Written by Lynne Carroll

I live in Plymouth. I drive 13 miles from the western suburbs a few times a week to volunteer and worship at Hennepin. I love the community that I have nurtured and that has nurtured me, but I have never felt connected to the Loring Park Neighborhood. I suspect that this is the story for many fellow members of Hennepin. But this summer, some new and wonderful things happened, and I had a front row seat!

We hosted 2 neighborhood parking lot parties. Guess what? I didn’t recognize most of the people that attended. How amazing! Our parking lot was filled with people from our neighborhood. People who were delighted to be offered a space to enjoy food, music, vendors, ice cream, and one another. There was a young person who connected with a police officer. They remembered that the officer had given them their first bike through a community program, and this party re-connected them for a few sweet moments. We were joined by our neighbors across the street – White Earth Nation and the sober house with the pink rooster. There were robots to drive, bubbles for kids, and treasures to purchase. I felt a bit like an outsider, but I loved feeling that I had contributed the smallest bit to such joy.

After the neighborhood parties, I went on a cleaning and purging rampage. It started in the kitchen and just kept going. Over the pandemic years, many of our church spaces had become cluttered and unusable for ministry. Here’s the good news – we need these spaces for ministry folks! Last week we did a huge, 4 day give-away of our excess things. Again, the folks claiming these treasures were new to me – and overjoyed with their finds! People who had recently moved and needed kitchen utensils to round out their kitchen, a gentleman who took a 40 cup coffee maker for his wedding reception, and a gentleman leaving an AA meeting who turned out to be the kitchen manager for the Salvation Army. He and his staff feed 100 men 3 meals/day, 7 days/week. He filled the Salvation Army truck with catering trays, utensils, and buffet servers. Their ministry was blessed by our excess!

We will host Trunk or Treat again on Sunday, October 27 and on Saturday, November 23, you are invited to the Futures Lab being sponsored by our Strategic Planning Team. I have seen first hand how important it is for Hennepin to truly be A Cathedral for All in our corner of Minneapolis. How will we continue to join hands and hearts to be great neighbors in the Loring Park Neighborhood? Join us for these upcoming events, and let’s conspire together!