Epiphany Lutheran Church is on Holly Hills Boulevard in south St. Louis, at the corner of Leona near the northwest corner of Carondelet Park. Founded in 1941, the congregation is known for a close partnership with nearby Woerner Elementary School and for Epiphany Hair & Care, which uses a salon inside the church to offer haircuts and hospitality. Its motto is We are family, making home for all, a description of a community centered in Jesus and committed to putting Jesus first, neighbors second, and itself third.
From Woerner's Basement to a Neighborhood Church
Epiphany was planted in September 1941. Pearl Harbor and World War II prevented the congregation from beginning a building project, so for seven years its people worshiped in the basement of Woerner Elementary, the local public school. That early history gave the church's later partnership with the school a foundation reaching back to its beginnings.
In 2015, Epiphany adopted a ministry plan centered less on numerical growth than on depth, relationships, service, and growth in God's Word. Members began building relationships with Woerner's students, families, and staff as reading buddies. Listening to the neighborhood shaped the church's conviction that it was called to remain in one place and serve the people around it.
Epiphany describes the surrounding area as a transitioning urban neighborhood with no church parking lot, crime, a growing refugee and immigrant population nearby, and pockets of wealth and poverty close together. Its response has been a willingness to listen before acting. The resulting vision is a community that gathers to be served by Jesus, grows in love, and lets faith run through service in the neighborhood.
Sunday Worship, Education, and the Fellowship Hall
Epiphany's regular Sunday worship begins at 9:30 a.m. at 4045 Holly Hills Blvd. in St. Louis. Education Hour and Sunday School follow the service, with Sunday School for pre-K through fifth grade meeting from 11:00 a.m. to noon. Groups of all ages also gather for Sunday classes and conversation groups around the church building to deepen faith and develop skills for the church's work.
- The nursery room is available on Sundays for parents.
- Coffee and refreshments are served after worship in the lower-level fellowship hall.
- There is no dress code or standard attire; a suit and tie, a fancy dress, or casual clothing are all welcome.
- The church has no parking lot, but street parking is available. For highly attended events, it requests permission to use the Woerner Elementary parking lot one block north.
During Advent and Lent, Epiphany also worships on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. Pastor Tim Staffeld leads the congregation with a focus on sharing the love and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. Recent sermons can be watched through the church's YouTube channel. Epiphany's Sunday gathering centers on worship, education, and fellowship.
Worship, Service, Relationships, and Stewardship
Four commitments guide Epiphany's mission.
Worship
Worship positions the community around God's promises and Word, his Meal, and his people. It is the congregation's response to God's faithfulness, whether it takes place inside or outside the church walls. Jesus' teaching in John 4 anchors this vision of worship in spirit and truth.
Service
Faith is not a spectator sport but an active adventure that carries the community into service. Rooted in Jesus' command to love one another, service takes tangible form through practical help for neighbors and the church's ministry teams.
Relationships
God places people in relationships with purpose. Epiphany seeks to love and serve as Christ did within families, the congregation, Woerner Elementary, and the wider neighborhood, believing these relationships can serve God's glory and the good of the community.
Stewardship
Everything belongs to God, including people and everything they own. Members see themselves as temporary managers of God's gifts, handling them wisely without worshiping the gifts themselves.
Grace, Scripture, Faith, and Christ
Epiphany is a member of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and centers its life on the Bible's message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Its brief statement of the Christian faith follows four solas associated with Martin Luther and the Reformation.
Grace Alone
God loves people even though they are sinful and rebellious and do not deserve his love. He sent Jesus to save the ungodly, and grace is the unmerited favor given through Jesus' work and life.
Scripture Alone
The Bible is God's inerrant and infallible Word, revealing his Law and Gospel of salvation and creating faith. Epiphany centers its life on speaking, hearing, and responding to that Word.
Faith Alone
By his suffering and death as the substitute for all people, Jesus purchased forgiveness and eternal life. God creates faith through the Holy Spirit, and faith trusts God's promises.
Christ Alone
The Bible's central theme is Jesus, whose life, death, resurrection, and ascension bring people back into a right relationship with God. Christ lives in the community, which lives by faith in him.
Epiphany describes itself as a broken and diverse family made whole under the cross. Its family is multigenerational and multi-ethnic, united by God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Welcoming others into God's house is central to its identity, expressed in the promise to make home for all.
Woerner Elementary: A Partnership Rooted in the Neighborhood
The partnership with Woerner Elementary reaches back more than 80 years, when the congregation met in the school's basement during construction of the church building. Woerner is a neighborhood school with a very diverse population. Many students come from immigrant and refugee families, and others come from families struggling financially. Through its neighborhood school ministry, Epiphany focuses on children, families, and staff in practical ways.
- Epiphany members serve as reading buddies and help build relationships with students, families, and staff.
- An annual August ice cream social welcomes children, families, and staff back to school with ice cream, live music, games, and other activities.
