ST PAUL, Minn. — Most faith communities identify one day of the week as “The Lord’s Day.”

But at First Covenant of St. Paul, every day offers a divine opportunity for outreach and mission.

“Literally every corner of our property inside our building, all of it is being used seven days a week and somehow making this community a better place,” said Pastor Anne Vining, First Covenant’s senior pastor.

And while the church practices what it preaches – by literally opening its doors to other community-based organizations and partner churches – it also honors its own history. And that approach has helped the church defy the trends troubling other faith communities.

According to Gallup: 20 years ago, 42 percent of U.S. adults attended religious services every, or nearly every, week. A decade ago, that figure fell to 38 percent. Today, the number is currently 30 percent.

But while First Covenant has seen some of its regular attendees move to less frequent or virtual options, they’ve largely maintained their congregation size for the last 20 years. A reflection, church leaders believe, of a church family committed to the right values.

“While churches are closing left and right, this church has a bright future,” Vining said, adding, “We seek to be a place that is following in the ways of Jesus and welcoming all people.”

A mission that began on April 21, 1874

Located on the corner of Hyacinth Avenue and Arcade Street – in the heart of St. Paul’s East Side – First Covenant has long been at the epicenter of one of the state’s most dynamic and vibrant communities.

“We started as a church of predominantly Swedish immigrants,” Vining recalled, noting that the thread of immigrants is woven throughout the church’s history.

“We were an immigrant community 150 years ago, and we still are today. It’s just different, different communities, different immigrants that are coming from around the world,” Vining shared.

In fact, from those initial days of a more “monocultural community” – both within and outside the church’s red brick walls – the church has changed along with the East Side community: From a concentration of Swedish and Italian families, to Vietnamese and Hmong newcomers, to the Karen community, to people from several countries in Central and South America.

But amid all that change, Vining said the church has remained constant in its focus: “I would say this has always been a church of mission.”

What that mission looks like in 2024

Which brings us back to that seven-days-a-week mission. First Covenant, largely under Vining’s leadership, has partnered with several community organizations and churches, including:

• Fruit of the Vine Food Shelf, run by La Iglesia, St. Paul;
• Family Values for Life, an organization offering support and programming for both children and families;
• Jonathan House, housing for asylum-seekers – located on church property – and in collaboration with the International Association for Refugees;
• St. Paul Public Schools, by providing support through musicals and other arts and faculty programming;
• Followers of Christ Hmong Baptist Church;
• Haitian Christian Fellowship;
• La Iglesia, St. Paul;
• Urban Roots, a community garden that “promotes entrepreneurship by teaching youth interns to manage gardens and crops” for later distribution, according to the church website.

“When it comes to investing in a community, it’s all about relationships,” Vining said when reflecting on these partnerships and others – including missions overseas.

Vining believes it’s also about the “mothership” relinquishing control and walking alongside its community and church partners.

“We’ve figured out how to go beyond just sharing space to actually being partners with a breadth of people who are doing incredible things for the kingdom of God,” Vining said.

Diversity even within the original church

No doubt, the community and church partners brighten the fabric of First Covenant. But the original church community also continues to poignantly grow and learn.

Among the church’s most beautiful perspectives, is:

Bob Ash, who’s attended the church for 60 years.

“When you come to a church like this, you realize that it’s been here a long time, and you’re standing on the shoulders of thousands of people,” Ash said, noting how he and his wife, Marilyn, could always relate to the original church members.

“Their lives were not that much different from ours. They wanted to live a life of faith and service… I don’t think we’ve lost our interest in leaving this earth in better shape than when we came,” Ash said.

Indeed, Bob and Marilyn watched their daughters grow up and marry within First Covenant of St. Paul. And this year, Bob also celebrated the life of Marilyn, his wife of 65 years, in the same brick building.

“Our pastors have a real commitment to serve the Lord and to serve our fellow humans right where we’re at,” shared Ash – who was also a former leader at White Bear Lake Area Schools.

Ash added: “We did not have to go to the mission field, the mission field has come to us.”

Isabel Patrick Pacheco has attended First Covenant for 13 years.

Patrick Pacheco first came to First Covenant as a participant in one of the church’s elaborate musicals – a product of the partnership with St. Paul Public Schools.

“I think that the community here is really what really kept me here,” said Patrick Pacheco.

Patrick Pacheco, who recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering, now works at one of First Covenant’s partner organizations: She’s the youth programs coordinator for Family Values for Life.

“Knowing that there is a desire to be that multicultural church is really hopeful and something that I really appreciate,” Patrick Pacheco said.

DeDray Mitchell has attended First Covenant for 11 of his 13 years.

And this great-grandson of former church leader, Roger Quant, says his loyalty is based both on legacy and kindness.

“Everybody here is just really kind and loving,” Mitchell eloquently shared.

This month, the very church built on welcoming others will soon welcome another era. On Sept. 29, the leader who helped forge so many strong church partnerships will herself answer a new calling.

“I just feel like it’s time for me to pass that baton on to that next generation,” Vining said about her imminent retirement from ministry.

But while Vining knows it will “be very hard” to pass that baton, she also knows her committed ministry team, as well as the entire congregation, will carry on the First Covenant mission that began 150 years ago.

“I feel like if you’re looking for a place that is authentically trying to live what they believe, that’s what we’re trying to do,” Vining shared, adding, “I think when you walk in the door, you feel this sense of God’s presence, that God’s love is here.”

To learn more about First Covenant of St. Paul, just click here.

Editor’s Note: First Covenant of St. Paul today includes a congregation of both new members and families now in their fifth generation. KARE 11’s Karla Hult is a member of one of those families. Hult’s Swedish great-grandparents on both the Hult and Olsen sides first started attending the church back in the 1800s; her grandparents, dad and his siblings, her sisters, cousins and herself and now, their children have all attended the church in St. Paul’s East Side. But Hult notes everyone connected to this unique community believes its greatest beauty is in how the church always welcomes its newest members.