Amazing community when you join a small group. Interesting and biblical and relevant sermons.read more

Hope Community Church exists to "honor God by helping as many people as possible become fully…read moredevoted followers of Jesus Christ." While I am not a member of this church, I have visited 4 or 5 times over the past year, and each time, I have come away with the following views of this community: 1) They're all about the person, Jesus Christ. He lived and He died and He rose again - for all of us. 2) They're going to love on you. People are genuinely welcoming, and not in a superficial way. 3) The teaching is powerful, intellectually challenging, and thoroughly Bible-centric. If you want to dig in further on their theological views, check out http://hopecc.com/about-us/mission-vision/. 4) You're going to be called to serve God there. They have countless opportunities to serve the city, serve the church, and serve globally. The church is located in downtown Minneapolis, so get ready to dig in to serve our city. http://hopecc.com/serve/ 5) Hope CC takes music seriously: "it as it is the duty of the Worship Team to follow the model of God's creational artistic example by striving to create accessible, authentic, (and sometimes provocative!) musical art." Their worship centers around hymns composed/arranged within modern/contemporary music styles. They're recording a worship album now. I cannot recommend this church highly enough. Check it out.

Spirit Garage is a comfortable place that values individuals and independent thought. As someone…read morethat wandered away from organized religion after high school (for the same reasons, many people reject faith entirely), I found myself longing for an authentic church community. I've met a great group of people not only studying and questioning religious doctrine through today's lens but also living their beliefs in earnest, as imperfect humans striving towards peace, justice, compassion, and understanding, and although on the fringe, still worthy of God's grace. Pastor Holly is very cool. She begins each service with a centering poem and stresses that "all means all" not only in word but in practice. There are now five different bands, so each week is a different experience with many types of music for you to enjoy from rock to folk and more, including one group that has a clogger! There are local coffee and snacks as well as an art table, and participation is optional depending on one's personal comfort level. Although the format is similar to regular church service, it takes place at the Hook and Ladder Theatre, is stripped down, casual, and "church" just really doesn't cut it. I've also enjoyed events outside of a typical church format, from sharing a meal or taking part in several book discussions. We've read about other religions, dissected "scary church words," even reading secular works that also have significance and talk about how our personal experiences shape our viewpoint. Coming up, we are reading "Red State Christians" by a local author, and I can't wait to continue on this journey with new friends.

So . . . I pretty much give all churches I visit a five because i am not sure one can really give a…read moregood review after one visit. I was visiting MN to officiate a wedding and being away from my own congregation I always try to visit somewhere else. Remember that this was one person's - a pastor no less - perspective and if you are looking for a church, you must give it more than one or two visits. Spirit Garage was a good overall experience and if i were looking for a community it would warrant a return trip or two. The things I enjoyed - The band was solid. Most bands do not pull off doing secular songs very well, but they were solid; - Leadership was diverse in terms of male/female; - Pastor was talking to this community; - Casual feel - Multigenerational - Easy parking - Theologically grounded Stuff that didn't jive with me - Where are all the brown people? I understand this is MN and might be why I would not move here, but there were only three non-White folks in the space of 70-80 people. - Hard to create talk back in a theater style setting. Everyone is facing forward so are not looking at each other. Again, one visit so check it out for yourself.

This was my home church since Artisan began until moving out of state. Loved it so much. The entire…read morepastoral staff is amazing and does a great job of not only teaching and running a great service, but also facilitating opportunities to get to know each other as a church community. Lots of great people, and the worship team is awesome too ;)

This is the best church around. Am I biased...well yes. The atmosphere is welcoming and casual, but…read morethere is no denying the passion for making the world a better place. I would never leave my Valley family. They are everything to me.

My wife and I were looking for a church 3 years ago. We weren't perhaps the avid church-going type…read morebut wanted to strengthen our tie to community and join a church that was mission-oriented. There are so many organizations and people to help locally that need more than just dollars thrown at them. Being part of a church is a chance to engage in fellowship and to worship God, but it should also be an opportunity to make a difference in your local and global community. Valley does this. That's what drew us here, and that's why we're engaged members of a church of community superstars. They are so welcoming to visitors, guests and new members - you will be as involved as you want to be! Please, if you're at all curious about what it means to be part of a church that is mission-minded and progressive, try us out. Give us a visit. Chances are, you'll feel great about making a return trip.

Incredible church with caring pastors and volunteers. Parking is easy and they hold the door open…read morefor you.

Coming from a church that I had called home for 15 years, I am beyond grateful for this church. The…read morepastors are Biblically sound and I relate to the content that is preached. Having a background in Seminary from Bethel myself, I feel that this is truly the church home I have always needed. Growing up in the word of faith/prosperity preaching generation, there had been many times that I felt "not enough". Once I was freed from this type of doctrine, my relationship with God grew stronger than I ever could have imagined. Eagle Brook helped me realize I am enough because I am exactly where God called me to be.

This church is Very Very Very friendly. The services are easy to understand and they are not out to…read moreget your money. They sings 3-4 songs before the services which is great and they have many tvs up for you to see scriptures. They are a very welcoming group of people

We have been members of this church for 10 years. We love our church. Love the people. Staff. It's…read morea great place to be on a Sunday morning.

Welcoming, I love that music. It has what brings me back. I learn from the lesson, but the music…read moreis my draw!

This is my church. I've been going here for a couple of years now. We share the church building…read morewith two other congregations - one United Church of Christ (UCC) and the other Disciples of Christ. We trade around sanctuaries every few weeks. After going to a great UCC church in Somerville Massachusetts (shout out to First Church!) it was important to me to find a church that was (a) radically welcoming and (b) acting in a Christian community that was bigger and broader than just other ELCA Lutheran churches nearby. The church is radically welcoming. There is a strong legacy of being tuned into GLBT issues. Our previous minister (who moved on to be lead pastor of a University Church) was selected as our minister even though, at the time, it was not permitted by our denomination (ELCA) because she was lesbian and refused to abide by the church's then-current policy on human sexuality. This congregation helped push the ELCA, which is now, if not welcoming to the queer community, is at least openly confused about what to do with GLBT issues. (Our new minister, by the way, is also great. I swear she could give a great sermon in her sleep.) The membership is of kind of two generations. There are a lot of older folks, who disproportionately attend the early service at 8:30. Do not be fooled by their age and curly old lady hair - these are awesome people who stuck with the church through some really tough spots. They are engaged, open minded, and deeply loving. There are also younger folks who were attracted by the church's radically welcoming message. You'll see more of them if you come to the second service at 10:30. The generations mingle during adult ed between the services, at volunteer events, etc. The church right now is focused on trying to live out - to identify needs in the community and respond to them. Some of our focuses are environmental issues (we've adopted a nearby section of the greenway) and the refugee crisis (all three churches recently voted to become sanctuary supporting). We also do normal Lutheran church volunteering like Feed my Starving Children and Open Arms Minnesota on a regular basis.

I first found Salem four years ago, and I am so glad I did. It is more than just a church building…read moreor place of worship. It's a community of welcoming, kind people who have taken great strides to envision a different, relevant way to be people of faith in our context and time. I highly recommend visiting sometime!