Fire and Nice
Minnesota's Twin Cities are home to a feisty collection of influential churches.
Collin Hansen | posted 10/22/2008 08:19AM
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Minnesota may be known for nice, but its most famous pastors can be pretty provocative. Historically, the Twin Cities have attracted opposites. Middle-class Lutherans gravitated toward Minneapolis, while working-class Catholics settled in St. Paul, creating a rivalry between the two cities. Even the weather conspires to create this climate. City Vision's John Mayer wonders if the extreme shifts between hot and cold impress upon Minnesotans a longing for moderation but a tolerance for extremes.
"Around here we say that if you don't like the weather, wait half an hour," Mayer says. "It works that way with politics. You don't like Jesse Ventura? Then wait for Tim Pawlenty. It even works that way in theology, with Piper and Boyd in the same denomination."
These opposites don't attract; they coexist. Without greater doctrinal unity, meaningful cooperation among Twin Cities Christians is about as likely as a January thaw.
Collin Hansen is a CT editor at large and author of
Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists.
Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today.
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Collin Hansen also writes a weekly Theology in the News column, which are available on our site.
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