Welcome! Second Presbyterian is an inclusive, progressive church is St. Louis’ Central West End, dedicated to

serving others & changing lives.

Our congregation welcomes all Christians to full participation and membership regardless of sex, age, race, ethnic background, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, political ideals or worldly condition.

What do Progressive Presbyterians believe?

All Christians share some common beliefs and traditions – rooted in the basic conviction that Jesus is Lord – of our lives and the life of the world. But buried in that core belief are a variety of ways to interpret scripture, and understand the mystery of God. As “Progressive Presbyterians”, Second Presbyterian Church affirms the following ideas:

1. Jesus Christ is both human and divine, but it is his earthly life and teachings that form the pattern for our own living as disciples and those created in the image of God.

2. The Bible is the authoritative witness of God’s redeeming action throughout history – a book of history, poetry, ethics, and moral philosophy. Scripture is true – metaphorically and poetically – but is not always factually true. The Bible is interpreted afresh in each generation through the lens of science, contemporary culture, the arts and human experience. Both the Hebrew scriptures and the writings of the New Testament are authoritative for Presbyterians. The ministry and teachings of Jesus are the lens through which we read all of scripture.

3. For Presbyterians, Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life for us as individuals. But other religious and spiritual traditions are also ways to meet and experience God. It is not our job to decide who is “saved” and who is not.

4. Each person is created in the “image of God” and is given a vocation to be God’s person and sign in the world. Through baptism all of us are blessed and called to be “ministers” – using the gifts of the spirit that God gives us a birth to build up God’s reign of peace, justice, and love on earth.

5. Central doctrines of the Christian tradition are key to Presbyterians, too – as metaphorical constructs to try and explain the power, sovereignty, and mystery of God. Questions, doubts, and dialogue about doctrine is part of the Christian journey:

   • Trinity – God as three persons or manifestations – Creator (or Father); Christ (or Son, and Holy Spirit;

   • Resurrection – spiritual re-creation, both in life and after death;

   • Sin – we all fall short of the image of God planted in our lives, causing alienation and separation from God and from one another;

   • Forgiveness – God’s free gift of love reconciling us to God and each other;

   • Grace – God’s unmerited and unexpected blessing that surprises us and heals us and cherishes us within the shadows and the sunshine of our living.

6. The Church is “the resurrected body of Christ” on earth – the way that Jesus, Risen and Alive, comes again and again and again to renew and redeem the world. When we “join the church” we become a part of a community of sinners and saints who are called to be salt, and light, and yeast in the world – a demonstration of what God intends for all of humanity.