PAKT History

In 1965, St. Michael Lutheran Church conducted a study in north St. Louis County by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the Council of Lutheran Churches, and Lutheran congregations surrounding Kinloch. As a result, The PAKT Community Resource Center, formerly known as Parishes Associated on Kinloch Team, was established.

By the time of PAKT's incorporation as a not-for-profit corporation in 1971, it had developed into an agency supported by congregations of various denominations in the north St. Louis area. PAKT's purpose is to conduct programs that address the material, health, educational, cultural enrichment, and recreational needs of individuals and families.

At one point or another during our history, PAKT sponsored a Teen Drop-in Center and Neighborhood Block Partnership, and served as an outpatient location for the St. Louis State Hospital and St. Louis County. Additionally, PAKT operated the nursed managed Community Nursing Center, which hosted Well Baby Clinics, and provided in-home care to the elderly. PAKT also operated a Resale Shop and housed Head Start programs at our facility. Until 1982, the clinic space at the PAKT facility operated as Kinloch Community Health Center staffed by the Daughters of Charity as an independent not-for-profit corporation providing general health care to area residents.

In 1978, structured activities for youth were developed and staffed through the CETA program. Following the two-year CETA contract, PAKT incorporated these activities as a formal component to the agency's offerings that received funding through corporate gifts. In 1993, the program was expanded to include educational, recreational and cultural activities and was renamed the PAKT Youth Resources and Recreation Program. Funding from the Missouri Arts Council and Regional Arts Commission has provided the opportunity to develop the Summer Day Camp Multicultural Day Festivities, Color me Bright fine art classes, and the Circus Skills workshops conducted by the Everyday Circus Foundation.

The most enduring PAKT programs, food pantry services, utility assistance and the annual distribution of Christmas toys, receive funding primarily through the network of Christian Congregations we refer to as PAKT churches.

Since 1986, we have received United Way support for our Core Material Needs programs, (which include those direct services-to-individuals programs mentioned above,) and the Youth Resources and Recreation program. In addition to these funds, support for the youth programs come from the Variety Club of St. Louis, Suburban Journal's Old Newsboy Day, various corporate gifts, and numerous individual supporters.

In 2001, PAKT legally changed its name from Parishes Associated on the Kinloch Team, Inc. to the PAKT Community Resource Center, Inc. The PAKT Board made this decision to reflect the nature of PAKT's service area, which includes the entire North County and surrounding regions.

PAKT relocated to its current home in April of 2006, after TriStar developers purchased its original properties. All operations continue in the west wing of the Ferguson United Methodist Church complex in Ferguson, Missouri.

The PAKT Board of Directors consists of representatives from our supporting congregations, members-at-large, and individuals who are interested in the programs and ministries of PAKT.

PAKT Covenant

Called and gifted by God to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout the communities we serve, we earnestly pledge ourselves to:

1. Worship the one true and living God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

2. Submit to the Holy Scriptures, the infallible Word of God, as the basis for your ministry's message.

3. Proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God's Son and our Redeemer, the one and only Savior of the world.

4. Seek always to serve and minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.

5. Walk humbly before God and our fellow human beings, renouncing arrogance and pride, always esteeming those we serve higher than ourselves.

6. Maintain financial integrity and accountability in all of our activities, so that the course of Christ may not be discredited.

7. Serve the needy and oppressed, remembering the mercy and compassion of Jesus.

Knowing that apart from Jesus Christ we can do nothing, we make these pledges with prayerful reliance on his help. As we do, we ask for the prayer and support of Christ's followers in our communities of service so that God is glorified in ever-increasing measure through the PAKT Ministries.