Good Shepherd Catholic Church sits on thirteen acres on Christman Road on the west side of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, where it has gathered a community of roughly 1,600 households since 1957. A parish of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Good Shepherd is known locally for three things that visitors tend to notice right away: a liturgy that opens with a public celebration of joy, a formation program called Generations of Faith that pulls children, parents, and grandparents into the same room each month, and a long, stubborn tradition of giving away five percent of parish income to people beyond its own walls. The land on which the parish stands is acknowledged as the ancestral land of the Menominee and Chippewa tribes of the Algonquin language family, and the parish honors their elders past and present for their stewardship of the place.
Following the Way of Christ in Menomonee Falls
Good Shepherd describes itself as a Christian, caring community nourished by a joyful, Spirit-filled liturgy that inspires its daily life. The parish strives to welcome, accept and love all people as they are, and through its many ministries reaches out with active concern to those in need. A culture of inclusivity and hospitality is central to the character of the congregation, and a commitment to justice and equality further shapes the community. As pastor Fr. Brian Mason puts it in his welcome letter, Good Shepherd is a vibrant, welcoming, faith-filled community enriched by Spirit-filled liturgy and inspired to reach out with Christ-like love and concern to those in need.
Five Leaders in One Lifetime
Good Shepherd has had just five leaders in its history: four pastors and one parish director. The founding pastor, Fr. Fran Eschweiler, arrived on June 21, 1957, when he was appointed by Milwaukee Archbishop Albert G. Meyer to carve a new parish out of the west side of St. Mary Parish. Those who lived east of Appleton Avenue stayed at St. Mary; those west of it became Good Shepherd. Fr. Fran greeted his new parishioners with a personal motto: Here I am. What's the challenge? I can handle it. In his first year he visited every home in the parish.
Before the church was built, Good Shepherd's first Mass was celebrated on July 21, 1957, on a portable hand-made altar inside the Menomonee Falls Theater on Main Street, with flashlights for the ushers and the marquee advertising the evening's feature, The Dangerous Hour. The theater may have given Good Shepherd the only air-conditioned worship space in town at the time. The parish moved into its first purpose-built space, a combination church and school on Christman Road, in September 1958, with the cornerstone laid on May 25, 1958.
Fr. Fran served for twenty-eight years before retiring in January 1985. His handpicked successor, Fr. Paul Daniels of Racine's St. Patrick Parish, took over with strong administrative skills, a people's touch, and a sense of humor the parish describes as able to find comedy in the eye of a hurricane. Fr. Paul introduced a team ministry concept that still structures the parish staff today. Fr. Kenneth Mich followed in 1998, fiercely committed to serving the poor and marginalized, and brought awareness of Catholic social teaching through campaigns like Destination Justice. He introduced pre-Mass talks to welcome visitors and highlight themes from the readings.
When Fr. Ken retired, Deacon Sandy Sites, who had been ordained a deacon in 2005 and mentored under Deacon Gene Christensen and the previous pastors, became the parish's first lay pastoral leader. He was appointed parish director on October 1, 2012, and served Good Shepherd in collaboration with St. James from 2012 to 2017. After a transition back to serving Good Shepherd alone on July 1, 2022, Deacon Sandy's role as parish director came to a close in June of 2026, and he remained at the parish in his vocation as deacon.
Fr. Brian Mason, who grew up as a member of Good Shepherd, began as the parish's fifth pastor on June 16, 2026, humbled, he says, by the very big shoes he had to fill.
Inside the Liturgy: A Joy-Filled Catholic Celebration
Mass at Good Shepherd is celebrated three times a week. The weekend schedule is Saturday at 4:30 PM and Sunday at 9:30 AM, with a weekday Mass on Tuesday at 8:30 AM. The Blessed Sacrament Chapel is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM for daily adoration, and it is also open before and after Mass. Individual Reconciliation is offered every Saturday from 3:30 to 4:15 PM in the Mary of Magdala Chapel, with communal Penance services during Advent and Lent.
Most liturgies begin with a celebration of JOY: guests are welcomed, birthdays and anniversaries are recognized, and the assembly is invited to name the events where God is at work in their lives. Music and songs encourage full participation, the scripture is proclaimed with care, and homilies are described as practical and thought provoking. All of God's children are welcomed to the Lord's table to share in the Holy Eucharist.
Mass is streamed online for those who cannot attend in person, and recordings of recent services are kept on the Church Online portal along with sermon notes and a live chat during livestreamed Masses.
