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Church of the Good Shepherd Congregational UCC
Chicago
IL
60637-1210
- United Church of Christ churches in Chicago, IL
- United Church of Christ churches in Illinois
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Who we are
We extend a warm and cordial welcome to you. We are very happy to have you worship with us or visit the various activities of our Church throughout the week.
We pray that your experience is or will be a positive one where Christian Fellowship worship, and bible study are taken very seriously. We pray that the peace of God’s presence will be your experience among our Church Family.
Mission
Striving to preserve the vision, wisdom and legacy of the Good Shepherd Founders while being
inclusive of those whose realities differ from our own
Vision
Striving to preserve the vision, wisdom and legacy of the Good Shepherd Founders while being
inclusive of those whose realities differ from our own
We pray that your experience is or will be a positive one where Christian Fellowship worship, and bible study are taken very seriously. We pray that the peace of God’s presence will be your experience among our Church Family.
Mission
Striving to preserve the vision, wisdom and legacy of the Good Shepherd Founders while being
inclusive of those whose realities differ from our own
Vision
Striving to preserve the vision, wisdom and legacy of the Good Shepherd Founders while being
inclusive of those whose realities differ from our own
Location of worship / Church Address
5700 South Prairie Avenue
Chicago,
IL
60637-1210
United States
Phone: 773-684-6561
Fax: 773-684-3928
Download Church of the Good Shepherd Congregational UCC vCard with Service Times
Church Pastor
Senior Minister
5700 South Prairie Avenue
Chicago,
IL
60637-1210
United States
Phone: 773-684-6561
Fax: 773-684-3928
Download Senior Minister Reverend Jesse Knox III vCard with Bio
Quote of the Day
1 Corinthians 3:9
For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
Denomination
United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ churches in Chicago, Illinois, United States
United Church of Christ churches in Illinois, United States
United Church of Christ churches in United States
All churches in Chicago, IL
Affiliations:
Website:
Social Media
Leadership
Leader Name:
Reverend Jesse Knox III
Leader Position:
Senior Minister
Formal Title:
Leader Address:
Tel:
Fax:
773-684-3928
Leader Email:
Leader Bio:
Jesse Knox III, Senior Minister at the Church of the Good Shepherd and Executive Director of the Good Shepherd Community Services Organization, served as Interim Director of Ministry Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School during the 2000-2001 academic year. A Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow (2001), Rev. Knox currently is a board member of the Washington Park Consortium, Community Renewal Society, Southeast Chicago Commission, Embrace Living Communities and Leadership Fellows Association. He serves on the United Church of Christ Congregational Life and Property Management Committees. Before becoming Senior Minister, he worked with the mentally challenged at Thresholds South in Chicago.
Rev. Knox took his M. Div. at the University of Chicago (1989), after earning a B.A. and M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, (1981) and (1984) respectively. He received certification in the field of Church-Based Community and Economic Development from Harvard University (1998) and Chicago Rehab Network’s Community Development & Empowerment Series (2010). In addition to his extensive experience in the practice of ministry, Rev. Knox has written and lectured on a range of topics related to church-based communities, economic and community development, and the contemporary situation of urban churches.
Rev. Knox’s only daughter, Renatta N. Knox, holds a B.A. in Biology from Harvard University, magna cum laude (2003), and a MD/Ph.D from the University of California at San Francisco (2014). She is currently a resident at Cornell University, specializing in the field of Pediatric Neurology.
Rev. Knox took his M. Div. at the University of Chicago (1989), after earning a B.A. and M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, (1981) and (1984) respectively. He received certification in the field of Church-Based Community and Economic Development from Harvard University (1998) and Chicago Rehab Network’s Community Development & Empowerment Series (2010). In addition to his extensive experience in the practice of ministry, Rev. Knox has written and lectured on a range of topics related to church-based communities, economic and community development, and the contemporary situation of urban churches.
Rev. Knox’s only daughter, Renatta N. Knox, holds a B.A. in Biology from Harvard University, magna cum laude (2003), and a MD/Ph.D from the University of California at San Francisco (2014). She is currently a resident at Cornell University, specializing in the field of Pediatric Neurology.
