A liberal church with young adults?? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: neighborhood, child care, park)

[katesworld]

Hello! We are a married mid-20's couple in St. Paul, and have been on a search for a suitable church for our needs, but have been very unsuccessful in finding what we are looking for! It seems like most of the churches around here are either very theologically conservative OR they don't have any sort of community for young adults. We've narrowed down what we're looking for to four major criteria:

In order of decreasing importance:
1. Liberal theology (i.e. the Bible is not the end-all-be-all of religion, a sense of pluralism, a reconciling community where people of all sexaulities are welcome, etc.)
2. A group of young adults... it doesn't have to be a church where MOST of the members are young adults, but at least one where there's a small community of people who do stuff together
3. Contemporary music - not a huge fan of hymns and choirs, although some of that is okay
4. Meets on Sunday evenings

Anyone know of such a place in the twin cities?

[Thinner_Me]

Your list immediately makes me think of Upper Room Community Church, though they meet in Edina which is probably too far from your St. Paul community. If you would like to check it out, they meet at Christ Presbyterian Church (Hwy. 100 and W. 70th Street) with 2 Sunday evening services -- one at 5:00 (the only one with child care and children's church) and another at 7:00.

[excelsiorgal]

The Unitarian/Universalist churches tend to be very liberal. I used to attend the one in St. Paul on Holly Ave. and really liked it. I don't know if they have Sunday evening services. I think the latest is at 4:30 -- they also have a Wed. evening service. It is definitely worth a look.

Unity Church-Unitarian

There is also a larger Universalist church in Minneapolis.

First Universalist Church of Minneapolis

I have heard good things about it, but have no personal experience with it.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by excelsiorgal

The Unitarian/Universalist churches tend to be very liberal. I used to attend the one in St. Paul on Holly Ave. and really liked it. I don't know if they have Sunday evening services. I think the latest is at 4:30 -- they also have a Wed. evening service. It is definitely worth a look.

Unity Church-Unitarian

There is also a larger Universalist church in Minneapolis.

First Universalist Church of Minneapolis

I have heard good things about it, but have no personal experience with it.

Hey! You took the words right out of my mouth. Almost literally.

I don't know much about either one, to be honest, but I've talked to a few folks from the first church and they seem to be quite open-minded about a fair number of issues.

[blessingbeing26]

you could try the "House of Mercy" sessions held on Exchange st. or, for a different vibe altogether, you might want to go to Mpls. on Upton ave in the Linden Hills neighborhood (I think its called the Lake Harriet Spiritual Center) for a very progressive, open minded bunch! Hope this helps you!

[wil45]

Joan of Arc in S. Mpls

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by wil45

Joan of Arc in S. Mpls

I was going to suggest the same church. Also, St Cecelia's in St Paul is sort of a smaller version of St Joan's

[homi0501]

Originally Posted by katesworld

Hello! We are a married mid-20's couple in St. Paul, and have been on a search for a suitable church for our needs, but have been very unsuccessful in finding what we are looking for! It seems like most of the churches around here are either very theologically conservative OR they don't have any sort of community for young adults. We've narrowed down what we're looking for to four major criteria:

In order of decreasing importance:
1. Liberal theology (i.e. the Bible is not the end-all-be-all of religion, a sense of pluralism, a reconciling community where people of all sexaulities are welcome, etc.)
2. A group of young adults... it doesn't have to be a church where MOST of the members are young adults, but at least one where there's a small community of people who do stuff together
3. Contemporary music - not a huge fan of hymns and choirs, although some of that is okay
4. Meets on Sunday evenings

Anyone know of such a place in the twin cities?

Yes, you might try Woodland Hills Church at Larpentuer and White Bear Ave. in St. Paul or Eagle Brook Church just north of White Bear Lake at NE corner of Buffalo St. and Hwy 61. You also could check for Eagle Brook Church in Spring Lake Park.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

I was going to suggest the same church. Also, St Cecelia's in St Paul is sort of a smaller version of St Joan's

We used to be members of St. Cecelia's many years ago. It is still my favorite parish. I am sure things have changed quite a bit but we liked it a lot back then.

[Susan Strebig]

Originally Posted by katesworld

Hello! We are a married mid-20's couple in St. Paul, and have been on a search for a suitable church for our needs, but have been very unsuccessful in finding what we are looking for! It seems like most of the churches around here are either very theologically conservative OR they don't have any sort of community for young adults. We've narrowed down what we're looking for to four major criteria:

In order of decreasing importance:
1. Liberal theology (i.e. the Bible is not the end-all-be-all of religion, a sense of pluralism, a reconciling community where people of all sexaulities are welcome, etc.)
2. A group of young adults... it doesn't have to be a church where MOST of the members are young adults, but at least one where there's a small community of people who do stuff together
3. Contemporary music - not a huge fan of hymns and choirs, although some of that is okay
4. Meets on Sunday evenings

Anyone know of such a place in the twin cities?

This does not meet your criteria of evening worship, but fits all the rest. Cherokee Park United Church. Check out their website at cherokeeparkunited.org
It has adopted the Eight Points of Progressive Christianity so can officially and openly commit to equality of all. It is located close to the high bridge. Worship is at 10:15 Sunday mornings, but there is some type of service involvement going on just about every day. We just joined there last fall and since it's a small congregation we know half of the group by name already, and vice versa. A nice mix of ages. And comfortable for all including the more introvert personality.