The City
By admin
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, is the state’s largest metropolitan area. Known as the Gateway to the West, St. Louis was founded as a settlement in 1764 by Pierre Laclede; he named the settlement in honor of Louis IX, the crusader King of France, who was the patron saint of the reigning king, Louis XV.
By 1950, St. Louis was the nation’s eighth largest city, with 857,000 residents. However, by 1999, the US Census Bureau was estimating the population at 334,000, down 523,000. More people have left St. Louis than live in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Denver or Cleveland. Currently, the population within the city limits is about 350,000. The effect of this migration has been devastating to the presence of the Church, for when the people migrated out of the city, many local church congregations migrated with them. Of those churches that stayed, most struggled to transition with the neighborhood. We say it this way: the darkness has out-paced the light in the neighborhoods.
The area of the city in which the church is being planted is a very diverse community. This diversity is seen ethnically, racially, culturally and economically. We believe that as the Lord gives birth to a community of believers out of the midst of this diversity, the name of Jesus Christ will be honored – and for this we live.