The Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd

Amazing Outreach Rooted in Love

Good Shepherd has always had a strong outreach ministry focused on its neighborhood. This is a community of faith whose members believe that loving God calls us to a life of service. Neighborhood needs have varied over the years, and the people of Good Shepherd adapt to meet those varying needs. The church neighbors trust that they can rely on the Pink Church (as we are known locally) for help when their own resources run short. 

The church opened a food pantry over 50 years ago. The pantry has seen numbers fluctuate due to economic changes, people moving in and out of the neighborhood, and nearby pantries opening or closing. In recent years numbers fell when the reaction to the COVID pandemic resulted in additional SNAP (food stamp) funding. However, with SNAP benefits returning to pre-pandemic levels and the soaring cost of food over the last three years, families are in a bind. One client mentioned that with the extra SNAP benefits her family had finally been able to eat healthy food and now they can’t afford those choices and struggle to keep food on the table. The result is that the church is seeing more and more families coming for help – more than triple those served in 2022 and double the pre-pandemic numbers.  

What is amazing? While meeting that increase, the church has recently seen a huge rise in homeless individuals who require different kinds of food than the housed population – items that are light and non-perishable. Historically, Good Shepherd would serve 2-4 homeless clients in a month. In 2024 the church is serving an average of 275 unique homeless clients monthly. There are a variety of reasons for the increase in local homeless numbers and we work with other local agencies who are trying to deal with this issue. While we can’t address all the causes and provide solutions, we can provide food, Since these clients can only use a small amount of food at one time, each individual is permitted to get a bag twice a week. Therefore, the total number of bags distributed to this population varies from 550-700 per month. This level of demand continues to be a great logistical challenge: obtaining, storing and packing the food, having volunteers available to meet the clients and distribute the food, plus all the record-keeping and efforts to secure adequate funding. However, these are also our neighbors so we plan to continue to meet this need as best we can. 

The church’s outreach ministry also includes an annual ‘Adopted Families’ Christmas program, a monthly free meal for the neighborhood, a rummage program, a Little Free Library, an annual Reading Camp, help with utility bill shut-off notices, and meeting space at low or no cost to self-help and community groups. The Christmas program serves 50-75 families annually with gifts for all children in the family, food for a Christmas meal, and other basic necessities for all family members. The monthly meal provides a nutritious sit-down meal to our neighbors on the last Sunday evening of the month. The rummage program helps our neighbors obtain gently used clothing and household items at a low price with all proceeds helping to fund the Christmas program.

If you are in the area, come see for yourself all the amazing things God is doing at Good Shepherd, the Pink Church. We are open Monday – Thursday, 9-4:30, closing at 3:30 June through August.