An Affirming Church in West County, St. Louis
Reimagine your faith;
Rediscover community
Dayspring is an inclusive church in St. Louis for Jesus followers seeking authentic worship, genuine community, and a safe space to belong.
Join us on Sundays at 10:30am
Find Depth
Find Community
Find Direction
We all need a safe space to ask hard questions.
Let’s face it: the world is changing fast. As we navigate new experiences and new challenges, we often find ourselves asking new questions about God and our faith that our old default answers aren’t equipped to handle.
Reconstructing your Christian values is really hard. Finding a church that welcomes those tough questions in a new season is even harder.
We’re a steady place for your changing faith
Picture your favorite sweater. For a time, it fit and felt good, right?
I once had a favorite sweater. It was a Christmas sweater that my grandmother hand-painted. I loved it so much that I wore it year-round, as often as the weather (and my parents) would allow.
Picture your favorite sweater. For a time it fit and felt good, right?
But like most clothing, it doesn’t last forever. My sweater was tattered and worn by the time I outgrew it, but I wouldn’t let my parents throw it out. It still meant something to me, even though it didn’t fit like it used to.
For many Christians, our faith is like that sweater. It still means something to us, but the faith we grew up with just isn’t fitting that well anymore. Plus, the check-the-box churches we’ve always known are built like one-size-fits-all solutions, and that doesn’t seem to fit right anymore either.
But we aren’t looking to abandon our faith completely.
We’d love to find a church whose values align with ours. We’d love to be able to talk about the questions we wrestle with, and to reconsider some of the the things we once believed. If we could find a joyful and loving community to do that with? Well—that’d be like a brand new hand-painted Christmas sweater right there.
If this resonates with you at all, you’ve come to the right place. At Dayspring, many of us come with a faith that is tattered and worn, and we help each other find renewal. We’d love to outfit your faith with a church that’s kind, thoughtful, and enables you to go deep with the tough stuff again.
– Andrea Huffman, Pastor
A church that fills your cup, not your schedule.
People simply want to find God in the midst of their mess. We don’t need to over program our schedule to do that.
Here at Dayspring, we believe that God is present in our everyday lives. We value your health, healing, and rest. We are intentional with our schedule, offering (not overloading) weekly moments of community and in-person and online worship to support you in your journey.
My faith didn’t conform to the same box anymore.
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My faith didn’t conform to the same box anymore.
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
No one wants to be indoctrinated; we’d rather just belong. Join a community where you’re free to discuss your doubts, reestablish your faith, and find genuine unity (not uniformity) in Christ.
We want you to experience the expansive love of God
(not just join a church)
Whether by intent or accident, the modern interpretation of church can miss the mark at times. It’s lost some of the wonder that’s accompanied our faith for centuries.
Maybe you’ve been expected to recite perfect answers instead of asking good questions.
Or, maybe you’ve felt pressure to conform instead of express deep conviction.
Or likely, it’s the weight of expectation to fit in versus find belonging.
So, what can you expect at Dayspring?
Since we’re not your average church, it’s natural to wonder what it’s like. So, here are a couple of the highlights.
Sunday Morning Worship
We gather on the weekends for one service that lasts roughly an hour (childcare available). If we had to categorize it, we’d probably define it as “liturgically human”: just the right blend of scripture reading, response, creativity, and worship.
Children and Youth Ministry
Throughout the year, our church is turned into a hangout spot on Sunday evenings for our kids ranging from pre-K to High School. The littles learn about Jesus with other kids their age, between 4 years old and first grade. “Manna” is for elementary grades 2-5, and Youth is for 6th-12th grade students.
Adult Programs
From local meetups for moms, to adult spiritual formation, to outreach and volunteer options, we offer a number of pressure-free opportunities for you to get involved in what’s happening here at Dayspring.
A unique space to deepen your faith
Dayspring is no stranger to change–it’s basically in our DNA. For many years after our inception in 1877, we were known as Delmar Baptist Church. After moving off of Delmar Boulevard, we changed our name to Dayspring Baptist Church.
It’s not often that you find a non-catholic church founded in the 1870s still in operation today. It’s even rarer to find a Baptist church stepping out and leaning into change. This is especially helpful when it’s time to reimagine parts of our faith.
Here’s the beauty of Dayspring. Over the last couple of decades, we’ve intentionally asked some hard questions around sensitive topics like women in leadership and LGBTQ involvement in the church–not because we’re trying to be culturally relevant, but because we firmly believe if Jesus walked the streets of St. Louis today, he’d be doing the very same.
We’re a centuries-old, Jesus-loving church with a rich heritage who’s convinced that everyone’s welcome through our doors. We also believe that God is big enough to let you bring your big, messy questions with you. Let’s figure this faith thing out one step at a time and write the next chapter of Dayspring together.
Leaning into your faith in today’s world is hard.
The good news is you don’t have to go it alone.
Come join us for a weekend service, listen to a recent sermon, or simply reach out if you have a question. We’re big enough to have authentic community, but not so big that you’ll get lost in the shuffle.