We believe that, in many instances, Christian teachings and our Diné traditional teachings are similar. My grandmother (who was a medicine woman, performed the Beauty Way Ceremony for restoring good health, happiness and harmony in one's life) instilled in me the belief that, whether we pray in a traditional way or a Christian way, we all pray to the same God. There is no other God, but one.

Our Diné traditional ceremony was given to us as Diné, and other Natives were given their own way to pray to the one God we all serve.

The Diné Way is embraced more and more within the church, with Navajo and Bible stories in Christian education, Bible studies, Eucharist and songs and prayers in both the Diné and English languages. Sunday morning liturgies are conducted in both languages. Some elders do not understand English, so Pauline Dick translates the sermon into Diné. Other laity read from Scripture in Diné. We also sing Navajo hymns as well as English ones. Sunday school and summer Vacation Bible Schools do parallel teachings of the gospel.

Good Shepherd is located within the Navajo Reservation, in Fort Defiance, Arizona. The Navajoland Area Mission covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, near the "Four Corners" where four states meet. The first Episcopal service was conducted in Fort Defiance in 1889. In 1897, the hospital mission opened to serve the Diné people. The Good Shepherd Mission became an orphanage and boarding school for rural children who attended public school.

The first church building was completed in 1908. The current building replaced it in 1955. Renowned Southwest architect John Gaw Meem designed the structure, which incorporates Navajo craftsmanship and symbolism. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Meem (whose father was an Episcopal priest in his native Brazil) helped to develop the Pueblo Revival style.

Navajoland Area Mission Bishop Mark MacDonald, who is also national indigenous bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada, is very supportive and positive in our effort to engage the gospel and Navajo tradition.

Our vicar, the Rev. Richard "Red" Stevens, visits smaller churches, including St. Mark's Episcopal Mission in Old Coalmine, Tse Bonito, New Mexico, seven miles east of Fort Defiance. Many elders come there to worship; again services are in English and Diné.

He visits some home churches, known as St. Joseph's Episcopal Mission (in Many Farms, Arizona, 82 miles northwest of Fort Defiance) and St. Paul's home church, along the south rim of Canyon de Chelly (68 miles northwest of Fort Defiance). Representatives of the Episcopal Church Foundation and Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies, have visited St. Paul's. Having Holy Eucharist in a hooghan is quite an experience for them.