About
Brief History
The Episcopal campus ministry at Purdue has been through numerous changes since its founding in 1956, when the Diocese of Indianapolis appointed Irene Allman as Director of the Purdue Episcopal Student Center at 129 Russell St. In 1960, the Reverend Ellsworth Koonz was called to be the Chaplain and Vicar at the Episcopal Church at Purdue. Not long after that, the church relocated to the former Federated Church Building at Chauncey and Columbia (top picture).
In 1968, the Rev. William Klatt joined the church staff, later succeeding Rev. Koonz as Chaplain and Vicar in 1970. In 1976, problems with the Federated Church Building led to its sale. The church moved into offices in the Wesley Foundation, across State Street from the Purdue Memorial Union. In 1983, Father Klatt resigned, at which time a committee was formed to search for the next chaplain. The Parish Profile developed by the committee indicated that "The Episcopal Campus Ministry/Church of the Good Shepherd serves the Purdue University community rather than a more generally populated geographical region." The search led to the call in 1985 of the Rev. Peter J. Bunder as Chaplain and Vicar. Deacon Nancy Tiederman moved from St. John's to Good Shepherd at that time where she stayed until 1993 when she was ordained to the priesthood and moved to Florida. In 1995, Good Shepherd, by now an "Organized Chapel Mission," moved to a rented house on Hayes Street where it would remain until 2005 when the current building was purchased.
Since 2005, Good Shepherd has been in its current location, a former Church of Christ Scientist building. In 2019, after 34 years at Chapel of the Good Shepherd, the Rev. Peter Bunder retired. The Rev. Dr. Hilary Cooke was officially installed as Chaplain in February 2020.