Introduction
Olivet Congregational Church was established in January of 1888. Meeting first in a rooming house, they soon built a chapel at Roblyn and Prior. The congregation's present home on the corner of Iglehart and Dewey was designed by the noted St. Paul architect, Clarence Johnston, and built in 1907.
For over a century, Olivet's members have played vital roles in the city of St. Paul. A relatively small congregation, comprised of worshippers from different denominations and backgrounds, Olivet is known for warmth of friendship and mutual support, the integrity of its worship,the beauty of its music, love for its children, the loyalty of its members and its strong sense of community. We hope that you feel at home here, welcomed and valued.
Contact Us
Olivet Congregational Church
1850 Iglehart Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104-3524
(651) 646-1478
Our Life Together
There is discipline and rhythm to the Christian life. Wonder and need are its opportunities; praising and giving are its natural expressions. Through worship and service Olivet clears space and provides opportunity for its members and friends to praise and give. There is no such
thing as private Christianity. We cannot be rugged individualists. Jesus Christ gave his disciples to each other. The members of his Church are obliged to care for one another.
Here at Olivet that works itself out in graceful and sometimes unexpected
ways. A dinner shows up at a home where there is sickness. Offers for rides to post-operative therapy sessions flood in on a member who is recovering from cancer surgery. We remember each other before God in public and in private prayers, commending those in special need and giving thanks for them.
Through fellowship and service, special projects, retreats and committee
work, we try to live out the economy of the household of God. We remember that we are not here only for ourselves, but for the whole of God’s creation. We support work that spreads the rhythm and discipline of Christian life. We help fund our denomination’s mission programs; we support local food shelves and provide food at the holidays for those in need; we support Habitat for Humanity locally and nationally through a biennial mission trip with our youth group; we sponsor community groups that
use our building for meetings and activities. Our members are actively involved in volunteer programs as workers and board members.
We Believe
The United Church of Christ, the denominational body to which we belong,was founded as a ‘uniting church’ in 1957. The U.C.C. has its roots in both sides of the Reformation, and so enjoys both a Reformed and Lutheran heritage. It carries forward traditional emphases on education,responsibility for the social order and a warm hearted piety.
We understand the great creeds of the Christian tradition as confessions
of the faith of the whole church, not as tests of a person’s Christian loyalty. In joining one’s voice with the church saying, “I believe,” one states the content of faith into which one is growing daily, and with which one is attempting to make sense of one’s life and the world. One confesses a confidence in the witness of Scripture and of the Church over the centuries.
We have not already made up our minds about everything, but we are
learning day by day, to give our lives and what we make of them back to God,their source.
Without the fact and pattern of the past we cannot find the present or dream the future
-Robert Penn Warren
Who are these Congregationalists?
During the Reformation in England, Protestant ‘Puritans’ wanted to ‘simplify and purify’ the Church of its Roman Catholic practices.The Pilgrims, of Mayflower fame, thought that even the Puritans were not pure enough. They defied the bishops of the Church of England and recognized no authority apart from the Holy Spirit bringing unanimity in a local congregation.Persecuted, they fled to Holland and then to the New World
Later, Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, joined with Puritans who had settled around Massachusetts Bay to work out the polity of church life. They called themselves ‘Congregationalists’ because each congregation was independent of outside authority. They played prominent roles in the events that led to the American Revolution and helped shape our fledgling nation.
Congregationalism is not a system of belief, but rather a way of thinking
about the life of congregations. It is based on the conviction that a group of people committed to one another in Christ may trust that the Holy Spirit will lead them to do God’s will.