A 140-Year-Old Congregation on Summit Avenue
On a leafy stretch of Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota, a 140-year-old congregation keeps a progressive schedule of worship, education and advocacy. St. Paul's United Church of Christ traces its roots to 1879 and to the German Evangelical tradition, a 16th-century union of Lutheran and Reformed Protestants. In the 1950s, German Reformed congregations like St. Paul's joined a wider merger that formed the United Church of Christ, a denomination that became known for being responsive to questions of public justice and was the first Protestant body in the United States to be fully inclusive of people who identify as LGBTQIA.
St. Paul's describes itself as a progressive, Open and Affirming, Creation Justice congregation. Its mission is "journeying together toward deeper faith, justice, and love for all." The congregation publicly affirms that Black Lives Matter, acknowledges that the church sits on Dakota land, and names Creation Justice as a core identity. The building it shares today - now part of the Summit Avenue corridor the church has called home since 1952 - is wrapped in a series of stained-glass windows by artist Conrad Pickel, designed, created and installed during construction in 1950.
Sunday Worship at 10:30
Sunday worship is the center of life at St. Paul's. The service takes place at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday, both in person and online via a Vimeo livestream and Facebook. Worship runs about an hour and is followed by Friendship Hour, a time when people of all ages gather for food and conversation.
A nursery opens at 10 a.m. for infants and toddlers (through age three), and families are welcome to bring little ones into worship for part or all of the service. About halfway through worship, children ages three through fifth grade are invited forward for a Time with Young Ones, then depart for Chapel Time or Sunday School. Children of any age may also remain in the sanctuary for the full service, and a Children's Worship Space and Comfort Room are available. Newcomers are asked to fill out a welcome card in the pew rack and place it in the offering plate.
Before worship, from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m., the church hosts Words on the Word, a relaxed text study led by Lead Minister Rev. Sarah Brouwer. The group unpacks the scripture passage that will appear in that morning's sermon. No preparation is required; choir members who need to slip out for rehearsal at 9:45 are warmly welcomed.
Music in the Sanctuary
Music is a hallmark of worship at St. Paul's. Director of Music Judith Melander has shaped the program since 2001, after joining as alto soloist for the Sanctuary Choir in 1997. She leads the Sanctuary Choir, sings solos, plays the hammered dulcimer and djembe, and directs the Evensong Ensemble, a chamber group that features folk harp, hammered dulcimer, cello, viola and violin. An active teacher and performer in the Twin Cities, Melander has appeared on stage with the Minnesota Opera and as a featured soloist with the Oratorio Society of Minnesota and the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra.
Organist Parker Barrette came to St. Paul's from St. Olaf College, where he studied organ with Dr. Catherine Rodland and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Music Education. He has played at churches across the metro area and continues to serve as a chapel organist at St. Olaf while student teaching.
The musical life of the church extends into other corners of programming. The Notice Nature Project sits alongside the music ministry as a way of slowing down and paying attention to the natural world - one more expression of the congregation's Creation Justice commitments.
Children, Youth and Families
St. Paul's takes the formation of children seriously. Sunday mornings are structured around a rhythm that keeps families together in worship before sending children to age-appropriate learning. The Children's ministry uses a Godly Play-style approach called Sacred Stories, with beautiful hand-crafted materials that invite children to hear Bible narratives, wonder about them and respond through play and the arts.
Programming is divided by age. Explorers is the nursery for infants and toddlers. Adventurers (age three through kindergarten) and Trailblazers (grades one through four) gather on Sunday mornings for Sacred Stories, while Journeyers, the fifth- through eighth-graders, develop relationships with God and each other through conversation and spiritual practices. On the first Sunday of each month, children ages four through fifth grade gather for Chapel Time, a short lesson in the chapel before returning to the sanctuary for Communion.
The Family Ministry Committee organizes Milestones, a program that marks first steps in faith - prayer, Holy Communion, receiving a Bible, engaging in community outreach - with the support of Faith Companions, adult volunteers from the congregation who walk alongside children through high school. Faith Companions commit to attending an annual Milestone Event, serving as Sunday morning greeters, sitting together in worship and Friendship Hour, acknowledging birthdays, and possibly hosting one shared meal or recreation activity each year.
Youth Ministry and Confirmation
Youth Group at St. Paul's serves students in grades six through twelve with a mix of recreation, service, education and relationship-building. The group frames youth as leaders rather than just participants, inviting their voices and creativity to shape gatherings and events. Friends and visitors are welcome, and the church encourages youth to "come as you are and bring a friend."
Confirmation is a one-year journey for eighth- and ninth-graders exploring questions of community life, UCC history and heritage, God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the church and the Christian's response. The program includes field trips, an ongoing conversation with an adult Faith Companion, and leadership formation; newcomers are welcome.
St. Paul's also offers Our Whole Lives (OWL), a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum developed by the UCC and the Unitarian Universalist Association with secular educators. The church offers age-appropriate versions tailored to grades one and two, five and six, seven through nine, and ten through twelve, most years.
Youth and adult leaders attend middle school and high school events hosted each fall and spring by the Minnesota Conference UCC, and the youth spend a week each summer at the Conference's summer youth camp. Every four years, the National Youth Event brings together UCC and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) young people from across the country for workshops, service projects, immersion trips and fellowship.
Adult Faith Formation and Seniors
Adults find a number of entry points. The Journey of Faith program meets on Wednesday evenings in two six-week sessions each year (January through May and September through December). The evening begins with dinner at 5:45 p.m. ($10), followed by centering time at 6:15 p.m. and the Journey of Faith gathering at 6:30 p.m. The sessions explore questions shaping the church and world through conversation, learning and small-group reflection.
