Episcopal City Mission

Our Mission: To provide support, hope and healing to the children in the juvenile justice system.

In 1894, the organization began providing support and comfort to those confined to the St. Louis City public hospitals. In 1954, they organized as the Episcopal City Mission with a focus on troubled young people. Today, ECM continues to provide hope and healing to youth in the juvenile justice system in St. Louis City and County.

Today, Episcopal City Mission provides chaplains for the ongoing spiritual needs of children in St. Louis City and County Juvenile Detention Centers and at Missouri Hills, a Division of Youth Services facility. ECM also facilitates “Hope and Healing” – a community-based program focusing on grief and loss for court-involved children in St. Louis County. Through the generosity of donor churches and volunteers, ECM is also able to provide holiday gifts, monthly birthday parties, hairstyling services, books (including Bibles and Quaran), and various small-but-important items such as games/playing cards, holiday-themed goody bags, and sometimes even essential clothing that serve as reminders that these young people are loved and cared for.

Chaplains help children in detention find hope. They help children recognize and claim their unique gifts. We help children in detention grieve, forgive, and find peace in their troubling circumstances. We pray for and with them. Because they do not ignore or judge these children, they trust them with their gravest fears, deepest regrets, and most fragile hopes. Chaplains offer spiritual food for that part of each child that is starving.

What ECM Provides to Young People in the Juvenile Justice System:

  • A ministry of presence through our chaplains who, combined, serve about 72 hours per week in the juvenile facilities. Eating meals with the youth, spending time with them, playing basketball, letting them know someone cares, and being there for them if they want to talk are at the heart of a chaplain’s service. The chaplains provide a stable and caring relationship of compassion and guidance.
  • Individual spiritual guidance, offering faith-based models for living, including chapel services, bible study, hip-hop faith concerts, etc.
  • The opportunity to have a confidential conversation with an ECM chaplain.
  • Discussion groups covering current topics, i.e., gun violence, sex trafficking, grief/loss, etc.
  • Self-esteem and healthy relationship programs.

At Grace, we are proud to support ECM community through various initiatives. One of these initiatives is our Giving Tree, which provides holiday gifts and small items every December. We also provide volunteers and supplies for a birthday party to bring the children in detention so they know someone cares. Participating in our Giving Tree and supporting our birthday party makes a difference in the lives of the young people in detention.