Good Shepherd was canonically established on December 31, 1945. The founding pastor was Army Captain, Fr. Thomas John McNamara. Gathering at the Boulevard Café on Wayzata Boulevard, the first home of the parish, on Easter Sunday, 1946, Fr. McNamara celebrated Good Shepherd’s first Mass on the portable altar he had used on the Italian battlefields during World War II. Soon after, the people of the parish banded together to purchase roughly four acres of land near the corner of Highway 12 and Lilac Drive South. Two used Army barracks served as the church and on December 8th, 1946, Fr. McNamara offered the first Mass. There Good Shepherd remained until an 18-acre tract of land was donated to the parish as the site for a permanent church. This church was established on February 16, 1957. Five years later, a convent for religious sisters to teach was constructed. Over the years they have continued to thrive by constructing new spaces and exceptional opportunities for community life and education. Good Shepherd has been faithfully served by Fr. Thomas John McNamara (1945-1953); Fr. Francis Hayes (1953-1983); Fr. Theodore Campbell (1983-2015); Fr. Luke Marquard (2015-2023); and Fr. Ben Wittnebel (2023-present).