Our Mission
We are called to be a church, where together we…
Our Values & Beliefs
We live out this calling through…
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The Bible is God’s living and authoritative word spoken to us, and we know true freedom and joy as we submit to its story and teaching. Listen to this value explained.
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When we gather consistently together for services of Word and Sacrament, we experience in a unique and powerful way Christ’s renewing presence, which transforms the way we live, the way we think, and the way we view ourselves and the world. Listen to this value explained.
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To grow fully into the calling that God has placed on our individual lives, we strive to selflessly give to and humbly receive from one another and our neighbors. Listen to this value explained.
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We step out in trust and dependence on God to fulfill His mission, knowing that He can do more than we ask or imagine. Listen to this value explained.
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Children are full members of our community. They richly bless us with their presence and we seek to bless them through intentional investment in our life together. Listen to this value explained.
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We make God’s love for all people known, especially the poor and marginalized, by practicing sacrificial giving and unconditional welcome following Christ’s example. Listen to this value explained.
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As we offer opportunities for people to experience, create, and engage with art, the Lord will empower us as a community of disciples and strengthen our witness to a lost world deeply hungry for both beauty and its ultimate source. Listen to this value explained.
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We celebrate all the ordinary and extraordinary vocations God has granted each of us and seek to rightly order our responsibilities so that our homes, workplaces, communities and church may flourish as God uses us to be His hands and feet. Listen to this value explained.
We belong…
To a Movement of Churches Planting a Revival of Word and Sacrament Infused by the Holy Spirit
Church of the Cross is part of The Anglican Church of North America (called a Province, this body consists of churches and dioceses across North America). We affirm the shared statement of beliefs provided by the ACNA.
The ACNA, and so Church of the Cross, is also glad to be part of a global body and movement of Anglican Provinces called GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference). GAFCON has declared our common beliefs in the “Jerusalem Declaration.”
Our Story
The vision for Church of the Cross began when the Lord gave Christian and Molly Ruch a strong sense that they were called to plant an Anglican church. They didn’t know the “where” or “when” of the church plant, but prayed about this vision for many years. In 2002, as part of Christian’s ordination process at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois, other church leaders confirmed the calling to church planting and joined the Ruchs in seeking the Lord’s leading for the next steps.
By 2003, the call to plant a church in the Twin Cities had become clear, and in October of that year, Christian and Molly and their children were sent out by Church of the Resurrection to the near western suburbs of Minneapolis. In addition to Church of the Resurrection, they also had the support and oversight of the Anglican Mission in the Americas and Bishop Sandy Greene. They were joined by a few others who had moved at the same time from the Chicago area. Soon others in the Twin Cities were also interested in helping start an Anglican church.
After ten months of praying together, learning about their community, holding monthly worship services, recruiting other team members, and doing planning and development, this team launched Church of the Cross on September 12, 2004. By that time, the Lord had miraculously provided a permanent space in Hopkins, where the church continues to meet to this day.
From the day Church of the Cross first formed, it has desired to be a church that helps plant new churches. It has planted three daughter churches—Church of the Redeemer in Saint Paul, Restoration Anglican in South Minneapolis, and Resurrection Anglican in Brooklyn Center. In the spring of 2012, Church of the Cross transferred its affiliation from the Anglican Mission to the Anglican Church in North America, and is currently part of the Minnesota Deanery of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest.