St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church stands at 1901 Portland Avenue South in Ventura Village, on Minneapolis's south side, and is known by the phrase 'Healing the Heart of the City.' Founded in 1872, this warm and diverse Lutheran congregation combines traditional roots with contemporary worship, neighborhood home churches, urban mission work and a clear purpose: to know Jesus, grow in Him and share Him with others. Its story runs from a small Seven Corners congregation to a historic church on Portland Avenue, while its present ministry reaches families through education and prayer and sends people into local and global service.
Sunday Worship at 10:30
St. Paul's Sunday worship begins at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary and is conducted in English. The service draws on both traditional hymns and contemporary praise songs. The congregation follows an order of service without using a formal liturgy, and its teaching sermons give practical examples of how to apply the Bible to everyday life. Sermon notes are available in church and through the sermon archive, while complete services are recorded online.
Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month. All who profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior are welcomed to commune with the congregation. The service combines a settled Lutheran identity, practical biblical teaching and both traditional and contemporary music.
The 10:30 service is livestreamed on YouTube. An audio-only option is also available by dialing 612-874-0134 on a Sunday; when prompted for a meeting PIN, pressing # connects the caller to the service. The church recommends placing the phone on speaker mode.
Bible Learning for Every Generation
Sunday education begins at 9:00 a.m., with Adult Education, also called Education Hour for Everyone, meeting in the fellowship hall. This hour before worship provides a setting for Bible learning and connects with St. Paul's broader emphasis on discipleship, prayer and Christian education.
Children's Sunday School meets upstairs from 9:00 to 10:00 for children ages 4 through 14. Classes include age-appropriate Bible activities and discussion, music and art, with breakfast snacks provided. Younger children follow the True Way Kids curriculum, while older children use Answers in Genesis.
Kids Club meets on Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m. for children ages 5 through 12, their older siblings and parents. Its hour includes Bible lessons, songs, memory verses and snacks. The youth ministry also includes summer camp and a five-day club. For adults and others beginning to explore the Bible, Pastor Tom Parrish developed a 21-Day Challenge that introduces foundational Christian beliefs and the faith in Jesus Christ.
From Seven Corners to Portland Avenue
St. Paul's was organized on July 6, 1872, under Rev. O. A. Bergh. The first officers included Bergh as pastor and chairman, B. Aasen as secretary and M. J. Rudd as treasurer, with a full board of trustees and elders. The Ladies' Aid was active from the beginning. In June 1874, the congregation bought its first property at Fourth Street and Fifteenth Avenue South, an area known as Seven Corners, for $2,500. A new church there was dedicated in June 1885.
Norwegian was the language of worship until English services began in 1898, and every service was in English by 1937. The congregation's choir dates to 1890 and continued without interruption; it was formally organized with its own officers in 1899. The debt on the first property was paid in 1902.
In 1925, St. Paul's purchased the property at Fourteenth Avenue and Eighteenth Street for $25,000, and the first service in the new building took place in January 1927. The congregation continued through the Depression with Sunday school, youth groups, Ladies' Aid, mission societies and other volunteer organizations. Weekly messages were broadcast on KTIS during the ministry of Rev. Carroll Satre, and summer tent missions reached unchurched neighbors for several years.
The congregation's third home was the former First Presbyterian Church property at Nineteenth Avenue and Portland Avenue. It was renovated for $215,000 and dedicated on April 26, 1964. The bell in its tower came from Buffalo in 1883 and had once been used to call village meetings together. The historic building now serves as St. Paul's home, sanctuary, classrooms, fellowship space and base for neighborhood ministry.
Two votes about joining the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America took place during 1987 and 1988, after which some members departed. St. Paul's then called Rev. Roland J. Wells Jr. as its fifteenth pastor. Wells developed the House Church structure that remains a defining part of the congregation, drawing on the model of Korean pastor Yongii Cho. Under his leadership, the church ran Summer Advance for neighborhood children, founded the School of Urban Ministry in 1995, later known as MissionShift Institute, and helped launch the Urban Cross-Cultural College Consortium in 2002 with Concordia University, Crown College and Northwestern College. In 2010, St. Paul's moved from the ELCA to Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ. It has also mentored immigrant congregations and leaders and has shared its building over the years with several young and immigrant congregations.
Home Churches Across Minneapolis and Suburbs
The House Church model gives St. Paul's a network of relationships that extends beyond the building on Portland Avenue. Home groups generally bring together six to ten people in someone's home for an hour or two. They encourage conversation around the Word concerning family, children and life in general, while members support one another in prayer and share one another's burdens.
- Central Minneapolis meets on the first and third Mondays at 5:30 p.m.
- St. Paul's Church meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m.
- The Eagan home church meets on the first and third Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.
- The North Suburbs home church meets on the second and fourth Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.
- The Northwest Suburbs home church meets on the second and fourth Thursday evenings.
- The St. Paul area home church meets on the second and fourth Saturdays at 10:00 a.m.
Men's Fellowship gathers on the first and third Saturdays from September through May. Home Church resources include videos and discussion questions for group study, and membership is handled through an application process. For St. Paul's, these smaller gatherings are practical expressions of its belief that newcomers should be welcomed quickly into the life and organization of the congregation.
