On Clayton Road in Concord, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is known for pairing Sunday worship with a wide network of practical care. Its motto, “Feeding bodies, minds, and souls,” fits a congregation that has grown from a simple church service in a local park in 1952 into an ELCA community known especially for Friends Feeding Friends, its food pantry, literacy support, shelter meals, and open welcome.
From a Park Service to a Clayton Road Congregation
Good Shepherd's story begins in 1952 with a simple church service in a local Concord park. More than seven decades later, the congregation still describes its work in terms of reaching out: hungry people are served through Friends Feeding Friends, adults learn English through a literacy ministry founded by women from the congregation, and the church makes space for worship, education, recovery meetings, meals, and community gatherings. Its mission is to reach out in Jesus' name, gather in deep community, learn and grow into God's Kingdom, serve the neighbor, and worship the Creator.
Good Shepherd is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in the Sierra Pacific Synod. That connection places it within a wider Lutheran network committed to joining God's Kingdom activity in the world. The church's identity is both sacramental and outward facing: Scripture, Baptism, Holy Communion, and the worship life of the congregation belong alongside food service, literacy, hospitality, and care for people experiencing hardship.
Sunday at 10:30: Gathering, Word, Meal, Sending
Sunday worship begins at 10:30 a.m. inside the church and is also livestreamed. The congregation follows one full Sunday liturgy with several Scripture readings, a sermon, prayers, varied music, and Holy Communion. Weekly worship is the center of life at Good Shepherd because it nourishes people through God's Word and the Eucharist, keeps them conscious of the wider community, and lets each person's presence help form a community that supports its members.
The liturgy moves through Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending. Gathering begins the shared service; the Word is proclaimed in Scripture and preaching; the Meal centers on Holy Communion; and Sending carries worshippers back into service in the world. This shape reflects the church's conviction that God calls people back to worship with promise, nourishment, and purpose, then sends them to serve one another. The service is inside the church, where children of every age are invited to remain.
The church year gives the worship rhythm a fuller shape. Advent uses a wreath and hymns. Lent includes a simple meal, fellowship, reflection, and instruction. Holy Week centers the Passion story, preaching, Communion, and hymns, while Easter brings special music, art, resurrection themes, and traditions for young and old. Pentecost, Reformation Sunday, All Saints' Sunday, and Christ the King Sunday continue the cycle. The congregation's live worship is also carried on its YouTube channel.
Come As You Are, Children and All
Good Shepherd's welcome includes people of every age, sex, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, economic position, physical or mental ability, and people who are strong in faith or questioning. Visitors are welcome as they are physically and spiritually, and coming matters more than what they wear. The church's purpose is not to ask an outsider to leave part of their identity or story outside.
Children are especially welcome. Good Shepherd understands that children make noise, run around, play games, and sometimes cry. A crying child is not a reason to leave, and children of all ages can remain for the whole liturgy. The same atmosphere extends to worship, learning, fellowship, prayer, and service, where people are invited to belong whether they are exploring faith, renewing it, wrestling with it, or already deeply rooted.
Church membership is not required to attend worship, join a ministry, or take part in the congregation. The membership process asks people to spend time in the community, recommends at least six months before deciding, and receives new members during a Sunday liturgy with prayer and welcome. The church is at 4000 Clayton Road in Concord, and the office phone is 925-682-8410. It is 1.7 miles east of Concord BART Station, a walk of about 35 minutes, while County Connection's weekday 10 Line and weekend 310 Route stop in front.
The Gospel of Grace and New Creation
Good Shepherd believes in one God, Triune as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co equal in nature, creator and preserver of all life. Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, fully God and fully human. The church centers the story of Jesus on his birth, life, teaching, miracles, death, burial, resurrection, and reign over all things, understanding the resurrection as God's fashioning of a new creation. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son, teaches, guides into truth, and empowers service.
