Our Unique Role

Just as God calls every Christian uniquely and gives them an important role, so God calls every church uniquely and gives them an important role. We believe that Evergreen has a unique purpose in the Kingdom of God in the Twin Cities. We are called by God to pursue a unique ministry strategy: Evergreen is a multi-site church.

Evergreen Church

One Church, Many Locations, All Generations

  • Evergreen, Bloomington
  • Evergreen, New Hope
  • Evergreen, Lakeville
  • The Rock
  • The Urban Refuge

There are two distinct advantages of this ministry approach

  1. There are efficiencies. Each location is served by one central office that is located at the Bloomington location. Rather than five separate office staffs, we enjoy great cost savings by supporting each location with administrative, financial and tech support from one central office. We believe this efficiency allows more dollars to be poured into real needs.
  2. There is collaboration. We believe that there is power in unity. Our leadership teams and churches collaborate on teaching, leadership development and conferences. We can do more together then we can do alone! Additionally, each location’s pastoral team enjoys accountability from the other teams.

Yet there is autonomy at each location! Each location has its own personality and ministry approach. Each location is free to pursue church life and outreach as led by the Lord.

We are called by God to pursue a unique vision together

1. We want to plant churches

We believe that the Kingdom of God spreads best through the planting of new local churches. We believe that God has commissioned and established the local church as the primary means of fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission—loving God and others by winning people to Christ, building them to maturity, raising up leaders, and sending teams to start new churches. As an example, we planted a church in Berlin, Germany in 2001.

2. We want to plant churches where a “New Testament” presence is needed

The Twin Cities is in a slow, spiritual crisis. It is estimated that a third of the churches in the Twin Cities will be gone in the next ten to fifteen years. We believe God wants us to step into this coming spiritual vacuum. There are people groups and places in the Twin Cities where a vibrant, Spirit-filled presence is needed. We are also praying about planting churches outside of the Twin Cities.

3. We want to aim young.

One reason that churches are dying in the Twin Cities is because members of these congregations are aging and passing away. Many churches were unable to pass the baton to the younger generation. It is also an unfortunate fact that a much smaller percentage of young people attend church compared to the previous generation. We believe God has called us to aim young by developing strong families, mentoring young people, and pursuing a young style.

4. We want to make disciples, leaders, and pastors of ordinary people

The Bible is rich with examples of how God stirs the hearts of ordinary people and uses them in extraordinary ways. Our desire is to make everyone a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ. Our desire is to make leadership accessible to ordinary people. Our leadership comes from within the church rather than from without.