, II Rector
1976-1980: The Reverend Michael Corrigan, III Rector
1980-1995: The Reverend Dr. Robert M. Dresser, IV Rector
1997-2003: The Reverend Thomas Mercer, V Rector
2005-2008: The Reverend Troy Beecham, VI Rector
2009-2015: The Reverend Matthew Hoxsie Mead, VII Rector
2016-2023: The Reverend Hal Roark, VIII Rector
A Chapel Founded in 1905
The Chapel of the Good Shepherd began as a worshipping community in the area of West Somers (as Granite Springs was then known) in 1905. The site of the chapel was acquired by deed on September 8, 1902, from Worthy Flewwellin, and old resident of the area. The property was taken in the name of Eli D. Sutcliffe, the Episcopal clergyman at the Church of the Holy Communion in Lake Mahopac, but was subsequently transferred to the Southern Missionary Convocation of the Diocese of New York. The cornerstone of the original chapel was laid on August 4, 1904 (that cornerstone is now part of the bell mount in front of the present church).
Surviving parish records show that the small congregation was an active worshipping community. Priests from other churches in the area celebrated services at the chapel with a choir and a crucifer, and the congregation held social occassions such as a parish dinner.
A Church Incorporated in 1958
In 1953, the Reverend K. Gordon Drescher became Vicar and in the same year, Mr. Otto E. Koegel of Granite Springs donated the present site to the congregation and provided funds to build the church and the parish house. Work was begun on the church building in 1954 and the first service was held there on Christmas Eve, 1954. The following year work was started on the Parish Hall, which was first used in early 1956, the same year in which the church arranged to have a rectory built with a loan from the Department of Missions.
On May 5, 1957, the church buildings were consecrated by the Right Reverend Horace W. R. Donegan, Bishop of New York, and in February 1958, the Chapel of the Good Shepherd was incorporated as the Church of the Good Shepherd and became a self-supporting parish. Father Drescher was named by the Vestry as the first Rector.
In the 1960s, the Guild Room was added to provide more space and to connect the church with the parish house. The stained glass window was donated in 1962. The parish has continued to grow and serve the towns of Somers, Yorktown, Cortlandt, Peekskill, Mahopac and the surrounding area.