Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Burkland.
Hi Donna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Orange County is a hub for Evangelicalism, namely Evangelical Mega-churches. A lot of folks grew up in the Evangelical church here in Orange County. During the 2016 election, a lot of Evangelicals woke up to the rising concerns in social issues, like immigration, racial injustice, and LGBTQ+ inclusion to name a few. We realized that a lot of our churches did not reflect the teachings of Jesus, which we claimed to follow. As a result, a rising number of Evangelical Christians stripped themselves of the title, seeing our hypocrisy, and left the church, becoming spiritual refugees in need of a home.
During 2020, another “waking up” occurred, which sparked a huge need for a post-evangelical church in Orange County that was not only fully affirming of the LGBTQ+ community and committed to anti-racism, but reflected those values in leadership. Thus, the idea of SHOC (Safe Harbor OC) was born.
I, Donna (Founding pastor), also a Queer woman, grew up in Orange County and Evangelical culture as an overworked volunteer, and not only saw a need for different social values in the church, but a great restructuring of the church itself. That is why we are committed to our mission: A Jesus-centered community reimagining inclusive spaces to rest, restore, belong and become. Rest is a huge value for us, so part of our restructuring has been making SHOC volunteering, events, services, etc. optional and without pressure to attend.
My biggest fear was that I’d be alone in this journey, and that has hardly been the case. When someone needs to take a break, two more people show up to take their spot. When I don’t know a document or paper or hr need, the people and resources come in. The fact that we don’t pressure people to give financially or volunteer, and yet we are still here, speaks into the passion and drive people have for a place like SHOC in the community. People know how important this place is for Orange County.
We also are religious trauma informed and make an effort to pay attention to how churches have historically harmed folks, and instead provide a “corrective experience” for those healing from religious trauma.
SHOC officially opened it’s doors in 2022, with a pre-launch year beginning in 2021. We are celebrating our 3rd anniversary this November 16. We are a 501c3 non-denominational church fully funded by the community (no outside grants), but we are hoping to expand as we attract more folks in search of a 3rd space and church home like SHOC. We are just getting started.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Hah! A progressive post-evangelical church plant led by two moms in the heart of Orange County. Of course no obstacles would occur…right?
Wrong! However, surprisingly we have been welcomed into the community really well. People get excited when they hear about us. When we are in our booth at Pride events or community events, people tear up learning that we exist. Our booth was strategically stationed at Santa Ana Pride next to the anti-gay religious picketers, and people would point to us, saying, they are a church and they support us. To see us contrasted with the picketers was so important.
Also, like most progressive churches, we don’t pressure people to give to SHOC. We also are made up of primarily young adults in their 20s and 30s, so financially, we are very frugal and creative with sharing resources.
Also, our demographic of church goers have a lot of trauma with being pressured to give 10% of their earnings to churches, so we do our best to not push people to do this.
As a result, churches like ours don’t exist usually due to money. It’s simultaneously so important to fund these types of churches if we want to see change occur in the church, and at the same time to not pressure people to fund us. It’s a very tricky balancing act that we are doing.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a pastor. I actually was never professionally clergy before becoming a church planter. I was a small group, kids ministry, and campus ministry volunteer in the church and Christian spaces before starting SHOC. I soaked up a lot of knowledge of the church through my volunteer experiences. I am also an AVID book worm and have a special interest in studying theology and church history.
My day job was teaching middle school students English Language Arts. I then got my Masters in Communications and worked in the non-profit sector during COVID (working in a first responder organization, often delivering masks and supplies to our most vulnerable in OC). It was there that I learned a lot about the non-profit sector.
It was my teaching degree and masters, (and years of therapy) along with my eclectic experience in different sectors of Orange County and the church, that I was the unlikely (yet very qualified) candidate to start a church. Everything I had learned was applied to this church.
I am most proud of our community. My biggest strength as a leader is facilitating and building communities of belonging. I am so proud of the healing, healthy, and joyfilled community we have built together at SHOC.
I am also really proud of our leadership team (it’s really stacked!). We have a number of gifted leaders who come out of leadership positions in the church and have a wealth of knowledge and experience to help SHOC thrive.
Finally, I am also very honored and proud to work with my small but mighty staff team of three. Pastor Dottie, MDiv, is a gifted teaching pastor and Stephen Liu, our Worship Director, both come out of pastoring and directing in big OC Evangelical churches. We all compliment each others strengths and weaknesses.
How do you define success?
I probably define success differently than most people. Obviously, there’s measurable success (like big numbers), but my success is not numerically measured.
My mindset is if SHOC can at least reach one person, make their lives easier, save a life even, then we’ve done our job.
The beauty in that is SHOC has already reached more people than we know. This is the most fulfilling job I have ever had because at least once a week I hear about how SHOC has changed someone’s life, how I have changed someone’s life.
SHOC has literally saved people’s lives. It is a lifeline for those in our community and we don’t take that responsibility lightly. It also fights a lot of the loneliness epidemic we are seeing today.
I have seen lives transformed and I call that a success.
Pricing:
- We are raising $18000 to sustain our community for 2026. We raised 3k so far. People can visit our Financial Transparency Page to learn more. Now more than ever, we need SHOC.
- We sell our merch here: https://www.bonfire.com/store/shoc-merch/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://safeharboroc.com
- Instagram: @safeharboroc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SHOCchurch/
- Youtube: @safeharboroc
Image Credits
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