Church Plant

It has been wonderful to be at home in California with C.J.'s family for the last week. We're looking forward to flying to Michigan in a few days where we'll spend a week with Keri's family before moving back to St. Louis! We mentioned a few times in our blogging what the main reason for our return to St. Louis is, but we have not had a chance to elaborate...

We are going to be part of a church plant. A core group of about 13 people, many of whom are some of our best friends in St. Louis, began talking about starting a church before we left for our fieldwork adventures. Conversations continued while we were gone and many of us were affirmed that we were being called to plant a church. A proposal was made to our home church, Greentree Community Church (Evangelical Presbyterian), and it was accepted.

An area of St. Louis was also placed on our hearts. Lafayette Square is an area of St. Louis just south of downtown. This area was very affluent at one time, but after "white flight" and the aging of the city, it became very rundown. This small historical area (www.lafayettesquare.org is a good website about the area) is now being restored and is being looked at as the start of restoration for the whole city of St. Louis. Many people are investing in this area, and Greentree and our church plant want to be a part of this restoration.

All the people of our core group have committed to moving into Lafayette Square, and we hope to have a church which will also be a site for many community activities. This church is very much in its infancy, and we will not be meeting formally for several months, but please keep us in your prayers. We are very excited about returning from our adventures around the world and returning to this new and different adventure in St. Louis!