Adult Faith Formation also supports a Senior Luncheon ministry that recognizes the wisdom and lived faith of the church's older members. The gatherings are open to adults of all ages and serve as a way of sharing stories and celebrating the gifts each person brings. St. Paul's Adult Faith Formation offerings weave together scripture, theology and the everyday practice of justice.
Social Justice and Creation Care
Justice work is built into the church's identity rather than treated as an add-on. St. Paul's has identified itself as Open and Affirming and as a Creation Justice church, and the Social Justice Sunday gatherings - like a recent "Why We Keep Marching" worship and potluck sponsored by Social Justice and Outreach - tie Sunday worship to the work of advocacy. A Beyond White Supremacy Task Force and the Earthwise Creation Justice Committee carry this work forward.
St. Paul's draws a clear circle around its ministry with immigrant neighbors. The church has long supported the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) through its annual budget and a special Easter offering. ILCM provides legal services to low-income immigrants and refugees; in a recent year alone, the organization served more than 3,500 cases involving people from 102 countries. The partnership shows up in shared celebrations as well as in shared advocacy.
Each summer, St. Paul's serves as the host site for the School Tools Drive, an effort that joins area faith communities in collecting new backpacks and school supplies for children from families with low-income. Annually, the drive contributes more than $24,000 of supplies to children served through nine programs across Greater Saint Paul.
A small food shelf in the vestibule near the parking lot serves neighbors who stop by regularly. Non-perishable donations can be dropped at the shelf during office hours, Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Acknowledging the Land
St. Paul's has developed a formal Land Acknowledgement shaped by a task force of members. The church acknowledges that it sits on the homelands of the Dakota people, that the United States government acquired the land through unjust treaties and dishonest dealing, and that the Christian church empowered the dispossession of Indigenous peoples through the Doctrine of Discovery and the boarding school system. The acknowledgement commits the congregation to ongoing learning, to following Indigenous leadership, to deepening its financial and other support of Indigenous communities, and to a long walk of "journeying humbly with one another as we wrestle with uncomfortable truths."
Congregational Care and Recovery
Pastoral care at St. Paul's extends from the routine to the most difficult moments of life. Rev. Sarah Brouwer and Rev. Neil Ellingson offer support for mental health concerns, surgery, family crisis and bereavement, along with homebound visits and help planning funeral and memorial services. The ministers also officiate weddings at the church or offsite.
One of the church's quiet gifts to the wider Twin Cities community is the presence of five Alcoholics Anonymous groups meeting on its campus. The groups are independently operated; those interested in times and details can call the church office.
Leadership and Staff
Rev. Sarah Brouwer began her ministry at St. Paul's in January 2021. An ordained Presbyterian Church (USA) minister with dual standing in the United Church of Christ, she previously served as Associate Pastor for Congregational Life at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis and as Associate Pastor for Member Care at Ladue Chapel in St. Louis. A graduate of Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, she is the recipient of the A.E. Hanson Prize in Preaching and is passionate about racial and environmental justice, worship and the arts, and inclusivity.
Rev. Neil Ellingson, the Associate Minister, is an ordained UCC minister who has also served congregations in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and American Baptist traditions, and as a chaplain at a Catholic university. A Minnesota native, he holds a B.A. from Harvard and a Master of Divinity from the University of Chicago Divinity School and is passionate about preaching, pastoral care, prayer, music and economic and disability justice.
Parker Barrette serves as Organist, Judith Melander as Director of Music, Jennifer Harris as Communications Manager, Stewardship & HR (and as the manager of the Summit Avenue Artisan Festival), Cindy McCreary as Transitional Volunteer Coordinator, Libby Shannon as Business Manager, and Matt Wagner as Building Technician. The congregation is governed by a Ministry Board led by Moderator Mike Hotz, with committees covering Belonging and Community, Social Justice and Partnerships, Earthwise Creation Justice, Spiritual Life, Children, Youth and Family Ministries, Adult Faith Formation, Building and Grounds, Stewardship and more.
Belonging, Membership and Giving
The Belonging and Community ministry oversees much of what makes Sunday morning feel like home: the Friendship Hour gatherings, Jubilee Sunday at the start of the program year, Pride Sunday worship and picnic, and a host of intergenerational events. New members are received regularly, and a Breeze directory and online account creation option make it easy to plug in.
St. Paul's supports its work through several giving channels. Online giving is available through Breeze, contributions can be mailed to the church office, and gifts can be texted to (651) 571-9343. Beyond annual pledges, the church welcomes stock and securities gifts, IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions, donor-advised fund gifts, and legacy or planned gifts through wills, retirement accounts, life insurance, bank or brokerage accounts, revocable living trusts and annuities. The SPUCC Legacy Society honors those who have remembered the church in their estate plans, and a free will-creation service is offered through the Pension Boards of the UCC.
Members also give in other ways. A Shared Ministries Inventory Form helps match talents and interests to where they are needed, and volunteers are welcome at events, services and behind the scenes. Inquiries about weddings, funerals, facility rental, space rental or other uses of the building can be directed to the church office.
The Shape of the Week
A typical week at St. Paul's begins with Sunday morning text study at 9:15 a.m., worship at 10:30 a.m., and Friendship Hour following. Wednesday evenings bring Journey of Faith during the program's two annual sessions, with Committee Nights the first Wednesday of each month. The Women's Group gathers on Mondays roughly every other week, and the Sanctuary Choir rehearses before and after services. Adult Formation offerings, Senior Luncheons and recovery groups round out the calendar.
Through every one of these gatherings - Sunday worship, midweek learning, justice work, recovery meetings, summer camps, food drives and the care that flows between members and neighbors - the congregation returns to the same promise it has made for more than a century and forty years: to journey together toward deeper faith, justice, and love for all.