we are a beloved community, seeking to live out God’s call to love and liberation in north st. louis city.
Saint John's United Church of Christ Statement of Mission
As a Black led, racially diverse, increasingly open congregation, Saint John’s UCC, whose future is tied to its North St. Louis neighborhood, has as its mission: (1) to share the gospel in bringing all people into relationship with Christ and discipleship in the Body of Christ; (2) to continue to nurture the closeness, care, fellowship & faith of the congregation; (3) to be a catalyst for neighborhood wholeness and growth; & (4) to work toward the elimination of violence in all generations.
Church Leaders
The Spiritual Council of St. John’s Church is what we call the group of all of the leaders elected by the congregation.
Church Staff
Rev. Michelle Higgins - Senior Pastor
Bro. Cornelius Davis - Minister of Administration
Bro. Miles Dela Cruz– Lead AV Tech
Bro. Andrew Gibson - Music Team Coordinator
Bro. Maurice Egeston - Lead Musician
Bro. Tilton Yokley - Staff Musician
Consistory of Elders
Bro. Demarco Davidson – Consistory President
Minister Duana Russell Thomas
Sis. Sonja Foster
Bro. Brian Nikodym
trustees
Bro. Chad Schubert
Bro. Kelcy Siddall
ORDAINED OFFICERS
Our clergy and diaconate are made of Ministers, Reverends, and Deacons. These people lead our ministries.
Reverend David Gerth- Faith Formation
Deacon Kristian Blackmon - Community Ministries
Deacon Thomas Payton – Community Ministries
Deacon Vicki Swyers – Congregational Care
Deacon Heidi Payton – Congregational Care
ST. JOHN’S EVANGELICAL CEMETERY ASSOCIATION BOARD MEMBERS
Heather Hollingsworth, President
Shelia Pargo
Rev. Tom Baynham
Thomas W. Payton
Heidi Payton
Get in touch with our Cemetery Manager:
Laverne Blue, Cemetery Manager
Office: 314-867-4981 / Email: sjeccemassoc@gmail.com
Our Senior Pastor: Reverend Michelle Higgins
Our Senior Pastor, Rev. Michelle Higgins, with her children.
Reverend Michelle Higgins holds a Master in Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. She has deep roots in the Pentecostal worship tradition and lives in Saint Louis city with her two children.
As Senior Pastor at Saint John’s Church – The Beloved Community, Pastor Michelle is the first woman to be settled as lead pastor and teacher in the congregation’s 160 year history.
Pastor Michelle is a Director and founding member of Faith for Justice, a Christian advocacy group dedicated to continuing the biblical story of activism. Faith for Justice promotes public justice actions and leads training events that connect Christian communities to Black Power movements.
Rev. Higgins is proud to be co-founder and Board Chair of Action St. Louis, where she organized multiple bailout campaigns with national and local groups seeking to address the criminalization of poverty as it impacts Black people. This resulted in her launching the St. Louis office for the Bail Project, and serving as Lead Organizer for the campaign to #ClosetheWorkhouse, a local jail in St. Louis under lawsuit for inhumane treatment of inmates. As a member of the Operations team for the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), Pastor Michelle supports the work of organizations working nationally to ground local contexts in the Black queer feminist politic.
Pastor Michelle actively promotes the pursuit of social justice as a gospel imperative. She participates in civil disobedience and disruption for the sake of public justice; and often works as a consultant for event design, leadership development, and worship arts in faith spaces.
Our Statement of faith
We are rooted in belief on the triune God: the Eternal Holy Spirit, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Creator, and to Their deeds we testify:
God calls the worlds into being, creates humanity in Their own image and sets before us the ways of life and liberation.
God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.
God judges men and nations by a righteous will declared through prophets and apostles.
In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to the way of beloved community.
God bestows upon us The Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the Church, binding in covenant faithfulness people of all ages, tongues, races and creeds.
God calls us into community to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the liberation of the oppressed, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at his table, to join Jesus the revolutionary in his passion and victory.
God promises to all who trust Them forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, Their presence in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in God’s kingdom which has no end.
Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto The Creator, The Redeemer and the Holy Ghost.
Amen and Ashé.
Adapted for the Beloved Community of St. John’s Church - from a UCC Statement of Faith Approved by the Second General Synod of the United Church of Christ held in Oberlin, Ohio, July 5-9, 1959, and submitted to the Synods, Conferences, Associations and Churches for their approval and use. The General Synod encourages the use of the Statement of Faith in congregational worship, in private devotions and for purposes of study.
