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Since 1990, Minneapolis and St. Paul have seen a massive influx of refugees. The Twin Cities metro area boasts the largest Hmong, Somali, and Oromo (Ethiopian) populations in the United States and the second largest Tibetan and Liberian concentrations.

The University of Minnesota is home to the largest Chinese student population in the country, and the cities were the eighth-fastest growing Hispanic area in the country during the 1990s. All this adds up to nearly half a million internationals, speaking more than 136 different languages.

And the church is responding, with 309 churches planted in the past three years, a pace of one new church every three days. And more churches are taking seriously the need to demonstrate the love of Christ in their communities.

There's "Church at Champps," a ministry of Wooddale Church that meets at a popular sports bar and grill. Its unconventional setting is drawing an unconventional crowd.

In addition, more than a dozen postmodern churches are meeting across the region. Ethnic churches are popping up, and Hispanic, African-American, and Anglo churches are reaching out across ethnic barriers.

With nearly 2,600 churches in the Twin Cities metro area, we can offer just a glimpse of what's happening as congregations are ministering to their changing community.

When Roland J. Wells, Jr., arrived in 1988 as pastor of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, in the shadow of downtown Minneapolis, he found himself in a quandary.

Wells and his wife opted to purchase a home in Roseville, a first-ring suburb adjacent to both Minneapolis and St. Paul, which put him 15 minutes from his church. It also put him at odds with the prevailing urban-ministry philosophy: live in the city, minister in the city, and build a congregation that reflects the culture of the immediate locale.

But Wells's decision was just the beginning of the story.

St. Paul's, a 130-year-old congregation of suburbanites, was committed to making a difference in its urban neighborhood. Members remained at a distinctly inner-city church, Wells says, because they viewed their membership as a matter of mission.

"Our people wanted to do significant things in the city," Wells remembers, "but didn't know how to go about it."

Enter CitySpirit Ministries and the School of Urban Ministry (SUM). St. Paul's launched the two initiatives in 1991. CitySpirit builds what Wells calls bridges to suburban congregations. SUM is a training tool for both church members and suburban partners.

Without Wells's leadership, the move could have been perceived as simply an inner-city church's clever fundraising attempt. But Wells built CitySpirit on three understandings: (1) the congregation's budget, with all its expenses, would remain the congregation's responsibility, (2) outside money could fund only new initiatives, and initiatives were to be discontinued if funding was not available, and (3) any partnerships developed would be mutually beneficial and would require St. Paul's to give back to suburban congregations as much as it received.

The key component of SUM, Wells says, is to equip suburban churches and their members for ministry. That, of course, is easier said than done. Suburban churches undergo changes in leadership regularly—new pastors, new committees, new leaders often mean changes in vision.

"The danger is that some suburban churches have the attention span of a 4-year-old ADHD child," Wells says. "The pastors are under pressure to produce, to show results. They need to be able to say, 'We have a church that relates to the youth of the city. We have a socially conscious church.' But the key to the city isn't splash; it's long-term. It's not 18 months or a couple of trips with junior high kids to serve at a soup kitchen. If a suburban church is going to make a difference in the city, it's with a minimum of a five-year plan."

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