- The church provides space for Woerner Ballet, including a stage for performances and snacks for children, whose families attend the annual performance.
- Teacher appreciation takes the form of a luncheon, cookies, and other treats.
- Community funds, grants, and volunteer hours help the school host a fall festival, STEM night, and field day.
- Cold-weather clothing such as hats, coats, mittens, and scarves is collected for children who arrive without it. Uniforms and other needs identified by the school are also supplied, and funds help families facing severe financial hardship with expenses such as rent and utilities.
Through these efforts, Epiphany brings its worshiping life into direct contact with a school whose families reflect the diversity and changing needs of the surrounding neighborhood. The relationship also supports the church's wider goal of serving locally rather than scattering its attention across many places.
Beauty Turned into Service at Epiphany Hair & Care
Epiphany Hair & Care engages the community through a salon in the church. Haircuts are offered through appointments and regular salon events. Its core values are Listen, Uplift, and Beautify. The idea grew from the observation that stylists can be good listeners and from a desire to reach people who do not fit a traditional haircut setting.
- Free haircuts are offered regularly for Woerner Elementary students and staff.
- The African Hair Braiding program connects the salon with new people, including some associated with Christian Friends of New Americans, which welcomes immigrants into the United States.
- Stylists trained in neurodivergent services give haircuts to people diagnosed with neurodivergence, with modifications made to the salon space.
- The ministry has also been invited to shelters around St. Louis to offer loving care to unhoused people.
The salon offers a free service and fellowship to people in the community while giving local stylists opportunities to serve and earn income. For Epiphany, caring for someone's outward appearance is also a way to help people recognize their worth and see beauty as a part of God's good creation.
Youth Learning, Belonging, and Serving
Epiphany Youth offers monthly dinners and fellowships, lock-ins, social gatherings around St. Louis, and fall and spring book clubs. Weekly confirmation classes for students in grades 5 through 8 meet Sunday mornings after worship. They use Luther's Small Catechism and a three-part formation model of courses, service, and fellowship. Ministry Assistant Ezekiel Potts walks alongside youth, supporting faith formation and helping them recognize Christ at work in daily life.
Service That Reaches Neighbors in Practical Ways
Epiphany offers service opportunities for the whole family, and most require no previous experience. Volunteers are taught and trained as the church organizes help around schools, families, and people experiencing hardship.
- Blessing Bags are assembled as needed, usually on a Sunday after worship, with personal care items and nonperishable food for people in need.
- Epiphany supports food pantries at St. Trinity Lutheran Church and St. Johns Lutheran Church, collecting food at times during the year and helping with donations, assembly, and delivery.
- The Christian Friends of New Americans Christmas party provides a meal, games, and gifts for children in local refugee and immigrant families.
- On Halloween, a public hospitality hut offers trick-or-treaters and families a hand-washing station, first aid, water, lost-and-found help, and a photo backdrop.
- A Sharing Tree collects Christmas gifts for Woerner families identified by the principal as needing help.
- Volunteers may also serve with the youth group, Sunday School, choir, ushers, acolytes, and lector teams.
Other groups extend the church's service: the Lutheran Women's Missionary League supports mission work, Thrivent members use grants to meet community needs, and Willing Hands assists with fellowship refreshments, gift bags, and funeral luncheons. Ushers welcome arrivals, make accommodations for people with special needs or handicaps, assist with offerings and the Lord's Supper, and secure the sanctuary after worship. Acolytes light and extinguish the altar candles, while lectors proclaim the biblical story.
Education, Music, and Shared Ministry
Epiphany supports Lutheran education with tuition assistance for families connected to the church, including kindergarten through eighth grade and Lutheran high schools. Word of Life Lutheran School, Green Park Lutheran School, and Lutheran South High School are among the schools in its Lutheran school network. The church sees schools as a partner in raising another generation of disciples who follow Jesus Christ.
Music has a prominent place in worship. Organist Mark Dunajcik leads the organ at Epiphany, while Choir and Worship Arts Director Lillie Phillips leads choral and sacred music and helps the choir prepare music for worship. The ministry team also includes Ministry Assistant Jacob Morse. Across worship and service, the same people welcome children, teach youth, play music, assist with the altar, and organize practical care for the neighborhood. Financial gifts can be made through Vanco electronic giving, with one-time or recurring gifts by bank account or card.
Epiphany also hosts weddings. Its wedding ministry provides guidelines, pricing information, and a return form for couples preparing to hold a ceremony at the church.
A Faith That Takes Root in the Neighborhood
At Epiphany, the Christian faith is expressed through worship at 9:30 on Sunday, classes and conversation groups, music, youth formation, and service centered on Woerner Elementary. The church's life reaches from its historic beginnings in a school basement to haircuts offered from a salon inside the church and care brought to shelters around St. Louis. Epiphany continues to describe itself in one sentence: We are family, making home for all.