(Being big-time into history as I am, this was another fun recent story I did for West Newsmagazine!)
A horse and buggy pass before the church in 1871. (Photo courtesy of Pathfinder Church)
In 1851, St. Louis was the fourth largest city in the U.S. Nearly all of its 77,000 residents, with large populations of German and Irish immigrants, lived just west of the Mississippi River which helped the city serve as a crucial transportation and trading hub.
At that same time, far west from downtown St. Louis, what was then known as St. John Church was in its infancy.
“We’ve been established in this community since 1851,” Pathfinder Church Marketing and Brand Manager Kaitlyn Schmidt said. “We started out as an immigrant community of Saxon Germans who started this church on Ries Road. Our first service with baptisms and service was in June of 1851. We changed from a German community to an English-speaking one and we just kind of stood the test of time. But we’ve also not neglected to change with how we need to serve our West County as we still do today.”
The church’s inception out west was aided by ground being broken on the St. Louis on the Pacific Railroad, the predecessor of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, which aided both connectivity and commerce in the region and helped lead to the church’s growth.
The original Ries Road location subsequently evolved into the modern-day Pathfinder Church at 15800 Manchester Road in Ellisville, with roughly 3,000-members.
The church is celebrating its 175 years of existence by giving back to its community with a 175 Acts of Service endeavor.
“Part of that is having our congregation members serve at the local non-profit partners we work with already,” Schmidt said. “But we’re also really encouraging our members to get a group of family and friends together to serve anything from cleaning up a local park to cooking meals for a neighbor who is injured or can’t leave their home. It’s also anything from mowing someone’s lawn or taking out their trash. There’s no limitations. We’re just encouraging our members to be thoughtful and take the initiative to help in our community to make it better.”
The start date of the initiative was April 6.
“Then we’re going through July 4 and really want to blitz our community with active service in those 90 days,” Schmidt said.
The 175 Acts of Service idea was formulated by its church committees, which include staff and members of the congregation.
“But in addition to our meeting discussions, we also want our community to submit their own areas of requests that we can have our people fulfill,” Schmidt said. “There’s a request form or submission form on our website for that. We have a Serve 175 webpage where we encourage our members to submit their activities like a blogpost.”
Not directly affiliated with the 175th anniversary, the Church’s annual Summer Blast will be held June 15-19. Last year, Pathfinder had around 600 kids on campus for that event. It’s a major event they host that fills up every year.
Pathfinder is also hoping to do another community event this fall to again celebrate its 175 years with the community.
“We are part of the LCMS – the Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod,” Schmidt said. “But we have modern, contemporary services. We are a biblically bound, but culturally relevant church. We are also outwardly focused; always looking to serve the community, and to just serve people as they are and as they enter our doors. A lot of people come in with different degrees and journeys of faith. We like to meet them where they are, and they are welcome here no matter what.”
