Who We Are
About WGCC
Webster Groves Christian Church is an Open and Affirming Congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). We are an active congregation, sharing worship, mission, and community life, as we seek to follow the teachings of Jesus and sacrificially serve the most marginalized in our community and beyond. All are welcome and encouraged to participate in the life and ministry of our congregation. We invite you to join us for Sunday morning worship, or to contact us about participating in some of our many congregational and service opportunities. We look forward to meeting you!
Our Staff
About Rev. Dr. Jeff Moore
Email Jeff: jeffmoore@wgcc.org
An ordained United Church of Christ Minister with partner status in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Jeff has been pastor of Webster Groves Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) since March of 2008. Jeff has a Bachelor of Science in Outdoor Leadership from Aurora University, Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Eden Theological Seminary, and a PhD in Biblical Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. His Doctor of Ministry work focused on the question of “Christian Connectedness,” and explored this from biblical and liberation standpoints in conversation with the poetry of Guatemalan poet and theologian, Julia Esquivel. Jeff’s PhD dissertation focused on Theological Education in the Lesotho Evangelical Church as it relates to the church’s vision and commitment to “abundant life” (John 10:10), and presents a descriptive study following a three-year program of ethnographic and theological research in Lesotho, southern Africa.
Jeff has served UCC congregations in Mascoutah, Illinois, Darmstadt and Biddleborn, Illinois, and Pana and Dollville, Illinois. He has served as Director of Outdoor Ministries in the Rocky Mountain Conference, UCC, and from 2003-2007 served, along with his spouse, Susan, as a Common Global Ministries Missionary in Lesotho. While in Lesotho Jeff taught ministry and biblical studies at Morija Theological Seminary and the National University of Lesotho; served as the HIV and AIDS Coordinator for the Lesotho Evangelical Church; and served as Interim Pastor for Maseru United Church – an international, nondenominational congregation. Upon his return to the United States, Jeff lived and taught on campus at Eden Theological Seminary, where he was Missionary in Residence during the 2007-2008 academic year. Jeff has continued to teach Biblical Studies and Ministry Studies courses (courses on various New Testament books, Greek Grammar and Exegesis, Biblical Hermeneutics, Contextual Biblical Interpretation, Congregational Leadership, Research Methods, etc.) as an adjunct to the Eden faculty, and teaches Biblical Studies and Theology courses as an adjunct to the Saint Louis University faculty.
His research interests include the book of Revelation, International Contextual Biblical Interpretation, and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Jeff has taught and presented in these areas in over a dozen countries on five continents.
In addition to his pastorate at Webster Groves Christian Church, Jeff served as part-time Interim Minister at Memorial Boulevard Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) from March of 2020 to June of 2022, and serves as Chaplain for Doorways, a housing and healthcare agency for people living with HIV & AIDS.
He enjoys reading, the outdoors, and riding his motorcycles whenever he can.
As of June 2023, Jeff and Susan have been married for 34 years. They have three adult children – Abigail, Daniel, and Khotso.
About Steve Staicoff
Email Steve: admin@wgcc.org
Steve is from St. Louis, MO, and comes to us with over 20 years of nonprofit accounting experience. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and had previously served WGCC as a Student Intern in 1997, and as Associate/Youth Minister from 1999-2003. He is also currently serving on the Budget and Bridgeton Fund Teams of the Mid-America Region of the Disciples. When he is not working at the church, Steve teaches private music lessons out of his Kirkwood home, and enjoys riding his motorcycle.
About Lisa Cripe
Lisa Cripe has served as Organist at Webster Groves CC since 2013. She was previously Director of Music at Hillcrest CC/Crossroads CC near Belleville, IL for 20 years, and has served various Indiana Disciples congregations as organist, children’s choir director, handbell director, and Minister of Music. In addition to her church work, Lisa is an Instructional Aide at Carriel Jr. High in O’Fallon, IL, has worked many years as choral accompanist for Jr. and Sr. high schools, and maintains a small piano and Musikgarten studio.
Lisa received degrees of Bachelor of Music (Keyboard Area Performance) from DePauw University, MA in Church Music from Christian Theological Seminary, continued organ studies with Dr. Douglas Reed at University of Evansville, IN, and is a Certified and Licensed Musikgarten Early Childhood Music and Movement Instructor. She is a member of the Association of Disciple Musicians, American Guild of Organists, Choristers Guild, Metro East Community Chorale, Masterworks Chorale, and the Masterworks Children’s Choirs Summer Youth Choral Experience faculty. Lisa was Hymnal Project Assistant for The Chalice Hymnal, and served as one of the music copy editors for Chalice Praise.
Jeff Moore
Pastor
Steve Staicoff
Office Administrator
Robin Woodrome
Choir Director
Lisa Cripe
Organist
Our Leadership
Keiler Swartz (Chair)
Max Ott (Finance)
Sally Smith (Secretary)
John Pahl (Mission)
Deb Trautman
Donna Wood
Sara Webb
Mike Moran
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
We are a movement of more than 3,000 congregations in the United States and Canada, committed to sharing the limitless love of God throughout the world. We worship in over 17 languages, in a variety of styles and settings. We are related to 15 colleges and universities and 7 seminaries and divinity houses where new leaders are nurtured. Our 31 regions, 14 general ministries, and ministry partners throughout the world make it possible for us to love and serve our neighbors from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth.
An Open & Affirming Congregation
Beyond celebrating the diversity of God’s creation, we affirm that everyone is a child of God, worthy of love and grace, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, creed, class, age, gender, marital status, family configuration, physical or mental ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
All who seek to follow Jesus are invited to join in our common life and mission through participation and leadership in this congregation, and by fully sharing in the worship, rites, and sacraments of this church.
Global Mission
Webster Groves Christian Church is committed to following the teachings of Jesus, and sacrificially serving the most marginalized.
Our History
On Christmas Eve, 1894, 15 people meeting in a home at Tuxedo and Bompart near Webster Groves, Missouri laid the spiritual foundation for a new church. That church would change names – from Tuxedo Park Christian Church to Webster Groves Christian Church in 1925 – and it would change locations – moving to its current location in 1954.
Over the more than one hundred year history of the church, congregation sizes have fluctuated, and worship styles have varied. But Webster Groves Christian Church always has been guided by its essentials of faith and by a quest for unity of all Christians. Our members are the current keepers of that tradition.
This is but a snapshot of a few moments on a long journey.