Church of the Good Shepherd
3700 Rutherford Street
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17111-1940
The Reverend Kathleen J. Baker, Pastor
"You have
established a building in which
the presence of God may really be felt."
the presence of God may really be felt."
--The Rev. Dr. Calvin R. Swank,
Superintendent of the American Board of Missions Central Pennsylvania Lutheran Synod
on the occasion of the dedication of Good Shepherd's original church building
September 18, 1949
Superintendent of the American Board of Missions Central Pennsylvania Lutheran Synod
on the occasion of the dedication of Good Shepherd's original church building
September 18, 1949
While no history can be all-inclusive or claim to be totally accurate, the following story-telling is presented in love and gratitude to the people who made Good Shepherd a reality and those who tend the flame.
In 1946, the Board of American Missions of the United Lutheran Church in America conducted a survey of potential members to determine interest in suburban Harrisburg. As a result the Rev. Charles C. Frazier received his call in January 1947 to serve as the field missionary for the establishment of a new Lutheran church in the Paxtang area. Pastor Frazier, a former US Navy Chaplain, began work with his own, more extensive survey over the next ten weeks. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and Pastor Frazier conducted his first service with the new congregation on April 20, 1947, in the cafeteria of the Farm Bureau Building, 3607 Derry Street, Paxtang. One hundred and one people took part in that service, and the initial offering was $43.57. Although Mrs. George A. (Mary Louise) Brinser served as pianist for the first service, Mrs. Chester (Ethel) Gormley took over those duties several weeks later.
From that small planting, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd of Paxtang was born. By the summer of 1947, the congregation managed to collect the $500 needed as a down payment on the land to be purchased from Dr. Luther Lenker and his wife. The large lot on the southeast corner of Wilhelm Road and Montour Street was purchased in December of that year. As a home mission church, the fledgling congregation was provided a loan for the mortgage money, as well as Pastor Frazier's salary from the parent church in those early days.
Throughout this time, the daily life of Paxtang's new church continued. Ronald Franklin and Samuel Klick served as the first acolytes. The first church school class was held on May 11, 1947. Fifty-two students participated. The initial Vacation Church School was held July 7, 1947. Hobart Acker, Jr. became the first youth member to be confirmed on September 19, 1947.
The demanding, ground-laying work culminated on October 19, 1947, with Charter Membership Sunday. The original charter was signed by 109 members that day. However the list was eventually extended to 124. On the following day, October 20, 1947, the church held its first official congregational meeting and elected its initial church council by acclamation.
In the tradition of the time, Pastor Frazier served as the council president, Walter Hoopes was chosen vice-president, while C. Earle Feese became secretary and Clarence Hoover was named treasurer. Other members of that original council were Hobart Acker, George Hurd, Herman Peters, Robert Free, Normal Annich, and L.C. Conrad. The first budget, designated for 1948, was set at $4,000.
It was at a preliminary meeting, held in early October, 1947, that six names for the new church were nominated:
- Paxtang Lutheran Church,
- Church of the Abiding Love,
- Church of the Holy Spirit,
- Lutheran Church of Christ,
- Church of the Holy Communion, and
- Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd.
It was on December 7, 1947, that the church adopted its constitution and by-laws. Barbara Hammell became the first child from the congregation to be baptized on January 11, 1948. Interestingly, Barbara's younger brother, George, would later become the first infant to be baptized at the church's new baptismal font on October 2, 1949. On January 23, 1948, Pastor Frazier's home at 2643 Rumson Drive in Wilson Park served as the site of the church's first marriage, uniting Jean E. Brown and Vasilius (Bill) Vovakes.
Services continued at the Farm Bureau Building until overcrowding led the congregation to move to the Paxtang Theater, 3427 Derry Street, on March 14, 1948. It was noted that a then new Roman Catholic church also was interested in using the theater. However, Mr. Hoopes of Good Shepherd ran an oil company in the area. In those oil-scarce days, Mr. Hoopes promised to keep the theater supplied with the precious fuel if the Good Shepherd congregation was allowed to use the facility for its services.
The ground-breaking for the first church building was Sunday, April 24, 1949, with the laying of the cornerstone May 22, 1949. The original church cost $38,000. Pews were provided by the Lutheran Home in Washington DC, and each had to be cut down to fit in the sanctuary by Robert Klick and several other members of the congregation. Mrs. Ray Bare agreed to become Good Shepherd's first organist. As work on the sanctuary continued through the summer, services were held in the lower level of the new chapel. Mrs. Gormley recalled members were asked to purchase and bring their own padded, metal chairs at a cost of $2.50 a piece.
In another celebration of faith, Good Shepherd was formally received into the Central Pennsylvania Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America on May 23, 1948.
The dedication of the church building was celebrated on September 18, 1949. Among the guests was the Rev. Dr. Calvin R. Swank, superintendent of the American Board of Missions, Central Pennsylvania Lutheran Synod, and a driving force in the creation of Good Shepherd.
