Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church

Part 7: The Cathedrals of Downtown Minneapolis

Jul 29, 2022

This is part 7 of a multi-part series.

My main stop on day three of my downtown tour was the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church:

I was buzzed in by Larry, who was incredibly friendly and courteous to me the whole time I was there. He was talking to another person at the front desk when I walked in, and I didn’t want to interrupt them, so I entered into the foyer and started looking around. He finished up his conversation and hurried to find me. He showed me into the sanctuary, and pointed out some of his most favorite stained glass, which portrays four famous women of the Bible: Ruth, Esther, Mary, and Saint Tabitha (Dorcas in Greek):

Larry welcomed me to take pictures, go to the upper level, and stay in the sanctuary as long as I wanted. He asked me to come back to the front desk when I was done so he could show me the upstairs gallery. After looking around a bit, I sat down to pray. A few minutes later, a man entered the room and busied himself about the alter, going in and out. When I was done praying, I approached him and said, “What a beautiful organ!” He agreed cheerfully, but did not really engage me. It wasn’t until later, when he started playing it, that I realized he was the organist.

I was up in the balcony and just finishing up with my picture-taking in the sanctuary when he started playing the organ. He seemed to be both practicing, and choosing the best stops to pull out for different pieces. Here is an audio recording of a more-or-less complete piece he played:

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I sat listening to him play the organ for a good long while. Eventually Larry cam in looking for me. I waved at him, but he did not see me up in the balcony. Not wanting him to worry too much, I went back out front to look for him. He directed me upstairs to the gallery, where I found some truly amazing, large-sized paintings. Here’s my favorite, called Ecce Homo, by Antonio Ciseri:

The church also had many pieces of fine artwork in the hallways and the foyer, including this one, which is probably my favorite depiction of the last supper so far:

I also ended up talking to a friendly fellow named Jack, who handles donations to the church from estates. He asked me where I was from, and if I belonged to a church out there. When he learned that I was a Christian who was, for the time being, without a church, he invited me to come for Sunday service. Surprisingly enough, this was the first invitation I had to join in with community worship on the whole tour. Maybe they’ll see me there some day.

I had one last chat with Larry on the way out, who was so helpful and friendly, and so patient and understanding with me. What a great guy.

I made a second stop back at the Substance Church after this, but again nobody answered the bell. I spent quite a bit of time at Hennepin United Methodist, and didn’t have enough time to see any others. I had one more church to visit on day four, which I will post about soon.

So many beautiful pictures! For me, this church managed to be awe-inspiring and deeply peaceful at the same time. I would highly recommend a visit it you are in the area. It’s quite close to the Basilica of Saint Mary and Saint Mark’s Cathedral.