It’s fitting that a church called Good Shepherd would have its beginnings on a farm, though, in true Lutheran fashion, maybe not the kind of farm one would immediately think of.
“My mom said, ‘If we need to go to church, let’s go to Knott’s Berry Farm at least.’”
That’s the recollection of Cathy Choma, a longtime congregant at Good Shepherd Lutheran in Buena Park, CA, a church which recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. Choma recalled first attending when she was only six or seven years old and the fledging church began holding its worship services in 1956 at the now-legendary Southern California theme park.
“We were always there,” Choma said. “I started my Sunday school class at the Birdcage Theatre, which was a little theatre where they did melodramas.”
It wasn’t long before the church expanded its children’s services from the theatre to Knott’s Berry Farm’s famous railroad, meaning kids were hearing Bible stories and learning about Jesus in a most unique environment: a train car. Good Shepherd even held its summer 1958 VBS in the Wagon Train area, ministering to a total of 400 children.
“It’s very unique in that it started at an amusement park, which I don’t think any other congregation in the ELCA has,” said current Good Shepherd pastor Rev. Jennifer Zahnow. “But now we’re trying to find our purpose for the time we live and what the community needs. We’re rediscovering that purpose.”
Indeed, while the church has its roots in amusement, it relocated to its own property and building in 1960 and has spent the last decades making a serious effort to be a light for the gospel in Buena Park, an effort which can be seen even now, despite an aging congregation.
“We’re moving forward and [the congregation is] getting a different sense of who they are and a different purpose,” Rev. Zahnow said. “God has given this church a purpose and a reason for being in the Buena Park community.”
Good Shepherd seeks to proclaim the gospel through small acts of service to the people of Buena Park.
“Their biggest outreach ministry in the community is giving health kits to the community center and treat bags to the CASA youth shelter, which is older children in the foster system, and also Meals on Wheels,” Rev. Zahnow said.
“We want to help the community and want to be part of that, helping in that 'Matthew 25' way, to help those in need,” Choma said. “In our women’s group we do that, making hygiene kits for the Buena Park outreach to the homeless; we give about 30 or 40 of those a month, and it gives us pride to know it’s one of the most popular items that gets requested.”
The church has also placed a new emphasis on assisting the public school.
“Just recently in the last two years, the Centralia School District--where I actually went to school--we’ve been helping families in need through in their neighborhood resource center,” Choma said. “We’ve been giving resources, like backpacks with supplies for some of their students who are unhoused or living in cars or motels. We’ve also been collecting clothes and food for them so we can give families something they can use.”
“This church has never been one to talk about themselves in the community,” Rev. Zahnow said. “To say, ‘We are here and we want to love you.’ But more recently, they’re seeing that we can try new things and reach out to the community. I’m trying to highlight the ministries that are going on and to say they are valued.”
“I am so grateful that we can do so many of these things,” Choma said, “from singing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ in Sunday School at Knott’s Berry Farm to showing that Jesus loves our community where we grew up and still love. As long as we can support what we’re doing, we can make a difference one step at a time and look at each thing we do as a small victory.”
(Pictured above: Ghost Town & Calico Railway grand opening at Knott's Berry Farm, 1952; Photo courtesy Orange County Archives.)
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