St. Louis holds a special place in the heart of Pastor Michael Coridan, who grew up there. Now a pastor in his childhood church, Michael sees the diverse needs of St. Louis and believes in addressing them with different approaches. Each local Adventist church is involved and striving to reach its community in unique ways.
The city of St. Louis in the United States has a historical connection to the Advenist Church. It has hosted two General Conference Sessions where the world church comes together to pray, plan, and prepare mission initiatives for upcoming years. In 2025, the General Conference Session will once again be held in St. Louis.
Michael Coridan grew up in St. Louis and attended both of the GC sessions held in his home city.
“I can remember as a kid going to the General Conference Session when it was here in St. Louis. I grew up in St. Louis, and it made such a big impact on me at that time. It's a great opportunity for the Adventist name to become even more well-known within St. Louis.”
Michael is now a pastor in the same church where he grew up watching his father preach every Sabbath. Because much of his life has been spent here, he’s seen the needs throughout the city.
“In each one of these communities, there's a different need. And so when it comes to St Louis, there's not just one approach. Each local church is involved in the community, and we need 90 different approaches to the needs here in St Louis.”
One of those approaches is being led by pastor Trevor Barnes. His church has decided to dedicate more time to service in their community.
“In one of the areas that I'm located, I discovered that people are living 15 years less than other parts of St. Louis. If you go east and south, there is no fresh food out there. There are people who are eating by going to gas stations. And that's just not going to have fresh produce, vegetables, things of that nature.”
“We saw that crisis and we said we had to try to figure out what to do about it. So we began to try to put together Health First. We do them quarterly. We call them Serve Sabbaths.”
Along with the help of local health organizations, these “Serve Sabbaths” have provided food and health resources for hundreds of families.
“I believe that we are called to relieve the suffering, take care of those who are hurting, clothe those who are naked, feed those who need to be fed just like Jesus did.”
As the Adventist church members in St. Louis continue to show Jesus’ love to their community, they look forward to sharing their stories and welcoming the world church in 2025.
“It's easy in the local context to kind of forget that you're part of something larger. You get involved in the ministries of a local church and you throw yourself into that and it's like coming up for air to realize there's not only thousands but millions of other people who believe similar things. And to see that all concentrated in one place, it means a lot. It solidifies the truth that God is at work in the world, not just in our lives, and not just my personal life, which then gives me encouragement to keep going.”
Please pray for the city of St. Louis as the 2025 General Conference Session approaches. This quarter, your 13th Sabbath Offering will help prepare local churches for outreach efforts before and after the GC Session. Thank you for your support of mission.