Prayer and Music at the Center
Music has a continuous place in St. Paul's history. Lois Bodurtha came to the church as organist in 1976 and has served since 1981 as organist, choir director, worship team leader, pianist and vocalist. Her work has focused on helping people use their musical gifts in worship. She also directed Global Worship, an annual concert featuring musicians from across the globe, for 12 years beginning in 2007 and ending in 2018.
Prayer is woven into both gathered worship and the congregation's regular rhythm. At the close of Sunday worship, the elders stand near the chancel to pray with people and anoint them with oil. A Zoom prayer meeting for all begins at 6:00 p.m. on Sundays and is led by Elder John Spaulding; it usually continues for about an hour. Every six weeks, Pastor Parrish leads a Sunday of prayer and fasting, with prayer focused on multiple topics and a light dinner shared afterward. On the first Sunday from April through November, a prayer walk takes place during the 9:00 education hour. Some people walk through the neighborhood while those unable to walk remain at church to pray, and participants distribute information about the church's services.
Healing the Heart of the City
St. Paul's describes Christian education as being at the heart of its ministry, alongside a commitment to support and teach about missions. The congregation is active in local and global mission work, supports missionaries on five continents and includes members who come from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. Its purpose is expressed not only in worship but also in spending time, money and energy outward in service to the community and the world.
The neighborhood emphasis grew out of programs such as Operation Neighbor, begun in 1981 with a full-time neighborhood worker. MissionShift and the Urban Cross-Cultural College Consortium extended that focus into urban ministry, cross-cultural education and leadership development. St. Paul's continuing involvement with immigrant congregations and leaders reflects its long-standing interest in multicultural ministry.
Ongoing neighborhood outreach includes Revive!, which meets Saturdays from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. in the lower-level fellowship hall for food and fellowship with neighbors. Pastor Kim Stephens leads the gathering. Loaves and Fishes also takes place on Saturdays at noon in the parking lot. These neighborhood-oriented activities stand beside the congregation's continuing prayer for the city and its support of mission work around the world.
The Team Behind the Ministry
Rev. Thomas V. Parrish is St. Paul's pastor. He was ordained in 1978 after earning an education degree and teaching high school for two years. His previous ministry included Bethel Lutheran in Dayton, Ohio, Trinity Lutheran in Minnehaha Falls, Vision of Glory Lutheran in Plymouth and Hope Lutheran in Minneapolis. He is the author of three books and a regular guest on KTIS radio. At St. Paul's, he leads the 21-Day Challenge and the recurring prayer and fasting gatherings.
Rev. John Spaulding, Carl Rich and Kenneth Showalter serve as elders. Spaulding leads the Sunday evening prayer gathering, while Carl Rich and his wife, Cheryl Rich, share responsibility for community and children's ministry. The Riches previously spent 22 years with Youth With A Mission in the Philippines before returning in 2011. Their work at St. Paul's includes Bible clubs for children, Mothers of Preschoolers and facilitating the Kairos missions course.
Lois Bodurtha serves as Music Director, and Pastor Kim Stephens leads the Revive! neighborhood outreach gathering. Together these roles support St. Paul's emphasis on biblical teaching, worship, prayer, family relationships and service beyond the congregation.
What St. Paul's Holds
St. Paul's states its beliefs directly and centers them in worship, teaching, prayer and service:
- The Bible is held as the inspired Word of God, without error and dependable in matters of faith and salvation. The church does not select only convenient portions of Scripture but seeks to understand it in its present cultural setting.
- Salvation comes through grace and faith alone, made available to all through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ.
- The congregation worships the Triune God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus is fully human and fully God, and his death brought freedom from sin, death and the devil.
- Prayer includes praise, thanks, repentance, listening and intercession for oneself, the church, the city and the world.
- Confession, repentance and the Good News of forgiveness are central to healing, including physical, emotional, relational and spiritual healing.
- St. Paul's operates as a family, places priority on raising up leaders and offers refuge to lonely and brokenhearted people. Decisions are made through prayer, consensus, respect and reciprocal listening.
- Newcomers, honest seekers and people with questions are welcomed, and Christian education is central to the congregation's call to heal the heart of the city.
Arriving at 1901 Portland Avenue
St. Paul's stands half a block north of the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Portland Avenue. Drivers coming south on Portland should watch for the parking lot on the left just past the church, using the far-left lane by the time they cross Nineteenth Avenue. Most people enter at the southeast corner of the building through the black door beneath a white cross. The church office can be reached at 612-874-0133.
Wheelchair users enter through the southeast corner off the parking lot. An elevator reaches the lower level, and an accessible restroom is on the main floor just off the nursery. The nursery itself is not staffed. St. Paul's own worship is in English, and visitors are invited to wear whatever feels comfortable.
The building also hosts additional congregations, with ICCM Worship at 1:00 p.m. and Family Worship Center at 4:00 p.m. on Sundays. St. Paul's own Sunday gathering remains at 10:30 a.m. For families arranging a funeral, the church provides a funeral guide with practical information about services at St. Paul's.
At 1901 Portland Avenue, St. Paul's remains a congregation organized around worship, teaching, prayer, shared homes and service to the city and world.