St. Paul’s Church began September 25th, 2011. We began with one pastor, a couple part time staff, and a community of sixty. In other words, we just started and we’re starting small. And that’s OK. Our God has a big vision for our new, little church.
But histories are rarely simple and our history is no exception. St. Paul’s Church is a re-start, a re-plant, a re-do.
We began in 2005 as St. Paul’s Collegiate Church. We began with two founding pastors, Ben Dubow and Vince Gierer. And we grew. We grew from just a handful of people to over two hundred by the spring of 2009.
Then trouble came. Our pastor Ben Dubow left in the summer of 2009 due to clergy misconduct. Our church subsequently went into a tailspin, questioning the very foundations of our church.
Then help came. After much discussion, we brought in a church consulting group (the Malphurs Group) in January 2011. After an intensive six month process, we re-defined what St. Paul’s was all about. We came away from that process with a new mission statement, new core values, and a new vision. We also got a new name. We changed our name from St. Paul’s Collegiate Church to St. Paul’s Church.
Our church decided to keep our namesake St. Paul. Just as God showed amazing grace to Paul (whose past was quite troubling), so God has shown amazing grace to this church (whose past is equally troubling).
God does not give up. He did not give up on Paul. He did not give up on St. Paul’s. He will not give up on you. St. Paul’s Church, like St. Paul the apostle, is a testament to the amazing, transforming grace of our God.