Our Mission
We believe God is actively engaged in our world redeeming, restoring, and renewing all things.
RiverTree exists to join in God’s mission by…
GROWING a Loving church Family…
Of DIVERSE people..,.
On MISSION with Jesus
Who FOLLOW him wherever he leads.
- A family relies on relationships that bind everything together. Relationships take priority above programs.
- People at all different backgrounds and places on their faith journeys will find belonging and space to explore Jesus, His Gospel, and their participation in His mission.
- We exist not for ourselves but for God’s mission.
- We aspire to emulate Jesus’ ministry. His death serves as a model and message of the Gospel – salvation by grace to all people.
Our Goal
To be a church family that lives our our mission together through…
authentically loving God
graciously loving ourselves
and tangibly loving our neighbors
Our Priorities
#1: God’s Grand Story
We have been caught up in God’s grand story of creative redemption. The Bible reveals an active, interested God who cares for His creation, loves His creatures, and would do anything for them. In fact, He has. His story is the story of an all-powerful God reaching out to bumbling humans with radical generosity, loving them in their mess, saving them from their mess, and welcoming them into abundant life. The hero of the story is Jesus, who fully embodied this radical love by becoming human and giving away his life for the weak and the lost. Our personal stories have been caught up as characters in this grand story of redemption. Come join Him.
#2: Gospel-Impact in our City
God’s story is good news (“Gospel”) for our city. The good news is that God is deeply interested in the businesses, social structures, service organizations, government and educational institutions of our beloved city. His interest, and ours, is to see these institutions and structures aligned with the truly good ways of God’s kingdom, which is to say, for them to flourish and thrive for the general welfare of the people they serve. We expect to see transformation of these important social pillars by God’s grace and because of His Gospel.
#3 Welcoming People Into Community
One of the things we love about Jesus (and the thing that got him in trouble with the religious leaders) is his way of radically welcoming the marginalized, the outcast and the sinner. The religious leaders grumbled at Jesus because he went to meals with people they viewed as societal scum. Of course, the message Jesus was sending was that God does not see societal scum, only children, some of whom are far from Him and need rescuing. At RiverTree, we hope to provide a radical welcome to sinners, anyone and everyone who desires to connect to a loving church family on mission with Jesus.
#4: Awakening Potential and Sending People Out
We think one of the greatest gifts we can give to someone is to wake them up to what is good and true about themselves, God and the world. People today are sleepwalking through life, unaware and apathetic to the grandeur of God’s unfolding story and their potential to experience and impact eternity. We at RiverTree desire to wake people up to the abundant life that is available to regular people and to inspire them to take their place in God’s story of redemption in their families, neighborhoods, workplaces, city and around the world.
#5: Children (and families)
Children played an obviously vital role in Jesus’ ministry. He prioritized them by welcoming them to his side, caring for them, and pointing to them as ones to be emulated. Simply said, children hold a special place in God’s kingdom. And they do at RiverTree, too. Not only are we committed to providing quality programming for children, we are committed to seeing children as ones to be emulated, which means we welcome their insight and inspiration in following Jesus. Children are an important part of RiverTree.
Our Values
Relationships
We’ll recognize inconvenience as a sign of loving relationships. Inconvenience shows that we are pursuing deep relationships with people and attempting to truly love them.
Participation
We’ll recognize failure as a sign of faithful participation in God’s mission. Failure shows that we are attempting great things for God without the guarantee of success.
Generosity
We’ll recognize sacrifice as a sign of radical generosity. God is radically generous to people, shown in particular in the life and death of Jesus. Sacrifice models Jesus’ whole approach to life and relationships; he sacrificed himself for the sake of others and we are called to sacrifice ourselves to bless others.
Social Engagement
We’ll recognize discomfort as a sign of social engagement. We’ll celebrate stepping out of our comfort zones to meet people where they are, and to take on issues that are important to God and significant to the transformation of society.
Diversity
We’ll recognize healthy disagreement as a sign of diversity. Disagreement in a group reveals that the group is made up of different people with a variety of perspectives. We don’t value “groupthink”.
Curiosity
We’ll recognize questioning as a sign of honest curiosity. Questions drive us toward greater understanding of the mystery that is God and His mission; we will never stop asking great questions about this compelling mystery.
Our Pastors
Jesse Kisman– Lead Pastor
My background is a grab bag of consulting, government work, and teaching. Through all of that, the best lesson I learned was that people desperately need community. So that is my passion—trying to foster a church environment where people feel safe to question, safe to learn, and safe to simply be themselves. To me, church is a family of people choosing to live life together daily. The church is not an institution, it is people loving each other and their community.
Lauren Fink– Worship Director
I’m an only child, born and raised in St. Louis. I graduated from Missouri Baptist University majoring in Ministry and Leadership with minors in Worship Leadership and Music. Church has always been a part of my life. Upon hearing a lesson in a Sunday school class in the 2nd grade, I knew that I wanted to follow Jesus for the rest of my life. I truly pray that others can grow in God’s Word, and glorify and worship Him in every area of life.
Anna Fallon
– Family & Student Director
– Family & Student Director I’m a homeschooling mom of 4, working on my master’s degree. While my family is my first ministry, I have a passion for helping people take a first or next step on their faith journey. I am a huge advocate of family life because I think that marriage & parenting reflect God’s character. I believe that the family unit is originally purposed to provide a safe place where children can experience God’s love & learn how to love others. It’s my joy to champion the families through ministry to children & teens, by coming alongside parents, and helping to strengthen marriages.
Meowpatine– Director of Kitten Snuggles Meowpatine loves cheek scratches and nose boops. He is always willing to help out and supervise, no matter the task. He has an incredible knack for being right behind you, he might be behind you right now! In short, he is the bestest boi!
