In 1966, five pastors assembled after a local revival to pray about reaching out to the growing population of derelict and drunken men gathering around the town’s train depot and Main streets. Within days, the group of men gathered $50—enough to rent a small storefront—and established the United Gospel Rescue Mission, a safe haven for broken men. 

Mr. Gus Parrish served as the ministry’s first director, followed by Rev. James Dunn until his retirement in 2006. Pastor Greg Kirk succeeded Rev. Dunn that year and continues to serve as executive director today. 

Today, United Gospel Rescue Mission provides an average 7,000 nights of safe shelter for homeless men, along with its New Life Discipleship Program, a resident recovery program for men seeking to overcome addiction and other life-dominating habits. UGRM also provides more than 60,000 free meals annually along with utility assistance, clothing, household goods, USDA food boxes for the elderly, holiday meals and more for the community of Poplar Bluff, Butler County and beyond.

We believe in the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired by God, and inerrant in the original writings, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life. 2 Peter 1:21