The work of the new parish and Pastor Frazier barely slackened. George Heagy, Jr., who served as general contractor for the church, also built the parsonage nearby on Montour Street at a cost of $16,000 the same year. Capping an eventful year, Pastor Frazier conducted the church's first candlelight service on Christmas Eve 1949.
Good Shepherd's men of the church organization first met on October 24, 1950, with Richard Hawkins serving as president. Two years later, a Luther League chapter was established. With the expansion of Pastor Frazier's duties, Mrs. Martha Hoy volunteered to serve as the first church secretary in March 1953.
Expansion of the physical structure came next, with groundbreaking for the educational wing on March 27, 1955. The $65,000 addition became a reality with the dedication of the educational building on April 22, 1956. The congregation noted its continued growth, honoring Mrs. Ronald (Kay) Kerns as its 500th member in 1957. Good Shepherd women organized a chapter of the United Lutheran Church Women of America in September 1958.
Mrs. Arthur (Sara) Yeagy, who later became organist of Good Shepherd, was instrumental in the introduction of the new Service Book and Hymnal that same year. As part of the synod's worship committee, Sara talked of her joyful tears as what became known as "the Red Book" was first used at a meeting of the area church music directors at Messiah Lutheran Church.
Yet the end of the first full decade was a bittersweet time for Good Shepherd. Pastor Frazier, who served as both loving father and devoted brother through the birth and growth of the young church, resigned on March 31, 1959, to direct the Ministry to Agricultural Migrants for the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.
The Rev. Lee Snook accepted the call to Good Shepherd in June 1959. It was that year The Call, the parish newsletter, was first published, and Good Shepherd hired Mrs. James (Dora) Kilgore as its first paid secretary. In 1962, Good Shepherd sponsored the first of several refugee families with the arrival of the Jesus Rojas family from Cuba.
Pastor Snook resigned in September 1962 to move into a campus ministry at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
In January 1963 Good Shepherd welcomed its third minister, the Rev. Craig J. Dorward. That same year, the parish staff was enlarged again with the addition of Mrs. Charles (Ruth) Sherry as a part-time parish educational worker. Still later, Mrs. Charles (Dotty) Kamm took over secretarial duties.
In addition, Pastor Dorward quickly found himself guiding yet another building project to create a new sanctuary. The purchase of an adjacent parcel of land on the northeast corner of Wilhelm Road and Rutherford Street led to an unusual sight as the existing house was moved intact several blocks to a new location at 3600 Brisban Street on July 23, 1964. At a congregational meeting on August 30, 1964, it was agreed to pay $195,000 for a new church building, including furnishings. The church was constructed in what was described as a neo-Gothic contemporary style and was dedicated on November 28, 1965.
It was in December, 1964, when Sara Yeagy came to Good Shepherd as the church organist. Sara agreed to fill in for the Christmas season and wound up staying 20 years. Officially hired in January 1965, Sara was honored for her continued service and dedication in 1980 when she was named Director of Music Emeritus.
Perhaps reflecting a change in society as a whole in 1966, Good Shepherd's congregation took a major step with the election of Mrs. Wilbur D. (Shirley) Naugle and Mrs. Jack S. (Lois) Conrad as the first women to serve on Church Council. Pastor Dorward also established the church's first three-year program of catechetical instruction in 1966, and reorganized a vacation church school that summer. Good Shepherd, which has served as a meeting place for local groups from Boy Scouts to the Retarded Citizens through the years, created a community library in June 1966 to augment the Paxtang Elementary School's summer reading program. Dotty Kamm combined her work as church secretary and president of local PTA by serving as the facility's first librarian. The year of changes ended with another major change as Pastor Dorward resigned in December 1966 to become pastor of St. Matthew's Church, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
Pastor Frazier returned as interim minister during the lengthy search for a replacement before Good Shepherd celebrated the installation of its fourth pastor, the Rev. Larry J. Hofer in July 1967. Mrs. Charles (Mary) Compton began a decade-long service as the church secretary in 1968. In June of that year, Gary Dolbin became Good Shepherd's 1,000th member.
Pastor Hofer, who set a standard in vitality in the worship tradition of the parish, also served as both secretary and dean of the Synod's Harrisburg District. In April 1970 Mrs. Robert (Annabelle) Saylor was hired as the church's first paid Christian Education director, a position she held until 1979. In 1972 Pastor Hofer led Good Shepherd's plans to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It was noted the church had 553 active confirmed members at that time. However, many of those plans were shelved by Hurricane Agnes and the resulting flood, which reached into the lower levels of Good Shepherd. Much of the money raised for the anniversary celebration was used to help those affected by the flood.
Mrs. Saylor also worked with Pastor George Yoder of Salem-Oberlin and Lakeside's Pastor David Fisher to write the curriculum for the district's first confirmation camp. That first camp was held in the summer of 1972 at Mt. Luther, near Liverpool. The confirmation camp, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1997, continues to provide a significant and popular ministry for youth and an important aspect of leadership training for the Harrisburg region.
