The year was 1985. Silver City resident John Pershing was tired of seeing local residents who lacked food and shelter not having a place to go. A vision took form to serve the homeless and others living at or below the poverty line in Silver City, and in 1987, The Silver City Gospel Mission was born.

Today, the mission makes its home in a small facility on 111 S. Texas Street behind Jalisco’s Restaurant. And though times have changed since those early days — a housing crisis, rampant inflation, recovering from the COVID pandemic — our commitment as ever remains the same: serving our guests hot, well-balanced meals daily out of our soup kitchen and running our bustling thrift shop, food pantry and clothing bank. Sierra House, our shelter next door, gives women and their families a safe and warm transitional place to live.

The Gospel Mission is governed by a board of directors consisting of compassionate individuals from the Silver City community who understand deeply the emotional, physical and spiritual challenges facing our poor and homeless. Many of our board members are seen daily in our kitchen and thrift shop, laboring alongside our busy staff to serve the people who come through our doors.

We are a non-denominational Christian charity. Whenever possible and wherever we can, we strive not only to share the Gospel and love of Jesus Christ with others, but to live it in all that we do. Our ultimate goal is to bring Christ to a hungering world through love in action, always giving something back to our small town by being there for our friends and neighbors.

We are committed to serving anyone who comes into our Mission regardless of their race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religious beliefs, socio-economic status or sexual orientation. Occasionally, we are required to ban someone from our building for violence, intoxication, bad language, or abusive behaviors, but no ban is permanent. Those in need of food or shelter will always receive our assistance.