2023 Greater STL Area Ministry Fair

Did you know that there are nearly 1,500 specifically Christian non-profit entities in the Greater St. Louis area? How many of those initiatives can you name? How many of those entities do you think know about each other?

Ever since living in St. Louis, I have been struck by the different kinds of division impacting the area. Not only are we divided geographically by two rivers, we are divided racially, economically, politically, and even denominationally. But beyond that, there is a subtle yet pervasive division that might simply be called ignorance. Throughout the Greater St. Louis area, passionate followers of Jesus dream about and pursue beautifully profound ministries to send the Gospel forward into both our neighborhoods and the nations – but often do so with a sense of isolation and lack of support.

In the fall of 2022, at the end of our Perspectives class hosted at Journey Hanley Road (now Refresh Community Church), we invited ministry operators from throughout the area to come to our class and share their hearts with our students as a way of connecting students with next step opportunities. 26 ministries participated, and over the course of the evening we were struck by the significance of seeing these ministry operators connect with EACH OTHER – often for the first time. Frankly, this might have truly been the moment when the idea behind Groundswell Saint Louis was born.

We began to wonder, how do we help these local ministry operators strategically connect with one another, how do we best support them and connect them BROADLY with the Church throughout the Greater STL Area? After the event, we chatted with many of these leaders who shared with us what a blessing it was to connect with others who do what they do. Very quickly we realized that this is something we need to do on a more regular basis.

So on November 30, 2023 we hosted our second Ministry Fair, this time at Journey Tower Grove, where 40 local ministries participated. We set aside significant extra time at the beginning for ministry leaders to eat together, pray together, and connect – all before we opened the door to the general public.

Where do we go from here? Next steps are in the works as we seek to cultivate a robust fabric of interconnectedness between those who are leading the church into the practical work of the Gospel.