Welcome to San Antonio
San Antonio captures the spirit of Texas. Now the eighth largest city in the United States, the city has retained its sense of history and tradition, while carefully blending in cosmopolitan progress. The city has always been a crossroads and a meeting place. Sounds and flavors of Native Americans, Old Mexico, Germans, the Wild West, African-Americans and the Deep South mingle and merge. Close to eight million visitors a year delight in the discovery of San Antonio's charms.
San Antonio, the River City, is the gateway to Mexico. Situated just at the base of the Texas Hill Country, the San Antonio Metro area spans an area of 387 square miles and is home to over 1.6 million people in over 20 different communities.
San Antonio has about a 50% chance of the sunshine during the winter months and more than a 70% chance during the summer months. Skies are clear to partly cloudy more than 60% of the time and cloudy less than 40% of the time. Average temperatures range from 50o in January to the mid 90s in July and August. While the summer is hot, with daily temperatures above 90o over 80% of the time, extremely high temperatures (100o and over) are rare. Mild weather prevails during the winter months, with temperatures below freezing occurring on an average of about 20 days per year.
Relative humidity is above 80% during the early morning hours most of the year, dropping to near 50% in the late afternoon. The normal annual rainfall is about 28 inches, with the heaviest amounts occurring during May and September. Measurable snow falls only once every three or four years.
San Antonio is home of the three-time World Champion San Antonio Spurs. Along with the possibility of taking in a game residents and visitors can enjoy a variety of recreational activities. One might chose to visit Six Flags Fiesta Texas or Sea World of Texas both about 45 minutes from downtown San Antonio and accessible via bus for the mere price of $2.00 per person each way.
San Antonio is also the only major Metropolitan City in the US where Latin Americans makeup a majority of the population. San Antonio is 65% Hispanic, most of which are of Mexican descent. Other ethnic groups that settled in San Antonio include Irish, French and a very large number of German immigrants. The influence of every one of these groups is evident throughout metro San Antonio and the surrounding communities.
San Antonio is a great place to visit and even a greater place to live in. This although does not come without drawbacks. San Antonio has a homeless population of over 23,000. The average wage for many residents is $8 per hour. There are three major areas of social concern in San Antonio: homelessness, teenage pregnancy, and a lack of affordable housing. We seek to aid in these areas by working with approximately 20 helping agencies.
The purpose of DOOR is to challenge individuals to consider ministry and service an essential, daily part of living out their authentic Christian faith. By meeting, learning from, and working with diverse urban people, participants give and receive the love God has for each person. Through these relationships they will explore together how to be faithful to Christ's call to be salt and light in today's turbulent world. DOOR seeks to provide ministry opportunities that will be both helpful to local people and lead to a deepened understanding of faith and ministry. Participants will explore the strengths as well as the needs of urban people and communities and will participate in various approaches to ministry in the city. While in San Antonio, it is our hope that participants will gain a new awareness of the city and its people, a new sense of God's presence in the city and a new desire to be actively involved in ministry and service. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on their experiences and explore new ways in which new insights gained can be applied to their situation at home and in future ministry. In this way, DOOR seeks to motivate the church to be actively involved in bringing to reality the Kingdom to the world.