Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, Indiana
The first Episcopal services in East Chicago were held on 18 November 1888 by the Rev. Robert C. Wall, who preached and opened a Sunday school. The mission of Good Shepherd was formed in 1892 out of that congregation which had been St. Mary's, New Carlisle. East Chicago was then a tangle of competing and divergent ethnic groups, including Hungarians, Romanians, Slovaks, Poles, Canadians, Welsh, African Americans, and Hispanics. The former St. Mary's edifice, a small frame structure, was moved to East Chicago by barge, together with suitcases full of Books of Common Prayer. Bishop White noted in his annual address of 1903 that he had placed the Rev. V. C. Lacey at Indiana Harbor, and through his efforts, "a number of devout church families were found at East Chicago, lying between Indiana Harbor and Hammond, and a most interesting work begun there." In 1907, the bishop formally organized Good Shepherd as a diocesan mission after receiving a petition from a number of residents.
The congregation was initially comprised mostly of Welsh and Canadians who had arrived in East Chicago to work in the steel mills. A more suitable church edifice was built at 4525 Baring Avenue in 1911 for $3,600. After World War II in 1945, Bishop Mallett attempted to persuade the congregations of Good Shepherd and St. Alban the Martyr, Indiana Harbor, to merge. One suggestion was that the Indiana Harbor building be retained and shared with East Chicago, while another was to sell both churches and built a new one at a different site. Dom Leo Patterson, a Benedictine monk based in Valparaiso, was asked to take charge of St. Alban's, but in spite of his leadership, it did not survive after World War II. St. Luke's Whiting, another area church that never had its own building, folded into Good Shepherd
After many years as a diocesan mission, Good Shepherd was admitted as a parish under Bishop Mallett in 1956, the first new parish added since 1908. A 1958 article described the parish's industrial location with its ever-present soot and smoke. Nine railroads carried off steel to other parts of the country, and one out of four people were foreign-born. Membership in the church at that time was 233.
For many years Good Shepherd was served by the Rev. Canon C. Richard Phelps, who labored to reach out to the poor of the surrounding community. He celebrated daily Mass, which became the "backbone" of the parish, as well as the full rite of Holy Week. Seven stained glass windows gave witness to the seven sacraments.
In the 1980s East Chicago had the highest population density of any town in the state. Life was regulated by shifts in the steel mills. However, by the 1990s, Good Shepherd was located in the most economically-challenged part of the diocese, where it remained a beacon. When Father Phelps retired, and after years of declining membership, the parish closed its doors in 2018. The records, as well as those of St. Luke's Whiting, are now in the diocesan archives and have been digitized.
Clergy:
Robert C. Wall, 1888
Henry B. Collin, 1892
George Moore, 1896-1897
Vincent C. Lacey, 1903
Charles Albert Smith, 1901-1909
Thomas Hines, 1914-1925
Frederick Murray Clayton, 1925-1927
William Edward Hoppenbacker, 1927
Alexander E. Pflaum, 1929-1930
William Edward Hoppenbacker, 1936-1945
Gail Colyer Brittain, 1945-1952
Horace L. Varian, 1952-1954
Jay Handsbury, 1954-1960
Charles Sutton, 1960-1961
William E. Smith, 1961-1962
Donald L. Bell, 1963-1967
Michael Grant, 1967-1975
Cecil Richard Phelps, 1980-2017
Parish Register, 1892-1940
Parish Register, 1941-1971
This page references:
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, tower, front view, 1980s
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, exterior with Father Richard Phelps and parishioners, 1980s
- Unidentified priest Blesses a Marriage, Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, rummage sale unidentified, 1980s
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, parishioners on front steps, 1980s
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, 1958
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, exterior
- Rev. Gail Collyer Brittain, rector of Good Shepherd, East Chicago
- Good Shepherd Window, Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, 2
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, Bishop Little and Jeff Norris, 27 Nov 2011
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, front view extended 1980s
- Side Window, Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, Bishop Little and Rev. Richard Phelps, 6 Jan. 2013
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, exterior, 1980s
- Icon of the Blessed Virgin, Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, Bishop Little, Rev. Richard Phelps, Richard Morrisrow, 27 Oct. 2013
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, exterior sign
- Bishop William Sheridan, Rev. C. Richard Phelps, and Confirmands, Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, 1980s
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, Bishop Little and Rev. Richard Phelps, 25 Jan. 2015
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, interior, 1980s
- Bishop William Sheridan, Rev. C. Richard Phelps, and Unidentified Girl, Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, 1980s
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, Bishop Little with Cody, a confirmand, 25 Jan. 2015
- Bishop William Sheridan, Rev. C. Richard Phelps, and Acolytes, Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, 1980s
- Bishop Douglas Sparks and Rev. C Richard Phelps, East Chicago, 30 Nov. 2017
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, exterior, 25 Jan. 2015
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, Line Drawing
- Rev. C. Richard Phelps and Bishop Douglas Sparks, East Chicago, 30 Nov. 2017
- Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago, rear view
- Good Shepherd Window, Church of the Good Shepherd, East Chicago