Generations of Faith: A Whole Family in Formation
The core formation program at Good Shepherd is called Generations of Faith, or GOF. It is inter-generational, reflecting the parish conviction that Christian formation is an ongoing, lifelong process and that a living faith is always growing. Sessions run once a month, September through May, and follow the weekend Masses, with two times offered so each family can pick the one that fits: a Saturday evening session from 5:45 to 7:15 PM after the 4:30 Mass, or a Sunday morning session from 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM after the 9:30 Mass. Each session opens with a shared meal (supper or brunch), moves into prayer and reflection, then breaks into age-specific groups and intergenerational activities that often include music, skits, artistic expression, and presentation.
GOF welcomes everyone from age four through retirees, with childcare for children three and younger. Children in the program are automatically enrolled in Growing Faith, a once-a-month, grade-level session for K4 through eleventh grade that offers a systematic presentation of the core teachings and practices of the Catholic faith. Adult formation, sacramental preparation for Reconciliation, First Communion, Confirmation, and the OCIA process all build on this intergenerational foundation.
Children and Youth: From Listen to the Lord to Work Camp
Children are visible participants in parish life from an early age. During both weekend Masses, children in 3K through fifth grade are invited to step out for Listen to the Lord, the parish's name for its Children's Liturgy of the Word. The children gather in the Mary of Magdala Chapel, introduce themselves, read from the children's lectionary, sing the psalm and gospel acclamation (often with hand motions), discuss what the scriptures mean to their lives, pray petitions, and sometimes do a craft or coloring page before returning to celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist with the rest of the assembly. No registration is required, and all are welcome. Older youth serve as crew leaders and assistants.
Youth ministry at Good Shepherd treats adolescence as the beginning of a life of discipleship. Beyond GOF and Growing Faith, the parish offers a calendar of youth events: ice cream socials, snow tubing, middle school and high school retreats, outings to dramas, scavenger hunts, game nights, service projects, open youth room nights, trivia nights, escape rooms, pizza nights, and trips to Holy Hill. Two annual service camps anchor the work. Matthew 25 Local Work Camp, running one week each summer since 2011, sends fifth through twelfth graders out to serve homes and non-profits across Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties. Catholic Heart National Work Camp, going since 1993, has taken teams of seventh through twelfth graders and adult chaperones on mission trips across the country, from Indiana and Missouri to Montana and Pennsylvania.
Adult Formation and the Lifelong Conversation
Adult formation at Good Shepherd is built on the conviction that baptized Christians are challenged to be witnesses to Christ and to live out their commitment through discipleship. In addition to GOF, the parish offers a varied menu of small groups and study opportunities. A Spiritual Book Club meets Wednesday mornings, September through May, gathering for prayer and sharing around topics or books. A Bible Discussion Group meets Thursday mornings, using different study materials to explore scripture and its impact on daily life. That Man Is You, a men's spirituality program shared with St. James Parish, meets on Wednesday evenings at Good Shepherd. Monday mornings bring two parallel offerings: Faith and Film at 9:00 AM in the Mary of Magdala Chapel (most recently focused on The Chosen) and Monday Morning Faith Sharing at 11:00 AM, which reflects on the Sunday Gospel and faith in daily life.
Large-group presentations are scheduled on designated Sundays in fall and winter or spring, and Brew City Catholic links Good Shepherd's young adults in their twenties and thirties with gatherings across greater Milwaukee. Two retreat-related supports round out the picture: a one-on-one Spiritual Companion Ministry that pairs adults with trained guides, and a subsidy program that helps parishioners attend weekend retreats. A College Care Connection keeps Good Shepherd in touch with parishioners who have gone off to college.
Sacraments, One by One
Good Shepherd prepares parishioners for each of the seven Catholic sacraments. Baptism of infants is celebrated during the 4:30 Saturday or 9:30 Sunday Mass on the second weekend of the month, with preparation, a rehearsal, and a post-Baptism session for the family. First Reconciliation is prepared for in the fall and First Communion in the spring, both typically during a child's second-grade year, though the parish welcomes older children as well. Confirmation for teens is celebrated in the spring of junior year or later, with a two-year preparation that includes attendance, a chosen liturgical ministry, three group service projects, retreats in tenth and eleventh grades, sponsor selection, and a Confirmation conversation. Adult Confirmation, for those who have been baptized and received First Communion but never confirmed, is offered in a ten-session series January through March in collaboration with neighboring parishes, culminating in Confirmation at the Cathedral with adults from across the Archdiocese.
