Star Tribune
Faith leaders toe the line talking politics from the pulpit in advance of divisive election
This story was reported by Reid Forgrave in Minneapolis, Jenny Berg in St. Cloud, Jp Lawrence in Mankato, Trey Mewes in Dundas, Sean Baker in Rochester, Jana Hollingsworth in Duluth, Kim Hyatt in Lake George, Minn., and written by Reid Forgrave.
ST. CLOUD — Congregants filed into Jubilee Worship Center, an evangelical church just off Highway 15 here, on a recent Sunday. All around were indications of election season.
On church property, visible from the busy highway, were political signs: A Republican candidate for Minnesota House, a nonpartisan candidate for St. Cloud mayor. (Any candidate may pay the church to place signs there.) On a table inside, a sign read, “1 in 3 Christians doesn’t vote. That’s about 25 million people.”
A voter guide detailed policy differences between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on immigration, inflation, guns and abortion. A church member handed out instructions for a letter-writing campaign asking Christians in Michigan, a crucial swing state, to “vote for the candidates who stand for biblical values.” The script mentioned “transgender ideology,” high grocery bills and criminals crossing America’s borders.
“All we do is encourage people to vote and do their research so they know what the positions are, seek the Lord and vote accordingly,” Rev. Mark Johnson, senior pastor at Jubilee, said after the service. “We don’t promote any candidate.”
Some 70 miles away in southwest Minneapolis, Mayflower Community Congregational United Church of Christ took a very different tone. “PROTECT MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY,” read a big sign facing Interstate 35W. Other signs proclaimed progressive values: protecting queer kids, the environment, immigrants and refugees.
From the pulpit, the Rev. Susie Hayward talked about humans building walls: In Palestine and Israel, along our southern border. A couple weeks before, the church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Sarah Campbell, discussed this election in stark terms, drawing on the analogy to German resentment and grievance that led to Adolf Hitler. She spoke of two types of churches, those that enable fascism versus those that resist it.
Neither the church in St. Cloud nor the church in Minneapolis endorsed a candidate. But it was plain where they stood.
“Hoyo” is the Somali word for mother.
When sisters Mariam, Halima and Asha Mohamed launched Hoyo in 2015, their goal was to employ Somali women making a much-loved Somali snack: the deep-fried, beef-filled pastries known as sambusas.
Since that time, Hoyo has grown into a local food success story, serving 200,000 sambusas a year at schools across Minnesota. Hoyo sambusas are also sold in co-ops and supermarkets.
The business is one of 12 local food producers that recently received microgrants from the Market Entry Fund (TMEF), a St. Paul nonprofit that works with food and beverage producers from underrepresented communities.
TMEF’s micro grants program provides $5,000 to $20,000 grants to food startups. The goal is to help small businesses overcome barriers in the packaged food industry.
This year’s recipients included a range of food producers, including Taiwanese sausage maker Linko Food and Junita’s Jar, which sells cookies at Target.
“The only reason that we are still here and survived is really the support of these people who are still with us, helping us as we speak,” Hoyo co-founder Mariam Mohamed said. “Any ethnic group or any person who’s starting a food [business] you have to have support, people who know the food, who are in the food industry, people who can guide you.”
Kayla Yang-Best, TMEF president, said the grant program started in 2019 and was born of necessity.
A man is dead and police are searching for suspects following a shooting early Saturday in north Minneapolis.
According to police, officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation just before 6 a.m. in the 1700 block of 26th Avenue N. They found a man with life-threatening wounds and gave him aid until emergency personnel arrived to help.
Despite those efforts, the man died at the scene. His name and the cause of death will be released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner in coming days.
Investigators believe the shooting happened when a fight at a nearby party escalated, spilling onto the street before gunfire rang out.
“Today, tragically, another family has been ripped apart by gun violence,” Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement. “Our investigators are committed to solving this crime and giving a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves.”
One man was arrested at the scene for disorderly conduct, but investigators were still looking into whether he played a role in the shooting.
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to contact Minneapolis police.
The U is asking the Legislature for $200 million for repairs as the number of crumbling, outdated buildings reaches a crisis point.
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