The gospel is good news: God has acted in Jesus, who died, rose, and is established as Lord. Salvation is received as God's gift through grace and faith, not as something won by personal strength, merit, or works. The Old and New Testaments are the written Word of God, inspired through their authors and centered on Jesus Christ. Good Shepherd describes sin as distrust of God and the broken ways that place people above God, one another, and creation, with Jesus bringing trust and restoring the world.
Baptism and Holy Communion are the two sacraments celebrated there. Baptism signifies forgiveness, new life, and union with Christ; Good Shepherd baptizes infants and welcomes the baptized to Communion. Its broad welcome is grounded in the conviction that Jesus calls everyone into his community and that people with gifts to serve and lead can do so.
Luther's Rose and the Peace of Faith
Martin Luther designed the seal while teaching at Wittenberg, and it has become a primary emblem of the Lutheran church. His explanation places a black cross in a heart to represent faith in the Crucified, sets that heart within a white rose for joy, comfort, and peace, and places the rose against a sky blue field symbolizing the joy of heaven that begins in hope. A golden ring surrounds the image and represents the eternal nature of that blessing. The emblem holds together Good Shepherd's emphasis on salvation through faith in the Crucified and the peace, hope, and enduring joy that flow from it.
Seven Marks of Discipleship for Daily Life
The Marks of Discipleship are Good Shepherd's identified path toward a deeper relationship with God. The church believes that practicing these habits brings spiritual transformation through the Holy Spirit and transformation outward into the local community.
- Daily Prayer: Practice prayer each day at home, with family and friends, in worship, and in fellowship, sharing hopes and needs while learning to listen for God's direction.
- Daily Bible Reading: Read Scripture daily, allowing it to feed life, challenge growth, and bring attention and change through God's Word.
- Weekly Worship: Gather each week to hear God's Word, receive Holy Communion, stay involved in the community, and support fellow members.
- Spiritual Friendships: Build relationships in which people listen, make space, encourage, offer accountability, and pray for one another, recognizing that Christian faith is not lived alone.
- Evangelizing: Share the good news of Jesus with joy, guided by trusted and friendly relationships, and support one another in reaching out to the community.
- Serving: Practice faith through service at Good Shepherd and in the surrounding community, beginning with Friends Feeding Friends and using each person's abilities.
- Giving: Share time, abilities, and wealth. Good Shepherd encourages a goal of giving 10 percent of financial resources, with a once yearly commitment during Sunday worship followed by burning commitment cards as an act of faith in God's provision.
Faith Funnel describes the church's pattern of formation: people first learn of Good Shepherd in their geographical region, become part of its “crowd,” attend worship or community service, join the congregation, and are equipped for a committed life in Christ through the seven practices. A person may enter this process at any point, and the church emphasizes spiritual growth rather than attendance alone.
Friends Feeding Friends: Pantry, Shelter, and Blessing Bags
Friends Feeding Friends is Good Shepherd's primary community service ministry. It carries a simple vision that people who are really hungry should have food and directs that vision toward people who are hungry, homeless, or living on low incomes in Concord.
The food pantry is Good Shepherd's largest community service ministry. It operates behind the hall on the church campus as a walk in choice pantry where no identification is required and people select their food. Service is first come, first served, and people are welcome to come as needed.
Food comes from the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, food recovered from stores, purchased food, private donations, fresh produce from gardens, other pantries, and food collected by churches and organizations. All donations are distributed directly to people in need. Donated food can be left at Good Shepherd in Concord or St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Walnut Creek, and financial gifts support the Friends Feeding Friends fund.
Once a month, volunteers prepare meals for the Adult Interim Shelter. The work takes place on the third Saturday from 9:00 to 11:45 a.m. The team packs food to go and hygiene bags and prepares meals to serve at the shelter. Anyone can join, and no experience is necessary.
For senior citizens, the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano provides free groceries on the first and third Thursdays of each month from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Participants must be 55 or older, with one senior per household, and bring a picture identification and proof of address.
Good Shepherd's Blessing Bags contain shelf stable food that can be eaten without a kitchen. Most are distributed through the Coordinated Outreach Referral Engagement team, known as CORE, which works with people living outside to support health and basic needs and permanent housing. Congregation members also pick up bags at the sanctuary entrance for people seeking assistance.
