We are a beloved community, committed to living out God's call to love, justice, and liberation.
Saint John's United Church of Christ Statement of Mission
As a Black-led, radically inclusive, and diverse congregation deeply rooted in North St. Louis - Saint John’s UCC is a home for connection, and spiritual growth.
Together, we are dedicated to Christ’s calling to:
Faith Formation: Nurture fellowship, and faith for spiritual health and Christian education
Community & Congregational Care: Catalyze healing, wholeness, and growth;
Partnerships: Intersectional justice and global solidarity, working to end oppression and promote peace;
Sacred Space: Cultivate to transform the material conditions of those most impacted by injustice.
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
Elder DeMarco Davidson – Moderator
Minister Duana Russell Thomas
Elder Brian Nikodym
The consistory governs the Executive Staff. Consistory members advise or cast vision for Faith Formation & Sacred Space.
trustees
Bro. Chad Schubert
Bro. Kelcy Siddall
The trustees are primary stewards of Sacred Space, maintaining administrative oversight of material assets.
ORDAINED OFFICERS
Our clergy and diaconate lead ministries to the Congregation and Community.
Reverend David Gerth- Faith Formation
Deacon Kristian Blackmon - Partnerships & Outreach
Deacon Thomas Payton – Partnerships & Outreach
Deacon Vicki Swyers – Care
Deacon Heidi Payton – Care
ST. JOHN’S EVANGELICAL CEMETERY ASSOCIATION BOARD MEMBERS
Heather Hollingsworth, President
Shelia Pargo
Justin Morgan
Thomas W. Payton
Heidi Payton
Dr. Jeremy T. Snipes
Vicki Swyers
Get in touch with our Cemetery Board
Office: 314-867-4981 / Email: sjeccemassoc@gmail.com
Our Senior Pastor: Reverend Michelle Higgins
Reverend Michelle Higgins 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.
Reverend Michelle promotes public justice actions and leads training events that connect Christian and multi-faith communities to progressive liberation movements.
Pastor Michelle has organized multiple bailout campaigns with national and local groups seeking to address the criminalization of poverty. Rev. Higgins supports the work of organizations working nationally to ground local contexts in the Black queer feminist politic. Rev. Higgins actively promotes the pursuit of social justice as a gospel imperative.
Our Statement of faith
We are rooted in belief on the triune God: the Eternal Holy Spirit, 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, oppression, and harm.
God judges systems 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 in the fullness of the human condition, 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 dedicated 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.
