St. Paul: Faith Lutheran Church in Frogtown to become United Church of God in Christ (original) (raw)

For more than a century, parishioners have gathered at the sizable red brick church at Charles Avenue and Mackubin Street in St. Paul’s Frogtown, a gothic structure whose cornerstones were laid in 1914. By the 1950s, a gym and educational building followed, as did other links to the surrounding neighborhood.

Faith Lutheran Church, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has been known through the years for its partnerships with the Loaves and Fishes meal program, the Feed My Starving Children meal-packaging program and the Shobi’s Table pay-what-you-can food truck. For the past four years, it has hosted the Recovery Cafe, which convenes five weekly peer recovery circles that offer residents who have struggled with homelessness, mental health challenges or addiction a cup of coffee, grief therapy, music therapy or a prayer.

Its century of service will soon come to a close.

With its aged congregation dwindling, Faith Lutheran recently announced that a “worship service of Holy Closure” will mark the end of its spiritual journey on June 13. It also marks a fresh start for the next congregation to occupy the space — the United Church of God in Christ, which celebrates its 25th anniversary or silver jubilee this year.

United moved their operations from their former building on Como Avenue and Dale Street to the new space on May 1 and has held several Sunday worship services there since.

Incoming congregation

This incoming congregation, which is Pentecostal, is led by the Rev. Celester Webb, a 1980 graduate of Central High School who considers himself a “proud lifelong resident of St. Paul.” Webb, a former member of the Minneapolis Fire Department, is a long-standing board member with the Union Gospel Mission, which provides food and shelter services, and the Minnesota Council of Churches. He has also volunteered as a diversity consultant for Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

The idea for the move came about in January, when a pastor friend called Webb to inform him that the Charles Avenue church building might soon be available. But, when Webb arrived to tour the space, the Realtor informed him that he had already received an above-ask offer with a substantial down payment.

Still, Webb looked at the church and said he showed genuine interest in the previous church’s ministries, including the Recovery Cafe and its food shelf.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but they were really looking for someone that would come in and not only help those ministries stay in place but help them thrive,” Webb said.

Free peer recovery circles focused on addiction, grief therapy and other support services meet at the church’s Recovery Cafe weekly, and those programs will continue under a 12-month lease agreement with the new church.

Recovery Cafe

Last July, Recovery Cafe founder and executive director Tasha Walsh was forced to lay off two workers — now technically, three, including herself — and has since skipped her own paychecks to keep the program afloat. As a parting gift, Faith Lutheran is gifting Recovery Cafe enough funds to re-employ Walsh and one or two workers, and continue programming through August 2027. She’s hoping for grant funders to come through by then.

“Definitely, it’s just a blessing from God,” said Walsh, while prepping free meals for the public on Wednesday.

“We have weekly music therapy, a barista training program, we have art therapy every other Monday, and men’s basketball,” said Walsh, who served more than 5,000 people in 2024, a number that dropped significantly last year as programming was trimmed. “Operation Hope comes in monthly and does financial education workshops. We have a member who does cooking demonstrations. We serve free lunch to the public on Mondays and Wednesdays.”

In the end, Webb said his intention to continue supporting those services was the deciding factor in his church being chosen over the other offer they had received.

“The Pentecostals are a full-blown partner, because they like the mission of the Recovery Cafe,” said Roy Magnuson, a founding board member of the Recovery Cafe, which launched online during the pandemic and has been greeting residents at the church for 4½ years.

Open house on June 13

As a send-off for Faith Lutheran and its century of service, an open house will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 13, followed by a final worship service at 3 p.m. Fellowship and food will follow, according to a Facebook post. The church is located at 499 Charles Ave., two blocks east of Dale Street and two blocks north of University Avenue.

In the meantime, the United Church of God in Christ continues to integrate themselves into their new community. According to Webb, those efforts have been successful thus far.

“At the first service, we almost filled up the whole downstairs and have been doing so since then,” he said. “It’s a beautiful building that needs life put back in it.”

Webb said he plans to make it his mission to restore the building to “tip-top shape” while embracing the surrounding community.

“The community has changed in leaps and bounds from when I was a kid,” Webb said. “Our hope is to come and embrace the changes, and the people that are there, to let them know that we’re here to serve the community. … We want to make sure that when (people) see that building, they understand that it is one place they know they can feel loved, receive help, instruction or support. That’s what we intend to make that building become again.”

Hannah Brueske contributed to this report.