Meet the Church: Good Shepherd, Ridgeway

This weekend we are celebrating the 150^th birthday of The Chapel of the Good Shepherd in Ridgeway. We have a beautiful historic old building, yet by the grace of God what kept us united through the pandemic was modern technology. Email allowed us to stay up to date and connected, and we even managed to Zoom Morning Prayer on Easter. Though we communicated electronically, our congregation still had the warm, fuzzy feeling of some personal connection. The Holy Spirit works in many ways – even through technology!

Sometimes you think you’re going to miss something when it’s taken from you, but the congregation didn’t realize how much we would miss not only the physical church building and grounds, but, more importantly, how much we missed each other’s physical presence in worship. The Chapel of the Good Shepherd is much more than a physical place; it is truly a living worshiping community. We have discovered the more we pray and worship together, the more we yearn to worship together. Our congregation is small, but we know that we are meant to be here now and in the future.

Members of our congregation are similar in many ways, but we are also very different in many ways, and our church has helped us to embrace both our similarities and our differences. The Chapel of the Good Shepherd was started by immigrants to this country in 1871 and has continued uninterrupted. In many ways, this 150^th anniversary of the founding is a time of new beginning for us, another “Grand Opening,” a new opportunity to welcome and interact with our community through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Emerging from the pandemic, we are resuming our food donations and hope to increase our fellowship as we are able – not only fellowship among our congregation, but with other churches to partner in activities to benefit our broader community. We hope to encourage initiatives brought forward by our congregation which might include more Bible study, more interaction with sister churches, more youth and family involvement, and more participation in Diocese-wide activities.

The pandemic has forced our recognition of the need to accept change, but as one of our members says, “You gotta work at it – it ain’t gonna happen by itself.” The Diocese offers us many resources, including assistance with communications technology, outreach resources, educational resources, clergy support and, most importantly, their encouragement in all our efforts.

The Chapel of the Good Shepherd is a diverse community that has come together to worship, to pray, to thank and praise God, to be active in our community, and to support and love one another. Our door is open, and all are welcome.