Faith in Action: Building Our Future, Securing Our Legacy

A New creation in Christ

The Church of Good Shepherd has faced many challenges in the past decade. Previous years of turmoil, including ten years of schism, left Good Shepherd with a nearly depleted endowment and only a handful of parishioners. In 2020, with the generous support of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, the parish decided to take a leap of faith and call a full-time priest. Since then, the parish has been on a track of steady growth.

For the past four and a half years of shared ministry between congregation and priest, the focus has been on the spiritual life of the parish. We have prioritized worship and prayer so that we could most effectively discern God’s call to us in ministry. As we have tended to our own spiritual health, a community has taken shape, formed by God to do his work.

Since 2020, our average Sunday attendance has increased by 142%. Membership has increased by 107%. In 2024 alone, we welcomed sixteen new members to the parish. With support from the diocese, we have planted a campus ministry on the Main Line, which has grown and is flourishing with student leaders. In 2022, we opened the Rosemont Community Retreat House as an outreach ministry of this parish. In 2024, we estimate that around 75 guests came through the retreat house doors, including families from Hosts for Hospitals, to whom we continue to offer space free of charge. A contemplative prayer group has met regularly, drawing people from the local community. In 2025, in collaboration with the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania’s Commission on Gun Violence, a series of quarterly retreats will be held for first responders suffering from associated trauma. This past September, we started a new chorister program for children ages seven and older, which draws thirteen children from both the parish and surrounding area to the church on a weekly basis.

As we look towards a financially sustainable future at Good Shepherd, we have focused on increasing pledge giving, as well as building a network of Friends of Good Shepherd who prayerfully support this parish’s work. Over the past four and a half years, financial support from members and friends has grown. Total giving (plate and pledge) has increased by 195%. We have been working hard and faithfully to build a culture of sacrificial giving in order to rely less heavily on our modest investments, which currently stand at less than $500,000. Because of God’s grace, hard work, and the generosity of faithful parishioners and Friends, by 2028, we intend to have a fully balanced budget.

So, we’re ready to take on another challenge. It’s time to focus on the place in which we meet: our beautifully appointed Gothic Revival church, the parish house and connecting cloister, our retreat house, and the pipe organ. They are suffering from significant deferred maintenance, a casualty of recent decades of instability. We believe that we’re now strong enough to turn our attention to raising money for capital projects, without compromising the continued need for increased pledge giving. Having dealt with emergency needs, we can shift from a reactive to a proactive approach. We can look ahead to a more sustainable stewardship of our property.