A History of Service and Joyful Presence
Open Minds, Rooted Spirits
Spirit of Peace is a mix of old and new, rooted and seeking. We began meeting and worshipping at Mills Church in 2021, but have been in community together much longer. We are a blended family of ELCA Lutherans and UCC folks who collectively identify as interdenominational.
Expansive Love
Our heart for inclusion and service runs deep and wide. We welcome LGBTQIA+ folks into full participation in our church. In church language, our UCC forebearers received an “Open and Affirming” designation, and those with a Lutheran background received the first “Reconciling In Christ” designation in the West Metro.
We all participated in the creation of ICA Food Shelf. More recently, our intergenerational Planet Care Road Show has brought a beautiful, artistic message of climate stewardship to congregations across the Twin Cities.
Embracing the Journey
Like all communities, we’ve made hard choices. We’ve let go of owning our own church building and aspects of our life together that no longer served our mission. In the aftermath of those hard choices, what remains is our love for each other and our firm faith that God is not finished with us; that we as a community are powerful and faithful. Discerning the work to which God calls us every day is at the center of our life together.
Our history brings us to our life together today: building the community of church, not the institution of church, where God’s love and justice pour out into the world.
You are welcome at Spirit of Peace.
We hope that you join us.
Our Mission:
Holding a healthy respect for tradition with one hand and a joyful, courageous openness to change with the other, Spirit of Peace supports individual spiritual exploration while also listening for God’s movement through our gathered community. As a community rooted in the Christian tradition, we claim Jesus as a primary, but not as our sole teacher. We also honor the wisdom handed down from other faith traditions, from the secular world of science and scholarship, and through our own lived experience. Through our prayer, service, and play, we gather to bring love and reconciliation to a hurting world.
Our Vision:
Spirit of Peace seeks to build a world where questions are honored, and where community builders – whether “religious” or not – have a space to learn and practice the work and art of love. A world where all are welcome and all gifts are affirmed and put to use.