Given their location in West St. Louis County, people are sometimes surprised when they learn of King of Kings Lutheran Church’s outreach ministry to the Hispanic population. But the Church recognized a growing population in the St. Louis region and in their community and decided to “impact the Hispanic Community of St. Louis County with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through His Word and through Christian deeds in the Spirit.”
The church called a missionary pastor familiar with the Hispanic population and made a covenant to provide office space and initial materials for this ministry. Since his arrival, the pastor has established personal relationships with Hispanic individuals and groups in the area, many of whom have become partners with the church. He identified the Hispanic community’s needs – spiritual, social, and economic and helped the congregation develop appropriate ministries including English as a Second Language and citizenship classes, Bible studies, and a health clinic. Ultimately, the congregation desires to plant a Spanish-language church service on its campus.
It doesn’t stop there. The congregation is in conversation with other Lutheran churches to explore new collaborative ministry opportunities.
The pastor believes that the training and tools received through Send Me St. Louis provided “valuable tools to do effective ministry, to impact the community in which the church resides.” He has taken what he has learned to accelerate the congregation’s outreach ministries and church planting efforts.