Other Church Leaders:
Reverend Jesse Knox III on Social Media:
Church of the Good Shepherd Congregational UCC Leadership Photos
Administration
Admin Name:
Dr. Cynthia A. Foster
Admin Position:
Office Manager
Admin Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
773-684-3928
Admin Email:
Mailing Address
Driving Directions to Church of the Good Shepherd Congregational UCC
Travel/Directions Tips
Parking
Church of the Good Shepherd Congregational UCC Chicago Service Times
Sunday Worship 11:00am
Church School 9:30am
Bible Study
Tuesday 7:00pm
Sunday 9:30am
Service Times last updated on the 24th of August, 2021
Church School 9:30am
Bible Study
Tuesday 7:00pm
Sunday 9:30am
Service Times last updated on the 24th of August, 2021
Worship Languages
Dress code:
Children and Youth Activities
Under 12s:
Under 18s:
Local outreach & community activities:
Other activities & ministries
Special Needs/Accessibility:
Prayers and hymns:
Main Bible:
Hymns and Songs:
Other information:
Average Adult Congregation:
Average Youth Congregation:
Additional Info:
Church of the Good Shepherd Congregational UCC Photo Gallery
Church of the Good Shepherd Congregational UCC History
Historical Background
Founded over two decades into the 20th century, Good Shepherd is, from its roots, an historic African American Church, a United Church of Christ affiliate with a Congregational heritage. It is now however, currently situated amidst a neighborhood in transition. Most of its oldest parishioners and their families generally commute to the area from other locations in Chicago and its environs. Historically, a whole complex of factors is involved in shaping such radically changing demographics, factors which here deserve mention; for in view of them, Good Shepherd Church is presently serving two distinct socio-economic communities – one middle income, the other, below the poverty line.
Since its founding, the 250 member Church has maintained a consistent concern for the surrounding community. Its location in the Washington Park area, now situates it on the site of one of the most depressed neighborhoods in Chicago. The median household income in the ear is $10,500, 40% of the city’s median; 60% of its predominantly African American residents receive public aid, and unemployment is 31%. While a high school diploma has become a minimum prerequisite for marginal employment, 50% of the population 25 years or older, has not completed secondary education.
The hundreds of empty lots now found throughout Chicago’s oldest black communities, are a symbol of the historic and steady exodus which is emptying what was once the city’s most populous and prosperous African American neighborhoods. This problem is rooted in the massive economic shifts, which have occurred in the last two decades. These shifts, particularly the disappearance of decent employment opportunities for low-income communities, have effectively removed the crucial rung from the fabled American ‘ladder of opportunity’. The movement of jobs overseas, progressive urban decay, and a regional shift in population and in development have all contributed. During this decade, the exodus still continues, and although it won’t be officially recorded until the year 2,000, its cessation is unknown. Under these conditions, the Church made a moral and administrative decision to remain in Washington Park, while coping with the disadvantages of a dwindling membership and shrinking resources.
If historically, Good Shepherd had once been a thriving ecclesiastical institution, surrounded by a prosperous metropolitan community, this situation no longer perdures. Within the last two decades, urban blight and decay have rapidly brought the Washington Park community surrounding Good Shepherd to a state of social, economic and moral crisis. Sociologically, the relocation of middle income residents to suburban areas, saw the disappearance of business, employment and consequently, the various amenities which characterize healthy communal development.
Current unemployment is moreover, exacerbated by the skills gap, a widely documented growing national trend. These circumstances, in part, form the context for Good Shepherd Community Services Organization (GSCSO), which was founded to remedy some of these desperate conditions, particularly the housing crisis, of the area.
The most crucial issue facing Good Shepherd Church and GSCSO is twofold: first the widespread proliferation of distressed properties in Washington Park; second the demoralization of its residents in the wake of degenerative socio-economic patterns. In an area like Washington Park, which is plagued by high unemployment, low incomes, dependence on public aid, and low educational achievement, experience has consistently shown that the mere elimination of deteriorating housing is but one aspect of renewal. The situation demands a complex of mutually reinforcing conditions as well as a critical mass of development activity, to stabilize the social
and economic environment.
