Jacob's Well

We began in September of 2006 and are in fact a Lutheran church, part of the ELCA (check them out: www.elca.org) We are a gift of Bethlehem Lutheran Church on 4100 Lyndale Ave S (www.bethlehem-church.org). Bethlehem is a great church. Growing, vibrant, traditional.

That's where Jacob's Well comes in, Bethlehem is a traditional, established church. It is a reflection of how healthy they are that Bethlehem realized they aren't and can't be the right kind of church for everyone. They share our vision of helping people discover lifegiving relationships with God, but know that some people need a different form of the church than they can offer. Bethlehem gave birth to Spirit Garage in 1997 (www.spiritgarage.org) a great avant garde congregation focused on the Uptown crowd - and now they've birthed us. And maybe, you!

Jacob's Well is a new kind of church. One that wants to be all about the movement of God's grace that we see through Jesus' love in our world. We want to be about that, not the institution. That's why no building. We are willing to be portable and on the move when we need to be to make it clear to us, to you, and to God that it's not about the building, but about the people. Our theology is the grace-filled, inclusiveness that the ELCA (that's Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) embraces, but freed up from the traditions that have become obstacles for more people than they have become bridges for. I like to say that we are part of the ELCA-U. That's the ELCA-Unleashed. I'm proud to be part of a church body that is doing as much good in the world as the Lutheran Church is, and that is willing to take risks like Jacob's Well in order to discover what the church of the 21st century might look like.