Good Trouble Church

We are here. God is here, too!

It's hard to describe Good Trouble Church to people who have never been with us. One thing you could say is that when we are gathered, the rules of the world no longer apply. Everything is free. Everyone has gifts to share. And we gather in a circle honoring every voice.

A grassroots, Christ-rooted, faith expansive community coming together in the name of healing and human flourishing, GTC centers love and freedom, leadership and liberation, community care, and sacred ceremony.

A church founded by those most impacted by systemic racism and the war on drugs, Good Trouble is brimming with life: Farm to Stoop Free Market, Family Life Worship, Red Shed Village, Leadership & Liberation School, Good Trouble Guardians, The Firewalkers Creative Expression Fellows, Healing Together Fellows, Bible Study, Good Trouble Outreach & Chill Zone, Social Work & Support Drop-in… all in the Station North neighborhood of Baltimore. A ministry of the Delaware-Maryland Synod ELCA, GTC is POC- and trans-led.

Founded in early 2020, Good Trouble Church is a grassroots congregation in central Baltimore of leaders who are changing the world. A fellowship of those who have been made most vulnerable through systemic oppression and the racist war on drugs, GTC centers the leadership and follows the visions of those most directly impacted by structural racism and unjust systems.

Through the devoted acts of mutual aid and sacred ceremony, we facilitate healing and work toward liberation in our neighborhood. There is the twice monthly free market, where we feed and clothe our community; Red Shed Village, where we house 3 people who transition from street homelessness to housing; a drop-in center with social work, laundry, and showers; an outreach and chill zone at a popular corner where the most vulnerable can find belonging and support; the Good Trouble Guardians, who walk the streets helping to keep our community safer without police involvement; a Leadership and liberation school, and more– all of it dreamed and led by our community.

At the locus and origin of it all: is our weekly worship of word and sacrament in an outdoor lot, when we hear from and respond to the God of liberation in our midst. In that lot, we gather to bless each other before God, and in so many ways, to give voice to the hope that is within us.