Fire at Good Shepherd

As many of you have now heard or seen, there was a serious fire at Good Shepherd on the night of Saturday, Oct. 20th. It started in the sacristy and spread to the main church, as well as damaging Emerson House next door.

We are grateful that no one was injured in this blaze. We are very grateful for the actions of the Berkeley Fire Department, who worked tirelessly to save the structure and many items within. We are grateful to everyone who came the next morning and brought us donations and supplies, including Grace Cathedral and our sister parish, Holy Trinity. We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from friends and family far and wide.

The damage is extensive, but as Bishop Marc Andrus said on Sunday morning, we will rebuild.

This had previously been a page designed to accept donations for our re-painting campaign- and the church will need re-painting! In the meantime, however, there will need to be serious re-construction work, and some replacement of supplies that were lost in the destruction of the sacristy. If you are moved to make a donation, please know that we are grateful beyond words.

Checks can be sent to:
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
1823 Ninth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710

Or you may donate through PayPal:

Good Shepherd 2012 Church Painting Campaign

Good Shepherd church needs to be painted! It’s been years since the church was painted and restored to her Victorian glory, and it’s time to do it again. Our fundraising goal for this project is $20,000.Our campaign kicks off on August 12, 2012, the 134th birthday of Good Shepherd, and continues until November 1.

We Need You
Good Shepherd is a mission parish of the Episcopal Diocese of California. This means that we have a special charge to spread the love of Christ to new communities and new people. It also means that we can not rely on the support of a large, stable congregation. We depend on our surrounding community both to define our mission and ministry and to support us in serving the community.

Why Good Shepherd?
Good Shepherd is a part of Berkeley’s historic heritage. The Church of the Good Shepherd was built in 1878 and is the oldest continuously used church in the Bay Area. It is a City of Berkeley Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Good Shepherd is the home for our faithful Episcopal congregation, but it is also the home for many community organizations and activities.

• The Multicultural Institute serves the local Latino community and other members of our community with free Friday lunches and summer children’s programs.
• 12-step recovery groups hold their meetings at Good Shepherd. We welcome the recovery community with special services during the year that include special 12-step liturgies.
• The Berkeley Police Department holds community safety meetings in our parish hall.

• Good Shepherd developed a rite to celebrate the commitment of a same-sex couple in 1994, one of the first churches to do so.
• Our beautiful church was used to film a PSA video by Believe Out Loud, a group that promotes the welcoming of LGBT people in Christian churches.

We are a progressive, social-justice oriented church. We’ve been given a special opportunity to serve the Latino day workers in our neighborhood. We reach out to them with a weekly “Sandwich ministry” and other forms of fellowship. Our painting contractor has committed to hiring our local friends for portions of the Good Shepherd painting work.

Please Join Us!
Good Shepherd is a special church with a unique role and history. Our building is not only the home from which we serve our community. It is also a treasure given to us by past generations that we have a responsibility to maintain, protect, and then pass on to those to come.

Please donate to the Good Shepherd 2012 Painting Campaign with a tax-deductible contribution in the following ways:

Send us a check payable to Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, adding “2012 painting campaign” in the memo.

Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
1823 Ninth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710

Or through PayPal:

We are happy to offer thank you gifts for contributions at the following levels:
$10    Good Shepherd bookmark
$25    Good Shepherd button or refrigerator magnet
$50    Recorded poetry reading by Bill Countryman, or pack of Good Shepherd postcards
$100    Good Shepherd t-shirt, or pack of Good Shepherd notecards
$250    Fine art photography print by Nancy Kerr, or engraved brick on Good Shepherd grounds
$500    Fine art print by Ginger Hobart, or hand knitted item by Stephanie Whiteside
$1,000  Fine art print by Barbara Yale Read, or Joyce’s Shepherd’s Pie

Thank you gifts will be sent out in November after the close of the 2012 Painting Campaign. Donors will be contacted for sizing information or choice of options prior to mailing incentives.