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history
C2 History:
Christ Lutheran Church was founded in 1868, 21 years after the birth of the LC-MS, as Christ Lutheran Church of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession. The stone plaque above the main entrance to the sanctuary, which was built in 1887, still bears this name in German. However, in 1948, when Christ Memorial Lutheran Church was founding in St. Louis County, meaning there were two LC-MS congregations named Christ within a few miles of each other, our Christ Lutheran picked up the Christ in the City moniker that we use in the abbreviated form C2. While originally founded by German farmers on the outskirts of St. Louis, C2 now sits in the heart of Midtown St. Louis. Out the front door of the sanctuary sits the main quad of St. Louis University’s Medical Campus. The polar-opposite demographic, a poverty-stricken urban community, resides out our back door. Unfortunately, C2’s story is very common for rural congregations that witness the city grow around them. As the community changed, many of the church’s members moved to the suburbs but commuted to the church they called home. Some stayed in the area and did wonderful ministries with the neighbors: food bank, clothing bank, afternoons with kids teaching them about Jesus, just to name a few. While some of these now inner-city churches closed their doors, for some reason, even without a congregation since about 1993, C2’s doors never officially closed, a reason we believe God is now revealing. It has a history as a church plant, since 1996, when Rev. Randy Wilken, then as a seminarian, started holding Bible studies for the 3 remaining members. That led into Sunday worship for up to 50, and then as construction was underway for the present facility, Chad Lakies and David Corson were both vicars. They, along with other seminarians, started this church plant. Over the past number of years, Saint Louis University (SLU) has been expanding its campus. They buy property from the community and replace the worn-down homes and businesses with classrooms, libraries, housing, and other campus facilities. As a result, the church is now all but surrounded by the campus. Our front door literally steps out onto the SLU Medical Campus quad. This makes C2 an ideal location for a Campus Mission Ministry. We have officially been open for ministry/business since November, 2005. With an “ancient-future” setting, we look to what God is still doing, and will do, here! He’s working through such things as small groups, SLU Medical and main campuses, our Gate District West Neighborhood Association, Good Start 2 Daycare, and much more!
C2 Today:
Crave is truly a unique gathering place because it’s a new business and a vibrant, unique faith community! It’s unique because of the challenge of ministering to a commuting medical school campus, an undergrad Jesuit University, and a local neighborhood that has all the trappings of inner city blight. It’s a cross-cultural ministry because of language (over 60 dialects spoken within a 3 mile radius), because of economics (wealthy students from all over the world, to poor neighbors), because of modern and post-modern clash in thinking, and because of spiritual backgrounds (Catholic to Hindu). It’s unique because it is a bridging place for all of the above, where God gathers, guides, and sends out to all parts of the world, the people He has shaped through Christ in the City/Crave coffee house (some examples are the med students and the seminarians who regularly worship and participate in various aspects of the ministry, on top of their studies and other duties, are touched by this setting and then go out to a variety of places where they can incorporate some of their experiences). We send med students back to their home countries, where they too can share their experiences and watch as God grows His Kingdom. The obvious unique aspect is that the bulk of the ministry is the coffee house itself. It allows a place for people to connect with each other, ideally leading to a connection with Christ, as a number of people have experienced! Crave at the Corner (C@C) is also a unique experience on the SLU main campus, every Tuesday evening, where 20-30 students and volunteers gather for worship, Bible study, and build community with each other, as they grow in Christ! Lastly, it has been a unique situation to be supervised by a Concordia Seminary professor, Dr. Wm. Utech, who has proven to be both encouraging and directive as the Vacancy Pastor for almost 3 years! Now, under the leadership of the 17th pastor to serve, Pastor John Rathje and the congregation has become convinced that God’s Church (His people) cannot wait for those who are distant from or antagonistic toward God, to come to us. We, like Jesus, must go to all people, wherever they are, building relationships that God’s Spirit can use to point them to Christ, giving them hope for an eternal future with God! We have supportive partnerships with Concordia Seminary, the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), the Missouri District of the LCMS, and Saint Louis University! Being so close geographically, these have been and will continue to be a blessing of support and insight, so that together God can grow His church! Currently there are 45 disciples ( 28 members, and 26 associate members) of C2, and Good Start 2 Daycare students: 27!
C2 Future:
Christ In the City (C2/Crave) needs your partnership to make this outreach, connecting with the students and neighborhood, a reality. Your prayer support and gifts of experience and resources, will make all the difference. A partnership with others, like you, will allow God to have a presence here. We estimate it may take a number of years to be self-supporting, but because it’s graduate students and a transient neighborhood to some degree, it may always require a partnership to be healthy. And there’s room for growth: Good Start 2 Day Care students; more small community groups; lectures/seminars; staffing; leaders; musicians; signs; rebuilding the neighborhood; partnering with SLU to care for the inner-city; hospital visitations and volunteer work; etc. The possibilities seem endless....
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