For those exploring Catholicism or completing their sacraments as adults, the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA, formerly known as RCIA) walks inquirers through the precatechumenate, the catechumenate with the Rite of Acceptance and the Rite of Election at the Cathedral on the first Sunday of Lent, the time of purification during Lent, and mystagogy through the Easter season.
Marriage preparation begins no later than six months before the planned date with a meeting with Fr. Brian Mason, followed by the FOCCUS pre-marital inventory with a coordinating couple, an Archdiocesan Enrichment Program for the Engaged, liturgy planning, and music arrangements. A baptismal certificate obtained from the parish of baptism is required within six months of the wedding.
The Anointing of the Sick is offered to anyone with a serious illness, an elderly person weakened by advancing years, someone preparing for surgery, or someone with a chronic or worsening condition, including mental, emotional, or addiction-related illnesses. A communal Anointing is celebrated during weekend Masses in Advent and Lent, and individual anointings can be arranged at the Tuesday 8:30 AM Mass, after weekend Masses, or by contacting the pastor.
Pastoral Care: Visits, Shawls, and Prayer
The pastoral care ministry at Good Shepherd is described as a compassionate response, in imitation of Christ, to people in life's difficult situations. The team offers home visitation for pastoral counseling, communion, caregiver support, and referrals; a Bereavement Ministry that reaches out one-to-one to grieving parishioners and community members; a Prayer Shawl Ministry that knits and crochets shawls for the homebound and those in need; and a Card Ministry of parishioners who send handmade cards to the homebound and ill. Care Notes, an assortment of supportive brochures on subjects including grief, loneliness, bullying, prayer, and seasonal topics, are kept in the narthex near the restrooms. A Prayer Corner is open after every Mass in the southeast corner of the church, and the parish helps families plan funerals, from the liturgy itself through receptions in Daniels Hall.
Funeral Hospitality and the Meal Team
Good Shepherd walks closely with families through the death of a loved one. Fr. Brian Mason meets with families to plan the liturgy, with help available through the parish office. For visitations held at the church, coffee, lemonade, and cookies are provided in Daniels Hall. After the funeral, a volunteer Meal Team can plan, shop, bake, prepare, set up, serve, and clean up a full meal in Daniels Hall, with a sample menu that runs from hot roll sandwiches and German potato salad to fresh fruit platters and lemonade, or any family favorite the family chooses. Any remaining food is given to the family or shared with people in need in the community.
Outreach: Capuchins, Ellacuria, and Stock Our Shelves
Outreach is woven into the identity of the parish. Good Shepherd has committed five percent of its regular income to causes beyond its walls since the early days, and was one of the first parishes in the Archdiocese to adopt that tithe. Three times a year, members are invited to support special relationships through a Combined Collection; the parish also runs an annual School Supply Drive in late July and early August for the Hope Network, St. Michael Parish, and the Cathedral Center.
St. Ben's Meal Program is a long-standing monthly ministry: a meal is prepared and delivered to St. Benedict the Moor in Milwaukee to feed the hungry. Each year, youth collect hygiene products that are distributed through the House of Peace, and the day after Thanksgiving a large group of parishioners spends the day in the basement of the House of Peace putting together holiday food boxes for thousands of residents served by Capuchin Community Services. The Deacon Gene House of Peace Toy Drive, named for the parish's first permanent deacon, Deacon Gene Christensen (ordained in November 1990), collects toys on the third Sunday in Advent for children served by the House of Peace. Good Shepherd's SOS, a home-grown acronym for Stock Our Shelves, gathers food weekly at Mass and distributes it to area food pantries.
Beyond southeastern Wisconsin, Good Shepherd has maintained a twinning relationship since the early 1990s with the community of Ellacuria in El Salvador, named for one of the six Jesuit priests murdered at the Universidad Centroamericana in 1989. Delegates have traveled in both directions over the years, and the parish has funded essential projects in the community's reclaimed homeland. A Special Needs Fund, established at the end of 1987, helps parishioners facing temporary financial emergencies.
On the social-justice side, the parish has hosted half-hour letter-writing sessions on Catholic Social Teaching, participates in Bread for the World's annual Offering of Letters to Congressional representatives, and runs or joins the Capuchin Ministries Run-Walk for the Hungry each June. The parish also supports the parish's Human Concerns ministry with a Deacon Gene Outreach Committee that disperses funds to local, national, and international non-profits working in direct service, empowerment, justice education, or advocacy.
