About Us
If the Apostle Paul were to send a letter to the Church of St. Louis, to what address would he send it?
Our desire is that the answer would be clear—a place where pastors and ministry leaders across denominations come together to seek God, support one another, and work for the flourishing of St. Louis.
About TogetherSTL
TogetherSTL was born out of a shared vision: a united Church, renewed by Christ, on a shared mission for the flourishing of our city.
"May they experience such perfect unity that the world would know that you sent me." - John 17:23
The journey began in 2022 when Marco van Raalten, a former missionary and pastor serving St. Louis through St. Paul's Evangelical Free Church, and Brandon Wilkes, who moved from Cincinnati with a passion to promote racial healing through the St. Louis Reconciliation Network, aligned their existing collaboratives to answer a simple but profound question:
What can we do together that we can’t do alone?
Since then, other staff, board and key city leaders have joined whose valuable insights have shaped Together STL into what it is today: a place where we believe that when God's people come together, miracles happen; barriers are broken and communities are transformed. Our mission is to cultivate unity among churches, pursuing spiritual renewal and shared mission to love our city by creating spaces where people love God, each other and their community through two complementary initiatives:
Pastoral Collaboratives
Pastor Collaboratives create regular opportunities for pastors to build authentic friendships, pray together, learn from one another, and pursue collaborative mission. Our gatherings are modeled after the Oikos Fellowship, a collaborative of Catholic and Evangelical pastors that began in 2021 and demonstrated the power of relationships across denominational lines.
Focus Teams
Inspired by a first effort in 2019 that brought together prayer leaders to promote prayer, Focus Teams unite expert practitioners in a particular field (housing, immigrants, evangelism, racial unity, etc.) to envision and execute Kingdom solutions to city-wide challenges that no organization can solve alone.
One significant outcome of the Focus Teams has been the creation of SERN (Spiritual Emergency Response Network), a collaborative initiative that mobilizes churches to minister to families impacted by homicide and gun violence throughout the St. Louis region.
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Join the Journey
This website tells the story of what God has been doing through Together STL and provides updates on our Pastor Collaboratives, Focus Teams, and SERN.
We are deeply grateful for the trust and partnership of the St. Louis faith community, the dedication of our staff and board, and the many churches and organizations that have chosen to pursue God's mission together.
Would you join us as we continue this journey of seeing a united Church bring renewal and hope to our city?
Our Team Members
Brandon Wilkes has been married to his high school sweetheart, Dorothy, since 1997 and is the father of 3 outstanding children. Brandon II, Isaiah, and Keilah. He has been in ministry since 2004 and currently co-leads a house church with his wife called Peoples Church St. Louis, which they planted in 2017. Brandon received his BS in Environmental Science from The Ohio State University and spent 8 years working for Procter & Gamble before leaving to serve in ministry. He later earned his MS in Biblical Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity school in 2013. In addition to pastoring, Brandon currently serves as the Executive Director of the St. Louis Reconciliation Network which is an organization that equips churches and their leadership in the area of multi-ethnic ministry. Believing that the church should be leading the charge in racial reconciliation and unity because that is at the heart of the gospel. He also co-leads TogetherSTL with Marco van Raalten with the mission to bring God’s peoples together so that miracles can happen. Starting with St. Louis and going as far as the Lord desires. Last but not least, he is a dedicated OSU Buckeyes football fan and head cheerleader for his children in all their athletic, academic, and life endeavors.
Marco van Raalten left his native country of Holland, Europe at the age of 19 as a missionary, serving city-wide collaborative efforts in Lome, Togo (Africa), Kampen, Holland (Europe), Wichita and Farmington (USA). Marco also spent 13 years as a pastor, serving congregations in Holland and with the Evangelical Free Church of America in the USA . In 2018 he was invited by St. Paul’s Evangelical Church in Creve Coeur, MO to serve as their city missionary to promote unity in the church in St. Louis Metro area. Marco met his wife Kari on the mission field and they have four adopted children: Nathan, Kevin, Clarissa and Grace. In their spare time they love spending time with their family, enjoy nature through hiking and biking and cherish the culturally rich city of St. Louis in its events, activities and ethnic restaurants.
Bethany Wattles and her husband, Mitch, grew up together in Waterloo, IL and are now raising 4 rambunctious boys – Jonah, Bennett, Oliver and Troy. They live in Webster Groves, MO and attend One Family Church. Bethany received her PharmD from University of Kentucky (Go Cats!) and worked as a pediatric clinical pharmacist and health services researcher. After working remotely for a number of years, she felt called to explore local opportunities to promote unity in St. Louis. Bethany has since enjoyed interacting with numerous nonprofit organizations throughout St. Louis and is passionate about the power of collaborative efforts.