Ironically, Pastor Yoder later served as Good Shepherd's interim minister after Pastor Hofer resigned in July 1975 to accept a call to serve at the Augustana Lutheran Church, Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois. While seeking a new pastor, Good Shepherd continued with its second sponsorship project, a Vietnamese refugee, Mr. Dang.
Good Shepherd's fifth pastor also turned out to be an old friend of the parish. The Rev. Kester T. Sobers, who had worked with Pastor Hofer on a variety of synodical projects and whose parents-in-law attended Good Shepherd, accepted the call in the fall of 1975. In fact, Pastor Sobers, who had served in Johnstown for five years, had seen the moving van pull away from the parsonage only hours before he celebrated his first liturgy at Good Shepherd, a moving Thanksgiving Eve service.
Pastor Sobers continued Pastor Hofer's role in guiding Good Shepherd's influence as a model congregation for worship and music within the Central Pennsylvania Synod. Also serving as both secretary and dean of the Harrisburg district, Pastor Sobers worked with the development and introduction of the Lutheran Book of Worship in 1979. Pastor Sobers, also a former director of the Confirmation Camp, worked with our synod in the area of worship, serving as program support coordinator for worship and music. In addition, he is a member of the candidacy committee, working directly with persons interested in serving in both ordained and diaconal ministry in the ELCA.
The new decade brought major changes and new challenges. In a family effort, Deborah Dillane became Good Shepherd's Music Director in 1979, while her husband, Bob Dillane, took the position of Lay Coordinator. It was the same year when Good Shepherd sponsored the Dang (no relation) and Yeh families, a pair of refugee families also from Viet Nam. When Bob Dillane stepped down in 1981, Sylvia McAnnaney assumed those duties and her title returned to Director of Christian Education.
In 1982 Mrs. John (Patricia) Enders began what turned out to be a 14 1/2 year stay as church secretary. It was during her tenure that the church office was computerized.
Also that year, the Lescallette family began what became one of the most beautiful projects in Good Shepherd's history with the simple desire to provide a gift in memory of Mrs. Evelyn Lescallette. The result was a stunning stained glass window in the narthex depicting the Good Shepherd tending his sheep. Even before the window was dedicated on January 9, 1983, the response of the congregation was overwhelming. Pastor Sobers noted he literally was awakened at night by parishioners wishing to sponsor the individual stained glass windows, which now line the nave. It also was in 1983 that Good Shepherd joined the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank and enjoyed the reorganization of its women's group as Women of Good Shepherd (WOGS).
Another change took place in 1984 as Mrs. William (Deborah) Bavington became the coordinator of Christian Education and Parish Activities. In July 1985 Good Shepherd's membership register reached 1,500 when Joseph Roth joined the church. Good Shepherd sponsored yet another refugee family in 1986, this time helping Zoltan and Diane Nyeki and their two children resettle from Hungary.
Herbert O. Fowler came to Good Shepherd as the church's Music Director in 1987. He added duties as Director of Christian Education of Parish Life the following year. In 1988 the congregation installed Mr. Fowler as an Associate in Ministry, rostered by the ELCA, and his title was changed to Cantor. Active in the confirmation camp as director of music and developing the curriculum, Herb also served as a consultant for music on the synod level and is the founding president of the Susquehanna Chapter of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians.
1987 was a significant year nationally, when the Lutheran Church in America merged with the American Lutheran Church and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches to become the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Lutherans had become one of the largest denominations in the country. Good Shepherd was affected as synods were redefined, and the Central Pennsylvania Synod was divided into the Upper and Lower Susquehanna Synods.
Good Shepherd played an important role in Bishop Edmiston's installation as the first Bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod. Pastor Sobers chaired the committee for that liturgy, while Gary Wendt served as Master of Ceremonies for the installation service at St. Patrick's Cathedral of Harrisburg.
Good Shepherd's 40th anniversary the same year gave further cause for celebration. A very generous bequest to the parish provided momentum for a mortgage burning of the 1956 building that fall. Bishop Edmiston presided at the Eucharist for that event, which was followed by a dinner which filled Fellowship Hall to overflowing, and included many guests from former years.
In September, 1988, Pastor Sobers supervised Good Shepherd's first intern, Vicar Karen Minnich-Sadler.
A major project restoring the church parking lot, costing $80,000 was done in 1989. Good Shepherd undertook its largest project in 1995 with the $200,000 remodeling of the education wing.
Peter Fox was hired as youth director, the newest position on the church staff, in August of that year. Michael Bricker assumed those duties in July 1996.
In the spring of 1996 the congregation joined Pastor Sobers in celebrating the 25th anniversary of his ordination.
Beginning with Advent 1996, Good Shepherd held a series of events through its Jubilee year to celebrate its 50th anniversary. As of January 1997, the membership was 549 active confirmed members.
The church council continues to establish goals of renewed growth and fiscal stability, while preserving Good Shepherd's rich liturgical traditions. The council and staff work together to develop plans to increase membership, to improve Christian education, to enrich ministry to an increasing number of homebound members, and add to our social endeavors in the coming year.
About Our Church