The Building, the Grounds, and the Wider Community
The Good Shepherd campus combines a church, school building (closed as a school in 1970), administrative and Christian Formation offices, Daniels Hall, the Mary of Magdala Chapel, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, and a second-floor meeting-room area. Three entrances provide accessible access to different parts of the building: the south entrance to the Mary of Magdala Chapel and stairway to the second floor; the west entrance under the drive-through canopy to the church and Daniels Hall; and the northwest corner to the administrative and Christian Formation offices. The parking lot is accessible via Christman Road from either direction.
The parish shares its facilities with non-profit groups that fit its Covenant beliefs. It is currently home to the Menomonee Falls Preschool Co-op, the Hope Network, and the AA/Alano Club, and makes its space available for voting, village meetings, and police assessment centers. Adjacent to the parish on Christman Road, the Children's Community Center built a twenty-classroom school in 1992 on land purchased from Good Shepherd; in 1974 the former parish convent had been turned into the Hartfel House, Waukesha County's first group home for cognitively disabled adults, named for the family whose advocacy inspired it.
Good Shepherd belongs to a 1986 parish collaboration called Four Saints and A Shepherd, originally St. Anthony, St. James, St. Mary, and St. Boniface, with St. Agnes of Butler later replacing St. Boniface. The parish's annual Pentecost Mass moved outdoors in 1996, drawing an estimated 1,000 people, and later migrated to accompany the annual Corn Roast celebration in August.
Stewardship, Giving, and the Love One Another Campaign
Stewardship at Good Shepherd is described as a way of life, more than money, more than time, talent, and treasure. Disciples who practice stewardship recognize God as the origin of life, the giver of freedom, and the source of all they have and are. Parish members receive a monthly mailing that includes a Stewardship Letter, a record of contributions, and a return envelope. The parish depends on its members to cover utilities, salaries and benefits, programming, and maintenance of the building and grounds.
Beyond the regular envelope and online giving, the parish accepts planned gifts, including life insurance policies, retirement benefits, and bequests, with sample bequest language provided for unrestricted gifts, specific purposes such as the Building Maintenance Fund or the Eschweiler New Century Fund (an endowment for future ministry), and gifts of appreciated securities. Online giving runs through Pushpay, and the parish offers a mobile app for iOS and Android.
Good Shepherd has renewed its participation in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's Love One Another Campaign. Sixty percent of what the parish raises returns to Good Shepherd for identified needs, including building and grounds upgrades ($144,000, with approved projects such as parking lot sealing, LED lighting replacements, and flooring in the HOPE Network office and AA Clubhouse), worship space renovations ($101,500), financial security toward a line of credit for the roof and west parking lot ($100,000), technology updates ($79,500), and enhanced outreach ($22,000). The remaining forty percent supports new and expanded efforts focusing on the poor and those in need, Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, Catholic education, and ministries throughout the ten counties of southeastern Wisconsin.
Leadership and Parish Councils
The parish is led by Fr. Brian Mason as pastor, with Deacon Sandy Sites remaining in his vocation of deacon. The professional staff includes Marguerite Thompson, Director of Adult Formation and Social Justice (in role since July 1, 2020); S. Joann Julka, OCIA coordinator; and Corinna Ramsey in Christian Formation, who coordinates Confirmation preparation and the Listen to the Lord Children's Liturgy of the Word.
Parish life is shaped by a Pastoral Council that meets on the first Monday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Mary of Magdala Chapel, with monthly minutes published for parish review. Six commissions, each serving as task groups of the Pastoral Council, meet on the Monday after the council meeting: Formation, Human Concerns, Pastoral Care, Prayer and Worship, Stewardship (currently meeting via Zoom), and Administrative Services. A Finance Council meets on the third Monday of each month at 6:30 PM, currently via Zoom, and provides advice and guidance to the pastor in the administration of parish assets, prepares the parish budget, and reviews financial statements. Trustees sit on the Finance Council as optional members.
Getting There, Getting In
Visitors are warmly welcomed at Good Shepherd. The parish office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Mass is celebrated on Saturday at 4:30 PM, Sunday at 9:30 AM, and Tuesday at 8:30 AM. The Blessed Sacrament Chapel is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Reconciliation is offered every Saturday from 3:30 to 4:15 PM in the Mary of Magdala Chapel, with communal Penance services during Advent and Lent. The address is N88W17658 Christman Road, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051. The main phone line is (262) 255-2035, and the parish can be reached by email at office@mygoodshepherd.org. Fr. Brian Mason can be reached directly for urgent pastoral needs at (262) 345-3901 or masonb@mygoodshepherd.org.