Central Lutheran Church Minneapolis

Part 4: The Cathedrals of Downtown Minneapolis

This is part 4 of a multi-part series.

My first stop on day two of my downtown Minneapolis cathedral tour was the Central Lutheran Church located across from the Minneapolis Convention Center. This beautiful, massive church was built in 1928. It’s ceilings are 65 feet high, and it seats 2,500 in the nave.

I’m a big fan of both Martin Luther and the printing press, two principal factors that broke the Catholic church’s iron grip on Christianity. This was the beginning of being able to have independent thoughts and beliefs about Christianity, and not risk being executed as a heretic. Take for example the Cathars of the High Middle Ages. They were Christians within the Catholic church that believed that there were two divinities, one good, the other evil. This belief was deemed heretical, and the persecution began. Interestingly, the first ever crusade was launched not against Islam, but against the Cathars, the church’s own members. The Cathars were eradicated by the Catholic church by 1350.

I walked in the door of Central Lutheran Church and was greeted with a smile by a security guard there. I explained that I was just visiting, and that I would like to say a prayer and have a look around. He seemed to understand my intentions from the moment I started speaking, and led me from the welcome area to the church proper, which he unlocked for me. He was super cordial and friendly, but we didn’t engage in any deep way - I was another visitor, and he was the guy that was going to let me into the chapel. I didn’t see any other visitors at the church that day, but there were a few members of the congregation in the building who were boarding a bus to somewhere.

This church is truly awe-inspiring in it’s grandeur and beauty. The pictures, as beautiful as they may be, can only give an impression:

I’d really like to get a listen to this organ some day. It’s massive!

Check out those trumpet pipes sticking out:

More pipes are in the compartment behind the keyboards:

Back out in the lobby, there is some beautiful artwork, including this piece called Resurrection by Paul Granlund. You may remember we saw a piece of his called Resurrection II at Saint Mark’s in the previous post.

Coffee anyone?

David and Goliath

“Who touched me?” That’s the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’s clothes, looking to be healed.

You made it to the end! The story of my “cathedral tour” continues here:

Wesley United Methodist Church