On Sunday, Oct. 26, Gilroy’s Lutheran Church of the Good
Shepherd, 1735 Hecker Pass Highway, invites the community to
celebrate with it. At 4 p.m., it will hold it’s 19th annual Hymn
Festival, followed by a potluck dinner at 5:30 celebrating the
30-year ministry of their pastor, the Rev. Ronald Koch.
On Sunday, Oct. 26, Gilroy’s Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 1735 Hecker Pass Highway, invites the community to celebrate with it. At 4 p.m., it will hold it’s 19th annual Hymn Festival, followed by a potluck dinner at 5:30 celebrating the 30-year ministry of their pastor, the Rev. Ronald Koch.
Music plays an important part in the Lutheran worship tradition, and each October since 1990 the congregation has offered a gift to the community: the opportunity to join with them and their parish musicians to hear some excellent musical selections from many different times and cultures, and to sing along in joy and thanksgiving.
Each festival focuses on a different theme; this year it is “Hymns of Justice, Hymns of Hope.” Ten hymns, from locations as diverse as Africa, South America, Northern Europe and the United States will be sung juxtaposed in groups of two: one dealing with darkness and sorrow, the other referring to hope and encouragement.
“For every injustice there is a thread of hope woven into the fabric of song, Koch said. “For every joy-filled hope there is the background of something gone amiss that needs to change.”
The Hymn Festival will feature leadership by the Good Shepherd adult choir, children’s choir, handbell choir, as well as a piano, pipe organ, guitars, recorder and tambourines. Present at the keyboards for the 17th consecutive festival will be church musician Zita Weyland, who calls the evening “A wonderful activity for anyone who likes to sing.”
There is no charge to attend, but a free-will offering will be taken; the proceeds will benefit St. Joseph’s Family Ministry and the needy in the community.
Following the festival, everyone in attendance is invited to join in the parish hall for a potluck dinner in recognition of Pastor Koch’s 30 years of ministry in Gilroy. The pastor arrived in this small town – then known for its agricultural production – in October of 1978 after previously serving congregations in British Columbia and Mountain View.
Along with food, guests will enjoy entertainment provided by Garlic City Harmony, a barber-shop quartet to which Koch belongs.
Good Shepherd was founded in 1951, originally holding services in a former mortuary on First Street. The present church was built in 1969, but has undergone extensive building renovations and landscape upgrades over the years.
Always considering music an important aspect of worship, the congregation purchased and installed one of South Country’s few pipe organs in 1990. At its 50th anniversary in 2001, the church’s interior was refurbished, improving the sanctuary to provide excellent acoustics.
Looking back on his long tenure in Gilroy, Koch remarked: “Change is always part of life; we need to adapt and grow to meet the needs of new generations. Still, we continue to have integrity about what we hold dear as Lutheran Christians.”
The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd is active in the local community. It participates with other Gilroy churches in support of St. Joseph’s Family Ministry, which serves the needy in Gilroy. Pastor Koch meets with the Gilroy Ministerial Association and shares in the annual pulpit exchange during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January, and in the Good Friday Ecumenical Worship at St. Mary Catholic Church.
He is also on the program committee for the Monterey Bay Pan-Lutheran Program Committee. This unique group of pastors and congregations works together beyond Lutheran denominational affiliations to build up pastors and share in ministry efforts in the region.
Good Shepherd is very much a community- and regionally- based ministry and welcomes all Christians to full participation in worship and in the life of the congregation. Sunday worship is at 9:30 a.m. and Christian Education classes are at 11:15 a.m.
For more information, call (408) 842-2713.