While other organizations in the area are chiefly concerned with the housing aspect of renewal. GSCSO envisions a comprehensive plan, which encompasses residential restoration, new construction and community renewal through the support of anchor projects and mediating associations. The plan will involve three vital areas: finance, education and housing. Since the strategy to reverse urban decline demands a simultaneous strengthening of the existing social fabric, this plan will require years of work, substantial resources and extensive collaboration at the neighborhood and civic
Founded over two decades into the 20th century, Good Shepherd is, from its roots, an historic African American Church, a United Church of Christ affiliate with a Congregational heritage. It is now however, currently situated amidst a neighborhood in transition. Most of its oldest parishioners and their families generally commute to the area from other locations in Chicago and its environs. Historically, a whole complex of factors is involved in shaping such radically changing demographics, factors which here deserve mention; for in view of them, Good Shepherd Church is presently serving two distinct socio-economic communities – one middle income, the other, below the poverty line.
Since its founding, the 250 member Church has maintained a consistent concern for the surrounding community. Its location in the Washington Park area, now situates it on the site of one of the most depressed neighborhoods in Chicago. The median household income in the ear is $10,500, 40% of the city’s median; 60% of its predominantly African American residents receive public aid, and unemployment is 31%. While a high school diploma has become a minimum prerequisite for marginal employment, 50% of the population 25 years or older, has not completed secondary education.
The hundreds of empty lots now found throughout Chicago’s oldest black communities, are a symbol of the historic and steady exodus which is emptying what was once the city’s most populous and prosperous African American neighborhoods. This problem is rooted in the massive economic shifts, which have occurred in the last two decades. These shifts, particularly the disappearance of decent employment opportunities for low-income communities, have effectively removed the crucial rung from the fabled American ‘ladder of opportunity’. The movement of jobs overseas, progressive urban decay, and a regional shift in population and in development have all contributed. During this decade, the exodus still continues, and although it won’t be officially recorded until the year 2,000, its cessation is unknown. Under these conditions, the Church made a moral and administrative decision to remain in Washington Park, while coping with the disadvantages of a dwindling membership and shrinking resources.
If historically, Good Shepherd had once been a thriving ecclesiastical institution, surrounded by a prosperous metropolitan community, this situation no longer perdures. Within the last two decades, urban blight and decay have rapidly brought the Washington Park community surrounding Good Shepherd to a state of social, economic and moral crisis. Sociologically, the relocation of middle income residents to suburban areas, saw the disappearance of business, employment and consequently, the various amenities which characterize healthy communal development.
Current unemployment is moreover, exacerbated by the skills gap, a widely documented growing national trend. These circumstances, in part, form the context for Good Shepherd Community Services Organization (GSCSO), which was founded to remedy some of these desperate conditions, particularly the housing crisis, of the area.
The most crucial issue facing Good Shepherd Church and GSCSO is twofold: first the widespread proliferation of distressed properties in Washington Park; second the demoralization of its residents in the wake of degenerative socio-economic patterns. In an area like Washington Park, which is plagued by high unemployment, low incomes, dependence on public aid, and low educational achievement, experience has consistently shown that the mere elimination of deteriorating housing is but one aspect of renewal. The situation demands a complex of mutually reinforcing conditions as well as a critical mass of development activity, to stabilize the social
and economic environment.
While other organizations in the area are chiefly concerned with the housing aspect of renewal. GSCSO envisions a comprehensive plan, which encompasses residential restoration, new construction and community renewal through the support of anchor projects and mediating associations. The plan will involve three vital areas: finance, education and housing. Since the strategy to reverse urban decline demands a simultaneous strengthening of the existing social fabric, this plan will require years of work, substantial resources and extensive collaboration at the neighborhood and civic
Church of the Good Shepherd Congregational UCC Historical Photos
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