Learning, Recovery, and Shared Tables
The Diablo Valley Literacy Council began in 1978 with a group of women from Good Shepherd and women from other churches who were active in literacy. Good Shepherd sponsors the council by providing free space for tutor training, meetings, and library materials. Its trained volunteers teach adult speakers of other languages to speak, read, and write English in individual lessons or small groups. Using a method developed by Dr. Frank Laubach, tutors work with pictures, stories, conversation, vowel sounds, vocabulary, and sentence structure. The board reflects ecumenical diversity, with Roman Catholic, Jewish, and other Protestant participation.
Good Shepherd provides meeting space for two Narcotics Anonymous groups. Dear John and Courage To Change meet Wednesday from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the Large Hall for an open meeting and speaker discussion, with chips in the third week and no break. Girl's Kick Ass meets Sunday from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the same hall for an open women's meeting whose format varies, with chips in the last week.
A Zoom Bible study meets every Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Once a month, members also eat together at a different restaurant. After Sunday worship, a weekly Hospitality Hour offers coffee, light refreshments, and fellowship. People support that rhythm by serving as assisting ministers, lectors, ushers, Communion assistants, and members of the altar guild, while hospitality volunteers provide snacks, make coffee, set up, and clean up.
A Global Sister Parish and Women of the ELCA
Resurrection Lutheran Church of El Salvador is Good Shepherd's global sister parish. The relationship focuses on deepening faith, awareness, learning, and community. Good Shepherd prays for the sister parish every week. On the last Sunday of each month, Salvadoran paraments appear in worship, a Noisy Offering supports Resurrection Lutheran Church, and visits are intended to build mutual understanding, respect, and dignity.
Women of the ELCA is the women's ministry organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It calls women created in the image of God to grow in faith, affirm their gifts, support one another, engage in ministry and action, and promote healing and wholeness in the church, society, and world. It is separately incorporated, financially independent, and not an auxiliary of Good Shepherd.
Music, Life Events, and Shared Space
Rev. Jeremy Serrano serves as pastor and is passionate about leading worship, evangelism, ancient spiritual disciplines, and helping people find ways of connecting with God. Tom Deans Flegel serves in music ministry, and Jamie Rodemsky serves in technology ministry. Christian weddings at Good Shepherd are worship services grounded in prayer, Scripture, music, and the couple's public commitment. The church is open and affirming toward LGBTQ couples, and wedding arrangements are made at least six months in advance. Funeral and memorial liturgy centers hope in Christ's resurrection while acknowledging the grief of death. Pastor Jeremy Serrano participates in funeral and memorial services, and music is selected to remain within the spirit of Christian worship.
Good Shepherd also offers its spaces for events beyond worship. The Fellowship Hall accommodates 138 for dining or 297 in assembly and can serve wedding receptions, parties, and gatherings. The Sanctuary holds 225 with pew seating and suits weddings, funerals, concerts, classes, meetings, and memorial services. The Fireside Room can be set with 20 tables and holds 30 in assembly, while the courtyard accommodates about 100 to 150 for an outdoor party or cookout. These rooms also support educational classes, children's events, music concerts, day camps, and recovery meetings.
Financial gifts can be made online through Tithe.ly, with single or repeating gifts and no Tithe.ly account requirement. PayPal and cash or checks are other options, and mailed checks can carry a designation in the memo line. The church prefers Tithe.ly for electronic giving because bank account gifts create lower processing costs than credit card gifts.
Together, these rhythms make Good Shepherd a congregation centered on worship and sacrament while keeping faith close to daily life. People encounter the church through a 10:30 liturgy, shared meals, food choices without identification, English learning, recovery groups, blessing bags, prayer, music, service, and rooms that welcome community. Good Shepherd remains centered on its mission: reach out, gather in community, grow into God's Kingdom, serve the neighbor, and worship the Creator.