Q. How many members?
A: About 650, with an average Sunday worship attendance of about 170 in person and 330 online. About a third of worshipers come from nearby neighborhoods.
Q. How long are your services?
A. About an hour and 15 minutes, a bit longer on festival days.
Q. How often do you celebrate communion?
A. Every Sunday, at weddings and funerals, and on all feast days that do not fall on Sunday.
Q. As Protestants, why do you kneel, bow, chant, burn incense, and make the sign of the cross?
A. Martin Luther and the early Reformers didn’t reject any of these practices. Many of us embrace worshipping with all our human senses. It’s not the only way to worship God; it’s just the way that suits many of us best.
Q. What is your neighborhood like, and how are you involved in it?
A. For thousands of years, this area was home to Indigenous people who lived, hunted, and fished across the Mississippi/Lake Superior region. When European settlement began, immigrants, including those who eventually founded Mount Olive, gradually filled the area that is now Minnesota—and South Minneapolis. Today, our neighborhood is home to a vibrant collection of European, Latino, Somali, and other ethnic groups who raise families, work, and go to school close by. Mount Olive’s Neighborhood Ministry coordinates our relationships with community members and a variety of outreach partners.
Q. Who will feel welcome at Mount Olive?
A. Everyone, we hope. We are a congregation that embraces our ethnic and gender variety. Yet we strive not to categorize one another by gender identity, race, or socioeconomic status but to see each of us as a child of God.
Q. What about children?
A. We do not have a staffed nursery but welcome children to worship with the congregation. We also offer Sunday school, musical opportunities, confirmation, and a youth group.
Q. Are women and LGBTQ+ individuals permitted to serve as clergy or lay leaders at Mount Olive?
A. Yes. The ELCA ordains women and LGBTQ+ individuals as pastors and deacons, and congregational leadership positions are open to all members. (Note: Nearly 90 percent of US Christians belong to church bodies, including some Lutheran groups, that do not ordain women.)
Q. What’s your political agenda?
A. We are led to care not just for our personal needs but also for the needs of neighbors near and far. There’s a diversity of opinion on how best to apply social and economic solutions, but our central aspiration is to be faithful to God’s call for justice and peace for all people.
Q. What are Lutherans all about?
A. We have been called the original Protestants, people who left the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s and hope for reconciliation one day. Recently leaders of both churches have found agreement on issues that once divided us.
Q. Where does Mount Olive fit among the scores of other Lutheran choices in the Twin Cities?
A. Lutherans have developed a wide variety of worship styles. If you like formal liturgy, classical music, an atmosphere that welcomes all, and a commitment to social ministry, you may find us to be good partners for your spiritual journey.
Q. What are ELCA and RIC?
A. The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) is the nation’s largest and most “mainline” Lutheran body. RIC (Reconciling in Christ) is shorthand for parishes that affirm all people’s full participation, no matter their race, gender, or sexual orientation.
