St. Paul’s United Church of Christ is a small congregation that worships in its 100+ year old little white church. Our worship style is traditional but also causal. We celebrate Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month and all are welcome to partake regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof. Sunday morning worship and fellowship is the center of our life as a congregation. It calls us to remember who we are and why we are here. We are engaged with the world and curious about advances in science and technology. We pay attention to government policies because we are focused on bringing more justice and mercy to the neighbors we know and those we have yet to meet.
We are an Open and Affirming church that welcomes all God’s people including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender nonconforming, queer, and questioning. We have most recently explored confronting white privilege using the White Privilege curriculum from the UCC Justice and Witness ministry. In the past 5 years we have also explored Native American concerns using the book Neither Wolf nor Dog by Kent Nerburn. Bible studies, Violence Divine – a video study of the portrayal of a violent God in the Bible, and a variety of other meditations and topics have been pursued when members were interested.
We contribute directly to the community by working at the Helping Hands Food Shelf one month each year, aiding the work of Love INC (Love in the Name of Christ) and hosting Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice a week (Wednesday and Friday evenings at 7). We are also pleased to host the Big Woods Garden Club meetings during the spring and summer. Our Minnesota Conference of the UCC has held board meetings, Open and Affirming meetings, and a train the trainer meetings for using the white privilege curriculum at our church.